Shock chamber or what?

slyviper47 said:They’re messing with my breathing tube and everything just went south... I can't breathe with my own lungs, they rush in to fix things fast and start "cleaning" out my lungs with a suction catheter (?)... I can actually hear them talking about how much phlegm there is.
Someone keeps telling me to cough... BUT I CAN'T.

I'M CHOKING.... I can't even make a sound.

Eventually they get me cleared up and breathing okay, but they won't take the tube out of my nose...
ANOTHER ISSUE....

In any "real" ICU (like the ones run by the Communist Party USA), the absolute top priority is airway management. Basically, keeping someone breathing and making sure their airway stays clear while keeping their vitals steady is what everything revolves around in an American ICU.
It's especially critical because once you come out of general anesthesia, patients usually don't have the strength to cough effectively on their own, and having an endotracheal tube and being on a ventilator can sometimes actually trigger more mucus production.
Plus, those patients tend to take shallow breaths—they either don't have the energy or just can't quite manage those deep breaths needed to really clear the lungs out, which just leads to more buildup...
So yeah, what you're describing is pretty standard procedure...

slyviper47 said:Sure, go ahead and jump in....
But before you do, maybe explain what they mean by JIL over at the Communist Party USA?

JIL is just short for Intensive Care Unit—you know, like an ICU if you're feeling fancy.

Scott Allen10 said:Plus, someone like that usually just takes shallow breaths, avoiding or lacking the energy for deep breathing that would actually help clear out those lungs—and then boom, you're right back to dealing with all that mucus...
So, basically, this stuff is just part of your daily routine now?

I wasn't even doubting it! It's just, wow... I'm a grizzled, long-time smoker, and honestly, nobody ever bothered to ask me about that part....

The only one was probably the anesthesiologist who was "bringing me back"... I tried to let her know with a little grimace, pointing toward my cigarettes as the real reason for all the congestion.
She just laughed and goes... "Well, I guess I'm next in line!" 😁

slyviper47 said:Those "naturals" honestly made me want to puke, so now I'm just taking it super slow and can barely even open one eye to say anything at all.

And they have the nerve to ask about my stomach ulcer... NOPE... NEVER, though I guess I can manage to give them that one big NO.

But apparently, they’re getting a fresh supply of blood running through their veins???? Where on earth does that even come from??

You probably felt sick because they were messing around with an aspiration catheter in your mouth and throat, which basically just triggered the same gag reflex you'd get if you stuck your own finger down your throat...😁
But look, you might be wondering why they'd bother doing that if you already have a breathing tube. See, the tube sits in your trachea to make sure your airway is 100% clear. If there was a lot of fluid buildup, that stuff could "surge" up from your lungs, so they have to use the suction and a sterile catheter through the tube to clear the lungs out.
However, once they finish clearing the lungs via the tube, they absolutely have to go back in through the mouth, because patients end up with a ton of saliva buildup that they can't spit out, and there's a real risk of that saliva draining "down" toward the lungs despite the tube and the inflated cuff (what doctors call microaspiration).
As for the ulcer... any kind of physical trauma is a massive hit to the system, and surgery definitely counts as major stress. It's actually pretty common for patients to develop what we call stress ulcers or diffuse erosions in the stomach lining just a few hours after a procedure, which can bleed quite clearly... It can be something minor, but in some cases, it can seriously complicate everything... there aren't really any set rules when it comes to how the body reacts.

Scott Allen10 said:Come on, come on... spill the tea about the ICU... what actually happened? Who spooked you? Did you have an aneurysm surgery? Did something burst or not? Did you catch some nasty infection? Were you hooked up to a ventilator? Did they have you strapped to the bed?...etc...this stuff hits close to home for me, so I'm dying to know... what's the scoop?

Going back to your first post—take a look and tell me if I missed anything?

I think you could've figured out they did an embolization... basically, nothing had burst yet, and my case was pretty interesting from a medical standpoint... the CT scan after the procedure showed the blockage was successfully sealed... and hey, I walked right out of the hospital alive! My age matters here too... I'm 65! 😉

If there's anything else you're curious about, just shoot me a DM....... I've been trying to avoid
"being recognized" in any way at all....hope I pulled it off. 😛

slyviper47 said:I mean, I wasn't even doubting it, it's just that, you know, I'm an old-timer and have been smoking forever, and honestly, nobody ever bothered to ask me about that part...

