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[Andreus Ixiris]

I have no idea why I'm talking about this, but since I can't go to the EVE meet tomorrow because of it... eh. I just wanted to share an experience.

So, I had one of these on my left wrist, roughly the size of a grape. It caused no real problems and only mild pain, but it looked ugly and very slightly limited the range of motion in my hand, so after about a month of waiting (which isn't so bad, the bitching about waiting lists on the NHS is way overblown) I went in today to have it removed. This is the first surgery I've had since I was three where I had a squint operation, which I can't really remember at all. Up until the operation itself, everything was fairly standard hospital stuff. It was only then that I made a really hilarious and weird discovery:

Holy shit, general anaesthesia is fun.

They gave me the choice of having a regional armblock, which I was initially fine with, but the more I thought about it, the less appealing the idea of being awake and conscious while they were cutting my hand open seemed to me. Plus, if I can be honest, I was actually curious as to what a general anaesthetic would be like, so I chose a general. They took me into the theatre, where I met this really nice doctor (who my mother tells me is probably a junior houseman) called Alex, who fitted my cannula while talking to me reassuringly. He seemed like a really nice guy and we joked a little about making sure they operated on the right wrist (as opposed to the wrong one - it seems left-right jokes like this is very common doctor humour). Then they dosed me, and this is the funny bit (or at least I thought it was funny):

"OK, worst part's over mate, you're just gonna feel a little sleepy now. Take some deep breaths for me." And the nurse on the other side of the table (who was also really nice) just said "Think nice thoughts". I started breathing deeply, and the air started having this weird taste, so I spoke up and said "Uh... yeah... got this weird... taste in my mouth... is that...?". "Yes, that's perfectly normal." And then I very distinctly remember saying these exact words: "Oh, that's good, because I frrmlll frrghh gmmnnngh..."

Then I woke up a couple of hours later, rambling disjointedly about Skyrim.

Now I'm recupperating comfortably at home, experiencing some rather cool side effects from the drugs (I had a minor out-of-body experience earlier. Was interesting). They gave me a goodie bag of anti-inflammatories and co-codamol, but opiates aren't something to fuck with so I'm going to avoid using those unless I have to. That said, it was an experience that was way more fun and way less scary than I thought it would be, and I'm down one unsightly lump on my wrist, and I get to take it easy for a few days (even if it does mean I have to miss an EVE meet - love to all my friends in London tomorrow!), so everything's all good I guess.

There, experience shared! Peace out.

[Mizhara]

Surgeries rock. I've been on the other end of that experience, assisting the anesthesia doctor during my education. It's always rather amusing to watch the patient drift off, but even more amusing as they wake up and whatever their brains start occupying the time with between it's rebooted and true consciousness returns start spilling out. That said, it sounds like you had a good crew working on you.

As for the opiates, yeah... Use them when the pain hits, but try to reduce the amount if possible. The addiction can set in -very- early, if you've got an addictive personality. I know I have, which means I shy away from anything but some light paracetamol or something if I'm in pain.

Would probably have gone for the local anesthetic myself, but that's mostly because I'm morbidly fascinated with everything that involves taking something living apart and putting it back together again. The surgeons fairly quickly realized that while I was there and so they started bringing me over for a 'guided tour' of whatever innards they were messing with at the time. Spectacular experiences. Things inside the body does NOT look anywhere near what you expect them to, really. More surprising is the amount of 'rough treatment' a surgeon will apply when dealing with internal issues.

[Andreus Ixiris]

Would probably have gone for the local anesthetic myself, but that's mostly because I'm morbidly fascinated with everything that involves taking something living apart and putting it back together again. The surgeons fairly quickly realized that while I was there and so they started bringing me over for a 'guided tour' of whatever innards they were messing with at the time. Spectacular experiences. Things inside the body does NOT look anywhere near what you expect them to, really. More surprising is the amount of 'rough treatment' a surgeon will apply when dealing with internal issues.

To each their own, certainly. I'm really not big up on blood or gore, so I'm glad I got to avoid any of that. And if I can be brutally honest another reason I went in for a general is because I really didn't want to spend twenty to thirty minutes wide awake, lying perfectly still, bored out of my mind.

[Bacchanalian]

As for the opiates, yeah... Use them when the pain hits, but try to reduce the amount if possible. The addiction can set in -very- early, if you've got an addictive personality. I know I have, which means I shy away from anything but some light paracetamol or something if I'm in pain.

Not to derail too much, but this makes me think I have no real addiction issues at all.  I have no issues taking opiates (I have a friend who has a permanent prescription and hands them out when we go out drinking), and never have. 

Anyway, glad to hear it went smoothly.  My experiences with general anesthesia have been that I seem to require more than the doctors expect to knock me out.  I've had surgery three times (two hernia surgeries in my childhood, and my wisdom teeth removed).  The first and second times after the first dose I got all giddy instead of being knocked out.  They had to give me a second dose.  The third time (wisdom teeth) I woke up mid-operation and tried to join in the conversation with the doctors which was about fishing (this is very difficult to do when they're working on removing teeth, incidentally).

[Andreus Ixiris]

Right, so I take off my shirt while I'm getting ready for bed, and I notice something on my chest. "What the fuck is this?" I ask myself. Oh, wait, it's an EKG sticker they forgot to take off me! I didn't even notice it was there because of the co-codamol

[Bacchanalian]

Right, so I take off my shirt while I'm getting ready for bed, and I notice something on my chest. "What the fuck is this?" I ask myself. Oh, wait, it's an EKG sticker they forgot to take off me! I didn't even notice it was there because of the co-codamol

Fuck, that'd be the most painful part for me unless they shaved me first.  >.>

I'm a hairy dude.

[Mizhara]

We usually do. Those things don't stick well if you're all hairy. There's a reason we have a ton of disposable razors both in surgery wards and ambulances. If you're just a -little- hairy though... you get to enjoy the feeling of them getting plucked off... if you're lucky. If you're not, you're dead.

[Z.Sinraali]

Death before depilation!

Also, I'm with Miz on how amazing it is to watch medical goings-on. I always watch when I'm getting IVs and shots and stuff. (Oddly, I'm much more squeamish about blood and guts when it's just an image. In person, no biggie.)

[Katrina Oniseki]

I went in to have a procedure done, so they put me under. I love it, yet it's so scary.

"We're giving you something so you won't feel any pain"
"Oh, cool. Haha, I can feel my chest getting warmer.... ohhhhh now it's in my head! woah I feel funny. Hey what's that?"
"This is the sedative. You're going to fall asleep now."
"Oh alr--"
*wake up twelve hours later at home in bed, not remembering how the fuck I got there*

[Senn Typhos]

"The term "Bible bump" comes from a common treatment in the past that consisted of hitting the cyst with a Bible or another large book."

Hrrk... gonna be sick... X_X