Surgery, what should I expect?

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

Anyone who has had surgery, I have a few questions for you. I am getting surgery done on the 31st of this month for a skin condition I have called hidradenitis suppurativa. Basically I have open wounds, and extremely painful swollen lumps on my underarms/armpit area. It's a fairly uncommon condition, so I don't know if any of you are familiar with it. This will be my first major operation, the only other surgical operation I have had is having my wisdom teeth removed. I'm familiar with being sedated through IV, and my surgeon told me it would be a fairly quick operation, about an hour or so, with an hour of recovery after. After that, I would have stitches for 3 weeks. I know it varies from person to person and on which area of the body the surgery takes place, but in general, how have your experiences been with pain, discomfort, mobility impairment, and dealing with stitches?

[Moniker]

The worst part is the daily (or semi-daily) serviced stitches+ointment. That shit never gets comfortable. Oh, and band-aid rash (depending on your race - the whiter you are, the worse off). Just hope that the person applying the ointment doesn't resent you for it (le sigh...). Depending on the narcotic you get prescribed, the rest could be gravy.

Edit: Also, taking a shower will suck for awhile. I suggest showering on a more limited basis.

[brentsg]

If the surgery is near an area that tends to move a lot then it'll feel tight and weird. I had some work done on the back of my shoulder and it was difficult to get used to the fact that I couldn't move normally without the feeling that I was tearing the stitches out.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I could tell you about recovering from anaesthesia, but can't remember any events leading to or directly following the surgery itself. Reportedly I was rather lively, trying to stand up and go for a walk soon after.
I could also tell you about pressure ulcers, but from the sound of it, you won't have to stay in bed for too long.

[Mischief Maker]

Watch out if you start having a dream that the doctor is feeding you a banana.

[Moniker]

Watch out if you start having a dream that the doctor is feeding you a banana.

Also if you dream that you're eating a horse (with gusto) who happens to be not only alive, but also amenable to the general situation. Spoiler: it tastes like spoiled venison. (This is, no joke, a dream I had two nights in a row in a hospital bed. I blame the nicotine patch.)

[Mortificator]

With general anesthesia, in my experience, you're not aware of time passing. It doesn't feel like sleep, where even though you're unconscious, you know that hours have gone by. More like, you blink and the room is different.

[ptoing]

I had brain surgery in 2010 where I was under general anesthesia for like 11 hours, took about 4 days to really get out of that, those 4 days are pretty much gone from my memory. Doubt for your OP it will be that long. Though I guess the stitches might need a bit more care, since the armpit and such are areas of quite high mobility.

[Xyga]

I had brain surgery in 2010 where I was under general anesthesia for like 11 hours

Wow. Just... WOW.

I know it varies from person to person and on which area of the body the surgery takes place, but in general, how have your experiences been with pain, discomfort, mobility impairment, and dealing with stitches?

I got Keratoconus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratoconus and had to go through corneal transplant in 2005.

Took about one hour and a half, full anaesthesia so no memories of course.
The wake up was painful since it is quite a sensitive location and morphine can't do much for it.
Some bad 24hrs or so and it gradually became more bearable. I was able to blink again after maybe 4-5 days.

I got more surgery later on that fucking rotten eye but none as heavy as that one.

The interesting part is that those other surgeries were consequences of what I did and how I lived after the transplant surgery.
Basically; be careful with the stitches, stay in a clean and safe environment and make sure you can be treated quickly at a good hospital or clinic if needed (sudden infection or something like that).

Don't go traveling to tropical areas or polluted/dirty places that lack proper practitioners and facilities until you're fully healed.

[ptoing]

I had brain surgery in 2010 where I was under general anesthesia for like 11 hours

Wow. Just... WOW.

It was not as bad as it sounds. It was a long OP, and it took me a while to recover from the anesthesia. Also at some point I ripped out IV-drips from my arm, fun times. No memory of any of that. But all went well
Had 76 staples as well.

Photo of scar, couple of days after I was released from hospital.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/155 ... adscar.jpg

But yeah, Emo Fox, I doubt you should have too many if any troubles with the anesthesia, really. Seems like a minor surgery. In any case, good luck with recuperation and all that once everything is over

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

The worst part is the daily (or semi-daily) serviced stitches+ointment. That shit never gets comfortable. Oh, and band-aid rash (depending on your race - the whiter you are, the worse off). Just hope that the person applying the ointment doesn't resent you for it (le sigh...). Depending on the narcotic you get prescribed, the rest could be gravy.

