For most people with sweaty hands, they have had 20, 30 or even 40 years to get used to and adapt to their condition. In fact, most people with sweaty hands have lived their whole lives like this so they don't actually know any different. So one of the most important things you need to know is that after ETS surgery, there is no transition period to help ease you into your new life. From the moment you wake up from surgery, yes, your sweaty hands will be gone, but you also need to adjust to the new medical issues you now have.

And this is going to be a huge shock to the system for some. It certainly was for me. I think I cried every single day for nearly 3 months after my surgery wondering what the hell I had done. (And I'm no sook. I think the last time I shed a tear was probably 20 years prior when my father passed away). 

After my surgery, I was sweating profusely like I had just stepped out of the shower. My mouth and throat were extremely dry, I couldn't empty my bladder properly, my eyes were sensitive to sunlight, I couldn't sleep, I had nerve pain in both arms, I was having dizzy spells, I was constantly nauseous, I was fatigued, and I was downright scared. Over the coming weeks and months, I would see specialist after specialist to try and get to the bottom of all my issues and all the test results would come up perfectly normal. How could this be? Am I going nuts? How is it that nobody else can see what is now happening to me?

But the worst part was going back to see my surgeon. I made a list of every single side-effect I now had, and his response for nearly each one was simply 'that's not a result of the surgery'. What? These all started immediately I woke up. How could he sit there and deny he didn't cause any of this? I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing. Here I was thinking that the only person in the world who was going to understand what I was going through would be my surgeon. Talk about a massive kick in the guts.

And the sweating? He said 'well I did warn you about that'. And the best advice he could offer was to start wearing cotton t-shirts under my clothing to absorb all the sweat. What I really needed was a wetsuit if I wanted to stop all the sweat soaking my work uniform.

And then the PTSD kicked in (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). My body then felt like it was starting to shut down. You know that weird feeling you get throughout your body when you wake up in the morning after a full nights sleep and have a yawn and a big stretch? That's exactly how I then started to feel ALL the time. I couldn't think straight, my body was all shaky, my co-ordination was affected, and I even found it extremely difficult to drive my car.

Anyway, enough rambling. So... the point that I am trying to make is that you need to know that during this transition period, you may need professional counseling. None of your friends or family will have any idea what the hell you are going through. Apart from the sweating, you still look perfectly fine. So you will need to factor in the likelihood of this as part of your recovery. I don't know why or how it helps, it just does. Just don't expect your counselor to know anything about ETS surgery. You might even need to refer them to this website ;)