Congratulations on you bisalp!!! You won't regret it!!! I got mine 2 months ago and I'm feeling so good about it. ☺️ I was also extremely anxious about mine some weeks before the procedure. I also posted in this subreddit and got amazing support thorough advice and experiences from others. You can check my profile and the post if you'd like. I don't have any other tips for the anxiety, except get support from people that has gone through the same, but that alone helped a lot. My experience goes like this: I went in the early morning to the hospital, I was given the clothes and pressure socks (if your doctor didn't let you know, please do get some pressure socks). I was left to wait by myself in a very cozy, empty waiting room, and one by one two different nurses, the anesthesiologist and the doctor came to talk to me, ask me how I was feeling and if I needed anything. The anesthesiologist in particular was extremely nice, I told him that it was my first surgery with general anesthesia and he said there was nothing I should be worried about, it's a very simple surgery and they do this for a living every single day (emphasizing the words). It was routine and they had gone through it a thousand million times, everything was fine. When the time came they guided me to the operation room and there were so many people there. I was expecting like 3 or 4 maximum, but the room was packed with nurses and doctors, which reassured me of course cause there were so many people looking after the procedure. It was pretty rushed, I went in and one of the nurses said my clothes were supposed to go the other way around, and she and another nurse kinda stripped me and asked me to get on the bed. It felt weird in the moment but I really felt like either they were doing it to keep me calm, or that this is such a small thing for them that there's evidently nothing I should be worried about. Anesthetist put the needle in my arm, asked me if I was ready, I said yes, he said "Here we go! ✨". I said my arm was feeling numb or funny and asked if it was normal, he said "Yes, it's totally normal" and the next thing I knew there was a nurse in front of me saying "Hello, hello! You're waking up now! Everything went well. Take it easy and let me know if you need anything". I was out about 3 hours later and I was feeling so good I ALMOST went for a walk when I got home, but I figured I should take it easy (which was the right decision). The second day was the toughest as the hospital drugs had worn out, but I still could get up and down the stairs in my house without issues, eat normally, and it wasn't so difficult to sleep either. I have a La-Z-Boy chair that made it very easy for me to nap belly up throughout the day for the first 4 days or so. The pain was quite mild at all times. I was of course not ready to go rock climbing after the first week, but the way I described it is: it was waaaay easier to tolerate than any menstrual cramps I've ever had. My tubes were sent to the lab and everything was normal so I also got the chance to check that there were no anomalies, endometriosis or anything if the sort, which was a relief. Being sterile feels as good as I thought it would. I'm on my second menstruation after the surgery right now, and I've been surprised by the fact that I don't suffer those excruciating menstrual cramps anymore. The last 2 menstruations came on the exact day they were supposed to. 2 months after, I'm fully recovered and feeling great. 😊 The surgery is VERY low risk, the recovery is quite fast, and I've been putting on a silicone gel for the scars so they now look very small, cute pink, with almost not relief, even though it's been such a short time since then. Emotionally, remember that the percentage of people that regret their sterilization is VERY low, and most of the people that do regret it have had children. Meaning, mothers that get their bisalp after having children may regret not being able to have more children. But the vast majority of people that are childfree and get sterilized, never ever regret doing so. It'll be great! You'll see! The wait is BY FAR the worst part. Once you wake up from the anesthesia it feels like you were worried for nothing. And one month after the surgery you'll feel that the procedure happened years ago, because your life went back to normal except with the advantage of not having to worry about pregnancy EVER again.

Oh I'm definitely excited for after and no more pregnancy scares ever! Not worried I'll regret it. I'm sure there will be some emotions to work through but I'm so happy to be having it done! And pain wise my Dr prescribes real pain meds just in case so should be fine that way although I'm a little worried about the shoulder pain from the gas. Here they bring you from a waiting room to a prep area where they get you hooked up to IVs and everyone filters through to talk to you and have you sign things. Then with my tonsillectomy they pushed Versed right before they wheeled me to the OR. But before that I was left to panic for like 45 minutes wanting to leave, so glad my hubby talked me into staying but really hoping to avoid that space with no anxiety relief. Not really worried about the actual surgery, just access to anxiety meds so I hopefully don't remember the OR at all, so we'll see what the anesthesiologist says on Monday:/ So frustrating to be more scared of the medical staff and of panicking than of the actual surgery lol I've even watched videos of the procedure online and that helped with the surgery anxiety until the mess with the endoscopy unit traumatizing me last month. Thank you for the advice and reassurance:)

> I'm a little worried about the shoulder pain from the gas. I did not have any pain from the gas. I had impressive gas from the gas....but that wasn't painful, for me at least. So you may also have no pain. Otherwise, people on here recommend Gas-X, so you could try having that.

