Getting my throat cut

[Anna]

Hurrah! You got your icecream!

Yesssss, icecream is THE way to go after surgery!!! More than happy to hear that you are home again and hopefully start feeling a lot better real soon!

HUGS

[Deb]

I'm up before Bruce this morning so I snuck downstairs to get on the computer and say Hi. Thanks for all your concern and support. Bruce was giving me updates from time to time about messages from my friends and it meant so much to me.

Being home is helping a lot (the hospital was a nightmare and I have the bruises to prove it---and several different versions of how I got them which makes me wonder exactly what did happen in surgery since even the surgeon has changed his story twice). I got some good sleep last night which I needed more than anything. I've had a low grade fever on and off but tylenol is controlling it so it's probably my body being in shock.

I'm going back to bed now, but had to pop in and tell you all that I love you.

Deb

[heidiiiii]

Love you too my dear. I have been thinking and worrying (you know me).

Hey, maybe you did what I did when I had the wart surgery. They told me that I told them (the surgical team) that I did not need to be wheeled back after surgery. I could walk to my room. Just point me in the right direction. They had to stop me from climbing off the gurney.

That is me..Doped up to high heaven but still trying to be accommodating.

I will be sending you out a package soon. I have to find a good box for all the goodies.

[Anna]

Soooo happy to hear you are up and about but hey there sweetie, back to bed you go and stay there!!!! :welcome: until the body is starting to heal up (OK, you may sneak up to get another ice cream or two, but that is IT)

HUGS!!!!

[woodland_miniatures]

Hooray, Deb - so glad you on the mend! But Anna's right - back to bed you get, and STAY there! Don't want you backtracking on us, just getting better and better and better.....:welcome: (and judging from past personal experiences, you probably don't want to know just how you got those bruises LOL)

[Jo Med]

So good to hear that you are on the mend Debs. Yeah bruises are part of the process I think. When I had my wisdom teeth removed I was black and blue halfway down my chest and the surgeon said he had to practically kneel on my chest to dislocate the jaw - didn't want to know that thanks.

I hope this is the beginning of the big turn around and that your all round health continues to improve. Take it easy for a while.

[Minis On The Edge]

LOL I knew you'd be on the forum soon. I told Bruce that last night. Glad to see you are feeling good enough to sneak in. Love you too Deb :welcome:

[KathieB]

:welcome:

[pin1056]

:welcome: back to bed woman!!!

[Wolfie]

So glad you are up and about and eating (GASP!) icecream!

[havanaholly]

OMG, you really ARE my little twin sister! I do the same thing! OK, back to bed, , i'm off to do some :welcome:

[Gayle]

Glad to hear you're home and doing better. Don't push yourself and make yourself sick, just rest and get back to good health. (I was going to say normal but since we're all miniaturists, we don't have a clue what normal is supposed to be)

[Deb]

I woke up from one of my naps this afternoon and the first thing I saw was a vase filled with two dozen pink miniature roses and the sweetest card from Bruce. Isn't that a lovely way to wake up? We had walked past a miniature rose bush at the doctor's office a few weeks ago and I commented on how much I love mini roses and he remembered it so that's what he brought to brighten up my recovery. He also went grocery shopping and cleaned the kitchen. He's been doing all the food preparation since I got home--bringing me semi-solid food every four hours and fixing his own meals. He brings me cups of sleepytime tea at bedtime and bowls of sherbet or yogurt when I wake up from naps.

I'm starting to feel better and recovering fairly well all things considered. I think it's because I'm sleeping so much with the vicodin. Sleep is the very best healer. My muscles are still pretty sore but apparently they had to put me into something of a yoga position in order to get the thyroid out. They had originally planned on just putting a pile of blankets under my shoulders to hyperextend my neck, but what they ended up doing was putting arterial lines in my left arm and foot to monitor my blood pressure and blood gasses and then they tied my arms behind my back to pull my shoulders together to hyperextend my chest as well as the hyperextension of my neck. That definitely explains why I felt like I'd gone five rounds with Mike Tyson! One of the doctors said that they made the incision and then pulled my skin and muscles back as far as they could from every direction. The surgeon said that the thyroid was sub-sternum as well as extending back into my throat.

There were a few complications. One was the intubation tube they tried to use at first was too big for the narrow passage so they had to take it out and put in a smaller one. That's why my throat and the roof of my mouth are all scraped up. Another problem was that they didn't take out the arterial line in my left wrist until I was in recovery and waking up. Something went wrong (I'm guessing it got tangled or something) and I screamed with the pain. I heard someone yelling, "That's why I told you to take that out earlier" and a girl's voice answering, "I got busy and forgot". I'd like to find her and show her exactly what she did to my arm. I don't know exactly what happened but I do know that I had a hard time communicating to the recovery nurse that my arm hurt more than my throat. They refused to give me any pain meds until I specifically asked for them which seems pretty stupid considering that I just had surgery around my voice box and couldn't talk. I was in recovery and awake for quite awhile before they gave me any pain meds which was pretty awful between my wrist and my throat. But this is what my left wrist looks like today which gives you an idea of the consequences of the little twit's forgetfulness.

