On May 1 of this year, I went in super early in the morning with Stephen to prep for surgery. I had to be there at 6 am. I was scheduled for a laparascopic cholecystectomy. I was ready to be done with the side pains after eating! I’ve only been put under general anesthesia twice in my life before this–tonsils/adenoids and broken elbow. So, it was interesting going through all of this as an adult. Being on the patient side of the medical world is a different experience when you’re a trained healthcare provider.
I was really pleased with the people prepping me though. They had started my IV and all that, and anesthesia came in and asked me if I was ready for my margarita. HA! After that, I don’t remember anything until I was being woken up by nurses in recovery. As a side note here, I asked Stephen if I was already asleep as they were rolling me out to surgery. He said I wasn’t, but I was talking pretty funny. They had a curtain between me and the patient next to me and it was a scene of a stream and trees, etc, you know a real peaceful scene. Stephen said as they were rolling me out, I was saying things like, “Whoa, those trees look REAL!” HA! I remember none of this. So funny how those drugs work. My surgery started shortly after 7am and lasted a little over an hour.
When I woke up in the PACU, the nurses told me it was over. I didn’t even remember going to sleep, so I was like, wow! 🙂 Then, they asked if I was in pain. Yes. Pushed some drugs. Still in pain? Yes. Pushed more drugs. Still in pain? Yes. Pushed more drugs. Ah, relief. Then, they said I needed to wake up and open my eyes. Seriously?! You just gave me tons of drugs that I’m sure have the side effect of drowsiness, and you expect me to open my eyes?! Whatever. I told these ladies that I had 3 kids at home and I rather enjoyed the rest! HA!
They kept me in the PACU for a long time because I wouldn’t wake up to make them happy, but more than that, my BP was low. Oh, and while they were telling me to open my eyes, etc, I continued to talk to them. I told them I could talk to them and answer all of their questions, but I just could.not.open.my.eyes. Like I just couldn’t keep them open! Then, I tried to convince them that my BP always ran on the low side, so really 80s/40s wasn’t something to be concerned about. Plus, my pulse was fine, so I was certain I wasn’t bleeding out anywhere. Yes, I figured this out and tried to communicate this to them even though I couldn’t open my eyes. They called anesthesia who cleared me to move to regular recovery even though my BP was low. They believed me. 🙂 BUT…those PACU nurses still held me over for even longer. They finally decided to take me to regular recovery. I had been in the PACU for a really long time already!
So, in regular recovery I went and finally saw Stephen. They had been calling him in the waiting room to update him occasionally since I was gone for so long. So, then, my regular recovery time began. ~Sigh~ This took a long time as well! And, I was nauseous as well, so they were trying to give me drugs to help ease that. Still the low BP continued. My friend, Julie, had joined Stephen in the waiting room and came into recovery as well. At this time, she was finishing up nursing school, and she worked some in the PACU as a nurse tech. But, she was not working this day. She did some nursing work that day though! HA!
So, the sleeping, “you need to wake up,” “you need to open your eyes,” “your BP is LOW” began again. I could’ve slept a whole lot better if they had just left me alone! hehe. But, they even tried to feed me. YACK! And, that’s exactly what I did. They convinced me to eat something and I finally gave in (although I didn’t want anything). Saltine cracker which just sat in my mouth and turned to cotton. Then, some jello…which seemed to increase in volume as I puked it all back up! Uggh. Then, I was supposed to go to the potty. For real?! I felt so dizzy, but they helped me to the potty. I finally was able to void, but then I hardly got back to the bed because I was so dizzy and nauseous. Horrible.
They called anesthesia AGAIN about my BP. AGAIN, anesthesia cleared me. AGAIN, the nurse didn’t let me go. So, when the nurse was gone and the automatic BP was going, it went off one time when I had that arm up (I was on my side), and it was 70s/40s. My friend, Julie, silenced the alarm quickly, and I got back onto my back, shook my arm all around, and said, “GO! Take it again!” HA! Nothing like a couple of nurses messing with the system. That raised it a little bit. haha.
Finally they decided to let me go, even though I was incredibly nauseous, dizzy, and felt rotten. But, they could only give me more drugs, which would only magnify the problem. A little transporter girl came to push my wheelchair to the lobby. This young gal was in a hurry! I told her that if she didn’t want me to puke on the way, she had better slow down! HA! She did slow down a little bit, but she whipped around those corners. UGGH! She waited with me while Stephen went and got the truck. I got into the back seat and laid down across it, and had my puke bag ready.
When we got home  a little after 3 (normally, the outpatient gb surgeries go home by noon at the absolute latest, but usually before that…), Stephen had to carry me inside. It was so romantic with him carrying me across the threshold… HA! He laid me in the bed. I did puke again at some point, but then I slept for a long time, but did finally wake up, and I finally felt no nausea or dizziness.
But, the drama of my recovery continued after this lovely day! 🙂
To be continued.