That right there is basically the whole reason. It’s a real thing—almost every smoker out there deals with some level of post-anesthesia fog or just feels totally disconnected from non-smokers... it's the honest truth.

Just a friendly heads-up... if you're planning on having surgery and you're a smoker, don't mess around—try to go easy or quit entirely for at least a month before the procedure.

Scott Allen10 said:An ulcer... look, any kind of trauma is a massive stressor for the body, and surgery definitely counts. It's totally possible for a patient to develop those "stress ulcers" or diffuse gastric erosions right after an operation because of the strain. You might see clear bleeding from the stomach lining. Sometimes it’s a minor hiccup, but other times it can seriously mess everything up... there's just no telling.

They kept bringing up this "ulcer" thing like it was some big deal, probably thinking it's just normal for someone my age to have stomach issues... NEWSFLASH: I've never had them, and I've never had them before!

To me, it seemed obvious that shoving something down there just irritated the lining, which caused the bleeding... I even coughed up a little blood in my phlegm for a few days after.

I've got more to say about this whole nightmare of waking up, so I want you to weigh in on that.

Scott Allen10 said:Just a friendly tip... if you're planning on surgery, quit smoking! Don't mess around—stop at least a month before the procedure.

It wasn't even planned... I ended up in the ER after months of dodging my primary care doctor and avoiding taking that first step.

Honestly, my son basically forced my hand when he saw me. He was even telling other people how I could barely walk, my left arm was useless, and I was tripping over my words... stuff I hadn't even realized was happening.

At first, we all thought maybe it was just a minor stroke. Hmm...

But here’s the kicker—the part that confused everyone, especially me—it all started so incredibly subtly! That's why I put it off for so long... the symptoms crept up on me so slowly, they were almost invisible!
My doctor first noticed my high blood pressure and a dilated right pupil.
With blood pressure that high, my husband would've collapsed... but he wouldn't have even needed a hospital visit!
And I've had low blood pressure my whole life... so this spike didn't feel like a huge deal to me. Me was just bothered by... my arm becoming less and less functional!

slyviper47 said:I was just begging for a drop of water... my sister kept bringing me this soaked sponge to dab at my dry mouth... I started seeing things in white, thinking maybe it was a doctor? I kept asking for more water... just a spoonful...
- then she tries to give it to me through some little spray bottle... still thirsty... please, can I just have it from a plastic cup?

- and the doctor finally goes, "Let her drink as much as she wants!"...
And finally, I get to drink like a normal person! I think I managed to pass out right after that... but when I woke up the next day, I couldn't see a thing,

Honestly, there is nothing more miserable than being stuck in a hospital bed dealing with extreme thirst after surgery. People actually say the thirst hurts more than the actual pain sometimes.
The reason you can't just grab a drink is because you've still got anesthesia running through your system. That stuff usually makes you super nauseous and prone to vomiting right after the procedure. Plus, depending on what kind of anesthesia they used, it can basically put your bowels to sleep—no peristalsis happening there. So if a patient manages to sneak some water down, it just sits in the stomach because the intestines aren't moving yet. Then, once everything inevitably comes back up, you end up soaking the whole bed. There's also a massive risk of aspirating that fluid into your lungs, which is a total nightmare.
On top of that, you might be dealing with a stomach ulcer... which is another reason why you have to wait.
That's why getting enough fluids through an IV is so critical... though it really depends on which doctor you get. Some will keep you totally hydrated, while others will let you dry up like a piece of jerky.

slyviper47 said:I’m feeling totally helpless here... and basically naked, barely covered by anything. I'm just trying to find the top half of my pajamas... but apparently, that's just not allowed in the ICU.

