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A friend of mine (a retired doctor) had a colonoscopy one morning. I saw him riding his bike home (about 10 miles) early that afternoon. I thought that was pretty impressive.
I had a neuroma between I think 3rd and 4th toes removed under local. They did an ankle block with lidocaine. The block was extremely unpleasant (would not have been NEARLY as bad if they had bothered to buffer the lidocaine with bicarb), but after that it was smooth sailing, and I was able to drive myself home.
I've also had upper and lower endoscopy done with only viscous lidocaine to back of throat to numb gag reflex. Easy.
I KNOW that most docs would prefer to put the patient out for THEIR ease, not for the patient's sake. But local is much safer for the patient. Plus anesthesiologists make a killing doing these unnecessary easy brief general anesthesias, especially in outpatient surgicenters. And while your colonoscopy may be covered as "well care", the general anesthesia is NOT, and goes to your deductible, to the tune of a thousand bucks.
Point is, if you have the stomach for it, insist on local, and if the doc refuses, find someone else.
"I asked a dentist about that and he said drilling near a nerve would be way too painful without numbing. I had a root canal and even being full of marcaine at the end he hit the jaw never and I nearly jumped out of the chair."
It was uncomfortable, but not overly painful. The Oral Surgeon said he had not done a root canal without numbing before, but was game if I was.
Thanks. I need metatarsal work and probably need to have the whole soft tissue around my metatarsal head rebuilt someday, and as I said I'm phobic of GA. I can handle being awake but I do not want to see anything lol. I can't fathom watching my hip or knee being replaced, I think I would pass out. I hope by losing some weight and a rigorous strengthening regime I can postpone knee or any major joint replacement surgery for many years, until they have something better than they have now...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parnassia
Most were so long ago I don't recall the specifics, but I do remember getting some sort of spinal block for ankle tendon repairs, bone spur removal/metatarsal and ligament realignments. For all but one, I was totally awake and chatting with a nurse or anesthesiologist. Remember one in particular daring me to guess where my leg happened to be at that moment. My sensory memory told me it was lying flat on the table. He moved the drape to show me it was being held higher off the table with knee bent. Really weird! We laughed about that. For another more complicated (and probably longer) bunion/bunionette procedure also a spinal block, but was so groggy I didn't remember much of anything.
For the first two biopsies had a local and Valium but remember the procedures clearly. Another with no sedation which was a mistake. I asked to be totally awake for the THR as I really wanted to see what arthritis-damaged live bone looked like and to follow the procedure. The surgeon was a little surprised, but agreed. Got a spinal block, but I kept dozing off. I remember bits of conversation, some details about the room, and all the hammering, sawing, and drilling. The anesthesiologist told me later he did try to keep me engaged as he knew I wanted to be "present". Don't know whether any other IV meds were responsible for it, but was disappointed to miss it. Should have asked for a video.
You may not always get a choice because....do you really want a procedure requiring precision being done while you are squirming and jumping around because of the pain? I'm all for choice, but also safety.
Sometimes you can have a lighter anesthesia but with "backups" available in case you can't tolerate the pain/discomfort or the procedure isn't going as planned (is more invasive or complicated than anticipated). But, that's not always possible so in some regard you need to trust your doctor that they're doing what they are for YOUR overall benefit.
You may not always get a choice because....do you really want a procedure requiring precision being done while you are squirming and jumping around because of the pain? I'm all for choice, but also safety.
Sometimes you can have a lighter anesthesia but with "backups" available in case you can't tolerate the pain/discomfort or the procedure isn't going as planned (is more invasive or complicated than anticipated). But, that's not always possible so in some regard you need to trust your doctor that they're doing what they are for YOUR overall benefit.
I don't think I've ever been asked for my anesthesia ( or lack of) preferences when I underwent procedures or surgery. I was just informed what they would be using. That was fine with me, as I always preferred to be as unaware as possible of what's going on during the surgery, and I sure didn't care to watch anything.
I could see where anesthesia could be an issue for those planning to providing their own transportation home after the surgery.
My mom can't have anesthesia. She's had back, wrist, shoulder surgeries and a knee replacement using nerve block injections. She is 100% awake the entire time. She's getting her hip replaced next.
I had my cataract surgeries with just numbing eye drops. It was still uncomfortable but the surgeries were short. They did give Xanax pill beforehand which helped. I was expecting to get some mild sedation. They put an IV in for it but didn't use it. The anesthesiologist said I "didn't need it". I guess they make the determination by monitoring vitals etc.
Thanks. I need metatarsal work and probably need to have the whole soft tissue around my metatarsal head rebuilt someday, and as I said I'm phobic of GA. I can handle being awake but I do not want to see anything lol. I can't fathom watching my hip or knee being replaced, I think I would pass out. I hope by losing some weight and a rigorous strengthening regime I can postpone knee or any major joint replacement surgery for many years, until they have something better than they have now...
You won't be seeing anything unless you ask to. Drapes to protect the operative field, etc.
FWIW, (and I know there's a minority of people who don't have perfect outcomes) I haven't had a single problem with my THR; the aftermath of the procedure or the implant materials...and they've been in there over 20 years
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