"Same Day Operation"

I attended the day surgery unit on Friday 15th February for a morning appointment at 07:30 to have an operation to remove some nodules on my vocal chords. I was not looking forward to the procedure as I suffer from Trypanophobia and really all things medical, not being able to watch Holby City (maybe a blessing) or even your own programme 24 hours in A&E. My fear is quite irrational and I almost cancelled the operation as a result. However I met with the anaesthetist in the morning and he could clearly see that I was in distress and together we worked out that using gas to put me under and then putting the candela in my foot was probably the best thing. He also listened to me when I said that when I was up I would be freaked out by seeing it in my foot and could he make sure it was covered up to which he agreed. Now I don’t want to say that I disbelieved him but I have bad experiences with people before in my asking for alternatives to taking blood so although I believed him and trusted him there was still an element of doubt. I was then taken to theatre around 11:45 via anaesthetic where I met the anaesthetist again and he talked me through what he was going to do and reassured me through the process.

After I woke up I had a nurse with me who was excellent and really helped me. She had been briefed about my fear and so the needle in my foot was covered up. She had to take it out and this was done in a very sympathetic manner and she even put music on for me on her laptop. She talked to me throughout as she could see that I was visibly upset and panicked. She also kept me informed of what was going on and was friendly, warm and kind and I cannot thank her enough. She took me to recovery in a wheelchair and then sat with me until a chair came up and then he left. All this time her and I communicated through me writing notes on paper and her responding verbally

I would like to say to them both that they made something that for me I was having nightmares about into as pleasant an experience as it could possibly be and I would like to thank them both very much.