Had my right knee arthroscoped yesterday. It'll be so nice to have functional legs again.
Before surgery, I must've had the same conversation with about 9 people. Allergies, what drugs NOT to use, what knee was being done, what precautions need to be taken, what not to use, etc.
However, I woke up, post-op, in a room, with nurses bustling around me, freaking out. I was hypothermic. And boy was I cold! They wrapped me in some sort of foil blanket and then 8 more heated blankets on top, plus my head all wrapped up. I couldn't get warm. They were rubbing me, saying things like, "Come on Fiona, stop shivering...Come on Fiona, warm up...Come on, you can do it." I was barely conscious. But aware I was freezing. I wanted to be warm too.
Not sure how long this went on for, but it seemed like forever, and then I could feel my body warming up, my teeth weren't involuntarily chattering together as quickly, and I could feel myself IN my body, finally.
They moved me to Recovery. It wasn't until I was in Recovery that I realized that my knee was hurting...oh right, I'd just had knee surgery. The nurses asked me if I needed some painkillers. Yes, I did. So they gave me some percoset, orally. On an empty stomach, it didn't take long for them to kick in.
And then, I started to feel itchy. Then, my face got flushed, my chest flushed, and I got REALLY itchy. One of the nurses came over to see if I was ok. I said I was sort of feeling like I was beginning to have a reaction, but was ok right now. She said to call her if I got worse. Then my tongue started tingling, my ears felt like they were on fire, and I called for help because I felt like I was going to be sick. Which I was. White, allergic, foam. Mixed with brown coffee-like grounds. Blood. From my intubation while under. I can't have xylocaine or lidocaine or any other caine, so it'd gone in cold turkey...obviously catching my trachea. (It's still really sore.) Then, I started coughing, coughing some more, flushing some more, and then puked white foam again. This was allergic puke, not anaesthetic puke. I'd been given drugs during surgery to make sure I didn't puke after anaethetic. This was the usual white allergic foam I hurl.
My motherinlaw appeared out of nowhere, took one look at me and said, "She's having a reaction. Where's the epi?" And she got my kit out of my bag. Three nurses were now standing around my bed watching me. One of them said they had notified the doctor. My motherinlaw asked me to show us my tongue. I opened my mouth. Everyone's jaws dropped. My motherinlaw said that it was huge; the nurses agreed. Hmmm...no wonder I was having trouble talking. Eyes and nose watering, I started coughing on top of coughing and then was gagging, then I couldn't swallow. Time for epi. My motherinlaw handed it to a nurse who said it would be better if I gave it to myself. So I did. And...relief began to wash over my body quite quickly.
The nurses, all standing around watching me, were amazed how quickly it all died down.
The doctor showed up. And, I was almost fine. The nurses said that he should've seen me minutes ago. We'd used the epi. "Good," he said, "that's the right thing to do." They discussed whether they should move me over to Emerg. or keep me there. And, opted to keep me there. Which is where I stayed, with epi shakes until I said I felt ok to go home.
And, I'm now recovering at home. Benadryl every 4 hours, plus percoset for pain (trying not to use it....) and just...feeling crappy.
Wish this would all go away.
Before surgery, I must've had the same conversation with about 9 people. Allergies, what drugs NOT to use, what knee was being done, what precautions need to be taken, what not to use, etc.
However, I woke up, post-op, in a room, with nurses bustling around me, freaking out. I was hypothermic. And boy was I cold! They wrapped me in some sort of foil blanket and then 8 more heated blankets on top, plus my head all wrapped up. I couldn't get warm. They were rubbing me, saying things like, "Come on Fiona, stop shivering...Come on Fiona, warm up...Come on, you can do it." I was barely conscious. But aware I was freezing. I wanted to be warm too.
Not sure how long this went on for, but it seemed like forever, and then I could feel my body warming up, my teeth weren't involuntarily chattering together as quickly, and I could feel myself IN my body, finally.
They moved me to Recovery. It wasn't until I was in Recovery that I realized that my knee was hurting...oh right, I'd just had knee surgery. The nurses asked me if I needed some painkillers. Yes, I did. So they gave me some percoset, orally. On an empty stomach, it didn't take long for them to kick in.
And then, I started to feel itchy. Then, my face got flushed, my chest flushed, and I got REALLY itchy. One of the nurses came over to see if I was ok. I said I was sort of feeling like I was beginning to have a reaction, but was ok right now. She said to call her if I got worse. Then my tongue started tingling, my ears felt like they were on fire, and I called for help because I felt like I was going to be sick. Which I was. White, allergic, foam. Mixed with brown coffee-like grounds. Blood. From my intubation while under. I can't have xylocaine or lidocaine or any other caine, so it'd gone in cold turkey...obviously catching my trachea. (It's still really sore.) Then, I started coughing, coughing some more, flushing some more, and then puked white foam again. This was allergic puke, not anaesthetic puke. I'd been given drugs during surgery to make sure I didn't puke after anaethetic. This was the usual white allergic foam I hurl.
My motherinlaw appeared out of nowhere, took one look at me and said, "She's having a reaction. Where's the epi?" And she got my kit out of my bag. Three nurses were now standing around my bed watching me. One of them said they had notified the doctor. My motherinlaw asked me to show us my tongue. I opened my mouth. Everyone's jaws dropped. My motherinlaw said that it was huge; the nurses agreed. Hmmm...no wonder I was having trouble talking. Eyes and nose watering, I started coughing on top of coughing and then was gagging, then I couldn't swallow. Time for epi. My motherinlaw handed it to a nurse who said it would be better if I gave it to myself. So I did. And...relief began to wash over my body quite quickly.
The nurses, all standing around watching me, were amazed how quickly it all died down.
The doctor showed up. And, I was almost fine. The nurses said that he should've seen me minutes ago. We'd used the epi. "Good," he said, "that's the right thing to do." They discussed whether they should move me over to Emerg. or keep me there. And, opted to keep me there. Which is where I stayed, with epi shakes until I said I felt ok to go home.
And, I'm now recovering at home. Benadryl every 4 hours, plus percoset for pain (trying not to use it....) and just...feeling crappy.
Wish this would all go away.
2 comments:
I can't believe how eerily similar our reactions are. I don't have the foamy vomit, but I get very nauseated. My tongue itches like crazy and then EVERY thing itches- from the inside out. Hang in there.
How scary! Glad you are on the mend.
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