At some point, you will change into a hospital gown. A nurse may give you a shot in either the arm or leg. This shot usually consists of two or three drugs. One is to dry up saliva and stomach and lung secretions, one is a pain killer, and the third (optional) is an anti-nauseant. These drugs make up the routine preparation for any general anesthetic. These drugs are only given if requested by your doctor.

In The Operating Room

Most often, you are wheeled to the operating room on a bed, and then transferred directly onto the operating table. Once in the operating room, you will notice everyone wearing masks, gowns, hats and slippers. If the anesthetist hasn't already visited you, he or she will check your medical history again. The anesthetist will then put a needle into your vein, in the wrist area, and run through it a solution containing sugar and water or electrolytes and water. Putting this needle in can cause some discomfort but it is short-lived. Using this same intravenous line, the anesthetist will inject a drug that acts quickly to produce sleep. In fact, by the time you have counted to 10, you will be out.

After this, the anesthetist places a mask over your face and turns on the gases that will keep you asleep throughout the entire operation. In an emergency D-and-C, the anesthetist will also put a tube down your throat and into your lungs to prevent any of the stomach's contents from getting into your lungs and to monitor your breathing better. During the operation, the anesthetist will carefully monitor your pulse, blood pressure and breathing.

The Operation

The general practitioner or gynecologist places your feet in stirrups, and then does an ordinary pelvic exam to feel the size of your uterus and its position in the pelvis. He or she will also examine your ovaries and tubes on each side.

Next, the doctor places a metal speculum into your vagina, and washes off the vagina and cervix with an antiseptic solution. Then the doctor puts a clamp on the cervix and passes a uterine sound through the cervix as far as it will go. This sound measures the length of your uterus, and shows the direction of your cervical canal.

Following this, your cervix is gradually opened up using a series of metal rods or dilators starting with one the size of a straw and working up to one the size of your thumb. Here the two operations differ.

D-and-C: The lining of your uterus is then carefully removed using curettes. The curette is a spoon-like instrument with a long handle and sharp edges that can scrape the inner walls of the uterus. These scrapings are then sent to the lab for further studies. The whole operation takes only five to 15 minutes on average.

HYSTEROSCOPY: The special lighted instrument needed to perform the specific operation (with its video camera attached) is then inserted through the cervix. The vaginal speculum is removed. Then the liquid or gas used to expand the uterine cavity is allowed to flow into the uterus through a tube connected to the lighted instrument. While viewing the inside of the uterus on a television screen, the surgeon then proceeds to perform the surgery. It could be the removal of fibroids or the uterine lining or any of the possibilities listed above.

During the surgery, the surgeon must pay close attention to the amount of fluid going in and out of the uterus. Once the surgery is completed, the inside of the uterus is examined one last time to check for any bleeding. This operation will take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours, with the average length of surgery being about one hour.

After Surgery

Just before you wake up, the doctor checks for bleeding, lifts your feet out of the stirrups, and puts a sanitary napkin in place.

However you won't wake up until the recovery room. A first you will feel drowsy and everything will look blurry. When you are more awake, you will go back to your room.