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    Surgery Aftermath for a LimboLander

    Howdy group!

    I had laparoscopic gallbladder removal 11/29/16. It was under general anesthesia with an anti-nausea patch behind my ear. I had an asthma attack in the post-op room, so was given a broncho-dialator via the oxygen tube. Then, in the recovery room, I was given Vicadon for a pain-killer. Also, in recovery, I was cold, so they put me under a hot-air blanket cranked way up.

    I get my worst symptoms when my body gets hot. So, it wasn't long in recovery before I started getting vertigo and double vision. Though I still felt cold, I asked to have the blanket removed. Vertigo lessened so we checked out. But, double vision remained for the next couple hours. It went away, but blurred vision remained and is still there. I'm home now and had read that the anti-nausea patch can cause blurred vision, so removed that. Still blurry vision, now on 12/4/16. Plus, I'm getting achey numbness in my left arm and leg. Also, quite short of breath and fatigue with only a brief amount of activity.

    In the past 10 months, we'd changed our lifestyle to eat lots of fresh fruits & veggies, whole grains, good oils, no dairy, no meats. We also worked up to my being able to hike 8-10 miles a day. I was doing so well with few symptoms; now this!

    Has anyone else experienced this sort of response to surgery? For future reference, I'm trying to figure out whether this would be a reaction to anesthesia or one of the other meds or simply a shock to the body or all of the above.

    I don't have a regular neurologist and have an "I'll do the research; you order the test" relationship with the one doc available in our region, so it is up to me to figure this out. Any advice or ideas or thoughts from your experiences are quite welcome, if you have the time.

    Happy holidays to y'all!
    Jennie

    #2
    my experience

    Sorry it has been a rough time after surgery.

    For me when I have had surgery, I always have some worsening of symptoms. And, each surgery that I have, I have a harder time with walking immediately after surgery. I have had 3 surgeries after my diagnosis. And, will be having my hip replaced later today. The last surgery, for the first day, my walking was just a few steps, and as the day wore on, I was able to walk to the bathroom. In time, I was able to build myself up to where I was walking after surgery. Probably within the week.

    Being weak is not unusual, or being tired. Even though you had the laproscopic. The shortness of breath kind of surprises me. Do you have a peak flow meter that you can do them to see where your asthma is? That would be the first place I would start. And, I would see your primary, or if you have a pulmonologist to evaluate this shortness of breath.

    The double vision should be evaluated by a neuro ophthalmologist, if you do not have one then a regular ophthalmologist would do.

    Each day, just keep trying to do minor improvements. Journal your progress so that maybe that will help you see that you are or are not improving.

    The question regarding if this is a result of a med or just a general assault to your body that is causing this. I would venture that it was the general assault of having surgery, the asthma attack, and the heating blanket that was used in recovery. That is three major things that assaulted your body.

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery and some answers.
    God Bless and have a good day, Mary

    Comment


      #3
      I had laparoscopic gallbladder removal in May and robotic surgery in November of last year to remove an ovary and Teratoma cyst.

      Yes the recovery sucks. Sounds like you are like me. Impatient to get back to normal. When heat or a cold or flu makes your symptoms worse, a surgery is like 10 times more disruptive to your body than that so your symptoms are going to be kicking your butt in response. Chills/ heat and fatigue are very normal due to anesthesia let alone you just had freaking surgery. Not being able to pee was my favorite anesthesia side effect!

      So yes it's caused by your body's reaction to being torn open, exposed to viruses, bacteria, foreign objects, pieces torn out that need to heal up, pieces moved around that need to move back, foreign clamps left inside, holes that need to heal, etc. It's all way harder on your body than one would expect. Let alone your body then turns on the MS alarm due to the disruption. So my vote is all 3. Anasthesia does crappy stuff for 24-48 hrs after (thus no driving clause), surgery puts your immune system in turmoil which then triggers your old MS symptoms to come back with a strong avengance. Be patient. Listen to your body. Relax. I know it's hard but you have to so that you don't get an ms attack. Also check your blood pressure. Your shortness of breath and numbness together concerns me a little in that I would just check blood pressure. You probably feel way worse than you expected as did I. I was an angry grumpy impatient person for weeks until I recovered. You will get there.
      Carrie

      Comment


        #4
        To kelm10:

        Thank you for responding and for the advice. The shortness of breath went away. In fact, I've been able to do short spurts of actual running without getting winded. That's just nutty for me! So, I'm thankful for that. Our primary filled an old prescription for an inhaler, so having that handy eases my mind as I continue to gain activity.

        I hope your hip replacement surgery went well and you are recovering quickly without residual issues by now.

        Originally posted by kelm10 View Post
        The double vision should be evaluated by a neuro ophthalmologist, if you do not have one then a regular ophthalmologist would do.
        Thanks for this suggestion. I haven't heard of a neuro-ophthalmologist. But, we just moved to a region with access to more doctors, so we got an appointment with a regular ophth. She ran some tests and found that my eyes aren't working in sync with each other and have nystagmus (involuntary eye movement). She said my optic nerve looked "bulky," but also mentioned that the veins are all squiggly rather than straight [me trying to replicate her description; not medical terminology, I know (chuckle)]. In her opinion, both are likely hereditary. She called in a 2nd professional to test my eyes with prisms, and prisms REALLY helped. There are stick-on prisms I can try on my glasses, but I want to try some of the eye exercises the 2nd fellow gave me first -- Brock String is one of them. As far as the piercing pain that occurs in one eye or the other (never both at once), she ordered a brain scan. It will be looking for aneurysms (I have Polycystic Kidney Disease, so that's good to check anyway), growths, sinus blockages, and, as my primary's receptionist assured me, lesions on the brain. I'll confirm the latter will happen when I go to make the appointment.