The bruising goes all the way around my wrist and then goes up the back of my hand around both sides of my thumb.

Somewhere during the surgery they inserted a port in the top of my right hand but I have no idea why. I had an iv in my left hand. I think that the right port had something to do with the arterial line. However, I had a day nurse from hell who refused to give me pain meds until I had asked for it three times finally relented three hours after I'd been out of recovery and came in with a syringe of morphine and one of vicodin---and jammed the needle into that port and then *shoved* the plunger down hard and fast on both. This is not the way to administer either one since she should have flushed the line with saline first and then slowly and gradually inserted the meds. This is what she did to my right hand:

The red bump still hurts like crazy and hasn't gone down at all. The bruising has gotten better tho since it was over the entire back of my hand. That nurse actually threatened me several times with "If you don't do what I tell you I'll put it in your report and they won't let you out of here". She actually set an alarm on my bed to go off if I got up!! Bruce lost it and the two of them actually got into a shouting match. I think she realized that she had stepped over the line and spent the rest of my time there sucking up to me and actually tried to hug me when I checked out. I refused to even speak to her and yes, I will be reporting her. I won't got into details coz it's too long and tedious, but she gave me 12 of the worst hours of my life.

But! It wasn't all bad. The pre-op people were awesome and I had the world's best nurse on the night shift. As soon as I told her what the day nurse had done with the port on my right hand, she pursed her lips and said, "Let's make sure that doesn't happen again" and took out the port. I think that should have been done as soon as I got out of the recovery room or even while I was still in there. The night nurse gave me some extra TLC and checked on me every two hours, making sure I got the pain meds I needed in what she called a "catch up regime" to keep me comfortable and try to get on top of the pain. I'll never, ever allow them to admit me to this hospital again but at least it accomplished the goal of removing my thyroid and the surgeon was good at what he did. I'm recovering quickly and my incision looks great. He stitched it from the inside so I don't even have to have any stitches out and it will barely leave a scar at all. They have me on Synthroid already so the transition to thyroid replacement should be pretty smooth.

I'm already breathing better. I can still breath when I look down at my feet!! Woooooooohooooooooo!! You don't know what a joy that is until you can't do it for a couple of years. I can also raise my arms up over my head and not strangle myself. Oh, and I don't snore anymore! Yay!! And I can sleep on my right side and wake up without the pain of my collarbone jammed into my throat, a pain that I'm sooooo happy to be free from. My voice is beginning to come back altho I'm still pretty hoarse and whispery. I'm not talking much yet but I think I'll get most of my voice back even if it stays a little husky.

So that's the update my friends and I know that your prayers and well wishes are contributing a lot to my easy recovery. I'm really recovering well!

Deb

[pin1056]

:welcome: glad your on the mend but gawd what a drama!! keep smelling the roses and rest

[what2craftnow]

So glad you are mending well Deb! :welcome: What an ordeal it sounds like though...it's a shame that you got such a horrible nurse I have never had that bad an experience with any, although I have had one or two E/R nurses who could use lots more training in the art of inserting IV needles That is so painful when they don't do it right. When that hurts more than the area you just had surgery on - you know someone really missed the mark! (no pun intended)

And having to "ask" for pain meds straight from that type of surgery? What were they thinking??? If I were you, I'd shoot off a "nice" little letter after you are feeling better

Anyway, sounds like Bruce is taking fabulous care of you, and how sweet that he got you mini-roses!

Wishing you the speediest recovery and so glad the worst is behind you now. Lay low and take good care!

{{HUGS!}}

[havanaholly]

As a retired RN I cringed and hurt all over for you reading your horror story. By all means, write up a report on those nurses, with photos of your hand! That sort of sloppy, inhumane treatment needs to STOP! Those nurses sound like they're burned out and getting careless, and therefore are actually dangerous!

[Minis On The Edge]

Hey Deb!! I am so happy you are breathing better and on the road to recovery. Some nurses are jerks. My night nurse was bad when I was in the hospital and I had to keep calling for meds. I also had a pretty brusied up hand and arm and it was swollen and hurting up to 2 months after the surgery! Thank Goodness for the Good ones or we'd never go to the hospital LOL.

One of the doctors said that they made the incision and then pulled my skin and muscles back as far as they could from every direction. The surgeon said that the thyroid was sub-sternum as well as extending back into my throat.

