Can I cry and stamp my feet for a second?

[y4m]

my right wrist is broken.  a lot broken.  i strongly recommend you not "rediscover how fun rollerblading is" at 33.  that sport died for a reason.

anyway at first it seemed like a clean break but the bones are moving and ortho wants to surgically put a plate in there.  scheduled for monday.

in the meantime I'm in a splint, and I just discovered last night that I'm having a horrible allergic reaction to that splint.  as in my broken wrist is also completely covered in not just hives, but blisters.

SOB

Ill take hugs and hair pats and funny/happy/easy general anesthesia stories please (this is my first ever surgery and with all my allergic issues I'm pretty scared about it)

make me feel better, not-nest

[gogreengowhite]

Hugs y4m! I'm so sorry you are going through this.

If I wasn't on the app I would post adorable kitty gifs to make you smile.

[tacosforlife]

I'm so sorry.

I can't speak to the allergy issues, but general anesthesia is a trip.

At least you have good pain meds? I hope.

[screwedup]

First, hugs and hair pats.

My first ever surgery was BACK SURGERY. I'd never had anesthesia and I was way more freaked out about that than the surgery (I'm allergic to aspirin and all NSAIDs and I cross check to wierd things. I was terrified I was going to be allergic to anesthesia.) Everything went off without a hitch. I did wake up in the PACU demanding my husband. They wouldn't bring him back and I was all "HE IS A DOCTOR. I WANT MY HUSBAND" (He's a veterinarian.) Apparently, ranting to the PACU nurses just amuses them Once I wasn't so stoned, it was all fine.

[y4m]

do plates screws set off tsa metal detectors? this is another serious concern of mine

[Deleted]

Dammit, this sucks y4m.

May I set you up a go fund me page for a healing trip to The relaxing Island destination of your choice?

[y4m]

also allergic to nsaids here--thanks screwedup for sharing that

[raangoli]

I'm so sorry y4m. That sounds ridiculously painful.

I'd never had any sort of medical procedure before this week either, and I can say now that the general anesthesia isn't bad at all. I was all "Yeah this isn't going to work" and I took maybe 2 breaths and had no idea what happened until I woke up like 1.5 hours later. I was all "Where am I? What are these wires?" it was like 20 questions when I woke up.

Hugs to you.

[audette]

Oh, man, that sounds horrible!

I've been under general anesthetic once - when I had my gall bladder removed. I'd been told as a kid that my family tends to have bad reactions to general anesthesia, so it was avoided when I had my wisdom teeth out as a teenager, so I was worried about it (but was in enough pain, I didn't really care that much about the worry...).

Anyways, even though I expected the worst, it all ended up OK. Gall bladder removed, I came to in a recovery room. My memory is fuzzy on exactly what I did in that room, but I think I had to do something before they would let me leave the recovery room for a regular room at the hospital. It can't have been too bad a time - I remember almost nothing of it, and I figure if it was traumatic, I'd remember.

[LoveTrains]

I am so sorry y4m. Hair pats. Hang in there.

[rbp]

((y4m)) I'm so sorry about your wrist. I broke my first bone in June, and it sucked. Similar story to you in that the radiologist who read the x ray said it was a clean break and wouldn't need surgery. I'm glad I saw the orthopedist the next day, because it turned out that my fibula was broken in five places, and the fracture was in no way clean. I had surgery six days after the injury, and my ankle now has a plate and eight screws.

I didn't have general anesthesia because I was pregnant. I had an epidural for numbing and propofol (on the anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, haha) to make me sleepy. I did have general anesthesia for my appendectomy in 2012, and my body handled it just fine. I actually really liked it. (Does this make me sound like a druggie? Haha) I felt like I'd just woken up from the most amazing nap. I was a little loopy for a few hours afterwards, but that's it. My BIL, on the other hand, was really nauseous when he woke up from general anesthesia. That went away within a few hours though. I think the risk of serious side effects is very, very low--especially for an otherwise healthy person. Today's anesthesia is very good!

My best advice to you is to stay ahead of the pain after surgery. Take the max dose of narcotics for at least 24 hours, then reevaluate. I made the mistake of only taking 5 mg of Percocet (had been prescribed 10 mg), and by the time my epidural wore off I was in the worst pain of my life. It improved rapidly, but the first day was no joke.

Good luck in your surgery! PM me if you want to talk!

[rbp]

Sept 19, 2014 10:04:00 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Sept 19, 2014 9:59:52 GMT -5 y4m said:

do plates screws set off tsa metal detectors? this is another serious concern of mine

No. At one point I had a 9" long plate and ~20 screws and I never set off metal detectors.

