This is me, after all, and random surgeries are as much a part of my life as anything else at this point. This one was #9 in a hair over 9 years, and it should have fallen in the bottom half as far as how complicated/serious/painful it would be. (Simple gallbladder removal as the pesky thing was filled completely with large stones.)
Once again, this is ME. I should have known a simple gallbladder removal wouldn't stay simple for long.
Surgery was Friday, at a local hospital. Of course, the surgeon I was seeing came highly recommended, but he doesn't operate out of the one local hospital I've had good luck with. Fine. Fingers crossed, things won't totally suck. I should have known I'd be wrong. Don't get me wrong- the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurse anesthetist (who is actually a family friend) all did great jobs. But the pre- and post- op groups? Were horrific at their jobs. Epically so.
The nurses refused to give me proper pain meds, despite them being ordered for me. No joke- they refused to give me the oxycodone the doctor ordered for me because I had already been given tylenol in my IV... even healthy patients aren't supposed to manage immediate post-op pain with 2 tylenol. At one point, I had to get up to pee, and before I even made it to the door of my room, I was bent in half, sobbing in pain. With my history of extreme pain, it takes a LOT to get to me. Plus, I now have the SCS implanted, and it allows me to get some pain coverage in my stomach, so I had it jacked as high up as I could get it to go.
It didn't help that my internal organs are more affected by the CRPS than we ever imagined. The air pressure from the laparoscopic procedure should not have caused such extreme pain for the length of time that it did, but it did, and the fact that the SCS helped cover that pain, along with the way it presented, taught us that my organs are more sensitive to pain than we knew.
Also, never, ever, ever trust a nurse at a post-op unit to understand the words, "I can't take the pain, somethings wrong." They blew me off and assumed I was making it all up. It finally got so bad my mom convinced them to release me, so that she could get me home and on to higher doses of pain meds. (Two low dose percocet shouldn't be a "much higher dose" than what a hospital gives you in post-op....) They were giving me 1/3 of what I should have been getting at the hospital. Once I got home and had access to heating pads and actual meds, I could breath again. Sad.
I did learn one thing from all of this: to only have surgery at a few, select hospitals. I don't care how fancy they are, they can still be a nightmare waiting to happen (I'm looking at you, Rochester Methodist...). Stick to what you know works. Any future local surgeries will held at a single hospital, the place that did my SCS. Because, well, this is me. There will be more surgeries, it's just a matter of what they turn out to be for.
Showing posts with label gallbladder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gallbladder. Show all posts
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
My apologies for the vanishing act
I just wanted to take a moment to apologize for vanishing recently. Life has been... complicated, to say the least.
I should probably explain that my last surgery was an experience straight out of nightmares. The first day I was post-op, my assigned Hospitalist (a doctor who manages your care while you're inpatient) got his hands on my chart and promptly yanked me off more than half of my meds. This included an extended release pain medication that acts in the brain as both a sudo-narcotic (a non-narcotic that can trigger the same withdrawal symptoms as the real deal when stopped abruptly) and a SSRI (class of antidepressant). They also withheld my SNRI (a type of antidepressant used to control long term chronic pain), and nearly all of my GI medications. So I spent 5 days in hell. I was freezing cold one second then extremely overheated the next. I would sweat through my sheets in minutes after they changed them. I've never been so anxious in my life. My heart rate was through the roof and if I so much as breathed deeply, my heart rate monitor would sound an alarm. I actually spent 3 days screaming, "There's bees in my wrist!! Oh, my god, there's bees in my wrist!!" And the doctors? Did nothing but stand there and watch. Only on the 5th day did anyone bother to do anything, and even then they didn't bother to give me my proper meds. Instead, a nurse talked a doctor into giving me a dose of Ativan, which finally allowed me to calm down enough to explain to the friend there caring for me what was wrong. She promptly went and got my meds from the hotel and gave my meds from home, and in hours, I was on my way towards normal. It was only until after I'd been out of the hospital for a full 24 hours before I could manage to hold down any food or drink. In the week I was inpatient? I held down a single sip of Sprite.
So obviously, the word "Surgery" is not a pleasant one for me. We don't know if I have full blown PTSD at this point or just severe situational anxiety, but the idea of an inpatient stay or surgery terrifies me. This isn't a good idea for someone with health issues that require frequent surgery. This SCS implant will be my 8th surgery in 9 years.
Despite the rising anxiety about the SCS surgery, I decided I couldn't let other things slip, and I made an appointment with my GI doc about a month ago. I had been having occasional intestinal pain after eating and combined with a few other symptoms, the possibilities included Crohns Disease and the RSD/CRPS spreading to my intestines. After a round of testing, the results were in. The newest addition to my list of GI issues? Severe Gallstones. Apparently, my gallbladder is "completely filled with extremely large stones". The quote is from the radiology report. After they got done being floored I'm not in more pain (seriously? I have CRPS- pain is as common as breathing), they told me I need surgery #9, to remove my gallbladder. Two days ago I had a gallbladder attack, where one of the stones shifted and caused major pain, which necessitated a trip to the ER for an injection of pain meds and nausea meds. Thankfully, the meds relaxed my body enough to allow the stone to shift again and the pain is back to it's normal level.
