Anesthesia, Resuscitation, and ICU: Q&A
in Health ·
I was hoping someone could help me clear a few things up:
A couple of days ago, I had a minor gynecological procedure at a private clinic over in Chicago (not sure if I should name names here).
Basically, they originally told me it would just be local anesthesia, but when I showed up for my exam on the day of the surgery, they switched it up and said it would be general anesthesia—and that I might even need to stay overnight. All in all, everything went really smoothly, especially since this whole thing was pretty traumatic for me and I was super anxious about it.
The anesthesia lasted exactly thirty minutes. I was conscious almost immediately after waking up, and within about 7 or 8 hours, I was already cleared to head home.
Now that the dust has settled, I’ve got this sudden wave of curiosity, so I was wondering if anyone could explain what actually happened during the process. Between the intense nerves and just feeling uneasy, I wasn't exactly following along closely.
First, they put one of those plastic IV lines in my left arm—I'm guessing that's how they gave me the intravenous anesthesia. From what I've read on this thread, it was probably Propofol.
They asked me twice if I was feeling dizzy right before I actually started feeling lightheaded, and they also stuck this huge patch on my right leg... I am dying to know what that was for!
And it feels like—though I can't say for certain because my brain was a fog—that once my head started spinning, they placed a mask over my face... does that sound right?
I woke up exactly 30 minutes later. I remember seeing the clock in the room showing 11:45, and the very first thing obsessing me when I came to was: "What time is it?"
I don't want people to think I'm implying the gynecologist, the anesthesiologist, or the nurses were being unfair or withholding info; it's just that I was way too freaked out at the time to ask anything. They did give me a quick rundown of the plan and asked me a few questions... but yeah, now that I'm back home and feeling okay, I'm finally getting curious.
A couple of days ago, I had a minor gynecological procedure at a private clinic over in Chicago (not sure if I should name names here).
Basically, they originally told me it would just be local anesthesia, but when I showed up for my exam on the day of the surgery, they switched it up and said it would be general anesthesia—and that I might even need to stay overnight. All in all, everything went really smoothly, especially since this whole thing was pretty traumatic for me and I was super anxious about it.
The anesthesia lasted exactly thirty minutes. I was conscious almost immediately after waking up, and within about 7 or 8 hours, I was already cleared to head home.
Now that the dust has settled, I’ve got this sudden wave of curiosity, so I was wondering if anyone could explain what actually happened during the process. Between the intense nerves and just feeling uneasy, I wasn't exactly following along closely.
First, they put one of those plastic IV lines in my left arm—I'm guessing that's how they gave me the intravenous anesthesia. From what I've read on this thread, it was probably Propofol.
They asked me twice if I was feeling dizzy right before I actually started feeling lightheaded, and they also stuck this huge patch on my right leg... I am dying to know what that was for!
And it feels like—though I can't say for certain because my brain was a fog—that once my head started spinning, they placed a mask over my face... does that sound right?
I woke up exactly 30 minutes later. I remember seeing the clock in the room showing 11:45, and the very first thing obsessing me when I came to was: "What time is it?"
I don't want people to think I'm implying the gynecologist, the anesthesiologist, or the nurses were being unfair or withholding info; it's just that I was way too freaked out at the time to ask anything. They did give me a quick rundown of the plan and asked me a few questions... but yeah, now that I'm back home and feeling okay, I'm finally getting curious.