This is very good to know.

[keweenawlove]

Hugs. H broke his wrist biking last year and it was shitty to deal with. And his was his non dominant hand so I can't imagine how hard it must be for you. He also ended up having to have a plate put it. The benefit of that was he was able to start using it sooner than without the plate.

H was super nervous for the surgery too. The worst part for him ended up being that he has a super low resting heart rate so he was setting off all the heartrate monitors. They ended up not having him completely out. I'm trying to remember the specifics. They did what I think was called an arm block and sedated him so he was basically asleep/in la la land but not completely out under anesthesia. It sounded a little scary because he wanted to just be completely out but he doesn't remember even going into the OR. When they wheeled him into the recovery room and he started waking up, he kept telling them he wanted to be knocked out and didn't know the surgery was already done. I just wanted to add that in there in case they do something similar for you.

On the screws, they SHOULD use titanium screws if it's a permanent plate. They shouldn't give you any issues with the airport scanners. I hope you have a speedy recovery.

[womet]

I am so sorry y4m. I saw your xray and couldn't figure out where the break was. It's a good thing I'm not your doctor, lol. Big hugs to you. I've been under several times and have never had an issue before. If they use propofol, it's the shit. I know why MJ was addicted to it. You feel like you've slept for years, but you have only been out for 5 minutes. And pain meds are your friend. When I was in the hospital last year, the dilaudid was the best. It made me feel warm all over and the pain was gone. Gosh, this all makes me sound like a drug addict.

[karinothing]

Ugh, I am sorry. That sucks. Do you need me to bring you anything?

[genet313]

oh, no, that completely stinks and you are completely allowed to stomp your feet b/c of this.

i really, really hope the surgery on monday goes well and they can find something that you're not allergic to!

[krisandgrace]

ETA-Totally ignore, I was responding to the car bumper post. Need more coffee obviously!

[Deleted]

Sept 19, 2014 10:00:47 GMT -5 y4m said:

also allergic to nsaids here--thanks screwedup for sharing that

I'm allergie to asprin and nsaids also and have no problems with anesthesia. Good Luck!

[Deleted]

That sucks. I am so sorry. My MIL took up rollerblading for the first time at age 38. She broke her first on her first rollerblading adventure. When she went to the ER they told her the same thing they told you. It was something along the lines of "That isn't really something to start doing at your age". She was upset about the wrist but she was more angry about the comment on her age.

[lemon]

That is terrible and sounds painful!

I hope you have a quick recovery.

[starlily]

***pats y4m's hair*** I hope everything goes smoothly with your surgery.

MH has screws in his ankle and hasn't set off any metal detectors.

[DarcyLongfellow]

I'm so sorry :-(

[mich1]

Sept 19, 2014 9:59:52 GMT -5 y4m said:

do plates screws set off tsa metal detectors? this is another serious concern of mine

They might.  My hip replacements set it off every time.

It likely depends on the amount of metal they need to use to put Humpty back together again.  Before I had my replacements, I had several screws/pins in my pelvis and they would occasionally set it off.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry y4m, that all sucks. I'm allergic to nsaids also and didn't have any problems with the anestesia. I'm just very combative when I'm coming out of it. It makes the nurses go running for my family. If they patronize me, I just get more angry.

[orangeblossom]

You can definitely cry. What you described sucks. I'm sorry.

As for surgery, I had surgery for the first time in about 20 years last year, and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised with the side effects of anesthesia, post-surgery. I didn't have any, other than being sleepy. Whatever anti-nausea stuff they used, worked really, really well. I hope the same for you.

[busterpup]

Oh no! I hope the surgery goes well and it's a quick recovery!

I have titanium in my back and it doesn't set of the detectors.

[sjh722]

I'm sorry.

I had screws in my knees for several years and never set off a metal detector. No plate, though. And ditto all the pp who said anesthesia isn't bad at all. I don't mind it. You count backwards from 10 (and get to about 7) and then next thing you know you're in the PACU. I will also ditto rbp - take your pain meds on schedule for the first few days. If you can stay ahead of the pain, it's a lot more comfortable than strething out a dose and trying to catch up.

[spunkarella]

That sounds absolutely miserable! Feel better soon!

[ddi741]

OMG, sorry, that sounds horrible. 

[lys]

Post an OFF DUTY sign, get comfy on the couch, enjoy some movies/netflix or a good book.
Surgery should go well. Wishes for a speedy recovery.