I was scheduled to have my gallbladder removed (finally!) on December 18, 2012. I went into the OR for surgery around 2:30 pm... and woke up around 3pm gagging, feeling like I'd been run over by a train, convinced I was dying! Apparently, during intubation my heart rate galloped up to 180, dropped down to 40, ramped back up to 190, then plummeted back down to 60. At that point, my wonderful surgeon called off the gallbladder operation.
Instead of a smooth GB removal as an outpatient, I spent 4 days and 3 nights in the hospital. Wednesday, a heart specialist came in to tell me that my toponin (sp?) enzyme levels were fairly high for heart attack indicators. Scared the holy schmolly out of me! I had a heart catherization on Thursday to see what the extent of my heart damage from my heart attack would be. The cath shows that my arteries are clear and that I did not have a heart attack, but that my heart muscle is somewhat weak. The debate rages on among the specialists about whether that is because of my rapid weight loss or if it is a congenital weakness.
The current diagnosis is that I had a possible allergic reaction to the anesthetic OR my vagas nerve was touched during intubation OR I was super stressed at the time of surgery and just reacted badly all the way around.
I've also been told that I can have my gallbladder out as soon as my surgeon and I want to reschedule it. I am still in severe pain from the GB, but I think I'll be waiting a couple of weeks until I can wrap my head around going in for more surgery.
I was scheduled to have my gallbladder removed (finally!) on December 18, 2012. I went into the OR for surgery around 2:30 pm... and woke up around 3pm gagging, feeling like I'd been run over by a train, convinced I was dying! Apparently, during intubation my heart rate galloped up to 180, dropped down to 40, ramped back up to 190, then plummeted back down to 60. At that point, my wonderful surgeon called off the gallbladder operation.
Instead of a smooth GB removal as an outpatient, I spent 4 days and 3 nights in the hospital. Wednesday, a heart specialist came in to tell me that my toponin (sp?) enzyme levels were fairly high for heart attack indicators. Scared the holy schmolly out of me! I had a heart catherization on Thursday to see what the extent of my heart damage from my heart attack would be. The cath shows that my arteries are clear and that I did not have a heart attack, but that my heart muscle is somewhat weak. The debate rages on among the specialists about whether that is because of my rapid weight loss or if it is a congenital weakness.
The current diagnosis is that I had a possible allergic reaction to the anesthetic OR my vagas nerve was touched during intubation OR I was super stressed at the time of surgery and just reacted badly all the way around.
I've also been told that I can have my gallbladder out as soon as my surgeon and I want to reschedule it. I am still in severe pain from the GB, but I think I'll be waiting a couple of weeks until I can wrap my head around going in for more surgery.