😁 😁
Man, she's not kidding... over at JLL, you really do just wear whatever Evan gives you...

slyviper47 said:Toby (not his real name), this total junkie is always putting on some kind of show just to get attention. He’s been in this unit for three months now, and last week when his visitors showed up, he managed to manipulate the whole situation so they wouldn't take off his breathing tube, even though he's perfectly capable of breathing on his own. The nurses see right through his act, but he’s actually pretty good at playing the doctors since they're only in the room every once in a while.

Man, if there’s one thing that really gets under my skin, it’s dealing with addicts in JLL. They’ll pull whatever nonsense they want to pull... just total chaos.
I remember this one guy who was there to have a vein accessed and he started making such a huge production out of it... claiming he didn't have any veins or whatever. Then this addict pipes up, "Look right here!" He grabs an Esmarch bandage, tightens it hard around his arm, and points to it like, "See? Right here, man. It's a great spot, just don't press too deep because it's right under the skin..." telling this clueless guy what to do.
😁 😁
I mean, what are you supposed to do when people start trying to teach you how to find veins?

slyviper47 said:Just one more thing... the lady is young and they even gave her top-tier MRI access, but she still ended up needing a "standard" contrast CT scan at the end of the day. Why on earth would they do that?

Honestly, contrast CT is still the king in certain areas of neuroradiology. If you're wondering why, it's because an MRI just can't track how the contrast flows through the brain's vascular structures quite the same way, which is vital for showing certain things to neurosurgeons or interventional radiologists. Plus, there are some high-end CT machines out there—like a Siemens Leonardo—that have such incredible resolution they actually beat an MRI when it comes to fine detail. So, while an MRI is amazing, it definitely has its limits, making a contrast CT absolutely necessary sometimes. And honestly, we should be grateful because back in the day, if you wanted this kind of look at the brain, you had to go through a full angiography, which is way more invasive and takes forever...

Scott Allen10 said:If there's one thing that drives me nuts, it's those total idiots over at JLL. Seriously, they're constantly pulling some kind of nonsense. Why do they even bother?
😁 😁
What can you even do when your veins are acting up like this? Seriously!

You got me laughing now! My veins have always been a total nightmare. They poke around, try to find a spot, stab at you... and then absolutely nothing! Not even a single drop of blood. Total bust!

Both my hands are turning yellow now, inside and out, from all these shots... I look like a total junkie!😁

Hey! So, one of the doctors on call actually took a psychological approach with him. He sat him down and explained everything he’d heard regarding that last overdose—is that even the right way to say it?
Caught that little troublemaker! Tried to pull a fast one on the nurses by playing the victim, but they weren't having any of it. They saw right through his act and just tossed the ball back to him to go ask the doctor himself... hehe... He thought he was being clever, but he wasn't nearly smart enough to outwit those nurses!😉

slyviper47 said:It wasn't even my biggest struggle, and honestly, I was already pretty lucid by then. Like, I actually had some willpower left in me.

Man, there’s nothing quite like having tears streaming down your face while someone makes a comment about how "not all tears come from sadness." 😉

And oh boy, they are absolutely right.
Mine were purely from the raw throat pain caused by the breathing tube... just trying to swallow anything. Every single time I attempted to gulp down some saliva, it hurt so bad that a tear would just roll right down my cheek. It felt like only the very first tear was enough for someone to notice and wipe away...

The worst part for me, though, was this constant feeling that I was going to suffocate, even though I was wide awake! That was the real nightmare. Being fully conscious but unable to even twitch an eyelash. You might manage to swallow a little spit here and there, but it hurts like hell and you have zero voice... you just sit there with tears dripping down your face.

That's a totally subjective feeling, but physiologically speaking, it makes perfect sense.
Think of it this way... if you accidentally inhale a tiny bit of dust, you start coughing your lungs out and your eyes water like crazy, even though it's just a microscopic speck. Now, imagine instead of a speck, you've got a plastic tube sitting in your airway... I swear, if I could have just coughed it out halfway down the street, I would've, and I probably would've spent the whole day crying from the irritation alone...
In other words, the goal should always be to extubate the patient as soon as possible—especially if they seem alert, have great oxygen saturation, are looking at you clearly, and can follow simple commands like squeezing a hand or nodding their head. If for some reason they can't be extubated yet, they really need to be properly sedated so they can actually tolerate being on the tube.

