Excitement and scared

I am very excited about the surgery and the new life that awaits me. However, I am nervous about my self talk during those few minutes in the OR before I go to sleep. What kind of things are people telling themselves they will be thinking then. Anybody else nervous about the pain? Someone in a chat room was telling people not to do it, that it was toooo painful. She had just had it done. I know any amount of pain is worth the long term goal, I'm just a little scared. Any advice?

Hey! You are the day after me! I used to teach childbirth classes and I learned that different people perceive pain quite differently. It has a lot to do with conditioned response. If you expect it to hurt and intrepret every discomfort as pain, then you will naturally tense up. This causes more discomfort, i.e. pain. If you get scared, this also causes you to tense up. To break the cycle, force yourself to relax as much muscle tension as possible on every exhale. Breathe slowly and as deeply as you can. Soon you will be redefining what you feel as discomfort and the pain will be leaving as you exhale. I know that sounds like a lot of hokus pokus, but it is true and works. I had 2 children without anesthetics, and open gall bladder surgery. Using forced relaxation and controlled breathing made all of it easier. They say you wake up from anesthetic in the same state you go to sleep-- panic in, panic out. I plan to firmly focus on a thinner me walking the beach holding hands with my DH. Hear the waves breaking?? Joy "Canary"

Great stuff, our Joy-ous Canary!! Kim March Rules!