My experience..... As a patient

I was due for my long overdue wisdom tooth surgery today.
It was kinda exciting..... Hehe

My surgery was scheduled at 11 plus. I was told to be nil by mouth from 12 midnight. I woke up in the morning feeling pretty hungry and as time went by, my stomach started grumbling. Was trying to distract myself with other thingsin an attempt to maks my hunger. I couldnt help thinking about the many times when I had to tell my patients that there was a no fixed theatre slot as their op was supposed to be an emergency op and hence they had to continue fasting.....The times when I grumbled to myself silently about angry relatives who kept on complaining that the patients had to wait longer than they were told to for the op.....Itz payback time..... Haha.....


I made my way to the Day Surgery centre with my mom. She was probably more worried than I was. My main concern was whether I was gonna look like a pumpkin or worse than that after the op ;)

I was asked to go and change into OT clothes pretty soon. Like almost around 10.30-10.45 even thought I came to know that my slot was only at 12.30. Anyway, itz not like i would be doing anything else right? So I went to change. The scrubs were surprisingly pretty alright. The inner green one which I could wear into the theatre was kinda odd but they gave a blue overall to wear. N subsequently I was waiting to go in. The lady who was scheduled to go in before me was crying. She was sniffing and I couldnt help noticing how red her nose was. She walked into theatre looking pretty nervous

I was just feeling really sleepy the whole time. No palpitations or adrenaline rush or anything like that. A while later, the anesthetist came to talk to me. Explained about the risks of GA ( general anesthesia) and got me to sign the consent. After that a nurse came to set a plug on me. I was kinda surprised cos I thought the anesthetist would be setting the plug.

Staff nurse: "Have you had any prior experience (getting poked)?"
Me: " I only poke people. I have never been poked before!

Haha! Payback time.....

She whipped out a blue intravenous cannula (blue plugs are the smallest ones) - the new one without the wings - aka the kind that I dont like to use cos itz so difficult to stabalise them. Anyway, I was kinda surprised that she was only setting a blue one. I was thinking, how are they gonna resus me with a blue plug if I collapse or something! hehe

She tied the torniquet n commented about my good veins. I smiled weakly. I was telling myself it should be fine. Itz only a blue plug after all.
She then poked in - was like an ant bite. But as she pushed in the plastic cannula and retracted the needle..... wow, thatz when I felt the pain. Though momemtary, it was quite a bit painful. I was so glad it wasnt anything bigger than a blue plug! N once again I thought about the green plugs that I pushed in so easily into my ladies in labour. You will never know how it is till u experience it yourself.

And then, my surgeon came to explain the risks once again and got me to sign the consent. Shortly after that, I was brought into theatre. Took off my blue overall and lied down on the OT bed, directly below the lights. Around me all the hurry burry activites - the ever so familiar ones going on. Nurses scrubbing up, connecting me to the monitors, preparing the instruments and in the midst of all these, chatting with the anesthetist about how she got the scratch on her arm. I smiled at the familiar surrounding. The only differerence was that I was there not as an assistant but as a patient.

Now the worst part. This was the worst part of the whole experience so far. The anesthetist connected me to the drip. And then she told me that I'll be going to sleep soon. The other anesthetist had the oxygen mask ready and he put it over my face and asked me to take deep breaths. AND THEN,the anesthetist injected the propofol. My boy, it was so damn painful!!! I was squirming in pain. IT was not just painful but I could feel like this burning sensation running up my veins. It was really pretty unbearable!

The next thing I remember was that I woke up feeling a bit distressed. Could feel that my cheeks were bloated. N I was so distressed cos when I opened my eyes, my stomach was so painful! IT was this terrible gastritis sorta pain. I was like wincing and trying to make some noise but I couldnt. I heard a nurse saying that the op was over n I didnt really believe her for some reason. She repeated it again. But all I could think about was the terrible gastritis. I wanted some medication. I signalled to the nurse to give me some paper and pen to write. But she told me that I could talk. I tried but I think they gave some local anesthetic as well so it was really numb n I couldnt. Finally after flinging my hands all over in an attempt to communicate, she gave me a piece of paper n I wrote there 'IV omeprazole' (a medication for gastritis). It was really quite painful.

She propped me up and said itz probably because I was NBM ( nil by mouth) and that it will get better when i start burping. She gave me some apple juice to drink. She put a straw into the cup and told me to suck and I did but nothing went inside my mouth! I must have looked like a small kiddo who is just learning to use a straw. After a few attempts, I managed to get some apple juice in. And I burped. The gastric pain went off almost instantanoeusly! Haha, was kinda amazing!

I was just resting there. Just slept throughout. The pharmacist came by to give me the meds. Around evening, I went to change up and I was given a cup of ice milo while waiting for my mom to come and pick me up. The nursing staff were really nice. Oh ya, n I secretly took a picture of myself in the toilet to see how I looked after the op! ;) ( I took one yesterday to compare -before, after effect) Mom told me I was nuts! Hehe....

i was quite surprised about the GA. I thought like deep down I will feel something even after I was put under but nope not at all..... I was just completely knocked off. It was an experience!

N now Im back home. I dont quite look like a pumpkin as yet but we'll see.....
Please await the next review on POD 1 (post op day one) *winks*