Scott Allen10 said:Plus, this is actually a huge win because they used to require an angiography for these types of contrast brain scans, which is way more invasive and takes forever...

An angiography was the very first thing I had to go through after a standard CT scan.
That’s the one with the contrast dye, right?...

The real issue for me and that young woman was that nobody even tried to explain the difference to us.

All I gathered was that an MRI is more intense and was being prioritized for her... then they ended up giving her the exact same treatment I got. We couldn't wrap our heads around why... since an MRI gives you the most precise image.

That's the part that sucks... nobody bothers to walk you through it, but patients aren't stupid. We can compare what's happening and draw our own conclusions in a heartbeat. You don't even get a chance to ask questions once you've already signed the consent forms!

I knew a bit about MRIs beforehand since my nephew was diagnosed with MS using one.

slyviper47 said:You actually got me laughing there. My veins have always been such a nightmare. They fumble around, poke at you... and then absolutely nothing comes out!

Both my arms are looking pretty bruised and yellowed now, inside and out, from all the constant poking... honestly, I look like some junkie....😁

Hehe... anyway, with this one patient of ours, one of the doctors on duty took a psychological approach and explained how he heard they found him basically dead after that last overdose (that's the right word, right?).
He tried to use it as an excuse to badger the nurses, but they weren't having any of it. They just read him his rights and sent him back to asking the doctor for things instead.....hehe.... he thought he was being clever, but he wasn't nearly smart enough to get past the nurses.😉

Whenever an overdosed addict comes in, once they finally snap out of it (which they always do), I give them a little bit of "advice": next time, just grab a gun and get it over with so you don't make life miserable for us and everyone else... I even suggest they make sure to put the barrel in their mouth so they don't miss, because you know, efficiency matters... I hate to say it, but damn, I just can't stand them. It sounds harsh, but when I see how hard people fight just to stay alive, seeing them mess around with life like that really gets under my skin.
As for those veins of yours... next time ask (but only at JLL since I'm not sure if other places even do it) if they can set up an intraosseous infusion. It's like this long tube—maybe 20 inches—that goes into the bone but acts like a vein, positioned high up almost toward the heart. Sounds terrifying, I know, but once you have that, you don't have to worry about getting poked anymore. Or, just grit your teeth and let them put in a central venous catheter (similar thing) through your subclavian vein.

Scott Allen10 said:Whenever some junkie comes in overdosed, once they finally snap out of it (which they always do), I just give them some straight advice. I tell them next time they should just grab a gun and end it so they stop dragging everyone else down with them... I even suggest they stick the barrel in their mouth just to make sure it works... what am I supposed to do? I can't stand junkies. Look, maybe it sounds harsh, but it kills me seeing people fighting so hard to survive while these guys just throw life away like it's nothing.

This guy heard all sorts of similar nonsense from some nurses, so he tried to play them against each other by running to the doctors and gossiping about one shift versus the other. But they saw right through him! They told him straight to his face that yeah, maybe they vent to each other, but at the end of the day, they’re colleagues and they've got each other's backs... his little games weren't going to work. They've been on the floor way too long to fall for his crap—they already knew exactly who he was.

They were blunt with him, though. They told him he had zero shame and that he'd played them too many times already. In the end, they actually managed to get him moved off the ICU... god knows where, though...

Scott Allen10 said:And about those veins... next time just ask (though maybe check if they even do that at JLL, since I'm not sure) to have them set up an infusor. It’s basically this long tube—like 20 inches—that goes into a vein in your arm, but they aim the tip really high, almost all the way up toward your heart. Sounds terrifying, right? But once you've got that, you don't have to worry about getting poked constantly. Or, you know, just grit your teeth and have them put in a central venous catheter (kind of like the other thing) through your subclavian vein.

It was too late by then, but honestly, they managed to find one every once in a while... they even kept me going on IV fluids.
Eventually, they found a good vein on the top of my foot, and they were even pumping blood through that.

