Shareef O'Neal's heading to the operating table to fix his heart issue in December -- and his mom tells TMZ Sports she couldn't be more nervous for the UCLA superstar.
"I've been an emotional wreck, really. To be honest," Shaunie O'Neal says ... "I just really have. I still am. I'm just trying to push through."
We broke the story ... Shaq and Shaunie's son was diagnosed with an issue that will temporarily halt his hoops career -- and now that a date has been set for the open-heart surgery .