Susan's Journal

Marie Myers  Post op delirium is not uncommon after anesthesia. It can be caused by many different medications, and is more common in us older patients. I am sorry you had to experience that, but it can be an unpredictable post op complication. Hope you are feeling better now.

Carol Kauffman  I had a bypass and aortic valve replacement on 3/12/18. At some point during (after?) the surgery I sort of "woke up"- totally inside my head as I couldn't feel my body except for intense pain in the heart area. I was confused and panicked- thought I may have had a heart attack and they were working feverishly on me. I heard voices but couldn't process the language. Then I heard someone laugh and thought to myself "wait- no one would be laughing if I had had a heart attack, would they? Then I reasoned "since I'm thinking, I probably didn't have a stroke either. But this is taking sooo long..." next memory I have is opening my eyes, hearing someone say "she's breathing on her own, let's get this tube out." Then my memory goes blank again until the next morning. The anesthesiologist said it could have been a hallucination during the time I was in recovery. Another anesthesiologist (good family friend) said partial wake ups happen "more frequently than the docs care to admit" - that it's rare but tends to happen more often in redheads, and that if I ever need to go,under again, to make sure and tell the anesthesiologist!! The funny thing- both my daughter and I had trouble with the epidural "taking" apprpriately- she ended up with a spinal for both her babies. Just FYI:-)

  Susan, this happened to me. My husband and son could just look at me and I would start crying. The waiting for the day of surgery is the worst. Will keep you in my prayers.

  It got to be a joke in our family. My son would say, "oh no, here she goes again" and we would end up laughing. Stress affects everyone differently. You can do this. Just remember these surgeons have great success rates and do it every day.

Nancy James  I had fear until I decided to see a different surgeon and get my second opinion. Once I had that settled I was okay. The only time I cried was when the first doctor told me I needed surgery and when I got to my car I called my husband and he said how did it go and I busted out in tears and could hardly drive home. I had my surgery Sept 26 and it's not easy. But it's necessary for your life. I kept thinking I didn't really need it and I'll take my chances, but when you get 2 doctors and a husband who say - if you don't have surgery you could just fall over and die - that was a hard pill to swallow. Once I made the decision I felt better but sure you get scared. What happens if something doesn't go right in surgery. What happens if something isn't done right or has to be done again at some other point. You questions everything - but I think that's normal when I read other's posts - we all get scared because we realize how fragile life really is.
I hope and pray that your surgery will go well. I had hundreds of people praying for me and that made me push to do the best I could. Even if there are some minor glitches during the process - you are going to have a better life, be healthy and happy when it's all said and done. It is a long haul, but I look forward when I am back to normal and back to feeling 100%.
God bless.