I’m at home now, continuing recovery from surgery. Anesthesia for any kind of operation is a pain in the ass, so avoid it if you can. The nausea I suffered yesterday sucked big time. The operation was on my jaw and neck, so it’s hard for me to talk or swallow, thank goodness for liquid pain killer. Just overall unpleasantness to say the least.
This was because I had a melanoma mole on my jaw, near my ear, which was removed almost a year ago. I recently had a node nearby, right next to the parotid gland, swell up. During surgery it tested positive for melanoma, so they cut that out as well as half the parotid gland. That will have its own complications. I had avoided a chemo-like treatment called interferon at first, but not now.
Best wishes for a speedy, thorough recovery! And yes, that frigging anaesthesia nausea is the worst - I managed to not barf for hours after my last operation, so I considered that a big success.
Oh, that does sound awful. I’ve had my share of surgical procedures over the years, but never had nausea afterward. I wonder why that happens to some of us an not others?
The only “good” part of the nausea was that I had virtually nothing to hack up, and each episode only lasted a minute. About half the time I chucked up some dark green liquid.
Do you know how they remove a feeding tube from your stomach? The Doctor grabs it and jerks it straight out. Pop, he pulls a plastic flange through the wall of your stomach and abdomen. Felt like a gun shot or a jolt of electricity. Then it was over. If I’d have known I could have jerked it out myself and saved a $250 co-pay.
Avoiding cancer was already the plan, but now I’ll try even harder!
I hope your recovery is quick and your margins clear.
I always have that problem with anaesthesia, so now I tell the crew ahead of time and they give me anti-nausea medication ASAP, sometimes before they even knock me out. It makes a world of difference. Nobody wants me puking all over the recovery room.
Heh. I had a suction drain in my abdomen after a complicated cholecystectomy. The surgeon yanked it out when it was due for removal and I passed out. He gave me an injection of a narcotic after I regained consciousness.
I asked why the injection wasn’t given first. He told me about half of his patients don’t need it.
Yup, bladder cancer here. Cancer F-ing sucks. Consequence of smoking many years and family history. Some (OK all) of the procedures thus far are pretty Draconian. Next months surgery will put me back in the 21st century - surgeon uses a robot knife. It’d be really cool…if it were happening to somebody else.
Good luck with your recovery, OP.
PS. Catheters are the most sadistic device ever invented.
I get the anti-nausea medication, too, and I was still borderline for just about to pop last time. I managed not to vomit even once, but it was touch-and-go for an hour or two. The funny thing is, in normal life, I never puke. Like, maybe twice in my adult life that wasn’t alcohol-related.
Got some pictures. Haven’t gotten the stitches out yet, but I have a lovely divot in my neck now, just in time for Halloween. I’m glad I got a trip to Disneyland in just before the operation.
The anti-nausea meds my oncologist gave me caused severe joint pain and cramps. The nausea wasn’t nearly as bad as the meds. So I asked him to stop giving me them and I would just smoke a bowl before hand.
