Post Party? No. Pity Party.

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

OK, since jab pointed out that I was fast approaching my 5000th message (I had realized this a few weeks ago, but had forgotten about it 'til I just saw his thread), I decided that for my 5000th message, I would do something completely out of the ordinary.

I decided to post it in MPSIMS insstead of Great Debates.

But, what could I talk about? I don’t have anything mundane and pointless to share.

So I decided to share some not-so-mundane-and-pointless stuff.

This Friday, I will be going in for arthroscopic knee surgery for torn cartilage. It’s fairly likely that this will be followed up in a few months with my other knee, if the pain is any signal.

I’ve been repeatedly asked: “How did this happen?”

Beats me.

Apparently, I have something called psoriatic (sp) arthritis. I just found this out. It makes my cartilage more prone to tearing, so this may be just the beginning.

Yes, that’s right, I’m 31 years old and I have arthritis. (I get the stitches out on my 32nd birthday.)

Anyway, I’m still trying to decide whether to go under completely for the operation or to just have an epidural. I talked to a friend of mine who’s an anestesiologist, and she didn’t help a whole lot. If I want to watch, she said, I should just get the epidural. Well, believ me, I don’t want to watch! But nor do I want to go under. Don’t ask me why, 'cus I don’t really know. I’ve probably heard too many “Whoops, the anesthesiologist screwed up during routine surgery” stories.

So, here’s my pity party. Feel free to join in, especially if you’ve had similar surgery or experience with one type of anesthesia or another.

#2

Whoo Hoo!!!

You go David B!!! It’s your birthday.

#3

Aw, poor DavidBeebee. Do your widdo kneesies hurt?

Le gran bummer, mon frere. I hope the surgery will fix it once and for all so you don’t have to re-do it again later.

Re: the anaesthesia. I’d be out cold. The last thing I want is to hear someone cutting into me…much less see it.

Good luck.

#4

Hey David! 'Grats on the big number!

In an effort to make this meaningful, let me advise you that you have little to fear from going under. Look up some stats (if this were GQ, I’d do it for you in this reply - but we don’t always support our statements here in MPSIMS land). For the anecdotal evidence, I’ve been put under many times and I’d have to say, I’d much rather snooze through an operation.

#5

I hope this’ll be it, too, but I’m not counting on it.

So much for my plans to join a raquetball league this fall. :slight_smile:

As for cutting in – it is arthroscopic, so there isn’t really a lot of cutting, just 2 or 3 little holes. And I assume they’d put up a screen so I don’t have to look. But I don’t know what I’d do if I was lying there and heard, “Whoops!”

According to the nurse, it’s fairly likely that I’d end up falling asleep with the epidural, but still…

#6

Awwwwww yeah! 5000! Party time!

BTW, I brought sprinkles!

P.S. Good luck man, though I’m sure Da B don’t believe in luck.

#7

beatle: Oh, I know it’s safe, I’m just wondering if the epidural is even safer.

The hospital at which I’ll be having this surgery had an incident about a month ago in which a patient got the wrong blood type. He died. Now, how often does a patient get the wrong type of blood? Very rarely. But it does happen, and that probably wasn’t a whole lot of consolation to the family (or the dead guy, for that matter). Similarly with anesthesia. If I can do something to make a slim chance even slimmer, should I take it, or is it not even worth bothering with? That is the question…

#8

DavidB, GO OUT!!!

I was so freaked out about having to be put out. I was more scared of that then the surgery itself. They never gave me the epideral option though. I do not think I would rather have a huge needle stuck in me though. I am soo scared of needles.
Anyway, I got scoped back in high school. Whatever crap they gave me knocked me the f#ck out, instantly. I kept telling myself I would fight it and all this mess. As soon as they put that stuff in me, I freaked because my diaphram stopped working first. I lifted my head and tried to tell them that I couldn’t breath. Since I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t talk. I past out before my head even hit the bed. This all took like a second. The next thing I know, they are rolling me out of the surgery room. It felt like no time had past. I didn’t even think they started yet, then the nurse tells me how everything is ok and it went fine.
Fifteen minutes later, I walked out of the hospital.
I would definitely go with being put under!!

#9

You have my pity and sympathy. I’m going in for some surgery and what not soon too. Of course it’s not for arthritis, but I feel for you. And happy 5000. Here’s to 4999 posts fighting ignorance, and one shamelessly looking for pity. :slight_smile:

#10

I was really afraid of being unconcious for my ankle surgery. Did you read that article in People magazine about the percentage of people who are really aware during their surgeries, but can’t tell anyone? Yikes!

I opted for the spinal, but actually dozed off while they were putting the pin in, so I missed all of the excitement.

#11

Go for an epidural for that surgery. Don’t risk going completly under for that. You don’t have to watch, if nothing else close your eyes. Yes, people do die from going under, my grandma did.

#12

I’ve been under general anaesthetic many times, but I’ve also had occasions where – given the choice – I did without the general instead.

My best experience was an oral surgery performed with local freezing as well as a mask placed over my nose… I was fed a mix of nitrous oxide and something which would inhibit any memories of discomfort from the work the surgeon did on the roof of my mouth.

I felt goooooooooood. A slight case of amnesia afterward (what day was it again? did I actually undergo that surgery?), but good nonetheless. While I have strong negative feelings about general anaesthesia (okay, it’s a phobia of mine), I would gladly choose this option for any future surgery, oral or otherwise.

