The Operation

This was supposed to be a fairly simple outpatient procedure.  I was supposed to go home the same day.  I was supposed to wake up with new perky boobs, I was supposed to recover in 4-6 weeks.

THIS WAS ALL TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

My biggest issue with the entire experience is that I was not prepared for the possibility that things would not go as planned.  I was not told what might happen or what could happen.  I dont want any other woman to go through what I did.

We arrived at the hospital, checked in to admitting and proceeded to the day surgery department.  I was given a gown and the nurse hooked up my IV.  My husband was allowed to stay by my side until I was taken into the operating room. 

Once in the operating room, I was relaxed.  A little nervous but a little excited.  I was excited to get new perky boobies, and to eliminate any risk of developing breast cancer.  I knew this was the right decision. My dad did not get the chance to see 3 of his kids graduate from university and get married.  He did not meet grandchildren.  He did not see my accomplishments.  I do not want to miss out on any of these things.  This was not a cosmetic surgery, it was a medical surgery. 

The plastic surgeon started using a black marker to draw on my boobs.  The general surgeon entered the OR and spoke calming reassuring words to me.  They would work together as a team.  After the general surgeon removed the tissue from the first breast, the plastic surgeon would start reconstructing it right away.  This way the surgery is complete in 3-4 hours. 

The anesthetist introduced himself and my eyes slowly closed.

When my eyes opened, I was being wheeled out of the operating room.  I felt as if my guts were still hanging out.  I was screaming, the pain was like nothing I can ever describe to you.  I would compare it to the likes of amputation, even though I have never experienced that.  I started vomitting, crying, and screaming for help.  Something was very wrong.

I immediately look down to my chest, lift up my gown and NO BOOBS.

It took so long for anyone to come and help me.  Finally, a nurse, and the doctors came to explain.

I had a reaction to the general anesthetic.  About 1 hour into the surgery, my heart rate sky rocketed, and my blood pressure dropped to 40/20 and my respiration dropped to 9.

They tried different combinations of narcotics but it only made things worse.  The anesthetist had to stop giving me any medication for pain.  They had to bring my vitals back up so that the surgeons could have enough time to close me up.  The  reconstruction was not completed.  They told me that my body could not have handled any more, I would have died.

Apparantly I may have a genetic condition called Malignant Hyper/Hypothermia.  A fatal reaction to general anaesthetic. 

How would I have known this?  I had never had a general anesthetic before.  I was not aware of any family members having issues with general anesthetics.

I had to stay over night in the hospital.  They provided me with a hydromorphone pump that I could trigger a release every 15 minutes.

My respiration continued to drop every time I self administered the narcotic from the pump.  The machines would go off, nurses would come running and they would take the pump away from me until my blood pressure and respiration went back up.  During this time there was no pain meds.  Why? because the doctor didnt give an order for a back up.

This went on for hours.  Finally I screamed for them to send me the pain management team asap.  I kept ringing the nurses call button until they sent someone.  I knew as a health care professional, I was entitled to have my pain managed.  I dont care if you dont have an order, get one!

The pain management team arrived 12 hours later.  We tried some different options with only little improvement. 

Oral hydromorphone was working better, my vitals were not crashing.  We started zofran to stop the vomitting and eventually I was able to hold down soup etc.

I was discharged 24 hours later.  I was not ready to go home.  The pain was surreal.  I could not walk, get up and down, lift my arms, cough, sneeze, go to the bathroom.  Basically I was useless.

This is when I realized how important the Paleo and crossfit preparation was.  I was able to use muscles that I never knew I had to get up and down out of bed, and go to the washroom.

The recovery was tramatic.