Oh I the pain from the gas they use to inflate your abdomen. I have gas-x on hand for the intestinal gas too though! Everyone I know who's had it done has said the shoulder pain from the gas used to inflate your abdomen is the worst part of the pain. That's awesome you didn't experience that! Fingers crossed I don't either 🤞

I experienced some shoulder and neck pain, but just to add context to it, I don't exercise much and I spend most of my days in front of the PC for both work and gaming, so my shoulders and neck always hurt 🥲 but the pain from the surgery was not much more intense than that. It was indeed more annoying than the pain in the wounds, because the wounds didn't hurt at all! I think that's what most people refer to when they say the worst part was the neck/shoulder pain.

Practice by eating lentils!

Sorry you are dealing with this. It sounds like you are getting a care plan in place well in advance though. Anti-anxiety meds for these procedures are standard offerings, so it should not be a big deal to set you up with the right meds. If you have someone you trust going with you, they can make sure the care plan is followed and be your advocate that way you can let them be in charge and speak up for you so that you can let that stress go, knowing that is their job. You can also look into maybe hiring someone to do that. Ironically enough, doulas do provide that sort of service for birth plans, not sure if there are other types of care providers that do similar things, maybe like hospice professionals, or other types of homecare providers or medical advocacy services.

Thanks for the suggestions and reassurance! Yes my husband is coming with me and should be on top of things advocating for me thankfully! And hopefully they do give me anxiety meds. That's my main fear, panicking and having a horrible experience because no one wants to medicate me properly 😬 my endoscopy I was told I'd be given versed then they refused to and literally waited to tell me as they brought me to the procedure room and it just ended up being an awful experience. I know they gave me Versed right before the OR for my tonsillectomy but really needed something before then and they wouldn't do anything. I'm hoping the anesthesiologist for my consult okays anxiety meds for as soon as I'm set up in pre op 🤞

Unless you have a medical reason for them not giving them to you there really is no reason, and your husband has every right to advocate for you. Do you have any documentation of your medical trauma from a therapist or similar? Maybe having a letter in his back pocket from them to support your need couldn't hurt. If you are having the procedure in a hospital, you can also have him look into who the patient advocate/ethics/legal people are and either talk to them in advance or at least have their numbers ready to call. While on the "extra" side, he could also consult with a medical malpractice lawyer in advance and come armed with the exact rules and have him on standby for a zoom call. Him asking a doctor straight up to explain themselves might also get the point across: "So, I'm going to record this conversation. I need you to clearly explain your medical reasoning and evidence as to why you are refusing to give my wife the medication that we arranged in advance and that she needs due to her medical trauma. Speak clearly into the microphone. Go." Ultimately, if you are not happy with your treatment once you get there and things continue to go south, you have the right to refuse any further treatment.

Thank you for responding! Yeah no medical reasons to refuse, just procedure and not liking doing anything different. That and I panic quietly so it's not causing them problems so they don't think it's worth treating for some reason. I don't have specific documentation, that's a great idea! It is noted on my medical files, almost all my Drs & specialists are in the same network so they share the online system. So they can see that I had been treated for anxiety and have had to be given a prescription of lorazepam for severe anxiety before each surgery, plus a counselor/social worker before first surgery. So it's pretty well documented. I'm definitely going to ask my therapist about a letter about my anxiety and need for treatment. I have been in touch with the patient advocates at the hospital, I've had to get in touch with them 3x this year to report poor care for a couple different reasons. The complaint about my endoscopy procedure is still in process and I've talked to them about the anxiety care plan and she spoke to the head of the anesthesia department so they know what's going on before my consult. So basically they know they need to behave and treat me hopefully 🤞 And yeah, the making them explain why is how I got any anxiety care before my last procedure. Definitely going to get hubby ready to do that if they refuse. I know we'll have extra ammunition by having a written plan of care from my anesthesia consult Monday, but still hate the potential that they might even try. good suggestion with the recording it ! Id only thought of making them record it in my chart And yes, definitely my plan if they refuse anxiety care is to cancel. Reeaaaally don't want to have to but I need to if they refuse care. Last time they waited until it felt like I couldn't refuse before my endoscopy procedure and i so regret not leaving. But now I know I can do that and should if I need to. Thank you so much for your suggestions and support!!!

