fear of surgery

any body would be afraid to undergo any suergery. Its natural. how ever minor it may be. i have under gone a minor surgery few years ago. inspite of being a doctor, i had had butterflies in my stomach.

in my practice i have seen many types of reactions to fear and anxiety. some patients keep on talking, and some remain absolutely quiet. some keep on eating, and some prefer to remain empty stomach. ( they are afraid their gut will give away due to fear.)

on the other hand, some patients are very cool about the whole affair.

there are two funny things that I have observed.

1) patients who claim to be mentally 'very, very' strong, and have an air of confidence around them, are the ones most likely to have cold feet while entering the operation theatre. they look as if they are heading towards the gallows!

where as patients who confide that they are hell a lot scared, are very quiet and calm during surgery.

may be, once the patient has confided with the doctor about his/her fears, he/she feels secure that the doctor will now take due care.

2) second amazing fact is that i have seen patients who were absolutely fine during the first surgery are scared much more during the second surgery. why?, i dont know!!

there was one 84 yr old grandpa, a retired primary teacher. his daughter is a practising dentist in mumbai and he stays here in Dapoli.

he was very cool and co-operative during the first ( right eye) surgery. even during the left eye surgery he was very cool, quiet, jovial and was in a good mood.

after 2 days he called me to his house for a cup of tea.

he showed me a note. he said that he was very afraid during the second operation, so much so that he was sure he was going to die while the eye operation was going on.

so he had kept a note in his pocket which said: " i am old and i am very much terrified about the operation. if i die during the operation due to heart attack or any other reason, please dont hold the doctor responsible. he is a good man and he has taken utmost care for my well being. please leave him alone after my death"

I still havent forgottrn that crumpled 'death' note.

now that grandpa laughs it off whenever he meets me.

but both of us will never forget the 'note'