Friday, March 20, 2015

Tuesday & Wednesday

As promised, here is what happened on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Nothing huge so far, but here goes anyway.



K has a codeine allergy. On Tuesday, they decided to give her oxycodone. Codeine and oxycodone are in the same drug family. Both of her parents are allergic to oxycodone. Why they would give it to her, I have no idea. But within a short time of taking it, she went pale and developed a fever. She stopped taking it, and the fever went away and her color came back. But what did they prescribe her on release? More oxy. Derp.

Wednesday, L& I went in for 10:30 and 11:00 to have our pre-surgical appointments. Same place you go for surgery, and free parking for appointment day. (Nice.) You go and check in at the desk, and then wait for someone to call you. L & I kind of went together, separately, as my dad would probably have said. We went more or less at the same time, slightly offset, just seeing different people. First you see someone who digitizes all your medical information from the form you filled out. (You should have gotten one in your packet from Susan when you made the appointment, but if you didn't, or forgot to bring it, they give you a new one at the desk, anyway. You can fill it out then.) The lady I saw went over every body system with me, making sure I had listed everything wrong with it. I hadn't. Forgot to write I have scoliosis, Raynaud's, lower back pain, and a few other things. She went over my medications to make sure I'd listed everything (I had). Gave me more info, a paper about surgical site infections, and asked if I had questions. Then back to the waiting room.

The next woman I saw was an anesthesiologist. She went over my medical information briefly, and my medicines. She went over my pre-surgical process, and gave me a paper about it. Basically, it's nothing to eat or drink after midnight on the night before surgery, which medications to take with a small sip of water on the morning of surgery (everything I normally take is fine except for the lisinopril for my blood pressure), when to stop taking things like aspirin, ibuprofen, herbs, supplements, vitamin E, etc. no jewelry, perfume, lotion, contacts, etc., bring glasses case, leave valuables and money at home. She also said that because I have a panic disorder, I can get something to relax me before surgery if I need it. Yay!! Then it was back to the waiting area.

The last woman I saw took some blood, gave me an EKG, and then gave me a container to give a urine sample. The EKG was really fast. It took longer for her to hook me up to the machine than it did to get a readout. The machine printed out the results, which she said were normal, and then she unhooked me. Super quick. Specimen jar comes in a plastic bag that you put it back in when you're done. You bring it to the desk, and then they validate your parking ticket. Excellent.

So after that, we went up to visit K. She wasn't sure what time she was getting released, because she'd had the fever. We stayed with her for a couple of hours, and then we left. Her sister had wanted to pick her up. But she was looking good and feeling much better. She got home a few hours after we did. She's been doing well since then. She had a cramp in the back of her calf, and she called this morning to talk to the office about it. They told her to go to the ER and have it checked out, in case it was a blood clot. She's still there at the moment, but L just texted me and said that she's had an ultrasound, and that the tech said there's no clot. They're just waiting for the official word.  She hasn't taken any of the oxy. She called the office about it, and Dr. Lautz wasn't too happy they given it to her, given her reaction to it. She's not really in much pain, so he told her to just take Tylenol if she needs pain medication. She's going to bring the oxy back to the pharmacy. The pharmacy, incidentally, was concerned about her taking oxy with a codeine allergy. Seems like everybody was, other than the people handing out scrips at the hospital. So wherever you go, watch for that if you've got allergies.

One other thing, she's had trouble drinking the milk-based protein shakes since surgery. She tried the Nectar Naturals L& I have been drinking, and those sat better in her stomach. So she's ordered some for herself, and we're sharing ours until hers gets here. Meanwhile, as of last night, she'd lost 7 pounds since Monday. Awesome!

No comments:

Post a Comment