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CPAP and Surgery - mjbearit - 09-20-2012
So, this past Monday (17th) I went in for surgery. I have been dealing with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for a number of years and let it go long enough to screw up the tendon as well. So here I sit typing one-handed while sporting a nifty half-cast on my right hand/arm.
This was the funniest comedy of errors I have ever seen! First off I opted for twilight sedation with a bier block. This renders the arm basically dead any supposedly you can't feel it. Geez, where to start? Well first, I apologize for spelling errors. one-handed typing sucks! So the CPAP they used was set way too low. That is fine since twilight really didn't happen! lol! She put the mask on me, then took an oxygen hose an just shoved it under the edge of the mask. Seal? We don't need no stinking seal! LOL! So I ended up every few minutes having to pull the mask back out of my eyeball, but at l;east it gave me an activity while I was just laying there! So the team got me all "prepped" and the doc comes in and says "Tell me if you feel this", whereupon she sticks me three times in different places with the scalpel (gently) and the fact that I jumped and said "OW!" kinda gave her the answer at which point she kinda went off on the staff! So after several rounds of more drugs, I did manage to drop off 2-3 times for a few minutes, but that damn mask stabbing me in the eye kept bring min back around! LOL!
It was an amusing round (until the drugs wore off and I could feel again! OW!) but my point here is, make sure your surgeon knows you are a CPAP patient! This doc won't even do surgery on you unless she can get a surgical suite with the CPAP! Of course we will be having a discussion on the use of CPAP and how important it is that the anesthesiologist has a clue...but that is in a few weeks. In the mean time, I will type when I can and read when I can't. Ya'll be good!
RE: CPAP and Surgery - zonk - 09-20-2012
RE: CPAP and Surgery - trish6hundred - 09-20-2012
Hi mjbearit, Boy it sounds like you had a rough time of it and typing with one hand, wow. I hope you get to feeling better so you can start posting, meanwhile, take it easy.
RE: CPAP and Surgery - SuperSleeper - 09-20-2012
Glad it's over, MJ... please take it easy and here's to your SPEEDY recovery!
RE: CPAP and Surgery - archangle - 09-20-2012
I've already heard the theory that the sedation isn't to reduce pain, it's to make you forget everything so you can't sue.
This is the first time I've heard you need sedation so their messed up CPAP mask doesn't hurt too bad.
"The hand surgery was a success, but he lost an eye in the process."
RE: CPAP and Surgery - dcgrafix - 09-21-2012
Hi mjbearit
It does sound like you had a bad experience with the Carpal Tunnel surgery & should be afraid to do it again under those conditions (or staf including the Dr.)
I too just had Carpal Tunnel surgery last Thursday but with a local anesthetic.
I had my left done on Feb 9Th & now my right & the cool thing with a local is your awake & you get to see inside your wrist when it is open with your tendons spread apart with a clear view of the Median nerve, mine pink near the ends & dark Purple where the compression was from the Transverse Carpal Ligament.
I too wasted way too long over 25 years & it does do irreversible nerve damage but I was back here typing a large post but my hand was still frozen as turkey so I was good to go but knowing the pain will arrive & it did my surgery seems to have gone even better then the first.
It does really through some challenges in to the mix but my left hand is much better just don't have all the strength & flexibility as before but they say that can take a year or more & in severe cases you may never get it all back but I can hold a pen, knife & fork.
The simple things were the werst I could still pick up heavy thing but small things, anything that requires closing fingers in toward each other or make a fist.
Dan
RE: CPAP and Surgery - mjbearit - 09-21-2012
Hey Dan, I had surgery on my left wrist last year for a cyst growing in the carpal tunnel so it was causing the same symptoms. That is when they discovered the CT in the right. I wasn't going to mess with that because of all the horror stories I had heard, but she talked me into it. My left hand is great now. And that was some sugery because the cyst had grown around the nerves and it took quite a bit of disentangling to get it out. But once this one heals i should have 2 new hands. They didn't let me watch. they put up a sterile field so i could not see.
And Archangle, yes, they use the mix for twilight that induces amnesia. It is the same one they use for colonoscopy.
RE: CPAP and Surgery - JudgeMental - 09-21-2012
Oh me oh my....I have a appointment on monday with the orthopedist to discuss this very carpol tunnel thing. Wish I hadn't read this thread..
Hope all is going well ..mjbearit..
RE: CPAP and Surgery - PaulaO2 - 09-21-2012
Yeah, the medication is called Milk of Amnesia because it is white.
It's what killed Micheal Jackson, basically. But his was given by a doc who was nuts, not in the safe environment of a surgical room.
If I ever know far enough in advance that I'd be having surgery, I'd get one of those valves that allow you to attach the oxygen hose.
RE: CPAP and Surgery - mjbearit - 09-21-2012
(09-21-2012, 11:26 AM)JudgeMental Wrote: Oh me oh my....I have a appointment on monday with the orthopedist to discuss this very carpol tunnel thing. Wish I hadn't read this thread..
Hope all is going well ..mjbearit..
Don't sweat it! I had a similar procedure last year with a far different experience (good!). This is just like CPAP therapy. If you ignore it it could get worse, but chances are it will never get better! I ended up screwing up the tendon because I ignored it for too long. Just put on the big boy pants and do whatever you need to do. Currently I am bored, irritated, mad as hell because it is around 100 degrees with high humidity and i have a cast on my arm. this does nothing to improve my mood, but I know when it is over it will have been worth it.