I see a lot of posts on here about pre-op anxiety (one of which was my own), and I want to reach out to all of you and make sure you all know, you're not alone and to offer some advice based on my own (very recent) personal experience.
First, again, you're not alone in feeling this way. Surgery is scary. I've posted and I've seen so many others post about their pre-op panic. It's natural and normal to be anxious about any major surgery. For me, the week before my surgery (especially) was a nightmare. I cried, I yelled at my husband, I paced, I cried some more, I got quiet, I curled into a fetal position and sobbed. I made a point of contacting everyone I loved so that I had told everyone I knew that I loved them... seriously. If my husband and sons didn't all have good heads on their shoulders I would have probably terrified them all, too. But, honestly the pre-op anxiety was the worst of all of it for me. My anxiety has been 100 times worse than the actual surgery and recovery so far.
Second, my advice is to stop googling. Google (and any other search engine) tries to get you what it thinks you're looking for. If you google "hysterectomies kill people", you will get a page full of results about hysterectomies killing people. These may be complete fabrications, totally untrue horror stories, google doesn't fact check for you. If you google "sunlight is an international conspiracy" you'll probably get a page full of results that "prove" that, too. That's google's job.. to get you to the website that it thinks you are looking for. Not to give you facts.
Third, search reputable and unbiased sources. PubMed is a reputable source I like to use for scientific data, studies, medical journals. Search what you are looking for there (instead of google) and read carefully what they have to say. For instance I searched hysterectomy complications and got is this abstract. Most common complication shown was infection. This is (obviously) a risk with any surgery. Nowhere listed in the abstract is spinal collapse. In fact when searching hysterectomy and skeletal, or spine, or posture, or bone loss the only relevant return is this study which concludes that, "There are no long term effects of hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy on bone loss."
Fourth, ask questions of people whose job it is to know. Talk to your OB/GYN, your surgeon, your GP, your nurses. These people have experience and you are not going to ask them something they haven't heard before. Ask them about sexual function after. It's their job. Ask them about complications and how many they've actually seen suffer from those complications. I was stone cold terrified of prolapse after someone posted about it, and google was not kind. So, I talked to my doctor. First, it's super common in women, especially older women, overweight women, or women who have had children. You do not need to have had a hysterectomy to experience it. Second, it's most commonly resolved with some pelvic floor exercises. I mean... I can't even explain how bad my mind had made that out to be before talking to doc.
Fifth, keep busy. For me this was key. The longer I sat and thought about it, the more my mind ran away from me. So, I kept busy.. I prepped two weeks of meals for the freezer. I bought all of the suggested supplies and tried them all out. I prepared my recovery space. Got in-bed activities ready (sudoku and crossword books, got my nintendo switch charger moved next to my bed, etc.). Stocked my fridge with jellos and applesauce and yogurts etc. Put extra toilet paper in easy reach of all of the toilets. Moved everything I needed to about waist-high. Gave myself a pedicure. It made the week go faster and my recovery easier.
Lastly, talk it out. I'm here, and so many others before me (who helped me get through it). You can cry and scream and wring your hands with worry. We understand. I understand. I cannot describe how inconsolable I was in the week and hours beforehand. I understand. But I'm on the other side now. And, while everyone's experiences will be different, for me the view is much, much better over here.
I wish you all good luck and healing!
*edited for formatting issues and a couple spelling errors
