Hi everyone my consultant is wanting me to have a cataract and stent op to bring my pressures down but iam terrified of being awake for any eye op. I actually asked him if he could put me to sleep and do it!!How does anyone get over this fear and anxiety. Have thought of nothing else for weeks.
Surely i cant be the only person in this world so frightened😟Any help would be appreciated.
Hey Callie,
You’re not the only person!
I was so terrified I asked for a general anaesthetic. It makes the day a lot longer as there are a lot of medical checks and questions if you are administered a general, but I didn’t want the memory of someone operating on my eye.
Everything went smoothly with the shunt and when I woke up I felt perfectly well; the only thing that hurt was my hand where the needle was inserted!
I’m a Buddy as are many others on this forum so give the Helpline a call if you feel it would help to speak to someone who has been through the same experience.
Take care and good luck for the operation 🙂
Thank you Toby for your reply. I just feel such a baby for wanting a general for something so simple as a cataract op (and stent).I dont know how i will get through even the simplist of operations.
Hope you doing well.
Hi
Does he intend to do both together or separately?
The first op I had was a cataract. I was nervous beforehand but felt so relaxed during the op. It's a bit daunting having the anaesthetic needle coming towards you but, after that I found it no worse than being at the dentist.
It's painless, you see nothing as your head is covered, it's warm, the radio is on, chit chat between the surgeon and his assistants and you'll feel a trickle of water run down your face from a tube as he works. I imagined I was lying on a beach and, when I described it like that to an old man who was anxious about his op, he agreed with me later.
The shunt op I had (Ahmed valve) was a lot more involved and took longer than any of the other ops I've had and I was quite relieved when it was over. But it might depend on which procedure they do - I think some are quicker and simpler than others.
Thank you Whitedog,he intends to do both at same time but I suffer with anxiety and dont think i can get through it! .
I have had a few ops under local without trouble, but I did have a general for my Ahmed valve in 2006. My 1st op (Schei's) was in 92 and I think anaesthetics may not have been so good then, so I had a general, but now they are much better. They even cut off my eyelashes! Not now. I had locals for my cataracts. I can remember when I was in the eye ward (often!) in the early 90s, people were being kept in 4 nights for cataracts! I was out the same day with both done 5 years ago. Try hard to relax.... some consultants play calm music... or you might be able to have your own on a headset... ask. Try to think beautiful thoughts and breathe deeply. You're going to love the end-result. Keep focusing on that.
Hi. The cataracts ops are fine. Once you have one eye done, you know the procedure for the next one. I too, was terrified at the prospect of the micro shunt operation. However, I didn’t have much time to dwell on the first one because it was performed the next morning as an emergency after consultation (eye pressure was 56). I had a general, woke up, rested for a few hours and went home with all the eye drops and that plastic eye cover. The left eye was under a local. It was fine too. Tell them of your anxiety and I’m sure they will accommodate your wishes. All the best and good luck 🤞
thank you flowergirl im just so squeemish about having anything done to my eyes!!
I opted to have sedation for my microshunt, which is not as onerous as a general but it does take the edge off the anxiety. As for seeing things, the anaesthetic not only knocked out the pain nerves but also the optic nerve, so I didn't see anything even though the eye was open.
I'm a nervous nellie too but had sedation - intravenous valium or something like that. You can hear chitchat but neither know nor care...It works straightaway and calms you right down! You just need a bit of time afterwards, an hour with a cup of tea then you're good to go. I'd recommend that over a general anaesthetic which is much more of a number, needs more recovery time and would make me more anxious.
thankyou pbx142im trying to bring myself round to that way of thinking(sedation) but am worried about moving or having a panic attack!! overthinking i know but thats me😥. thank you for your reply.
I was worried about that too but it does zone you out so you just can't be bothered to move and having a panic attack is quite simply too much effort!
Hi,
I had to do an urgent shunt surgery and as a result, didn't have enough time to process the situation and prepare mentally for it. I was anxious and petrified.
