Read part 1 for the background to this post.
After my chemotherapy was over, I was asked to go for several tests again. I had to decide what kind of surgery I wanted. Two options were given to me considering ontological safety and cosmesis and it was a very tough week where I weighed the pros and cons of each type of surgery. I tapped to trust my instincts and made a decision.
The day before the surgery, they put dye in my left breast under the CT scan. It was so painful that I was crying and tapping on the scan table. One permission that I gave to myself during this journey was to never stop my tears. If they flowed, they flowed.
By the time I got admitted to the hospital, I had already had four injections. After admission, an IV line was put on my hand. Then they gave me an intramuscular injection to stop blood clotting, an injection to draw blood, another anti-allergic injection, and a few more that I don’t remember. By the time they were finished, I was ready to bolt from the hospital. But again, I tapped to regulate myself and prepared my mind for the upcoming surgery.
EFT Statements for Surgery: Handling Fear, Anxiety, and Overwhelm with Ease
On the day of the surgery, there was a 30-minute wait before I was taken to the operation theatre. I was in the pre-operative area in my surgical attire, lying down and staring at the lights on the ceiling. The nurses were waiting for the doctors to arrive.
During that time, I felt alone; to feel better, I started humming a song and tapping. It instantly calmed me.
I tapped on:
- I trust my team of doctors to take me safely through this procedure.
- I am hoping for the best outcome for this procedure.
- All I need to do is to stay calm and the rest of my team will handle everything else.
In my experience, the key to effective tapping is to acknowledge our honest feelings without judgement. However, when it comes to on-the-spot tapping, due to the time constraint and practical reasons, compassionate and realistic statements can be helpful.
I also tapped on:
- Even though I’m afraid of the surgery, I choose to have compassion for myself.
- Even though I’m scared of general anesthesia, I am open to experiencing more calm and ease around this.
- Even though I’m scared, I am open to the surgery going smoothly and safely.
After five-and-a-half hours of surgery, I woke up in the observation room. Later I was taken to my own room, where I couldn’t eat for the next four to five hours. I had three drain tubes hanging from the left side of my body, compression stockings on my legs that were meant to stop clotting, and several other medical gadgets that made me feel trapped. The immobilization was scary and took some time to adjust to.
Facing Complications
Later that day, I developed a complication: a clot at the surgical site. The surgeons were immediately notified, and they found a swelling due to the drain tube being blocked. They started preparing me for another emergency surgery. Going under general anesthesia twice in a day was a tough call.
I had been calm before the first surgery, but preparing my mind for the second surgery was very difficult. I felt like running away. I panicked. I cried. I wanted to quit. But I tapped through it all. I decided to surrender to whatever was about to unfold instead of clutching at the outcome. I knew in that moment that positivity wouldn’t help me—only surrender would. Thankfully the surgery went well. I was on the oxygen mask afterwards for several hours and drifting in and out of sleep. My throat was parched and no liquid was allowed. I did some mental tapping to tolerate all the discomfort. After five days of being pricked and prodded under observation, I was finally discharged.
After a week of being at home, I developed an infection, which took a long time to resolve. I noticed that the healing accelerated when I tapped on the anger I was holding onto about one of the doctors.
After recovery from surgery, I started preparing for the next step: radiation. This will be the topic of the next article.
Throughout this process, I noticed that the doctors and nurses emphasized positivity, resilience, and fighting spirit. While that was helpful, it didn’t always fit my experience. Naming my honest feelings with tapping helped me more than being optimistic all the time. Tapping created the space for me to listen to what my body was saying without judgement.
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Puja Kanth is a certified master trainer of trainers with EFT International. Based in Tamil Nadu, India, she has 16+ years of experience in the field of therapy. Her background in psychology has helped her in providing safe and gentle client-centered psychotherapy and EFT sessions.
Image credit: Stephen Andrews on Unsplash
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