Help, assaulted and facial fracture requiring general anesthesia, Terrified :(

[neptune296]

Hi everyone I'm going through an extreme rough patch. I'm a 23 year old otherwise healthy male, not overweight, and no health conditions. Recently I was out with some friends and I was assaulted by some guy who apparently thought I was gay and didn't like that. He punched me in the cheek and ran away.

I have a bad black eye and numbness in my face from a fracture called an "Orbital floor fracture" or a "Blowout fracture". The doctor I went to see says its not that severe and it hasn't effected my vision yet. He says without treatment though that I may start to experience double vision as theres more space in my right eye for my eye to sink down then my left.

The procedure would take less than an hour no more then at least and would require only one minor incision under my eyelid. The thing that has me so terrified I that he says I'll be put under while its done. I'm so, so, terrified that i'll never wake up, that the last thing i'll see is the inside of a hospital room, that something terrible will happen while I'm out and i'll die on the operating table and never wake up.

Its so terrifying to me that I'm contemplating not getting surgery and living with the double vision and numbness forever rather then dying in the hospital. I know that's my anxiety talking but I just can't imagine being put to sleep.

Can someone help ease my fears or maybe I need a second opinion before surgery. Maybe some of you have been through general anesthesia and can help?

Thank you so much I'm just so worried its a week from surgery. :(

[Fishmanpa]

Sorry to hear about the incident. People are well.... uggghhh....

I've had many surgeries and procedures where I've been put under and can tell you that you'll be fine. Besides, you're in the perfect place anyway right?

If you're nervous, tell them and you'll get some chill meds and won't give a hoot if they hang you out the window. The last time I was out was for a colonoscopy and the drugs they gave me beforehand were awesome! ~lol~

It literally takes a couple of seconds after they give you the drugs and the next thing you know you'll be waking up in recovery.

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

What an absolute sh*t to do something like that. Typically, a coward though.

If the doctor says you need this done to prevent complications then I would go along with that. I'm guessing that you saw a specialist too so even more reason to trust what he is saying.

At the start of your post you say you are "23 year old otherwise healthy male, not overweight, and no health conditions" so you have very minimal risk of anythintg happening like most of the population. They do operations under general day in day out and it is very safe. You will have a team of specialists around you at all times doing this who will be monitoring you.

You can also tell them your fears, they are very used to it. Then perhaps a nurse will help you through the lead up and give you a but more attention to keep you calm.

It's been many years since I've had a general. I had 2 operations as a child under general and once that needle goes after a few seconds you feel sleepy and then a few more later and you are asleep. The next you know you are waking up on a ward feeling groggy. Again, a nurse will be checking on you anyway and the doctor will want to check up on you too.

As long as the nurses understand, I'm sure they will be very reassuring throughout the process.

If you don't have it done though, is it permanent or can it still be corrected?

Seriously, don't allow anxiety to win on this and then regret it the rest of your life.

[neptune296]

Sorry to hear about the incident. People are well.... uggghhh....

I've had many surgeries and procedures where I've been put under and can tell you that you'll be fine. Besides, you're in the perfect place anyway right?

If you're nervous, tell them and you'll get some chill meds and won't give a hoot if they hang you out the window. The last time I was out was for a colonoscopy and the drugs they gave me beforehand were awesome! ~lol~

It literally takes a couple of seconds after they give you the drugs and the next thing you know you'll be waking up in recovery.

Positive thoughts

Thanks that helps :). That's true haha I guess if something were to happen at least I'm in a full equipped hospital! Nonetheless I still have a lot of anxiety thinking about uncontrollably falling asleep especially in a place I would never ever naturally want to lose consciousness.

---------- Post added at 04:32 ---------- Previous post was at 04:26 ----------


What an absolute sh*t to do something like that. Typically, a coward though.

If the doctor says you need this done to prevent complications then I would go along with that. I'm guessing that you saw a specialist too so even more reason to trust what he is saying.

At the start of your post you say you are "23 year old otherwise healthy male, not overweight, and no health conditions" so you have very minimal risk of anythintg happening like most of the population. They do operations under general day in day out and it is very safe. You will have a team of specialists around you at all times doing this who will be monitoring you.

You can also tell them your fears, they are very used to it. Then perhaps a nurse will help you through the lead up and give you a but more attention to keep you calm.

It's been many years since I've had a general. I had 2 operations as a child under general and once that needle goes after a few seconds you feel sleepy and then a few more later and you are asleep. The next you know you are waking up on a ward feeling groggy. Again, a nurse will be checking on you anyway and the doctor will want to check up on you too.

As long as the nurses understand, I'm sure they will be very reassuring throughout the process.

If you don't have it done though, is it permanent or can it still be corrected?

Seriously, don't allow anxiety to win on this and then regret it the rest of your life.

Hi :),

Thank you for your support! I know I just keep thinking why did this have to happen I was doing great before all this just feeling like a normal young adult having fun with friends and this just threw my life into chaos and my anxiety back into overdrive since two good years.

If I don't get the surgery done there's a good chance of complications that would need to be resolved through surgery later on. If I wait it just makes the surgery more difficult since the misplaced bone would have set in its place and scar tissue would be holding it in as well so the doctor can still fix it at any time they'd just have to work harder to move the bone and scar tissue rather then it being fresh and easy to manipulate as of now.

I'm just still so scared cause I can't imagine losing consciousness in a place I would be anxious in and naturally would never sleep or lose consciousness at. The thought of not being in control of going to sleep is frightening and then the thought of not waking up makes it worse. I know I just have to do it but I just really am scared that I'll die there for something that isn't a fatal problem if not corrected. However if not corrected it could significantly lower my quality of life for sure.

I don't know its just scary. Thank you again for all the input :) Just got to keep on going I guess and hope it all goes good. It'd be so tragic to die in the hospital cause I got punched in the face :(

---------- Post added at 06:57 ---------- Previous post was at 04:32 ----------

On a side note I've also been feeling extremely tired and spacey. I have terrible allergies from ragweed this time of season but my irrational mind is telling me its some sort of brain bleed or concussion from the force of being punched? I don't know I know that sounds insane but I keep thinking about it on top of all this :(

Wouldn't I have bad headaches? Which I have none at all right now just feeling really detatched and "brain fog".

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think you would know if it was concussion and besides, if you weren't knocked unconscious, it's just like any other bang to the head. Doctor's are only concerned with concussion if you were knocked out or have any serious problems. You've seen doctors so I would imagine they would have asked about that anyway so are not concerned. Given you have accessed a doctor to look at performing an operation, I think you have to trust in what they say about this.

The brain fog & detachment are likely anxiety or even shock over the incident.