Hi there
Sorry I only just saw your earlier post asking about GA. You're right, it is 'longer' in that you have to be at the hospital quite early in the morning. I think I was the second person into theatre, at around 9am. Apparently you are only out for 15 mins or something, but you can't tell. I remember saying to the anaesthetist "oh that's wierd I can feel it cold going in" (the liquid they put in - i guess it's what they use to knock you out?) then the next I remember was waking up in recovery. They make you stick around until you've had a pee, I think because they put a catheter in while they are working on you and need to make sure your waterworks have gone back to normal operating procedure afterwards :-)
The nurse who looked after me in the hospital was brilliant too by the way. When I got a bit hysterical before going in, he calmed me down, brought me glass of water and joked about it being a shame he couldn't bring me a G&T. I was probably far from calm to be honest, but the staff were all really professional and know just how to reassure you when you're stressing out, without making you feel like an idiot!
They let me go home at around 11am. Bear in mind that if you've had a GA, you aren't supposed to drive and you should have someone with you for 24hrs afterwards. My mum came to pick me up and kept me company at home until Mr M got back from work. Oh yeah, and they'll give you a really sexy pair of compression stockings to wear for a couple of days :-)
I did feel a bit queasy for 1/2 hr or so when I got home, but I think that was down to ma's crazy idea of driving home on all the little twisty back roads to avoid the traffic - I'm not a great passenger at the best of times, so it likely had nothing to do with the GA. Apart from that, I maybe felt slightly tired and occasionally a little light-headed during the couple of days afterwards, but nothing major,and certainly OK to work and do everything normally.
If you can stand the LA, I suppose you're out in 1/2hr and can drive yourself home, but there is just no way I could do it. If, heaven forbid, I ever have to have another bite of the LLETZ cherry, I will definitely be asking for GA again.
Good luck m'dear and hope it all goes well for you on the 13th. I found recovery quite fine, didn't have any pain though found it best to avoid lifting anything much as when I did I could feel a little twinge inside. I took paracetomol and ibuprofen for a couple of days after the procedure, but didnt find that I needed anything after that.
Anything else you want to ask, please shout and I will do my best to answer
E