I talked to the doctors and nurse staff that I had the feeling that I was going to have a panic attack during the surgery. I specifically asked them to administer me anything to keep me calm during the surgery. Everybody was extremely supportive and understanding. They did sedate me and worked like a charm. I was awake and listening to the surgeons and nurses talking, going around, and the music playing, without panicking. I was even trying to follow the surgery steps since I had watched some videos before to understand the process.
Good luck with your surgery! It's a bit slow recovery/ healing road, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!
Hello. You are most certainly not alone. I used to think how could everyone else just get on with these things yet I’d burst into tears at the mere thought of an op! When I had my trab at 29, there was no question of a general, it was just a given for some reason. Probably due to age but I think my consultant knew I wasn’t capable of anything else back then. A year later when I needed needling, it was suggested that I just go with the local. I was still pretty flaky so the doc came to see me on the morning and when the tears flowed, they knew there was no question of a general. Fast forward 6 or 7 years later and I needed a cataract op, my consultant (that one was private), did not even entertain the idea of me going to sleep - wouldn’t even discuss it. I felt very at ease and the op went well. I managed it and it wasn’t this terrible trauma that my brain thought it was. I was really proud of myself! And don’t get me wrong, the whimp is still inside me but I think if and when the time comes and I need more surgery, then I’m going to be brave and go with the local. This is probably not helpful to you sorry but if you wanted the truth from a fellow scardycat then there you go. What I will say is that things are never as bad as what we imagine them and we are capable of more than what we give ourselves credit for. I sang a song in my head on loop to stop me from thinking about the op that was happening. You have to do what you feel is best for you.
Hi Vich81You dont know how much it has helped me knowing i'm not the only scaredycat out there.
well done on getting through your ops, you are very brave.
I know I overthink everything which doesn't help.
Thank you very much for your reply and the singing is a really good idea.
you are definitely not the only one !
I would give you two suggestions after some bad experience
First make sure the stent operation happens before the cataract so they can control your pressure better
Second insist on being under if you’re afraid.
I’ve had 7 ops last year so tried being awake for some. With widely varying results which are also to do with the amount of operations.
Essentially, if you’re awake - the more ops you have in close succession the less sedated they can make you. So my first one being awake was pretty great. You get the best drugs. You’re quite removed you don’t feel anything and don’t see anything like being submerged within your own body.
However both ops after that were pretty bad for me with a lot of discomfort. After I inquired they said they couldn’t give me the same cocktail or amount (I am not an anesthetiser or a doctor I’m just sharing my experience). And after the last one, where during the procedure I was constantly complaining of pain, they said the next one would be completely under.
Don’t let them tell you you’re a scaredy-cat . Most likely they’ve never gone through this themselves.
And as I’ve said there is a chance of discomfort on the second procedure.
Insist on going under, definitely for the stent and they will oblige.
Good luck !
Hi Callie, It's perfectly understandable that you would be terrified. I'll be honest with you, I'm not the sort of person who would normally worry about these kind of things, and I went into the opp not overly worried, but I found the whole experience very traumatic, mine was a Trabulectomy so I don't know if that's a worse procedure than what yours will be, but the even the beginning when they pressed the shield around the eye and over the face, then the clamps and injecting the eye multiple times, was very uncomfortable after this there were long periods when I zoned out but but still a lot uncomfortable moments, like worrying I was moving my eye, or imagining what was going on and feeling the pressure on the eye from them pressing on it. Sorry if this was a bit off putting but my mum suffers anxiety and sometimes I understand it's better to tell people something is better than it is, but in this case I would be honest with her because you don't want to go for and then come unstuck. You should talk to the hospital, tell them your worries and take it from there, because like I say I don't know how your opp differs from mine. I will say finally though despite what I went through I don't regret it because my eye feels so much better, so in the end whatever you do, there's light at the end of the tunnel. All the best to you oh and this was was without any sedation at all btw, so Roy's experience sounds different and more pleasurable
wow I dont know how you coped without any sedation! I think I would have jumped off the table!!Thanks for your reply.
I think by that point my eye was so bad, as bad as it was, I was just glad to be having it done because all drops and tablets had stopped working, so I was at breaking point. All the best with it.
Cataract pre-op
Trabeculectomy