Edit: Also, taking a shower will suck for awhile. I suggest showering on a more limited basis.

I am pretty white-skinned unfortunately, but I think I'm used to the band-aid rash since I constantly have to put band-aids, gauze, and tape on whenever I go out to prevent blood and fluids from discharging all over over the inside of my shirts. The constant ripping off the band-aids has left some bright red marks imprinted on my skin and at one point made me bleed. And I'll probably have to get used to showering less like you said, but I'm wondering, how much does it hurt when you wash over a stitched up area?

If the surgery is near an area that tends to move a lot then it'll feel tight and weird. I had some work done on the back of my shoulder and it was difficult to get used to the fact that I couldn't move normally without the feeling that I was tearing the stitches out.

My surgeon told me it would be hard to lift my arms after the operation, but I would have to keep lifting them to prevent the skin from getting used to staying down.

I could tell you about recovering from anaesthesia, but can't remember any events leading to or directly following the surgery itself. Reportedly I was rather lively, trying to stand up and go for a walk soon after.
I could also tell you about pressure ulcers, but from the sound of it, you won't have to stay in bed for too long.

I'm not too worried about being sedated, I actually like the feeling. When I was sedated for my wisdom teeth removal, I could feel my heartbeat slowing and just stop and then I blacked out. Where exactly did you have your surgery done?

Watch out if you start having a dream that the doctor is feeding you a banana.

That would be really nasty. But last time i was sedated I didn't dream at all, I was just lost in a black haze.

I had brain surgery in 2010 where I was under general anesthesia for like 11 hours, took about 4 days to really get out of that, those 4 days are pretty much gone from my memory. Doubt for your OP it will be that long. Though I guess the stitches might need a bit more care, since the armpit and such are areas of quite high mobility.

Ouch! Why exactly did you have brain surgery? Also, that's what my surgeon told me, that I would have to care for them properly for about 3 weeks, then I could have them removed.

I got Keratoconus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratoconus and had to go through corneal transplant in 2005.

Took about one hour and a half, full anaesthesia so no memories of course.
The wake up was painful since it is quite a sensitive location and morphine can't do much for it.
Some bad 24hrs or so and it gradually became more bearable. I was able to blink again after maybe 4-5 days.

I got more surgery later on that fucking rotten eye but none as heavy as that one.

The interesting part is that those other surgeries were consequences of what I did and how I lived after the transplant surgery.
Basically; be careful with the stitches, stay in a clean and safe environment and make sure you can be treated quickly at a good hospital or clinic if needed (sudden infection or something like that).

Don't go traveling to tropical areas or polluted/dirty places that lack proper practitioners and facilities until you're fully healed.

That sounds really terrible, especially in such a sensitive place like your eye. How has it been holding up all these years? And I don't plan on traveling anywhere anyway, in a painful condition.

It was not as bad as it sounds. It was a long OP, and it took me a while to recover from the anesthesia. Also at some point I ripped out IV-drips from my arm, fun times. No memory of any of that. But all went well
Had 76 staples as well.

Photo of scar, couple of days after I was released from hospital.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/155 ... adscar.jpg

But yeah, Emo Fox, I doubt you should have too many if any troubles with the anesthesia, really. Seems like a minor surgery. In any case, good luck with recuperation and all that once everything is over

That's crazy! 11 hours under anesthesia and 4 days to recover from it. How did you cope with it? That scar you have is really long, does it go all the way to the other side of your head? Also, thanks for the best wishes for recovery, I really appreciate it!

[ptoing]

Yeah, that scar goes all the way to the other side. They basically peeled down my forehead to get into the skull. Also got some titanium bolts in my head, 2 of which you can actually feel on my forehead. They are now no longer needed, but taking them out would be hassle, and they don't really get in the way.

I had the operation because my brain decided to prolapse into my nasal cavity. So they actually had to cut off a bit which was damaged and shove the rest back in and fix the hole. And because of that now I got about a cubic inch of brain missing. Tho I can't really tell the difference. The brain is pretty good at taking over functions when you got some bits messed up.