Wow, that explains why you had problems breathing too and I bet you'll be off of oxygen in a few months now that your thyroid is not obstructing the air. How much did it weigh? Any pictures of it (no don't post it here ) but I was just wondering if they showed you pictures of it. Right after surgery my mom pulled out a picture of my insides before and after my surgery and I was like "They do that?" :idiot: I was so drugged up that I thought it was a "hospital dream" and then Chris gave it to me a week later LOL. It's amazing how far technology is and it's also amazing how far behind we are. I am just so happy you got this out. I bet you feel lighter too around your neck.

Hugs to you dear

[Deb]

bet you feel lighter too around your neck.

Oh *tons* lighter!! I can actually see the definition of my throat now instead of big bulges on either side. It's so nice to have a neck again! Bruce bought me a gorgeous locket as an early bday gift and I can't wait to wear it. I haven't been able to wear necklaces in a long time (or shirts with collars) so this is a delightful anticipation.

They didn't tell me the size or weight of the thyroid or show me any pictures. Actually they were very evasive about it when I asked. Their reply was, "Well it wasn't the biggest I've ever seen but it wasn't the smallest either". Uh, could we possibly be more vague??? But in a couple of weeks the pathology report will be posted on my online account with the hospital so I'll get some of the details then. The biggest news to wait for is about the cancer but they said the lymph nodes were fine so that's good news.

<breathing in deeply> Yep, that feels pretty darned good too.

Deb

[Wolfie]

Congratulations on the mending Deb, but my gosh, what an ordeal! You truly did have nurses from down under! And I don't mean Australia! Poor kid! Hope the next few weeks go well for you Deb. Just do as your're told and don't overdo.

Hugs,

[Gayle]

Sounds like that nurse is related to the Marquis de Sade, you know, the guy who invented the machine used for mammograms.

Looking at the back of your hand makes me cringe. My veins are small and roll, not a good thing when trying to insert a plastic needle.

Here sending prayers and positive thoughts for your continued recovery.

[LLyn M.]

Wow, as a retired LPN I too think a sent complaint is in order!! I used to work night shift in a Nursing Home and we worked as a team and took great care of "our family" No

excuse for such behavior. But I'm glad you are home and healing.Oh, and about that Hubby of yours- does he have a brother???? LOL! God speed!!

[Selkie]

Congrats you are on the "other" side of this all now. Take really good care of yourself - lots of TLC and mini time. Hugs - gentle of course.

[Deb]

Okay, this is something that doesn't happen every day. I got a call from the pulmonologist yesterday. That alone was a "wow" moment coz I didn't think that doctors called their patients at all anymore! I had an appointment with him today and while he was reviewing my case he saw that I'd just had the thyroidectomy so he called to see how I was doing. I 'splained about being able to breathe when I look down and not strangling myself when I put my arms up and that I'm not snoring anymore and he said, (get ready for it) "That's great! It sounds like our air flow tests may have been wrong and that thyroid was causing an airway obstruction after all."

<stunned silence>

Did I just hear that right? A doctor admitted his tests may have been wrong?????? To my credit, I didn't point out to him that he'd insisted that it couldn't possibly have been my thyroid making it difficult to breathe. LOL However, even I know that it wasn't the entire problem coz I watched my O2 sat drop to 77 a few times while I was in the hospital but it's still making a huge difference. Anyway, Dr. F said that with all the swelling he'd rather wait for another month to see me again and then re-evaluate things. Works for me!

He actually asked if I had any questions or wanted to discuss anything with him while we were on the phone! Actually I did have a question about some of the results of the blood hematology panel and the results of the arterial blood gas tests they did in the hospital because there were a few things that looked abnormal and made me wonder if maybe my O2 sat problem is caused by a blood issue. He said he'd already seen those and said that none of the numbers were high enough to worry about and that they're probably being caused by such a long term deprivation of oxygen.......in other words they're a symptom, not a cause. <sigh of relief>

We talked about a few other things and then he congratulated me on my thy-freedom and said he'd see me in a month. I'm still amazed that a doctor would do all that!

My follow up with the surgeon is on Thursday and I'll get the results of the pathology tests then. <crossing fingers for no radiation> I think he's going to be pleased with the way I'm healing. My incision looks *really* good!

Deb

[Selkie]

Wow, that's fantanstic news !!!!

[jbresr]

What an ordeal for you. Yes there are nurses (if you can call them that) that are horrible. I had one (I was in hospital and pregnant - complications) that I told my doctor if she ever came in to check on me again that I would get out of my bed and throw her out the window!! I told the doc how she was and he made sure she was never my nurse again!! I am so happy that you are on the mend and able to breath - oh my

Donna