Surgery and Anesthesia

As I will be having a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (removal of my gallbladder via 4 tiny incisions in my abdomen), I have been chatting with Dr. Google... again!  I've found alot of interesting stories about what people remember and how they felt before, during, and after procedures.  This prompted me to write about my experiences with anesthesia and surgery thus far.  I've had 4 surgeries in the last 20 months and not a single one before that!

C-Section


Kayden, 3 days old. February 20, 2012

Wouldn't you know, the very first surgery I ever had to endure was that of my son's birth.  Do to having undiagnosed (until the OB tried to break my water) placenta previa (where the placenta covers the opening of the birth canal) I had to have an emergency C-Section.  This was February 17, 2011.

I was terrified!  I had no idea what they were doing to me or if I would even survive the surgery.  I had never seen the inside of an OR, I was about to be a mommy, and my own mommy couldn't go into the room with me so I was a mess.  I was shaking, went back and forth from hot to cold, crying, and nauseous from the level of stress I was putting myself through.

I had already been given an IV before I went to the OR, because when you have a child you get an IV no matter what.  Once inside the OR, they moved me to the operating table.  The very kind blonde nurse helped support me while the anesthesiologist gave me an injection in my back.  I didn't even feel the needle going in.  Perhaps this is because I was more concerned about death than pain lol.  I was laid back onto the table and then I felt no pain.  Other than feeling somebody messing with my girl parts (they were inserting the catheter) and pressure in my chest, I felt nothing.  I told my son's dad that I couldn't breathe (because I forced him to hold my hand the entire time... even after Kayden was born lol) and he started to worry.  I then reassured him that this was because there was SO MUCH pressure from the nurse pushing right below my ribcage to push the baby out.

I got very impatient once Kayden was out because I still couldn't move and wanted to very badly.  I kept telling the surgical team to move it along lol.  I recovered nicely (other than the odd spikes in my heart rate and dealing with an elevated blood pressure from pre-eclampsia) and was home 3 days after Kayden was born.  After 2 weeks, I was back to myself doing everything I did before and then some.  There was alot of pain, mainly from laughing and trying to lay flat.  The meds were good at controlling it though.


Wisdom Teeth
In November 2011, I had to have all 4 of my wisom teeth extracted.  I was told I was being put under, but I don't know that I was.  The dentist inserted my IV and put the meds in through that.  As he was doing that, I said to him "Is it normal to have a rapid heart rate during this process?  I don't have one, but I was just wondering." I don't know if he even answered the question because I was out.  I did wake up during the procedure and felt ALOT of pain.  That was the worst part of it really.  When I came to, I called my mom (because I had my cell phone in my back pocket and they didn't know it).  I asked her to come back there and take me home.  I was in pain for several days afterwards.  Icing my face constantly and drinking all of my food was the extent of it though.

Excision of Moles
I have had 2 surgeries to remove lesions.  The first time I had a spot on my back and stomach taken off.  This was done in the office with a local anesthetic.  The anesthetic burns pretty bad, but it's not unbearable.  Awake and asking questions the whole time.  About 20 minutes later and I was back to work.  Because I am lucky enough to work for a surgeon :) 

The second time, I had a spot on my head taken off.  My scalp was numbed which hurt less than the other time I had a local anesthetic. Again, this was nothing and I didn't even need stitches.  A simple cauterized spot on my head and I was back to work.

Extra Info:  The image at the left shows the signs of unhealthy moles.  If you notice any of these signs with any of your spots, get them checked out.  They could be a sign of skin cancer.

Next Surgery
My next surgery will be the lap chole in a couple weeks.  Despite my efforts to have this done with just a local, I have to have general anesthesia.  I'm very nervous about this part of it.  The actual surgery does not scare me at all.  I would prefer to remain awake and watch as they work, but they said no, lol.


So what does General Anesthesia feel like?  Will I fight going to sleep?  Will I wake up like I did when I had my wisdom teeth extracted?  Will I develop the post-op nausea and vomiting that I hear about all too often at work?  Will I have to stay over night?  Will I remember anything?  Will I have horrible nightmares the night after the surgery?  I guess I will answer these questions for you when I get home from surgery...  Unless you can answer them for me now??