Sinus Surgery... utterly terrified and needing reassurance

[ChocolateButton]

Hi folks, I know its been a while since I've been here but... you know, life got in the way. Hope you all are well as can be.

I need some reassurance (if its not too impertinent to just walk back in here and ask for it!) I'm really freaking out.

For several years now I've suffered from nasal polyps. For the last approx. 2.5 years my nose has been completely blocked to the point where I can no longer breathe through it, or smell. I have complete loss of sense of smell.

Well anyway. As you may know, I hate the thought of surgery, and although I thankfully came through my major surgery last year, I'm now at the point where my ENT has scheduled me for surgery for a nasal polypectomy. I am due to have the surgery this month.

And... I am absolutely freaking terrified. Yes, I survived my major surgery last year, but that doesn't mean I'll survive this one. There are:
Scary complications
Risk of infection
Risk of dying from the anaesthetic
.. to consider.


Right now I'm having major anxiety and convinced I'm in my last few days of living and that I won't survive the surgery, or I shall wake up blind or somesuch.

I don't know what to do. How do I get through this? Has anyone else gone through this surgery?

Am I blowing the 'dying from anaesthetic' risks all out of proportion? (It does happen).

I want to call the whole thing off and not go through with it - ENT says nothing much will happen if I don't (other than continuing to live with the symptoms). But... I've lived with the problem this long, is it silly to go through the risks of surgery?

Any comments or thoughts greatly appreciated.

[tbot]

I literally have your fears around surgery thankfully only had 2. Does your team know? Only way I got around it was to make the doctors very aware of the issues I had with surgery, they then made sure everything was made accessible, meaning I was put in first thing in the morning and given 2 very sensitive nurses used to anxiety. It doesnt do well to have a very matter of fact doctor, if your doctor is they dont have to change their manner but they can get more people involved in your care. It'll still be anxiety inducing but they can definitely make it less anxiety inducing! I also found it very helpful to ask them not to list the risks before I went in to theatre. That was a tough one as they were so reluctant to budge due to ethics, thankfully had a psychiatrist who asked them to agree and reminded them they could tell me prior to the op day and allow me to process it all alone. They agreed, so on the day they gave me paper to read anything myself and sign, it's still my biggest barrier if a doctor insists on reading the complications. But my point is think about what would help you do have control over your care

[tbot]

Also forgot to add: I'm terrified of anaesthetic death, my doctor found it helpful to calculate the real risk for me based on my age and preexisting conditions, it was slim. Then factor in most deaths due to anaesthetic are due to allergies, you've had major surgery before so that rules you out and indicates you're probably low risk

[ChocolateButton]

Thank you for replying... unfortunately I don't have a "team" of medical professionals (I always wonder how people are lucky enough to have a bunch of people to help them like that! :))... I've got a consultant, who just wants to do an operation regardless of how nervous I am, and on the day I will meet the anaesthetist and nurses etc. I don't have a choice in what time I get taken in for surgery and I certainly won't be assigned any nurses who are used to anxiety. I'll get... whoever is working, on the day. That's how it works in my experience of the NHS.

Your comment re: the anaesthetic helped though, so thanks for that.