epidural

justdance · February 21, 2011

Please tell me that we won't be receiving this shot prior to surgery. I heard a little rumor yesterday that certain surgeries they r now doing epidurals with and I was hoping that it was just for waist down surgeries. Please help!!! Scared first it was the catheter now this :-(

Middlesister57 · February 21, 2011

I highly doubt that they will do the surgery this way. Check with your surgeons office for sure. Seems very odd to me.

myrori · February 21, 2011

I thought I heard some folks getting one, I personally would not want to be awake for that at all! Check with your personal surgeon, if they are being done, it is a very small percentage.

justdance · February 21, 2011

Well u r still put out but they use the epidural to keep u more numb

lucill35 · February 22, 2011

I had the same fears of both an epidural as well as a catheter. I had my surgery with Dr. Aceves on 1/29 and when I met with the anesthesiologist he said they hadn't been doing the epidural for about 6 months and I didn't have a catheter either. I was also afraid of the IV stick and expressed that and he told me "not to worry. i would get a happy pill 30 minutes before my surgery and i wouldn't even be aware." i was a difficult stick because after the surgery i noticed 3 different spots of bruising on my hand and several on my arm that were not where the IV ended up but I have no recall of any of it :rolleyes:

Good luck to you!

jerri · February 22, 2011

Epidurals are used only by some anesthesiologists for additional pain control. I cannot imagine any certified surgeon using only epidural.

Disney · February 22, 2011

I had the same fears of both an epidural as well as a catheter. I had my surgery with Dr. Aceves on 1/29 and when I met with the anesthesiologist he said they hadn't been doing the epidural for about 6 months and I didn't have a catheter either. I was also afraid of the IV stick and expressed that and he told me "not to worry. i would get a happy pill 30 minutes before my surgery and i wouldn't even be aware." i was a difficult stick because after the surgery i noticed 3 different spots of bruising on my hand and several on my arm that were not where the IV ended up but I have no recall of any of it

Good luck to you!

Hi! I cannot speak to whether Dr. Aceves does epidurals or not, but he does still use a spinal block for pain along with the general anesthesia. There are several on this site who had one with their surgery and Nina, my coordinator from Dr. Aceves' office told me I will have one as well. I say, the less pain the better! Unfortunately they only last about 2 hours.

The difference in an epidural and spinal block is just that the spinal is a one time deal whereas the epidural can be "refilled" with pain meds so to speak.

justdance · February 22, 2011

Im praying I don't have to have the spinal block.. I hope its just the good ol fashion iv sedition and pain meds after. My aunt had a spinal block for her hip replacements and they stuck her over 6 times till they got it... no thanku

TijuanaPlication · February 22, 2011

I had an epidural many years ago when I had an op on my leg. I didn't know I was getting the epidural and just woke up with it, so didn't have time to worry about it. I had the same op twice, once with an epidural and once without. With the epidural was great and it was bliss for ~20 minutes after I woke up.I'm sure you can get your surgeon to not give you one if you really don't want it though!

Rev Me Up! · February 23, 2011

I had a spinal block with my scheduled C-section in 2004 - no general anesthesia, so I was awake and aware for the experience :-) If they put you to sleep first, you won't know the difference. If they don't, the only thing you feel are the 2 local anesthetic shots they use before the larger needle goes in. The block was 1 million times better than not having something for the pain, that's for sure.

Also, they put in my catheter after the spinal block, so I didn't feel that either.

Take advantage of any anti-anxiety meds they want to give you ahead of time - call your doctor and ask if you can have something to help you get through the process. Like any surgery, once they start, you will be out like a light and you won't feel a thing.

Good luck!

Lara