        You'd suggested making a journal to see if there's progress. Thank you for that suggestion. I wish I'd thought of making a voice-recorded journal. Reading and writing have been an obnoxious endeavor, so I avoid them unless absolutely necessary. Even now, I have the monitor scooted up close and my font rather large.

        I do think you are right in that this all is a response to the multi-level assault on my body. Definitely the nervous system having a tantrum and going haywire. Stabs of pain in my toes have joined the procession of protests now, keeping me awake. So, I figured I should give some responses here.

        Again, thank you for the advice. Just the waiting game now on seeing how much recovery there is and when. I'm thankful the shortness of breath is gone, so "yay!"

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by carriefromMI View Post
          I had laparoscopic gallbladder removal in May and robotic surgery in November of last year to remove an ovary and Teratoma cyst.

          Yes the recovery sucks. Sounds like you are like me. Impatient to get back to normal. When heat or a cold or flu makes your symptoms worse, a surgery is like 10 times more disruptive to your body than that so your symptoms are going to be kicking your butt in response. Chills/ heat and fatigue are very normal due to anesthesia let alone you just had freaking surgery. Not being able to pee was my favorite anesthesia side effect!
          Heh. Yeah, that was an interesting side effect. I'm glad that's gone!

          Originally posted by carriefromMI View Post
          So yes it's caused by your body's reaction to being torn open, exposed to viruses, bacteria, foreign objects, pieces torn out that need to heal up, pieces moved around that need to move back, foreign clamps left inside, holes that need to heal, etc. It's all way harder on your body than one would expect. Let alone your body then turns on the MS alarm due to the disruption. So my vote is all 3. Anasthesia does crappy stuff for 24-48 hrs after (thus no driving clause), surgery puts your immune system in turmoil which then triggers your old MS symptoms to come back with a strong avengance. Be patient. Listen to your body. Relax. I know it's hard but you have to so that you don't get an ms attack. Also check your blood pressure. Your shortness of breath and numbness together concerns me a little in that I would just check blood pressure. You probably feel way worse than you expected as did I. I was an angry grumpy impatient person for weeks until I recovered. You will get there.
          I'm thinking this has been an attack, since it is still ongoing nearly 2 months later. I still await a diagnosis because lesions have never shown up in MRIs in the past. So, it has been only documentation and treatment of symptoms. Yet, our primary is following through with the eye doc's suggestion of a "brain scan." Maybe something will be seen this time. After 20+ years of living with symptoms without a confirmed diagnosis, despite repeated MRIs, I am okay with just proceeding as I have been no matter whether something is found this time or not. I'm leaning on my Creator for navigation, and folks here have been His awesome helpers in that and many other aspects. I'm so thankful for you all!

          Comment


            #6
            glad to hear

            I am glad things seem to be improved some.

            Hip surgery has gone excellent. Of course, I was only in surgery for hour as compared to 4 hours with my previous surgery. I was back in water aerobics in three weeks.

            And, back to work at 5 weeks. But, I only work part time.

            I have never nor will I ever be a runner, unless in the water.

            Prisms are a wonderful deal. So are the eye exercises.

            Sounds like you are on the mend.

            I still recommend, if applicable, after re-reading the original post that if you have asthma then you should have peak flow for a true picture where you are with your breathing.
            God Bless and have a good day, Mary

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by kelm10 View Post
              I am glad things seem to be improved some.
              Hip surgery has gone excellent. Of course, I was only in surgery for hour as compared to 4 hours with my previous surgery. I was back in water aerobics in three weeks.
              And, back to work at 5 weeks. But, I only work part time.
              I have never nor will I ever be a runner, unless in the water.
              Wonderful that the surgery and recovery have both been excellent for you! Heh. Yeah, I'm not a runner either. But, as a test to see how the breathing and leg strength is, I've burst into a trot down the block on errands or from the car (hubby driving) to the building to which we're headed. That isn't something I've tried for nearly 15 years. Yet, before the surgery, we'd been doing a LOT of hiking and some weight-training, so I was doing the bursts of running lately as kind of a "systems test." I've shocked myself to actually be able to run a bit without falling and without gasping for air. Whoa!

              Originally posted by kelm10 View Post
              Prisms are a wonderful deal. So are the eye exercises.
              I hadn't ever tried prisms except at the eye doc's office last week. You're right! They are amazingly helpful! I felt like a fairly normal person for a minute or two! Ha! I am currently choosing not to incur the cost of adding prisms to my glasses and just hoping the exercises will encourage my eyes to behave. I figure since the rest of my body is helped with activity/exercise, maybe my eyes will respond the same way.

              I haven't started the Brock String exercises yet, but finally found some big beads on a ribbon in a thrift store yesterday. After painting the beads and coming up with string/ribbon long enough, I'll give it a try.

              Originally posted by kelm10 View Post
              I still recommend, if applicable, after re-reading the original post that if you have asthma then you should have peak flow for a true picture where you are with your breathing.
              Thanks for the suggestion. At the moment, I've "back-burnered" it in lieu of getting the MRI instead. I am needing to prioritize the ailment treatment list, at the moment, so that I don't burn out my primary doc on referrals. (wink)(grin)

              Comment

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