After two major surgeries a year apart early 19-20, the 2nd to correct damage done in the 1st, indications from both are I’m probably lucky to be alive. Been around this block enough times to know what’s coming up at the corner. I was worried about the right knee a few weeks ago, but it’s pretty clear what’s up with it now. It’s the same nerve thing that feels like a pair of vice-grips applied to my elbow when the C6-7 part flares.
The topic is a new term I coined myself for the sensation of undergoing major surgery (lumbar fusion in this case) with inadequate anesthetic. This one definitely gets filed under the “Whatever doesn’t kill ya…” category. Even spine doctors need a little education once in awhile:
Subj: Shaffer / Update
From: Paul <acewiza@gmail.com>
Oct 23, 2020, 7:29 AM
to frontdesk, Michelle, Francie, Phoebe
On 2nd thought, I’m pretty sure I don’t need any more midsection X-Rays. Maybe my last message was misunderstood, but I really just need to hold off on any more medical care for the time being. I thought we were in a Q’n-A session and it was your turn to go. The tele-health thing only goes so far. I just want to thank everyone for getting me taken care of. The rest of this is to Dr. Donner, directly:
[/donner-on]
Remember getting a call from the recovery room nurse? Put that on the back burner, we’re gonna return to it.
I’ve met at least a dozen doctors in recent years, however you did more for me in 1 day than all the rest of them put together. The new left hip is nice, but it came with a big surcharge. So this was the 1st time I ever met a new doctor with a handshake attached to somebody I couldn’t see a half minute before getting stuck with a discogram machine. Seemed an odd way to meet a new doctor. Is that typical there?
…Maybe it’s related to the next question, so what’s up with Chris’ comment about a little Fentanyl before the procedure? Teasing for a reaction after Thieman referred me as probably just another attention-seeking drug user? The young lady who introduced me to Chris mentioned you see alot of his patients. Probably just me being weird, but that seemed odd too.
I still wonder if “the VA” (meaning individual healthcare personnel directly concerned with me) recognizes just exactly how wrong they got it – all the way through, on many levels, up to and including their (former?) Chief of Orthopedics at the big new Aurora hospital. Acceptance is hard to find without definitive elucidation.
But you’ve certainly mastered the scalpel part. Regardless of your pharmacology skills trying to talk me out of the only medication that ever helped with this nightmare, please discuss any Cannabis-using patients you may have with the anesthesiologist going forward. Those people need more anesthetic – alot more in some cases. Put it on one of your surveys if it’s not already. Then ask again, because despite it’s current legal status in CO, patients may be reticent to talk openly, due to lingering pockets of incorrect orientation on that topic.
Maybe it was all good and that’s just how it goes with these procedures, dunno. And like I wrote on the questionnaire, I am a 100% satisfied customer. But I’m afraid I might inadvertently laugh out loud next time I hear some woman mention the pain of childbirth. That’s coming from a guy thru 2 hip replacements, with the 2nd including a torn L4-5 annulus for good measure. Try rehabbing that. I imagine it could potentially be quite unfortunate for the phytocannabanoid – anesthesia interaction to go wrong in a bigger way on somebody else.
I can still walk at least a bit, seems like a big plus at this point – and I will be eternally grateful for the fusion repair. I just want to know what’s wrong and what to expect. That sentiment hasn’t changed since around the middle of last year either, maybe it won’t ever. That’s why I was planning on attending our last appointment, maybe a c-spine preview, but that would call for a new referral and there’s really no point. The masks hide facial expressions, and I recall hearing you mention you saw all you needed to see last time.
[/donner-off]
…and THANKS AGAIN to everybody! 🙂
–Paul D. Shaffer, MSgt, USAF (ret.)
LATE UPDATE: Just FYI – Marijuana is a topic on one of the pre-engagement surveys, and I stopped all Cannabis four full days prior. Minor adjustment, or complete oversight? We’ll probably never know.