Hmmmm… I guess this treads dangerously into “IMHO” territory.

#13

Go under if you want to, your young and healthy so you ain’t gonna die.
When your facing something like this at some point in time you gotta have some faith, hand yourself over to the pros and say “I’m in your hands fellers be real careful.”

Goodluck!

#14

I’d rather get the epidural – total anesthesia is a scary thing. If you’d rather not deal with the memory, tell them. They will give you Versed, and you won’t remember a thing. It will just be a pleasant blank.

Before you heed my advice, consider that while I have far fewer posts than you, mine are almost all in MPSIMS. We are probably very different people, so you may just want to do the opposite of my suggestion.

#15

I’ve been lurking a bit lately bit but had to respond to this thread.

  1. Artho surgery. How bad does it hurt to have this type surgery done? I fear, from the crumbling noises coming from my knees, that I need something done like this myself. I’ve dreaded telling the doctors about this problem because I’ve heard horror stories on this kind surgery, ie… hurts like Hell, lack of movement, on and on. I’m really curious.

  2. Anesthesia problems. My mom had an incident years ago in which she needed surgery for something I don’t remember. What I do remember is the fact that she remained alert but unable to move as they were about to cut her open after they gassed her. Talk about terrifying. She said she could look around, feel mild pressure on her body, but wasn’t able to move any of her muscles. She couldn’t talk, or tell the doctor’s in any way what was happening. An alert anesthetest spotted her eyes moving all around, stopped the surgeon, and gassed her beyond belief.

I’ve had this same kind of phenomenon happen to me. A dentist friend of mine does all my work. I needed some tooth really worked over and he was giving me shots of novacane(sp?). After each dose he would ask me if I felt anything. After each does I told him I did. After five shots he could finally work on me without pain. He later told me that if I wasn’t his friend, he never would have gone that far. He said no one he has seen has ever needed that much.

Lucky me. I’ve inherited my moms resistance to certain forms of anesthesea. Aparently, this is common with some people and is hereditary. You need to inform them before your visit. Make damn sure they believe you are they’ll cop out and tell you, ‘yah, yah’ and not completely bomb you. Believe me, I told a doc that was giving me stiches about this and he ignored me and gave the standard amount and began to proceed. He changed his mind when I grabbed his arm and squeezed the shit out of it.

Anyrate, on that fun note, I wouldn’t worry about it because it’s not a type of surgery where they rely soley on gas. They’ll numb out the area before they gas. I might be worried, however, if your family has this type of resistance and has passed it on to you. Just tell them of your concern and go from there.

–Sidenote: If this sounds disjointed and has a shitload of spelling errors, forgive me. I got sick on a recent vacation and now they have me on some goofy ass medication that keeps me in la-la-land most of the time.

#16

Anxiety before surgery is fairly common. Manny times before giving a general, they will give you something that will make you more “relaxed”.

I went in about four years ago for some minor surgery (hernia). I don’t remember whether they aked me to count backwards from 100 or what. I don’t remember anything, just waking up after the surgery.

#17

Poor David B.! (About your knees, not the 5K landmark.) Don’t sweat the surgery too much as far as pain, etc. goes. My sis had this done on both knees. It wasn’t exactly fun but it wasn’t hideous either.

No real factual advice on the epidural idea. (A friend has a knee replacement and watched the whole thing. She was fascinated w/ how they stripped back the skin, sawed through the bone, etc. I nearly fainted just listening to her.) I’m sure they would make sure you couldn’t see anything if you didn’t want to, and strongly suspect my friend’s cheery memories are somewhat clouded by a blissful, pink haze of drugs.

Best of luck no matter what you choose. (Hint: milk the convalescence for all it’s worth. Might as well salvage some perks out of this.)

Veb

#18

Congrats on the post count, David B!

As for the surgery, I’ve had bad experiences with both type of anesthesia…but then I’ve had more than my fair share of surgeries :smiley:

I had foot surgery done with a local. It was not painful, but very uncomfortable. They used an inflatable tube around my lower leg to restrict blood flow to my foot. In order to do this, they inflated it to a very high pressure, which caused a great deal of discomfort. I would much rather have been knocked out for that one.

Because of my childhood accident, I went through many reconstructive surgeries in a fairly short period of time. As a result of repeated exposure, I apparently started developing a tolerance to the anesthesia they were using on me. During one of the surgeries, I woke up in the middle of the operation. In my disoriented state, I tried to sit up on the table. At this time, however, they had most of my abdomen opened up, so that would not have been a good thing. I still remember (this was probably about 26 years ago) seeing that light above the table, and hearing someone cry out, “He’s waking up!” Creepy…

Anyway, I would personally prefer being knocked out, especially since I’m not terribly fascinated by the procedure (I know I’d pass out anyway if I had to watch!).

Whichever you decide, I wish you well, and I hope you have a speedy recovery!

#19

Happy upcoming 5,000th post and 32nd birthday, David B! Have fun with rehab, too.

#20

I had surgery on my eye under local anesthesia. Yep, I was conscious while they were poking around inside my eyeball! THAT was an experience.

The drugs made me pretty complacent, though. I was aware that people were fiddling with my eye, but I didn’t really care.