When you first woke up from surgery

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#1 Post by **OzzysMom** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:23 am

What were your thoughts/experiences? Were you frightened, cold, in pain, etc... I've been watching a lot of youtube videos about this lately and some of them look rather scary. I know everyone's surgical experience is different but with my surgery rapidly approaching, the nerves are starting to work overtime.
Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

#2 Post by **mannab271** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:52 am

Hey Ozzysmom.....
I'm about 7 or so weeks POST OP of a BSSO & segmented Lefort I. I can be honest and say that recovery wasn't THAT bad. You're so out of it you can't make heads or tails of what's goin on. I mean, I remember putting my arms out on the operating room table and then hearing a nurse call my name to wake me up in recovery...which then I went back to sleep then woke up again when they slapped ice on my face and then back to sleep I remember seeing all kinds of people in beds accross from me as they were too recovering from other surgeries. I DO remember saying to myself.."oh my gosh i actually went through with this" I barely remember the elevator ride to my room, and then I remember them asking me to move from the surgery bed to my bed in my room and thinking "are you crazy?" but did it with hardly no problem...catheter and all...and then feeling a tad naeusous (im so bad at spelling sometimes) from all the movement (which is the anesthsia and from what I hear normal) and then I didn't move for a day! lol

It's really the days ahead that I would consider the "worst" FOR ME PERSONALLY. But once you're on the other side...things in time get soooooooooo much better.

Hope this helps!!

#3 Post by **ema27** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:09 am

hi there-
First off tou tube videos are popular because it shows either graphic,gory or scary incidents-if they put on the normal ones where everything went well then it wouldnt be half as interesting...
My experience is that i was very groggy my first thought was i'm alive....i remember asking to go for a wee within a few minutes of waking up-i used a bedpan but how i didnt wee on the bed ill never know....

The folks in recovery were great from what i remember but you will probably feel groggy for about an hour or 2 or 3 it all depends >Once you perk up abit then they should put you back on the ward..
The first 12 hours i slept like a baby as i was drugged up to the eyeballs-after that it just gets frustrating not being able to talk much.I was tightly banded shut for the first 5 days thats the worse but get the first week out the way and it gets soo much better..
Good luck with everything.....

#4 Post by **Emaciated** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:26 am

It was not scary, was very calming actually and "sleepy" feeling.

I have a very detailed description of my experience in the details section http://www.thisisjustwrong.com if you haven't read it already. Click on "A Perspective on Surgery." Its not gorey and graphic but its not all whistles and bells either. You may be curious about the "Notes from the Recovery Room" section as well as it also pertains to your question.

#5 Post by **gatorseh** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:03 pm

I remember waking up in post-op recovery with a nurse at my feet telling me it was over. I started to panic a little because I felt like I had something in my throat I couldn't get up. The nurse used a little suction device in my mouth and then I went back to sleep. I woke up again when a guy was telling me I was going to my room and going to see my family and then I was wheeled into my room. I was really cognizant of everything going on from that point on. My family kept telling me I wouldn't remember anything and would be so out of it, but that wasn't the case! I was back in my room at 3 pm and I had the tv on for Ellen at 4.

#6 Post by **amd** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 1:34 pm

I have to say that my "wake up" was really smooth. I don't remember being in recovery at all. I do remember someone giving me a sponge bath - although at the time it felt like I was having a dream.
Next thing I remember is a nurse and my hubby standing beside my bed (in my room) and my hubby asking me if I had any idea what time it was. I was out for over 8 hours.

I woke up quite a bit during the night to have something to drink and go to the washroom and get ice for my face. It was fairly non-eventful.

I was not cold, nauseated, and I didn't have a sore throat until a couple of days later. I actually thought the first 48 hours were fairly easy. Probably because of the drugs.

#7 Post by **juanitOH** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:18 pm

I thought I had been daydreaming but I do remember the first thought running through my mind was "Hey, my front teeth are touching" after touching them with my tongue. Then I realized I couldn't move my mouth.

I hate hospitals (to the point where it's almost a phobia) so my hospital stay sucked..I was only there 2 days - I was originally just supposed to be overnight.

I was expecting to be in pain but there wasn't any at all. The only real frustrations are the obvious ones..the swelling, not being able to talk, and not being able to eat.

#8 Post by **loulou123** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:44 pm

Thought id share mine, when i woke up my intial thought was that i was dead-not sure why, but i wasnt scared more put out by it! lol

Then i realised someone was telling me to open my eyes, which i thought was weird as i was sure i had them open-which i didnt!

Everything was confused and groggy, but not scary or painful. I did keep moaning i felt sick, but they gave me something and i wasnt. (not sure if i ever felt sick, or just was worried about being sick as i have a phobia.)

Then i had a bleeding issue (more info on blog if required) but apart from this i was just half awake, half not. I was in recovery much longer than normal, but dont really remeber too much of it.

#9 Post by **Andantae** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:33 pm

What a fun post!