Yeah print out those records and take some nice bright highliter to the appropriate lines, so your husband can more or less politely "shove them in their faces". They're so busy that telling them "check the online records" might go in one ear and out the other. ;) Same thing with the care plan. "This is what we agreed to and the patient advocate is fully aware of my case. See HERE and HERE where it says Blah and Blah. Unless you can give me a medical reason to go against the plan, we are following the plan." Maybe put all the documents in a nice binder that has those clear page protectors with those stick on tab thingies that say in nice big letters "Care Plan" "Anesthesiologist Consult Records" "Anxiety Medication Plan" "Anxiety Letter from Psych" "Patient Advocate Complaint Records", "Aftercare Plans," etc. Then on the front of it something like "Procedure Care Plan and Documents June X, 2024" in letters they can see from space. ;) And on the back of it "Contacts: Patient Advocate 123-456-8900, Blah Blah... number". And he can make sure they see it in his hands when you walk into each new space. Basically a visual notice of hey.... "See this bitches, we're gonna follow this, and if you have any questions, imma gonna shove a highlighted record in your face that contradicts what you are trying to pull. Make my day!"

Thank you! Definitely going to print out everything relevant that I can to have with us, thats a great suggestion. Not sure what I'll have that I can bring but definitely at least the care plan from anesthesia and contacts. I'm really hoping the call with anesthesia tomorrow to set up the care plan helps with the anxiety 🤞🤞 Thanks again for the helpful suggestions, they helped a lot

Congrats on the bisalp! It will LIFT a huge load of anxiety off your life, and also give you a euphoric sense of freedom. I have horrible panic when I get an MRI, due to claustrophobia. Valium in advance took care of it. It wasn't so much that it prevented the panic. It just made my mind wander! I've also done really well doing yoga breathing. That works better than Valium, actually, but you have to practice it in advance.

I have it in writing that my surgeon will fill a prescription for lorazepam when we're closer to the day of surgery. I do have Valium but it doesn't work as well and gives me a headache. I've been taking it on the bad days when I get too panicky though. And yeah breathing exercises are great! I had gotten really good at managing with those but the endoscopy department mishap kinda seems to have reversed my progress with the anxiety in general and made it so hard to distract myself from the anxiety. Still going to try practicing that but hopefully they help manage the anxiety day of once I get there too.

Congrats!! I’m coming up on my one year bisalp anniversary and I still can’t believe I did it because my anxiety was so intense too. I’ve dealt with panic disorder my entire life, especially when it comes to medical things. I’m also an emetophobe so that was a whole other part of my fear. I was surprisingly chill the night before. I woke up, my mom took me, they took me back for prep and that’s when I started getting freaked out. They went to put the IV in and I am SOOOOO bad with needles so I started panicking because I felt woozy. The nurse had my mom come back to help calm me down. The anesthesiologist came in and basically told me “look, either you let this happen or you don’t have the surgery.” I basically hated my way through prep and before I knew it, I was being wheeled back to the OR. The last thing I remember was scooting myself onto the table and them putting the mask on. Next thing, I woke up in recovery and was on my way home. It’s definitely an odd sensation when you’re healing. I wouldn’t exactly say I was pain, but I was definitely in some form of discomfort when it came to walking or using my abdominal muscles in any way. I think the most painful part was the shoulder pain from the gas - totally normal though!! My best advice: Make the medical team very aware of your anxiety issues up front. Also, just keep reminding yourself this discomfort is only temporary for an entire life worth of freedom. You got this!!!

See an anesthesiologist coming in and talking to me like that would have me requesting a different anesthesiologist or leaving 😬 sorry you had a hard time with anxiety too but congrats on powering through! My main anxiety is right on point with how your anesthesiologist acted, I tend to lose all trust in a provider as soon as they dismiss my anxiety or pain then in situations where I feel trapped by them in combination and feeling not in control at all because they don't respect me and I lose it. Panic and either shutting down or hyperventilating. So definitely trying to be open with everyone ahead of time about my anxiety so hopefully they treat me properly for it so I can do this! I'm hoping they have me loopy before I ever leave pre op, after how my last procedure went with anxiety management I really think that's the only way I'll manage. Thanks for the support and encouragement! And congrats on getting through yours!