Archive for May, 2007
Post-Op…
May 31, 2007 2:05 amI’m now post-op, which is quite cool. I mean, quite cool that it’s over.
The good news is that while I really had a seriously pissed-off and inflamed bursa, there were no rotator cuff tears or any ragged labrum edges. This means less time in a sling and a quicker recovery time. As it is, the sling is for comfort reasons rather than Absolute Necessity. Well, it’ll be for comfort reasons after I’m allows to remove the dressing (Saturday). So the doctor removed the extra bursa tissue and shave off some of the bone to open up the capsule so my other stuff won’t be rubbing against and and causing more problems in the future.
He also found a congenital defect. How wierd is that? It isn’t what was causing the issues with my shoulder (or with my left). Nathan wasn’t quite clear on exactly what the surgeon said (I was still out from the anesthesia) but from what I gathered, there’s a muscle attached to another that normally isn’t attached that way. He took pictures. He gave a copy to Nathan and in the process of leaving the surgery center, they got forgotten. I’ll have to ask for another copy, since I want to see said pictures.
Anyway, though I was incredibly nervous, overall it went well. I also don’t remember much. Actually, pretty much anything. There was getting there, changing, Nathan laughing at my little cap thingy, meeting the nurse, going over the procedure with the doctor, then meeting the anesthesiologist (who was teh awesome). He explained the shoulder block procedure he was doing—that he’d inject a a numbing agent into some spot on my neck that would numb a bundle of nerves (he pointed it out and gave me the name but I don’t recall it) that controls my shoulder, major upper arm muscles, and pretty much stops at the elbow, but could affect the forearm and hand. For some people, the block lasts 8 hours, for others, up to three days. I told him that the numbing agents at the dentist’s office wear off real quick for me and he said then he was pretty sure my block would be like that. He was right, I could use my hand, forearm, and elbow with full feeling since the moment I woke up in recovery. Now I’m feeling the skin (itchy! oh heavens, itchy!) He then explained the on-Q pump—it’ll deliver a ‘caine right to the shoulder for a couple days and then I could take it out. He also said that the first sedative he’ll give me through the IV would make me forget that he’s the jerk who will put a needle in my neck. (His words! His words, not mine!) The anesthesiologist had a great sense of humor. I love that trait in a doctor (or anyone, really).
So after they start the happy-sedative IV, I recall him walking from one side of the bed to the other, then… NOTHING. Not a thing. Not even counting. If there was counting.
Now, apparently Nathan made a smart-alec comment before the knock-out IV and I flipped him off in plain sight of the staff present and make them all laugh. I have no knowledge of this and it certainly doesn’t fit my M.O. Not in any way.
Yeah, I know. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Blinked and I missed it, and found myself waking up in recovery, oxygen mask on my face. I was sleepy and bleary for awhile and the nurse said I must be a really cheap date.
With no sarcasm on my part, I loved the people who worked with me there. They answered my questions, they addressed my concerns, and they were down-to-earth and gave straight answers.
Oh, and because I tend to get the extra-super-crispy-special side effects, Nathan asked the nurse right off what any of the wierd side effects would be from the anesthesia (the general or the block). She named off most of the common ones (we don’t fault her for that because, really, there’s no need to freak out someone who already has a heart rate at 104 and doesn’t push for a Full Answer). We didn’t press.
So after, after Nathan helped me put my contacts back in (I walk better with them on), I noticed that one pupil was quite a bit smaller than the other. Not that one was Overly Large, but that one was Overly Small. o_O (Bit like that, actually). 
Obviously, my brain sad “Ack!” and we got the nurse to show and ask wtf was up. She thought it was quite cool and went to tell the other nurses. One triumphantly held up the side effect sheet and said it was a side effect listed right at the bottom and that they never got to see it. Then Nathan said, “I told you she’d get one from the bottom of the list.”
Yes, dear. I certainly did.
Oh! And how random is this: I got a free t-shirt (at least, they said it was free) for having surgery today. It just has the surgical center’s logo, so it’s not like some sort of “I voted today!” but saying “I got surgery today!”
So I got trundled home with a front-sling (yeay no rotator cuff tear repair sling!), ice pack, loads of instructions, scripts for Vistaril (anti-nausea), Celebrex (cox-2 nsaid), and percocet (no vicodin, since it kills me). So far, shoulder is okay, though nerve block is wearing off. The perc doesn’t make me nauseous, even if I don’t take it with vistaril (huzzah!) and vistaril just makes me sleepy. I slept a lot this afternoon, consequently I’m awake now. *rolls eyes* However, vistaril is now makng my eyes cross. Off to bed (propped up on the couch in a reclinded position) I go!