While they started wheeling me away to the OR, the sedative the gave me kicked in and I don't remember a thing until recovery! In recovery I remember them telling me a few times that they were keeping me there longer than they usually do as my heart rate was high from the steroids (usually I have a very low heart rate). At the time, I remember that I kept wondering why it was so high (my OS told me later it is from the steroids which I also reacted strongly to pre-op)

I then remember waking up in my room and, no kidding, feeling more rested and refreshed than I had in a long, long, time. Both my DH and I just couldn't believe how good I felt! After the 1st trip to the bathroom I was on my own and I remember going frequently all night as I drank copious amounts of liquids all night while watching TV. Yes, I stayed up all night as I was so wide awake and kept marveling at how truly wonderful I felt---the last thing I expected. Must have been the drugs still in my system and finally having a deep sleep (I had apnea). And, weird as it is, I don't mind being in the hospital at all.

Is your surgery the 8th Ozzy'smom?

#10 Post by **ohmyjaw** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:12 pm

Everything about the "waking up" is so fuzzy and hard to remember, but I think the first thing I remember was someone asking me if I was in pain, and I said yes, and they gave me a shot of something. Then I remember the oxygen mask and the suction thingy. (Only had to use that once - I did not have much bleeding at all).. Then I think I fell asleep again and the next thing I remember was waking up back in the ward, and having a really dry mouth from the oxygen mask, and asking for water. but they wouldn't give me any. So the rest of the night was spent mostly arranging ice packs on my face, and sleeping intermittently. Every time I tried to sit up in bed, I got so weak and dizzy I just had to lie down again.

So, overall it wasn't very pleasant, but wasn't awful either. The worst part of all was the nose-tube. Ugh.

#11 Post by **OzzysMom** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:17 am

Thanks for all the great responses and stories!

It seems like the worst part for people is the anticipation the days before which is what I am going through now. Each day as I watch that frog on my ticker hop closer to the end, the anxiety sets in more.

At least it seems like once they give you meds, you don't seem to really care much so I'm sure it will be that way for me too. However, the thought of waking up with tubes anywhere in my body or a catheter is rather frightening.

Andantae-Yes my surgery is on the 8th but I am leaving Sunday as they need me down there a couple of days early to put on surgical hooks and to see an internist and have blood work and other things.

#12 Post by **gatorseh** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 10:06 am

I had the exact same nervousness, OzzysMom! My anesthesiologist gave me Versit about an hour before my surgery and I have no recollection of anything from that point on. It is a glorious drug.

Definitely ask for something beforehand, it will help a great deal with the nerves.

As far as the catheter goes, I did not even notice I had one. When the nurse came to remove it later on I also barely noticed (I think I had sufficient morphine at this point). Don't worry!

#13 Post by **Lirpa** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:01 pm

I woke up in extreme pain, choking on blood, and panicking because I couldn't talk. It took hours for the pain to go down, with three or four doses of morphine, and lots of coughing up blood. Not trying to scare you, but my experience sounds worse than most others. It was really, really bad.

#14 Post by **OzzysMom** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 2:08 pm

Lirpa, I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience.
That is the type of scenario that frightens me. The lady who is arranging this whole trip for me said that she will be with me when I awaken, and the surgeon will probably be there as well. So I'll make sure I make my fears known before surgery so they will be able to assure me when I'm coming out of it. Hopefully I'll be so doped up that I won't care by then.

#15 Post by **Steph-in-WI** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:12 pm

Waking up for me was a very pleasant experience. I remember be wheeled down the hall in my bed, and hearing the nurse ask someone why I wasn't going to pediatrics. I remember asking what she was talking about (to my surprise, I could talk right out of surgery), and she said that pediatrics was for anyone 19 and under. I said, thank you, I am 34, I love you!

And then I saw my husband, and he walked along side me and held my hand until we got to my room. I had the nose tube in (pumping blood out of my stomach), and I remember being incredibly thirsty. They wouldn't let me drink anything until I had the tube out, which I finally convinced them to do by 7:30 at night because it didn't look like it was pumping anything out anymore.

As I said, I was talking right out of surgery, and within 3 hours of my operation I was posting on my blog and this site. I really bounced out of the anesthesia well it seems, and the hospital staff was wonderful. My post-op experience immediately out of surgery was a very positive one. My pain levels were very low as well, even though I had very little nerve damage, and used the morphine PCA very minimally.

It would be an interesting intellectual exercise if there were any way we could poll a large number of patients for each OS. (Yes, I know we can't, but it would be interesting) I wonder how much the incidence rates for problems like bleeding and nausea vary from one OS to another. I know individual patient health, anatomy, and biochemistry must play into things, but I'd be willing to bet that the way the surgeon does things plays a massive role too.

Meryaten, this is interesting that you say this, because my OS has boasted that he has not had anyone get "sick" (meaning throw up) for the last 1.5 years. Waking up out of surgery, I had an anti-nausea patch on, plus I had 2 prescribed to me to replace every 72 hours. He also prescribed a pain patch as the primary form of pain relief, and the liquid oxycodone only for breakthough pain (the liquid meds tend to make you more nauseous on an empty stomach). There was also a secondary form of anti-nausea medication I could have requested (I believe a suppository) if I had started to feel queasy, but never needed it. Of course, this wasn't a poll regarding my OS, it was his own summation, however he certainly does seem to take particular care so his patients do not get nauseous/sick.