Teeth Extraction Surgery / April 5, 2017

It is April 5th and I am back at Orlando Health hospital for more outpatient surgery.  This time I am scheduled to have eight teeth and my tori bones removed from my mouth.  I am not as concerned about the dental extractions, but don’t get me wrong they will suck, as I am bout another round of general anesthesia.

I have been assured that the hospital staff knows how hard anesthesia is on my body, and I have the same anesthesiologist.  This guy seems like he is really on the ball and is telling me all of the precautions he is taking so we don’t have the same problem as last time.  He also explains that since I ma having dental surgery, he has to intubate me for my oxygen through my nose.  He warned me that I will have a bloody nose and sore throat when I come out of surgery.

Kim is concerned enough for both of us, and I feel really bad for her.  People always worry about the patient, but the caregiver has just as hard of a job if not harder.  The patient just has to go through the treatment and follow the instructions given by the doctor to get better. The caregiver has to sit and worry about the patient knowing there is nothing they can do, the caregiver has to be an advocate for the patient making sure everyone does their job properly, and the caregiver has to put their life on hold taking care of the patient and feeling helpless when things are out of their control.  It is not a job I would want to have.

Well, the surgery went well.  The doctor came out after the first hour and said they had just gotten the airway put in.  My nose and throat were not cooperating.  At the end of the second hour the doctor cam back out and told Kim that she only had to remove six of my teeth and the tori bones were small enough to leave in.  I was placed into level one recovery where the anesthesia would start to wear off.

The anesthesiologist came to see me and told me that my nose will be very sore.  He had trouble putting the tube into my windpipe through my nose and had actually broken one of the tubes trying to force it.  He also told me that he had used less fluids in the IV and moderated the anesthesia to make it easier to come out of.  I was excited.

I was then moved to level two recovery.  I am usually admitted at this point so it was real exciting to know I would be going home in just two hours.  I was bleeding like a stuck pig from my mouth, but I could breath and my heart rate was doing okay.  Everything was going great, until….

I started to get nauseous and asked Kim for a bucket.  She told the nurse I needed some medicine to settle my stomach.  The next thing I know, I was waking up with about ten people standing over me asking question after question.

What I later found out was that I had so much blood loss that I suffered a Vasovagel response.  This caused my heart rate to drop into the low 20’s and my respiration to drop and for me to pass out.  Kim thought I had a stroke or some other major medical mishap.  She yelled for the nurse to come quick and once they got there she was rushed out of recovery.  I can only imagine how scared she was and she was getting no answers.  At one point a nurse came out to give her an update, but this nurse had grabbed the wrong chart and was calling for the wrong family members.  Once the nurse realized her mistake, Kim was finally told she could come back in, but they couldn’t give her a reason for my response.  This did not come out until later. I was again admitted to the hospital and spent the night waiting for my vitals to stabilize. 

Once I was admitted and the anesthesia wore off, I realized I had palsy in my bottom jaw from where I was numbed up.  This was temporary, but it stopped me from using my mouth to eat and talk for 24 hours.  With Jessie’s help and tricks she learned as an Occupational therapist, I was able to eat and drink using a syringe.  There has not been a dull moment.