Between the gallbladder going bad, I've had one major dental issue after another. My autoimmune issues cause my teeth to rot, and I usually end up with 10-14 fillings per year. In the last 2 months, I've had a tooth chip while eating toast of all things, which resulted in a crown. I've had my normal cleaning and 5 fillings. A filling chipped off, which meant an extra appointment to fix it. Then I ended up with an abscessed tooth out of nowhere- I had no real risk factors for an infection like that. The abscess meant a full root canal. Then the infection came back. Add in removing more material and a second round of mega antibiotics. I go back tomorrow and if I'm lucky, we'll just pack the tooth with permanent filling and I'll be done. If I'm unlucky, I'll end up needing surgery #10, to surgically remove the nerves at the tip of the roots, since sometimes the infection lingers up there. I have no way of knowing which way this appointment will go, since I'm still having jaw pain and sensitivity.
I have to say, the thought of facing 2-3 surgeries in as many months is terrifying. I've spent more than one night lately curled up in a ball trying desperately to remember to just breath. It's not easy to remember. This would be easier if I were dealing with surgeons I knew, but the unknown? Terrifying. Simply terrifying.
So I apologize for the quiet, though I will try my best to keep everyone up to date on the SCS process and various surgeries. Depending on how I feel, the post the day after the SCS might be made by a friend. I promise she's as crazy as I am. ;)
I should probably explain that my last surgery was an experience straight out of nightmares. The first day I was post-op, my assigned Hospitalist (a doctor who manages your care while you're inpatient) got his hands on my chart and promptly yanked me off more than half of my meds. This included an extended release pain medication that acts in the brain as both a sudo-narcotic (a non-narcotic that can trigger the same withdrawal symptoms as the real deal when stopped abruptly) and a SSRI (class of antidepressant). They also withheld my SNRI (a type of antidepressant used to control long term chronic pain), and nearly all of my GI medications. So I spent 5 days in hell. I was freezing cold one second then extremely overheated the next. I would sweat through my sheets in minutes after they changed them. I've never been so anxious in my life. My heart rate was through the roof and if I so much as breathed deeply, my heart rate monitor would sound an alarm. I actually spent 3 days screaming, "There's bees in my wrist!! Oh, my god, there's bees in my wrist!!" And the doctors? Did nothing but stand there and watch. Only on the 5th day did anyone bother to do anything, and even then they didn't bother to give me my proper meds. Instead, a nurse talked a doctor into giving me a dose of Ativan, which finally allowed me to calm down enough to explain to the friend there caring for me what was wrong. She promptly went and got my meds from the hotel and gave my meds from home, and in hours, I was on my way towards normal. It was only until after I'd been out of the hospital for a full 24 hours before I could manage to hold down any food or drink. In the week I was inpatient? I held down a single sip of Sprite.
So obviously, the word "Surgery" is not a pleasant one for me. We don't know if I have full blown PTSD at this point or just severe situational anxiety, but the idea of an inpatient stay or surgery terrifies me. This isn't a good idea for someone with health issues that require frequent surgery. This SCS implant will be my 8th surgery in 9 years.
Despite the rising anxiety about the SCS surgery, I decided I couldn't let other things slip, and I made an appointment with my GI doc about a month ago. I had been having occasional intestinal pain after eating and combined with a few other symptoms, the possibilities included Crohns Disease and the RSD/CRPS spreading to my intestines. After a round of testing, the results were in. The newest addition to my list of GI issues? Severe Gallstones. Apparently, my gallbladder is "completely filled with extremely large stones". The quote is from the radiology report. After they got done being floored I'm not in more pain (seriously? I have CRPS- pain is as common as breathing), they told me I need surgery #9, to remove my gallbladder. Two days ago I had a gallbladder attack, where one of the stones shifted and caused major pain, which necessitated a trip to the ER for an injection of pain meds and nausea meds. Thankfully, the meds relaxed my body enough to allow the stone to shift again and the pain is back to it's normal level.
Between the gallbladder going bad, I've had one major dental issue after another. My autoimmune issues cause my teeth to rot, and I usually end up with 10-14 fillings per year. In the last 2 months, I've had a tooth chip while eating toast of all things, which resulted in a crown. I've had my normal cleaning and 5 fillings. A filling chipped off, which meant an extra appointment to fix it. Then I ended up with an abscessed tooth out of nowhere- I had no real risk factors for an infection like that. The abscess meant a full root canal. Then the infection came back. Add in removing more material and a second round of mega antibiotics. I go back tomorrow and if I'm lucky, we'll just pack the tooth with permanent filling and I'll be done. If I'm unlucky, I'll end up needing surgery #10, to surgically remove the nerves at the tip of the roots, since sometimes the infection lingers up there. I have no way of knowing which way this appointment will go, since I'm still having jaw pain and sensitivity.
I have to say, the thought of facing 2-3 surgeries in as many months is terrifying. I've spent more than one night lately curled up in a ball trying desperately to remember to just breath. It's not easy to remember. This would be easier if I were dealing with surgeons I knew, but the unknown? Terrifying. Simply terrifying.
So I apologize for the quiet, though I will try my best to keep everyone up to date on the SCS process and various surgeries. Depending on how I feel, the post the day after the SCS might be made by a friend. I promise she's as crazy as I am. ;)
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