Brother, you *know* I read that before I went in. Thought it was required reading. Really was a great post, gave me a decent sense of what was happening yesterday and of the likely timing. Even taught me about the arterial line, which the anesthesiologist told me I would get but in the end I didn’t get it (just a stump IV that appeared on my left hand, they told me it was never placed). You will likely appreciate the fact that I even used your line about surgeons wanting “lines out of the way!” re: my main IV on a nurse. Didn’t help get them to change the positioning, though.
Our experiences were very similar. I did get a nerve block, though (which helped lots until it wore off in the middle of the night
) and that intern (who was very nice but of course also quite young) wrote a word on my back with a bunch of numbers down my spine. My loving wife, of course, reported (to me and later my kids) that it said “dork.” She even took a picture, and my 18-yr.-old son said “no, I think it’s ‘bore’.” They agreed that both were decent guesses under the circumstances. I am going with “bone” myself, but what do I know?After recovery, my first nurse was on I think her second day, and she got the excitement when I almost went down with the ship. The pulmonary therapist’s reaction to my syncope was also pretty funny. She came in just prior with a “tough guy” attitude. Understandable, but unnecessary as I was fully committed to walking ASAP. But then she skedaddled when my heart rate and blood pressure went missing. Oops! Later, once I’d gotten fluids and some food, my nurse (a more experienced one whom both I and my wife thought was fabulous) asked me “How far do you want to go?” And I tried “Well, maybe over to Oakland (next town over) and back.” And she was just like: “No, I mean around the floor.” Ah well, you can’t always get the benefit of the doubt after you nearly face plant. Good times, though!
And your story really did give me support. I mean that.
