Anesthesia, Resuscitation, and ICU: Q&A
in Health ·
Paul Ramirez59 said:Me again. It’s like I had this gut feeling something was going to go sideways. Basically, I was knocked out—they injected something straight into my vein, I'm not even sure what—and right after they finished the laparoscopic appendectomy, someone calls my name and I open my eyes. I'm wide awake and just staring. Some voice calls my name and asks where I am. That’s when the hell starts. To me, it felt eternal. I couldn't breathe. I tried, but I realized I just couldn't get air in. I tried to signal to them with my hand that I wasn't breathing, but I couldn't even move a finger. Then, I feel them pulling some tube out of my throat (I'm guessing the breathing tube), and once that was out, I could finally breathe normally. I could feel my body, my legs, my arms, but I didn't have the strength to do anything or move at all. Everything went back to normal after about 20 minutes. What actually happened to me? The surgeon tells me it's totally normal, but I didn't even see the anesthesiologist. Why couldn't I breathe? If I was intubated, why couldn't I draw air through the tube? How do they decide when the tube needs to come out? And seriously, why wake me up and then extubate me? Shouldn't it be the other way around? This whole thing really traumatized me. Can someone more experienced please explain if this is actually okay...
Wait, can that actually happen?
I'm reading this thread and I honestly can't believe everything I'm reading. 😢