As far as coping with the anethesia stuff goes, I dunno, there was not much to cope with really. I was out for those 4 days, and then I was in the hospital for another 2 weeks almost. Which was pretty good and recovered really fast, only had one massive headache while at the hospital after the 4 days of recovery. Nothing major since. I also can't really tell if the anethesia had a longer effect, which it can have from what I heard and read, but I honestly did not feel much different in terms of overall performance or feeling tired and such.

[gct]

With general anesthesia, in my experience, you're not aware of time passing. It doesn't feel like sleep, where even though you're unconscious, you know that hours have gone by. More like, you blink and the room is different.

For myself, I likened it more to an alien abduction. I woke up not knowing where I was, not knowing how much time had passed, and with a tube stuck up my....yeah....
The time before that, I was not fully sedated, but recovery was fun. I felt kind of high and definitely uninhibited, I vaguely recall cracking some inappropriate joke to the nurse, but I can't remember what I said. That was pretty rad. I've never been drunk before but maybe some of you guys can tell me if that's what it's like?

[boagman]

I had brain surgery in 2010 where I was under general anesthesia for like 11 hours

Wow. Just... WOW.

It was not as bad as it sounds. It was a long OP, and it took me a while to recover from the anesthesia. Also at some point I ripped out IV-drips from my arm, fun times. No memory of any of that. But all went well
Had 76 staples as well.

Photo of scar, couple of days after I was released from hospital.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/155 ... adscar.jpg

But yeah, Emo Fox, I doubt you should have too many if any troubles with the anesthesia, really. Seems like a minor surgery. In any case, good luck with recuperation and all that once everything is over

Mother of pearl! First off: glad you're okay now.

Second: it is just me, or does that incision seem *way* far away from your nasal cavity?

[ptoing]

Well, yeah, but would you rather they go in over your eyebrow, or higher up? I'd rather have a scar there, which also has less chance of fucking stuff up. All I can say is "hail modern medicine", I'd likely be dead without it.

Also, as far as being away from the nasal cavity. They literally pulled the skin down on the forehead and then took out part of my skullbone, to get where they had to get.

Fun MRI picture. Note the white blob in the brain. That's the hole.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15588722/mrt02.png

[Captain]

Meh all I ever did was get my appendix removed, the wait and pain were....annoying at most.

Yea basically 90% of surgery and the aftermath is just fucking annoying, I got to see at least 50 people in the hospital suffering from different surgery aftermath effects.

and 10% is serious if youre unlucky.

[Xyga]

That sounds really terrible, especially in such a sensitive place like your eye. How has it been holding up all these years? And I don't plan on traveling anywhere anyway, in a painful condition.

Well I had like 40 or 50 micro-stitches and 9 years later I still have a few left.
The problem is when one loosens or breaks while you are away far from any ophtalmologist, during a week-end or worse during a holiday when none is availble.
Once it happened during Xmas, had to drive a hundred km to the nearest ER to have a clumsy intern remove the remains stuck in the cornea.

The worst was when I was staying in Beijing for a year and caught some infectious bacteria after one broke. Most probably due to pollution (air, water).
Had to take a cab (2 hrs in jammed traffic) to arrive at an eye-clinic where service was over when I arrived and I had to look myself for an intern wandering into the facility.
I found one who gave me some extremely strong eyedrops that completely stopped the already engaged transplant rejection (my eye was red like a tomato) but burned my lens. Basically I got a bad case of cataract and after a few weeks was not able to read and study anymore. Had to go back to Europe for more happy surgery (no way I was going to let local doctors touch my eye anymore).

Cornea transplants don't last forever (unless you're lucky) so I know I'm not done whith this shit.
The only thing I'm afraid of is the fated second/replacement transplant, which is a much more delicate surgery. Hope it will happen only quite late in my life (after retirement would be perfect).

Anyway my point is doctors as good as they can be don't necessarily warn patients of all the risks of post-surgery life, so gotta be careful about what you can or cannot do.
I had to give up on uderwater diving (the national association clearly stated I could no longer dive with such condition) but fo instance I didn't think long distance flights were no good as well (a matter of internal eye pressure).

The eye is sensitive ok, but skin is very exposed and doesn't have tears to constantly keep it clean.
Just thinking; for instance can you wear any type of cloth ? Some textiles or substances found in textiles are known to be bad for sensitive skins.

