Fear Of Anaesthetic by Jennie Baker

As we both had 15 minutes to spare I asked her if she would be willing to try a calming called EFT. She has had acupuncture in the past so she was open to the treatment. She is really terrified of going under anaesthetic (sud scale 10). After a brief explanation of EFT I proceeded to tap on her as she was tearful and was happy for me to do so.

• Even though I’m terrified of going under the anaesthetic, I deeply love and accept myself (sud scale 9).

• Even though I’m absolutely scared of anaesthetic, I deeply trust and have faith in myself / I’m in charge of my body / I’m in control (scale 3).

• Even though I hate / fear having to have anaesthetic for my operation, I choose to allow my body to flow with ease and peace into the anaesthetic.

• I choose to allow my whole being to accept the care and love that my colleagues and doctors are giving me, they are my friends.

• I choose to remember all the care and love that I share and give to my patients during anaesthesia and how calm they were and that gave me a wonderful feeling. I asked M to take a deep breath and breathe away a couple of times. She looked really relaxed and calm.

• I choose to take this lovely wonderful feeling with me when I’m having my anaesthetic.

• I choose to replace my fears with peace and calm. I will allow myself to flow with comfort, ease and peace into the anaesthesia and will awake feeling the same (scale 0).

M’s feedback: ‘Jennie began talking to me in her calming and reassuring voice and began gentle tapping on me as I was very tearful. Under her instruction I closed my eyes and trusted what she was saying and doing, she repeated certain statements and words for me to repeat and focus on. Quickly I felt all the negative feelings leaking away. I was so relaxed I was unaware of other people coming into the room.

I felt like I had been in a deep, refreshing sleep and it had only been a short time. When I was going back to my work area I felt so relaxed, all of my worries and concerns had vanished, in fact I felt quite giddy and cheerful. This feeling remained with me.

The next morning I felt a little anxious but mainly because I was hungry from being starved, I felt quietly confident. Jennie made some time to visit me on the ward prior to my surgery and did more relaxation techniques, using the key words and statements and the tapping. When it came for my operation I felt great, so relaxed and calm, I found myself laughing and joking with the staff.

I even woke up smiling after my operation with no complications and no anxiety at all. I am sure that is why I recovered so rapidly. Within an hour I was sipping tea with a chocolate biscuit.

I have never told Jennie that after her attentions I have actually never had a nightmare about my past operation experience.