Fear of Nausea?

I am contemplating surgery -- I don't think getting approved will be overly difficult, as my BMI is 46 with -- so far -- insignificant comorbidities. But the thing that I am MOST afraid of is being nauseous -- for me, it is an almost paralyzing fear. I have had abdominal surgery twice, and exploratory lap twice, and rectal surgery (THE WORST!!) -- I am not afraid of the pain. Demerol is my bestest friend, makes me feel good, does not make me sick. I know I can rely on it. What I fear is the nausea. I have IBS, and in the process of eliminating everything else terrible that the pain could be, I have had to have several procedures that I simply could NOT do, because I couldn't keep the stuff down, not even the lemonade tasting stuff -- I barfed after the 5th glass of 8. I had to drink the gallon of "Go-Lightly" for the lap prep over the course of a day -- I barfed before I got 1/2 of it down. Even the phosphosoda bowel prep (4 oz. x 2) was excruciating. When I have to take dental impressions, I gag. I have to use a special toothbrush with a tiny head to get to my back teeth, and I don't have my wisdom teeth! I cannot imagine how I am going to tolerate an NG tube, endoscopy (or can they put you out entirely for that?), or ANY nausea caused by this procedure. When I am sick to my stomach, I feel like I'm having a panic attack -- if I was sick to my stomach for more than a VERY short amount of time, or if it went on for any length of time, I think I might go insane. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have yet to contact a surgeon, but I thought I would ask the board first about this. How did others with this problem deal with it? Or should I forget about it altogether, because this is such a common problem that I have to be willing to -- or find a way to -- accept it? Diana

We greatly appreciate your interest in helping us build our Q&A database. To discourage vandals from posting garbage, however, we require people to register before posting.

You must be logged in to post an answer. Click here to log in.