General Anaesthetic

I need to have surgery to remove a stone in my salivary gland (submandibular)

They would tend to do this with local anaesthetic but i have this thing where i pass out and have seizures when i have injections/blood tests/hurt myself suddenly e.g. i once hit my arm on my friends door, then started walking up her stairs, passed out fell back down them and smacked my head on that same damn door..

I dont have to feel pain to pass out, injections dont really hurt, and i can be numbed before hand and not look or anything + be lying down and i still go. 

So my question is.. will they do it by gas? Surely it would defeat the point a little if they then gave me the anaesthesia with a cannula.. 

Also.. i get severe anxiety about it, i dont even have anything scheduled yet when i think about it i get terrified, panic, go shaky and feel ill. What can i do about that?

Sorry for the ramble, i keep going into panic mode and i need someone to tell me its not that bad!

It's not that bad.

I was put under general anesthesia to have my four impacted wisdom teeth removed. Lots of chipping and drilling involved so they thought it was best that I be put under.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure they gave me gas before starting the IV. It wasn't enough to knock me out but it certainly made me very chatty and disconnected. They inserted the IV in the back of my hand for some reason (every other time I've had an IV, it's been in my forearm).

I don't know what to suggest about the anxiety. I have it myself and don't quite have it under control yet.

Thanks :) Ah that sounds more scary than my thing, although my wisdom teeth havnt come through yet so im not out of the woods on maybe needing them removed! 

Ah right, was that laughing gas then? (I dont know the real name for it) a couple of friends have had just that for other things and say its makes you out of it but still awake.. Yeah i think for general its always in the back of your hand, thats what ive been told. Im just hoping for some way it can be done without needles whilst im awake D: 

I have this weird fear that if i get knocked out by the drugs mid seizure something will go wrong and i wont wake up (i know thats completely ridiculous by the way!)

Hmm, when i went for the test for the stone which involved them putting some sharp tube in a salivary duct to inject dye through then x ray i was so nervous, it took me forever to lie down, then i wouldnt let them do it, i nearly got sent away because i was delaying them so much. I sound like such a baby but i just find it impossible to actually let people do something thats not going to be nice

Yes, laughing gas/nitrous oxide.

I understand your fear and anxiety. The only thing that has helped me be less anxious for medical procedures is going through several of them and feeling more comfortable with the process. I didn't (and I'm sure you don't) have a choice and had to suck it up and do it. Once I came through a couple of c-sections, a biopsy and repair of a laceration without major complications, I started feeling much more at ease.

It helps me to know exactly what the doctors are going to do. I usually make them give me a brief play-by-play so I know what to expect, awake or not.

Im sure it will ease like you say as ive been through a few things. This is my first surgery, i only had my first filling last summer and i was scared enough about that! (passed out at the local, but luckily that made sure i didnt pass out mid drilling!) I do have a choice (kind of) thats makes it worse in a way. It can be really painful when i eat, when it first came i couldnt eat anything solid but now its only really bad from time to time. Its also prone to infection because saliva basically gets stuck in the gland whenever i eat. So i dont really have a choice, all though i can just "live with it". If i did, it would probably get worse though e.g. more stones/bigger ones. Right now they are pretty tiny so the surgery will be easier. 

Not sure if i want to know, i probably will ask because i usually do, but often i end up feeling as though i wish i didnt know when it sounds horrible..

While I work in the operating room, I am there for major surgeries so this may not apply to you, so take it with a grain of salt.

Anyway anesthesia doesn't JUST use gas. For induction (when you first get put to sleep) they usually inject you with something along the lines of propofol (diprivan) (hypnotic - makes you lose consciousness), some narcotic, usually remifentanyl (for pain), and usually something like succinyl choline/rocuronium (for immobilization for when they intubate you). Once the patient is intubated depending on the anesthesia staff and the surgery the MDA/CRNA will switch to a mixture of gas and IV agents or gas only. N2O is popular becasue it doesn't cause cardiovascular changes the way other inhalational agents do such as desflurane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane.

Anyway I guess my point is that more likely than not they ARE going to have to put an IV in to get you asleep to begin with, then after they may use gases.

They usually give you versed beforehand to calm you down, and most of the time you have a certain level of retrograde amnesia so after the surgery you won't even remember what happened before you were put to sleep.

Thanks for the info.. im  Ive just worked out, its mouth surgery, cant exactly have a gas mask on.. feel a bit daft its taken me this long to work that out. Unless its one of those little ones that just go on your nose. Im having it done at a dental hospital since they specialise in oral surgery so im sure they have that covered. 

I think it was wishful thinking that i could get away without an IV, the thought of them makes me feel ill but i will just have to deal with it a suppose. 

I think the lead up will be the worst though with my anxiety, i can almost guarantee you i wont sleep the night before and if theres lots of build up before i just know im going to feel so panicked and uncomfortable. Thats kind of the worst bit, at least when its done im knocked out and dont have a clue. 

I despise needles as well. Whenever I have to get a vaccine or a blood-test or whatever it is I dread it. No reason for it since the pain is very, very minimal. I just don't like other people sticking me with things.

Every time I've had surgery they've started an IV before doing anything else. But if you're really nervous I bet you could request an anti anxiety medication to be prescribed at your surgery consult appointment that you could take before going in to surgery. Or they could give you nitrous oxide prior to starting your IV. Generally health care workers are pretty sympathetic about different anomalies you might have and want to help you overcome them if you talk about it ahead of time. I'd set up a surgery consult and talk to the doctor about your fear and make a plan for what will happen when you go into surgery so you know exactly what to expect and you know that they'll work with you to make you as comfortable as possible.

FYI: I've had laughing gas on the entire time during mouth surgery (while my wisdom teeth were extracted) the gas mask is fitted to your nose and I was told to breath through my nose not mouth. Only other thing I can add is to make sure your current doctor(s) knows about your history including the seizures and anxiety. These guys are professionals and no matter how awkward you think it is to talk about it  - these peeps have seen it all!

The last i have heard about any of this was my results form the sailogram (the bit with the sharp tube and dye) and my doctor asked if she should refer me for the suggested surgery so i agreed.. Will i have some sort of meeting with them before? Surely the first appointment i get wont actually involve the surgery? 

Yeah all the doctors know about my funny turns, that's the reason i have to have it under general rather than local. I think its very precise surgery with tiny equipment so if i was thrashing about all over the place it would be impossible.

I hope i can have nitrous oxide before, the thought of things in my hand makes my stomach churn..

Also, im in the UK if that affects anything. Im waiting on the NHS.. It started hurting the 3rd of march, went to the doctors on the 5th.. so this has been a very slow process already

Generally you have a surgery consult and then schedule the surgery at the end of that meeting with the doctor. At the surgery consult they explain what's going to happen, how long recovery will be, how you'll manage your pain afterwards, what you can and can't eat, etc. So that's a really good time to explain your fears and ask about them making a few accommodations for you. Just make sure you are serious about it, they're definitely capable of making it comfortable but sometimes it's a tiny bit hard to get doctors to make accommodations. It can be really annoying going through the whole health care system. I just got my gall bladder out and had to go to see my general practitioner, get an ultra sound, go to 2 surgery consults, and finally have surgery. From start to finish it took a month.