Hernia op

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Putting this in random rather than the health, fitness and sports since my query is more random in nature.

I've been battling a so-named inguinal or groin hernia for about 8 months now; not sure what triggered it. I may need to go for a minor operation to sew my bulgy intestines etc back where they belong. Problem is I have a phobia of both hospitals and anaesthesia and so want to discuss non general anaesthesia options with the surgeon as well as ask if I can come home afterwards and not have to spend a night there for "observation".

"Going under" is different to sleep as you have no control. I'd like to hear from folk who can tell me what it feels like to be anaesthetized. I have been fortunate in only ever being an outpatient and my biggest procedure to date was the uprooting of my wisdom teeth under local sedation about eight years ago. It was noisy hearing the drill and hammering, but not painful and the outcome was fine.

But friends and family have advised me to get the hernia mended asap.

I've been under 4 times, 3 of them were surgeries. It's fine, really.

My advice, before you go under and are speaking with the surgeon to reiterate the exact procedure and side. I had to initial on my knee with a marker pen, for example, and so did the surgeon and anesthesiologist.

A good anesthesiologist (and staff) will continue talking to you until you're asleep, so you aren't as focused on your worries. I usually tried to keep it light with humor.

Good luck!

I once had it done to have teeth out and it was done via injection in my lower arm. They were trying to ask the usual medical disclaimers but as I don't like needles I said "Just do it" (Haha!) and I closed my eyes so they did. They were saying I would feel woozy as I went into sleep but I did not feel that as I was immediately knocked out!
I then started to wake up and wondered why there were ladies talking in my bedroom. I thought I was waking up in my own bed! It took me a while before I could open my eyes as it is like waking up from a deep sleep.
They got me onto this chair with wheels and pushed me into a room to recover where my Mum was and also a lady who was recovering with her husband was there.

I felt my nose was numb so when a nurse came I asked if someone had stuck their finger up my nose or a pipe or something like that as I said it felt like someone had stuck their finger up my nose. (I was still waking up).
The nurse went to ask and she said "No" and that they froze that area to ensure I had no pain when I recovered.
Thenlady that was recovering in the same room had the giggles after I said that and she couldn't stop. She was older then me.

I had no recollection whatsoever between the time I was knocked out and the time I started awakening.

This was useful as I then able to try and describe total shutdowns on this site as in a full on shutdown I am on the floor and I am concious eventhough I lose my sight and don't know what goes on with my hearing other then loud tinitus. BUT I am concious in a shutdown and when people (Happens often as people don't seem to care) step on my fingers I really feel it but can't do a thing about it. I can feel the draft of people walking past even though I can't see or hear them or can't move my body. My body goes floppy and I lose my ability to make any of my muscles work.

Being knocked out is different. Is like someone has switched me off. Like in a deep sleep where everything is switched off! No dreaming. Nothing!

That is my experience of being knocked out by injection.

The hardest part for me was not the not eating, but the not drinking any liquids before, because as a type of stim I was drinking water, and also at times tooth absuses needed water to cool them down when acting up. But usually as a nurvous stim as my mouth goes dry and... Always take water or cola with me. (Can't take drinks with artificial sweetners (Majority of fruit juices) and avoid citrus fruits).
Not drinking... I tried the old fashioned trick of sucking a pebble. Uhmmm. Almost swollowed it once! Haha! Not sure it works. But that was quite an achievement for me. No liquids.

I've had many surgeries (10+) including a hernia repair in my intestine.
Some have been wide awake, but they're mostly twilight sedation or full anaesthesia.
I also had spinal blocks for childbirth.

I think the hernia was actually done with light or no anaesthesia if I remember correctly.

I like full anaesthesia except that you'll wake up feeling cold.
The nurses will give you heated blankets and it's easy to fall back asleep.

I didn't think men stayed overnight for a hernia repair.
Double check on that because it might be day surgery.

Being anaesthetised is like here one minute, knowing nothing the next.
I quite like it.
I didn't want to wake up.

I had a full-on meltdown on the stretcher when I woke up from my longest surgery.
I wanted to go back as well.
It's such an amazing feeling to just "check out" and stop consciousness.
I can't do that with regular sleep.

I have had 3 surgeries under general anesthesia,, including an inguinal hernia, and the first 2 times they gave me something (a pill) to cause me to not care about what was about to happen, right before. I think that is more effective than any amount of discussion. I didn't need to stay overnight after the inguinal hernia operation nor after the umbilical hernia operation I had a couple years later. The last time I really didn't need the tranquilizer as it seemed a much less challenging procedure.

Thanks for the responses. Appreciated! I am still nervous about any possibility of full anaesthesia but there seem to be alternatives. It's unlikely I'll need to sleep over if they do the procedure in the morning...seems these operations only take around 30-45 minutes to complete.

I always like to be aware of my surroundings and with sleep, that simply happens naturally and I don't know at what point I fell asleep.

I think watching out the corner of my eye would be preferable! I watched a live heart operation on TV many years ago. That was interesting!

My inclination is to let the surgeons work however they prefer. If they prefer a patient who's been put under then that's what they're getting.

