Awake most of the night

[Guest guest]

I am having surgery by Dr. Bridwell in St. Louis on April 8th. I will go for my

last meeting

with him on February 18th, and I'm hoping that I will be more at peace after

having my

questions answered. I definitely know this is what has to be done, because I

cannot continue

to live this way much longer. Does most everyone wake up in the night with

anxiety? I'm

sure this is common....I do great during the day, but those anxious thoughts

creep in during

the night.

Thanks for any input you can give me...I feel like a wuss, but the memories of

the surgery as

a child of 11 and 13 are hovering in the back of my mind!

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

What you are feeling is perfectly normal. This is a huge surgery, after all, so anxiety seems perfectly normal to me. My revision surgery was 10 years ago, 20 years after my first surgery. My memories of the earlier surgery are much worse than memories of the revision. For one thing, pain control is a heck of a lot better.

You are in excellent hands, too. I believe Dr. Bridwell is certainly one of the top docs in this field.

I think the time before the surgery is more difficult to handle than the time after. Now, you can only guess what will be. Once it's over, you'll know what you have to deal with and that's more than half the battle. I'll be thinking of you.

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

Bonnie,

Thank you for the response. I am off work on Mondays, and I think I do much

better when

I'm busy at work! I have many questions that I am anxious to ask Dr. Bridwell

on Feb. 18th

and I think I'll feel better (?) when I know more of the specifics. I was so

shocked when he

said that I needed surgery that I don't remember a lot of the things he said.

Why I was

shocked, I really don't know, but I was hoping for an easier way to help the

pain. I'll take a

pen and paper this time!!

Thanks for your wonderful encouragement!

>

> Hi ,

>

> What you are feeling is perfectly normal. This is a huge surgery, after all,

so anxiety

seems perfectly normal to me. My revision surgery was 10 years ago, 20 years

after my

first surgery. My memories of the earlier surgery are much worse than memories

of the

revision. For one thing, pain control is a heck of a lot better.

>

> You are in excellent hands, too. I believe Dr. Bridwell is certainly one of

the top docs in

this field.

>

> I think the time before the surgery is more difficult to handle than the time

after. Now,

you can only guess what will be. Once it's over, you'll know what you have to

deal with

and that's more than half the battle. I'll be thinking of you.

>

> Bonnie

>

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