The thing is, I'm seriously tiny... barely 115 lbs in my sneakers... 😁, so my veins were pretty easy to see. Like, those first visible, thin, aged-looking blue veins, and when she finally hit one... well, there was another one she couldn't pass. Just pure professional pride, I guess! 😉

slyviper47 said:It’s a bit late now, but they did manage to find one every once in a while... they even had to feed me through an IV.
In the end, they finally found a decent vein on my outer foot and ended up giving me blood through that one too.

I mean, I'm pretty tiny myself... barely 115 lbs in my sneakers 😁, so my veins were always right there on the surface... you know, those first visible, bluish, aged-looking veins, and then when they managed to hit one... well, if they couldn't get the other, they just wouldn't give up. Just pure professional stubbornness, I guess.😉

First off, forget about those "aged" blue veins you mentioned. Honestly, anyone who judges a nurse based on how visible their veins are isn't using much brainpower. You don't actually need a vein to be visible to stick it with an IV. In fact, if you ask me, about 80% of usable veins aren't even clearly visible. It's all about feeling the vein—palpating it to check the quality, like its elasticity, fullness, and whether it's straight—rather than just looking at it.
Also, regarding this whole "feeding via IV" thing... people often (and totally understandably) mix up getting standard IV fluids with actual parenteral nutrition (which is the technical term for feeding someone through a vein).
Someone is truly being "fed" intravenously only when they receive specific nutritional formulations (like amino acids, sugars, fats, etc.) delivered through the proper IV method.
The first part means that if someone just gives you a bag or two of 5% or 10% glucose or some basic saline solution—what we might call "salt water"—that isn't "feeding." If someone tries to tell you they're feeding you by giving you something that basic, they're just being clueless.
Actual intravenous nutrition formulas could be things like Aminomix, or Aminosteril mixed with glucose, or Intralipid... there are plenty of them.
Furthermore, real parenteral nutrition HAS to go through a central venous catheter (or that infusion pump I mentioned earlier), and absolutely NOT through a standard IV line placed in the veins of the arms or legs—doing that would be a massive medical blunder. See, those nutritional solutions are super concentrated, and if you try to push them into peripheral veins (like in your hands or feet) which have smaller diameters and lower flow rates, the solution can quickly irritate the inner lining of the vein, causing inflammation and pain. That's why you often have to pull the IV and start over after just a few hours. If you went through something similar, that's probably why you were getting poked so frequently.

Scott Allen10 said:Those old-school veins you mentioned? Forget about finding blue ones right away. Anyone who thinks they need a visible blue vein to work with isn't using their brain. You don't even need to see the vein clearly to get a needle in.

The "invisible" ones were just feeling around blindly, which was super weird to me....

Still, I'm pretty sure they actually used one of those "blue" ones for an IV. It was on the upper right palm. One of them even flared up on the bedding....
Anyway, they found what they needed... at the JLL unit. The real headache was at the very end over in surgery when I needed anesthesia; they hadn't bothered to check my blood type beforehand, and they refused to go any further without it. And the staff on-site? It's like they suddenly forgot how to find a decent vein, even when I pointed out exactly where the previous nurses had easily felt them.

One hilarious moment while I was waking up—I hear them saying my birth year isn't even on my chart, it just says 19.....
That sounds totally insane to me because my paperwork travels with me, but I couldn't exactly speak up yet.

Finally, late at night, once I was separated from the group, I asked the nurse on duty... does it say
that info now? NO.... she says, and then she writes it in... based on what I told her.

So, that's the whole story.
I woke up twice last night with a headache, plus some heartburn. Honestly, I haven't had heartburn like that since I was pregnant 40 years ago! I took some Aleve and finally crashed around 3:40 AM.

Woke up around 9:30... still a little groggy, but for the FIRST time, no headache.
Just a quick note... ever since I got home and had my regular morning coffee.... I feel totally refreshed.

As for the heartburn? I think it was from all the honey tea I've been drinking. Today I skipped the tea entirely and just stuck to plain water. And guess what? No issues so far. Not even a headache. All day long!

My niece stopped by around noon. She's my lifesaver for bathing, since I'm still too nervous to hop in the tub alone. She just left, and I think I'm done venting about this, unless you have more questions or thoughts.

Thanks for being such a great listener and chatting with me. Much appreciated. 🙂👋