I’ve been knocked out for one c- section, colposcopy,and partiality for a deviated septum repair.It’s like you are awake and then you are not.
The first c-section I was awake for, had an epidural.( it didn’t work for the second and only numbed me up to my knees so had general anesthesia)When I had wisdom teeth removed, I opted for being awake.I prefer to know what’s going on, fear of the unknown or lack of trust possibly.
I have a small umbilical hernia that my doc said wasn’t severe enough to repair unless it popped out and didn’t go back in.It rarely happens, only if I have a severe coughing fit and I know the exact spot to press to keep it in.
If yours is bad get it fixed.It won’t repair itself and will just get worse.You can talk to the doctor about what anesthesia options you have and it’s possible you might be able to be awake.
Wishing you the best!!

Sweet Pea hugs

Thanks misslizard and Cockney Rebel for your encouragement. We'll see how it goes and I'll keep everyone posted!

With my last surgery I fell asleep in my hospital room, had the procedure, and woke up in my room. I wasn't even sure I had been operated on. It felt more like I had just nodded off for a minute than anything else. It wasn't scary or unpleasant in the slightest. Talk to your Dr. about your concerns, they can help make it a more comfortable experience.

I've never been put under for anything, but if I had to have surgery And Was Medically Allowed to be awake I'd opt for whatever they could give me so I felt no pain while being able to watch the procedure as I think it'd be absolutely fascinating. Those sorts of things don't weird me out At All.

Hernias: A homeless friend of mine healed his own hernia. He went to the hospital and they told him how long the waiting list was for surgery (a few months or several months or some bs) and he said he couldn't wait that long so would heal himself. They advised against that, but after discussing it with a anatomically knowledgeable friend of ours, he set to work on healing it himself asap while the tissues were still freshly broken and he's young enough (young 40's I believe) to heal. He poked the intestine back in through the hole, then applied force with his finger tips to rub the hole all around it's edges very firmly to stimulate blood flow to the region and trigger the muscle tissue to start rebuilding itself. He did this several excruciatingly painful times per day/night in the woods where he lives, screaming like a madman and drawing the attention of parks employees who checked up on him, and over time.. the hole closed from the outer edges inwards and eventually sealed right over without surgery and he's Okay!

Another of the beach residents, approx 72-73 years old, has a groin hernia right now but he's too old for the tissues to heal like that even if he tried we think.. such is the effect of aging. I think he did go to the university hospital and got on a waiting list for surgery.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

I've been medically-induced unconscious only a few times.

The biggy was right before the Pandemic (surgery was in February 2020!) It was open heart surgery to "repair" my aortic valve and a section of my aorta. I put "repair" in quotes because actually they replaced the valve and a portion of my aorta. Before the surgery I (and my bride) were shown representative samples of what the replacement valve and aorta graft would be like. They looked like something out of the appliance-repair department of a hardware store.

I'd done research beforehand and learned that the surgery was significant enough that at even the best hospitals, about 2% of the patients died. I did not like that.

They wheeled me off to surgery at about 8AM on a Tuesday morning with the expectation that I would be waking up about 8 hours later. When I did wake up I was very happy to still be alive and I was not interested in anything else. It took my bride hours to get across to me that it wasn't Tuesday any more...it was Wednesday. There had been complications; I had almost died; they kept me out for 32 hours and it was now Wednesday.

What was it like to be unconscious? No big deal. I guess it was like being a lamp turned off. There was "before" then there was "after" (and "after" starts a bit blurry as the drugs wear off). My only complaint was they used a ventilation hose that was too large and it took my throat two months to return to normal. So for the week I was recovering as an in-patient the only food on the menu I could safely eat was scrambled eggs! Well, I like scrambled eggs but that hospital has good food and it was very annoying that I was physically unable to eat anything except scrambled eggs.

Um. If you're paying attention you'll notice that being knocked out must not have been a big deal. I'm complaining about other stuff. (Oh! I wish things had been quieter at night. I was hooked up to a lot of noisy gadgets and the noise was annoying.)

Oh. In mid-2021 I had a surgery more like what you will be getting. I had a gall bladder attack. My bride took me to the emergency room in the evening and they spent the night doing tests and by the next morning they had concluded my gall bladder had to come out. It was not an emergency so they did not rush me into surgery. But they thought it was urgent enough that they wanted to keep me as an in-patient until they could squeeze me into surgery. It was boring. And because they wanted to keep me ready for surgery I was not allowed to eat anything, they just kept me hooked up to IVs! Darn! That hospital has good food and once again I was an in-patient and couldn't eat the food!

After a couple of days they managed to squeeze me into surgery. I told them about my throat problems after the heart surgery so they used a smaller ventilation tube and were very careful. I had no throat problems this time.

But the surgery was apparently not very significant so a few hours after surgery they discharged me. Once again, I did not get to enjoy the food!

Um... Those were the two most significant times I've been knocked out for surgery. There have also been a small number of times for less significant procedures. No problems.

Just be sure you understand what you have to do after you are discharged. To heal properly I was not supposed to put more than light pressure on my arms for a few weeks after both of those surgeries. I followed the instructions and am fine.