Extreme fear setting in

 I have had a hysterectomy and before it I got scared, but not that bad. I recently had a resection of my colon, and before it I had some fears about my mortality and considered cancelling, but didn't. Here I am, less than 48 hours until my surgery, and I was in tears at 2 am this morning when the fear "hit me". At one point during my "break down" I decided to call of the surgery. I questioned that maybe my fear being so strong was a "warning" that I shouldn't proceed. However, after I freaked out for a while, I prayed, and I calmed down and slept. This morning I feel fine, just a little fearful/worried. 

Is this normal? Yesterday I was fine, no worries, I was even excited. Then the break down. Now, I am dreading the recovery and looking forward to the desired results. 

Being fearful of the unknown is completely normal. You can read and hear all of the stories about this surgery but until it is over it will be worry-some, just keep remembering that it is normal. You are doing this to prolong your life, try to keep that in mind. The quality of life after you loose the weight will be the big bonus!

(((HeatherLynn)))  I'm sorry you aren't calm over this but I do understand.  Try to let your logic beat out your emotions. Be strong.

--gina

HeatherLynn:  Get some quiet time and do some deep reflection and thinking into exactly what scares you.  Is it your mortality?  Normal.  Hard recovery?  Normal.  Last second jitters?  Normal.  Do you trust your surgeon?  That's a deal breaker, and you have to have complete trust in him.  Is someone planting little seeds of doubt in your head?  (Many well-meaning but totally ignorant family & friends do this all the time).  I didn't tell anyone about my plans for the DS except my husband and 3 kids.  I didn't need their unfounded and non-sensical fears and idiotic doubts floating around in my head. 

I went into surgery blissfully content in my decision, 100% confident in my surgeon.  Sure, it was a big surgery.  The older you are, the harder the recovery, though.  Do it while you're young, and can recover faster and easier. 

The bariatric floor nurses told my husband that bariatric surgery patients have an extremely high rate of no-shows, last minute cancellations, and back outs at the last minute.  That's really too bad, because of all the WLS, the DS is the easiest to live with.  I live to eat, and can honestly say I haven't had to give up anything I love after DS.  It has given me my life back, and I just yesterday said (again) to my husband that before my DS surgery, I was killing myself with food.  And at the time, we were out to eat at our favorite greasy spoon, sharing a slice of home made coconut cream pie, warm from the oven.  YUM.  The night before, though, was even better, but I can't give details, except that it involved some wine and a hot tub.  (grin)  Did you know that boobs float?  Why, yes, they do!

I was alone,in Brazil and scared as hell!! 

I was even more scared of all my comorbidities and probably dying from them.

It is normal to be scared, this is MAJOR surgery.

Hang in there, sweetie!

Michele

This is a good sign.

If you had no fear at all, it would mean that you had no brain at all.

You'll be on the other side soon.

 We really need a "like" button...

Sounds completely normal to me, in general. You are doing a lot more than just having surgery. You are transforming the rest of your life. This is exciting AND scary.

What are you afraid of when this fear hits? What kinds of thoughts precipitate the hit?

Do you have any history of panic attacks, phobias, etc.?

 Well, this is what happened. We have only let a handful of friends/family in on the fact that we are doing this. My DH is almost 200lbs overweight, so no one questioned him. Yesterday, I got no less than 5 messages from some of those friends and family asking me to reconsider because "I am beautiful the way I am" and I am not "that fat" (or different variations of that). The last one at 1 am was praising me for how pretty I am and that I in no way need to go do this...it just sent me over the edge. I began to question my decision and then fear all the what if's. Dying scares me, as I still have four children to raise. I used to not worry about it, but since I lost my son in 2005, I am overly worried about death anyhow. 

I am not prone to panic attacks outside of large crowds in close quarters. 

Phobias? Just clowns and scorpions. :)