Yes me again and still troubled lol x just want to throw it out there to all you who have had hip replacement . ..what's best spinal block or completely out let me know your feelings on this one please xx just don't know what to do that's if I even get a choice I suppose lol xx
There Was no way i was having it done under anything other than a general, when i told the anethatist he asked do you want looked at my face and shaking hand and said no you dont, then sorted the ga.
Totally knocked out works for me. I find I recover quite quickly. But saying that I can't have spinal any way.
Spinal is supposed to be easier to recover from.
With spinal, you can choose just how much sedation you want.
From none at all (me, listened tomy ipod and the surgeon's commentary), to 'totally out of it' where you know absolutely nothing.
Regards
Graham
So if your given ga are you also given spinal sorry I don't know much about it am seeing my consultant Thursday guess he will tell me more xx
I had both and the spinal isn't that bad recovery is better than full ga you get a bit of discomfort as they put it in but the light ga puts you out
I had the block coz I'm louder with full A. I'm not a panicky nervy person and love all hospital programmes and nosey lol. It was the most surreal experience! I also chose no sedation, but could have had it at a seconds notice!!
They played Adele. The Surgeon and I sang Someone like You! He talked about his cooking skills etc, Anaethatist answered every question re what he was putting into my canular. There Was sawing lol and huge amount of hammering!! Thought my teeth would fall out lol, but of pulling sensation but obv u feel nothing.within 4 hours all feeling in legs feet etc was back. Totally Brilliant ( if you're crazy like me) lol
I was scarred of what choice to make butwhen i met my lovely anaethetist i went for the spinal and heavy sedation and it was the best
I didnt see or hear anything and recovered quicker then ga
Hi Vanessa
I had spinal plus sedation for both my hip ops and felt fine when I woke up in recovery. It also helps with the initial post op pain as takes a while for all the feeling in your legs to come back.
Having a chat with your surgeon on Thurs will help plus with your anaethetist on the day of your op.
Linnet x
What are your thoughts Vanessa? Are you concerned about one or both?
I was worried too but it seems that almost everyone was happy with what they had.
Hi Vanessa -
It is a personal choice ... I did not want to hear or smell anything , or even feel pulling - No matter how they tried to convince me that I wouldn't - So GA for me both times - I took a deep breath and opened my eyes in the recovery room -
all done - no side effects to mention - no catheter, normal feeling in leg -
But like Keena commented: everybody seems to be happy with the choice they made !
You are in good hands!
warm hug
renee
I had a general too Renee, and for the same reasons. No sights and sounds surgery for me. No way Hosay. I was very stressed about it for weeks before the op though.
me too ! I thought spinal was mandatory and I had no say it this - Silly of course , but hey, Holland might have different rules than California ...
I would have flown back to L.A. for the surgery, just to get me GA -
I am kidding !!!!!
I had a GA. it was fine. Recovered really quickly. I think my surgeon prefers people to be knocked out. Most of her patients have a GA. Cannot imagine her singing along to anything or chatting at all!
I had spinal with sedation, I knew nothing about the op, just woke up on the ward afterwards. Tony
No smells btw xx
GA knocks you out, requires intubation, and blocks all pain for its duration.
Spinal block kills the pain and wears off slowly afterwards so you get some post op pain relief from it. It can be combined with various degrees of sedation, from none to deep. With deep sedation you are asleep.
i was very clear I wanted a GA, the anaesthetist agreed 'cos he could see I was very definite, but asked permission to give me, whilst I was under the GA, towards the end of the op, a nerve block in the groin. This was to help with post op pain
All people are different, this was my best choice
You either get a General, or a Spinal with sedation.
No problem, I'm not medically trained, it's all a learning curve.
With the General anaestetic, you get a jab in your arm, and wake up after the op.
With the spinal, you get the jab in the back (spine), which numbs the lower half of your body completely, then they add sedation (or not in my case 
) to either relax you, or put you out completely. The anethetist will discuss how much sedation you want - just let him know. I opted for none, but added that if in his opinion I needed some during the operation (like if I became agitated), he was free to give me what ever he thought medically best.
If you have max sedation, you wake up after the op, but are still unable to feel the pain below the waist.
If in doubt, keep asking them questions until you are satisfied.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Graham
Vanessa,
Gaby and I are of the same type - we both went for no sedation.
I had to provide my own music as my surgeon did not have any (should I get a refund?).
It was interesting hearing him explaining to an observer (unseen by me) exactly what he was doing, hearing him doing things but not being able to feel it.
As Gaby says, there is some noise (the saw, and when he reamed out the acetabular socket, and drilled for the screws, and hammering in the new socket and the femoral stem) which is not for the faint hearted.
We must both be crazy, but for me it was (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
There are also instructive videos on YouTube if you have hot heard enough already .
Regards,
Graham
Soglad you had a good anethetist - I must say mine was wonderful, put me at ease straight away, and kept checking that I was OK throughout the operation.
Very quick recovery.
Regards
Graham