Any advice for a surgical virgin facing his or her first operation (s)

I have had a bunch of surgeries and my experience has been mostly uninteresting. It hurts for a while afterwards, the general anasthesia takes longer to get over as you get older (mostly in the form of being not as astute for weeks up to a couple of months, usually not noticeable to most) and you need to not push yourself too hard or you’ll set back the healing.
That’s for knife surgery, I can’t speak to laser procedures.
And all of mine were for internal (organ) issues, I don’t know what surgery for bones and/or joints is like.

And there are fun drugs.

I hope it goes well, you heal quickly, and it fixes what’s broken. Good luck!

Relax. You’ll be fine.

Take your pain meds on time; don’t try to tough it out. Being in as little pain as possible will help with faster healing.

Follow your doctor’s advice and don’t over do it once you get home. Even if you feel better.
I felt better after a surgery and walked down about 20 steps and about 50 feet to my mail box. I was so tired from all that walking I laid down under the mailbox for about 15 minutes to get my strength up.

You want the surgeon to be polite. No cutting remarks.

Sometimes they get lazy and leave the sewing to the nurses, or even the patients. Suture self.

Then again, sometimes you’ll get a surgeon who tells jokes – especially if you aren’t all the way sedated. Some of the jokes they tell are pretty bad, but many will leave you in stitches.

The pain will vary depending on where they are cutting. Abdominal surgery tends to be quite painful the first 12–24 hours after surgery and then the pain should decline considerably. I think I took one pain pill after I left the hospital and that’s it. I was very sore for 4 days when I moved though. Best to have someone there who can wait in you hand and foot for a couple of days.

If you are going to be hospitalized over night have someone visit and be able to help fight for you if the staff is fucking up.

The first 24 hours after the surgery are serious no matter how minor the surgery and any feelings like you are having some odd horrible thing happening counts. Don’t ignore weird pains, a fever over 100 (slightly elevated temperature is common) and any other out of the ordinary things that are not outlined in the information you were given.

Be sure to read all the information you are given about what to expect.

Nausea is very common after being out under general (are they using general? A block? Just some IV sleepy forget me drugs?) and there are drugs that can counteract the nausea. Since I am phobic about throwing up this was very important to me. Women tend to get nauseas way more often and more severly than men though, so it might not be a big deal in your case.

Is it a sex changer operation? What bathroom will you use?

@Dutchess_III Well initially I’ll use the one with the question mark on the door.

I haven’t had many surgeries but the scary part is the waiting. once they wheel you into the operating room they tell you to count back from ten. I didn’t even remember getting to eight. it felt like a second passed and I was in the recovery room. It feels like going into a deep sleep without the dreams.
don’t worry, you’ll be fine. good luck.

Doctors have been slicing and dicing in and on my body more times than I care to think about (I’m 63). Anyway what helps me is leaning all I can about the operation and recovery. I want to know all of the good, bad and unknown aspects (I want to know everything). And I like to watch the procures on youtube. Once I know exactly what is going to be done to me I can relax and try to become the best patient that ever passed through the doors of the hospital so I can go home quickly.

Oh and one more thing. When they put the I.D. band on your wrist check to make sure it has correct information on it. One time they were taking me to surgery and I happened to notice my band had another patient’s name on it. Also anytime that they give you medicine or take your blood make sure that they check your name and date of birth.

I’ve had several procedures done. Some were same day surgeries and others required overnight stays. A lot of what you will experience depends on what you have done. One thing that caught me off guard after one laparoscopic surgery was the amount of pain I had that I didn’t expect. I had an abdominal surgery and didn’t realize they filled my thoracic cavity with air until after asking about the pain. That pain was worse than my incisional pain.

Take it easy, rest, keep hydrated, and keep your pain controlled. If you have specific questions, I would be happy to answer them for you.

This may sound silly, but if your operation involves a left or right side make sure they are operating on the correct side. These mistakes do happen. I was almost prepared for a left lung biopsy before my sister noted to the nurse that it was my right lung that needed the biopsy.

Take a magnet into the hospital with you.

Rub it over the wound after procedure to detect surgical implements accidentally left inside.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Don’t get cut up about it.

I’ve had a few surgeries and I always get really bad nausea, even with meds. Throwing up right after you wake up from abdominal surgery isn’t fun. After that I will be fine and able to eat without any further nausea. I have found the pain to be minor and I generally don’t need painkillers after the first day or two. Or only need them at night to aid sleeping. Last time I had a general anaesthetic* (about 18 months ago) it took me a couple of weeks to fully recover from the anaesthetic, I was soooo tired all the time, but preivous surgeries (when I was much younger) I didn’t get that at all.

* @Dutchess_III Yes it was “sex change” surgery. Yes, I use the “other” restroom. ;)

The staff will treat you as well as you treat them.

Everyone is suffering. Everyone is worried and in pain. The staff has seen it all. Your ordeal doesn’t make you special.

You can distinguish yourself by having a positive attitude and by showing appreciation for the service the staff is providing you.

In return, you will notice your calls are responded to more quickly and the staff will take on a more personable demeanor.

You can be the sort of patient that professionals wish they had all the time.

Make friends with the staff. Right or wrong, it is valuable to become the patient everyone wants to look after, rather than the one they’d rather leave to someone else.