@Ptoing: you beat them hands down:

[ptoing]

Damn, that eye stuff really sounds like a pain in the ass. Here when I had the surgery I got a massive waifer thing I had to sign before, which listed all kinds of fun possible complications and aftereffects of the surgery. Luckily nothing happened. My GP told me about a patient he had with a similar operation, and for that guy it did not go as well, because it did not heal as well as it could have and thus his innercranial pressure is kinda fucked and does not regulate as good as it should. Result: Frequent cramps and dizziness.

Also lol @ the Jaws thing. My story I guess is not so cool, because it was not some crazy accident. Just something that probably was some latent birth defect that crept up on me over time.

[Moniker]

I am pretty white-skinned unfortunately, but I think I'm used to the band-aid rash since I constantly have to put band-aids, gauze, and tape on whenever I go out to prevent blood and fluids from discharging all over over the inside of my shirts. The constant ripping off the band-aids has left some bright red marks imprinted on my skin and at one point made me bleed. And I'll probably have to get used to showering less like you said, but I'm wondering, how much does it hurt when you wash over a stitched up area?

Like Captain said, it's more annoying than anything else. You just learn to make sure the spray doesn't directly hit the stitches, if possible. Get a nice sting otherwise. It hurts but nothing really devastating. Trying to get the glue from the band aids off was probably the worst of it.

[brentsg]

I'm shocked nobody has come along and detailed their gender change for us.

[CStarFlare]

Last surgery I had was having my wisdom teeth taken out. I took a week off of work and enjoyed my entire prescription of vicodin.

So I'm pro-surgery. If you're ever in the position to do something similar, fire up netflix, grab a grindy DS game and enjoy life.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Where exactly did you have your surgery done?

Craniotomy. Not as horrible as it may sound. I got lucky.

[Mortificator]

Is it good or bad to read this kind of stuff before going into surgery?

[Xyga]

Wow. I think watching some surgery gore flick woul be safer than reading this blog.

[boagman]

Wow. I think watching some surgery gore flick woul be safer than reading this blog.

Yeah, I'm not going to do that. In fact, seeing his scar/incision would have normally reduced me to a queasy little twit, were it not for the fact that I know he's recovered from it. I am *terrible* when it comes to surgical operations and such. I've got no issue with blood or anything...it's when you throw in convulsing organs, or tissue flaps, or (heaven forbid) eyeball layers or what-have-you...then I'm fully prepared to just take someone's word for it.

Modern medicine is, indeed, wonderful. That doesn't mean that all of us are cut out to watch it in motion firsthand.

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

So I apologize for not being on here for a bit, but since I had my surgery on Monday, I've been dealing with a bit of pain and discomfort, as well as nausea, and I've been sleeping and resting more than usual. Other than the expected pain, it went well, I was in and out of the hospital within the same day, but I have a Jackson-Pratt drain attached inside my right underarm. I don't know if any of you have dealt with having this drain attached to you in any of your operations, but is it normal for the fluid to change back to a slightly darker color after it's been getting lighter for a few days?

[glitch]

yay, glad things went well. ^^
how long are you gonna be stuck with that drain?

My GP told me about a patient he had with a similar operation, and for that guy it did not go as well, because it did not heal as well as it could have and thus his innercranial pressure is kinda fucked and does not regulate as good as it should. Result: Frequent cramps and dizziness.

messed up intracranial pressure is a bitch. mine's down thanks to a spinal fluid leak in my back, causing me brain droopiness and various neurological glitches (i'm missing about half of my temperature perception and my heart rate regulation is a mess). had a high volume epidural blood patch (meaning they inject your own blood into your spinal canal) some two months ago, which worked for all of two weeks. second attempt tomorrow. and then again two nights in j-hospital for observation. ugh. ( -_-)

[Obiwanshinobi]

The liquids leaking out of you is a thing I'd consult with a doctor, not a video games forum. It won't hurt to check your body temperature, though. Blood sedimentation is what I'd be curious about, but the lab is where they do these. (Hint - if there is nasty infection going on, blood sedimentation is higher than expected, due to the antibodies doing their job.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AWfzy7wdv4

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

yay, glad things went well. ^^
how long are you gonna be stuck with that drain?

Well, it's been 6 days, and the fluid discharge has been gradually slowing down. I should have it removed soon, if not today. I'll be calling my local hospital later and seeing if I can go in today and get it taken care of. The sooner the better, because I go back to school on Tuesday.