Anyone have any advice?
Jun. 17th, 2004 05:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kickahaAlright, the anesthesia anxiety is getting tiresome.
I met with an anesthesiologist today, and they said that yes, the prolonged numbness in my fingers was unusual, and something to be aware of, and that it was something that should be brought to the attention of the anesthesiologist on duty.
They also said I could just skip the nerve block completely, and go for a slightly deeper general. I have to say, I find this more satisfying. (The idea of mucking directly with nerves terrifies me. They don't really heal all that well.)
The downside would be that I'd have essentially zero post-op pain medication upon waking, due to them being careful about administering such while I'm still shaking off the general. Okay, I can understand that. I can also deal with that - my pain tolerance is pretty high overall, and if I know that I'm going to have something painful happen, I tend to be able to just grit my teeth and get through it if I know it's temporary. In this case, it would be, since once I was awake, I'd be able to start on the oral meds such as Percoset. (Mmmmm... narcotics....)
Besides, I have to start physical therapy *the next day*, so how bad could it possibly be? (He says naively while the gods laugh at the foolish mortal...)
Anyone have any advice or anecdotes they'd like to share? It's minor surgery, so it's not like they're carving open my torso or anything that I'd be in agony over on waking.
I met with an anesthesiologist today, and they said that yes, the prolonged numbness in my fingers was unusual, and something to be aware of, and that it was something that should be brought to the attention of the anesthesiologist on duty.
They also said I could just skip the nerve block completely, and go for a slightly deeper general. I have to say, I find this more satisfying. (The idea of mucking directly with nerves terrifies me. They don't really heal all that well.)
The downside would be that I'd have essentially zero post-op pain medication upon waking, due to them being careful about administering such while I'm still shaking off the general. Okay, I can understand that. I can also deal with that - my pain tolerance is pretty high overall, and if I know that I'm going to have something painful happen, I tend to be able to just grit my teeth and get through it if I know it's temporary. In this case, it would be, since once I was awake, I'd be able to start on the oral meds such as Percoset. (Mmmmm... narcotics....)
Besides, I have to start physical therapy *the next day*, so how bad could it possibly be? (He says naively while the gods laugh at the foolish mortal...)
Anyone have any advice or anecdotes they'd like to share? It's minor surgery, so it's not like they're carving open my torso or anything that I'd be in agony over on waking.
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You can hack it.
Date: 2004-06-18 05:44 am (UTC)If you get the nerve block, the entire friggin' time you're healing, you'll be wondering-- could I have hacked it? Did I do the wrong thing by my body?
If you skip the nerve block, you'll wake up in pain, and you will deal because you can and because you have to. And you will be a stud for hacking it.
So, the trade-off here, is potential weeks of mental pain, versus a few hours of physical pain before the first orals kick in.
It's going to suck rocks and you're going to be just fine.
Let me know if I can read to you over the phone or anything.