YIKES

They sent me a followup letter a few weeks ago, asking me to schedule another one to see how things are going in there. I think not.

They had me all covered up with surgical drapes and my head looking to the left so they could get to the jugular on the right side of my neck, so I didn't see anything (thank goodness!).

I could pass out just from thinking about this! nnngggghh When did I become such a wussy girl? You are a brave woman, Kathy.

My dad likes to be awake for procedures. It's his curiosity. But even so, they give him something else (probably like what Kathy got) to prevent....I dunno, a freak out? In any case, dad is a chatty cathy under the influence, and so has provided the teams with great amusement. So far that I know of, he was awake for his hand re-break and various colonoscopies. They have to angle the monitors so he can see. He's been pronounced hard-core.

And he's horrifically bawdy coming out from under general. Last time he had that, his riffing with my mother had one nurse sitting down she was laughing so hard and the surgeon telling my mom she was a lucky, if brave, woman.

Thanks, but it was more a case of knowing nothing beforehand and then just trusting the doctor than being brave. As he was talking to me before the procedure and telling me that there would be no anesthesia (I had had the twilight sleep type during the first try in March), he complimented me by saying that I appeared to be a very calm person, so he wasn't concerned about using local and Dilaudid. That made me determined to prove him right, so when I complained about the pain in my stomach when he was tugging (it felt like I had done too many situps), I was apologizing for whining a few minutes later, after the latest dosage of Dilaudid had kicked in. (They ended up giving 3.5 units/mgs/whatevers of the stuff, which didn't make me loopy like I expected, but just eliminated any pain.)

Kathy, that sounds sounds so scary! And I'm sorry your upper endoscopy was so traumatic.

ita, hope you feel better soon.

Yikes, ita, although a new drug could be a good thing.

Are you not eating because of the cold or the pain?

I don't know why the appetite is so markedly down. But if I'm dehydrated or underfed when I go into the ER, they'll never get a line. At least watery fizzy juice doesn't make me want to puke. Unlike...the rest of solid food.

I think it's Versed they give me when they do my nerve blocks. I motherfucking hate those things. 1 dose means I yell throughout. 2 doses means I mutter and whine. And the escalated pain lasts for five days or so, and it's truly miserable. And I need it done twice. And of course, I don't get painkillers for the excess pain. It's just a thing I'm to get over.

I should be having my nerve blocks in a month and a half.

I think they gave Grace Versed this time when coming out of general. It was so much better than just fentanyl.

So, grilled cheese news...instead of using butter on the bread that is grilled, try mayo. HMOG! Delish!

I had more trauma from the upper endoscopy I had in October, when instead of giving me "twilight sleep" and mostly knocking me out, all they did was numb the back of my throat and give me one Versed (which did absolutely nothing) before shoving that huge thing down my esophagus. I still can't think about that procedure without crying.

This is similar to what happened to ND when they put in his feeding tube. It took an hour, and they didn't give him anything for the discomfort, gagging, or pain. He was so traumatized when he got back that he couldn't talk about it without crying. To say I have a hateful grudge against that particular doctor is a vast understatement. The rest of his doctors were wonderful, but that one? HATE.

Man, anything in involving the throat and gagging would freak me the fuck out. I can't even wear tight necklaces or turtlenecks, I hate it so.

I have a pretty good pain threshold, but I have a horrid fear of needles, not knives, and I also don't especially feel the need to FEEL pain. I'd rather sleep through it. I have told all docs for all procedures that I want Valium before any needles, and that I don't want to feel pain at all -- knock me the fuck out or give me the good drugs for the thing.

I'm pretty stoic when it comes to serious stuff, but i would flip out like a fucking mammal in either of the situations described. I would be all "Bitch, get me some Valium before you try that shit. Trust me, you want me sedated." Ugh.

Luckily, I've had practical docs who were all "Okey doke! we want you calm! Pain -- impairs healing!"

That sucks, guys.