I can offer some free advice regarding surgical or anesthesia questions

[IrishGirl]

Mysty,

Are kidney stones common in PKD? My little boy is 10 and just had 2 in the last 6 months, so as you said very very painful. I have only had 1. However my sisters girl has one so huge it encompasses the entire kidney and may destroy it....they told her it will certainly never ever move, its too large. I am still waiting for my test results to see if I do have the PKD. Since my sister and brother both have it rampant and my dad died of it when I was little and now my 10 year old has stones its probably likely I will be a yes. I did not realize that kidney stones were a part of it at all.

[mysty]

Irish Girl.. You will have to ask those that are dialysis patients.. hopefully they will run across here and explain it better.

I am here because of my honey.  He's the one on dialysis..
I just happen to have stones.. and yes.. very stuck very large.. and OMG painful.. I rather give birth to triplets naturally.

[kellyt]

Thanks for the input, IrishGirl, and everyone elsel!  It means alot.  Here I am, 40-years-old and I've never had a major surgergy.  I've never been on anestheia before, so not remembering anything from fistula #1 was great.  But the experience of #2 scared me just a little (truly not a huge deal, but I was concerned about it not being normal).  When I said I felt him cutting, yes it did hurt.  Again, not scream out in pain, but it hurt enough to make me cry.  I remember wanting to tell him I could feel it, but not being able to say anything.  Now I'm wondering if maybe I did say something and he just couldn't do anything about it.    They did a nerve block shot that really did numb my entire arm - shoulder to fingers.  I could move or feel a thing prior to or after surgery until the next day.

I'll have to remember what you've told me here if and when I have another simular procedure.

[IrishGirl]

A block can be done by the Surgeon as a "local" or another type of block can be done by the Anesthesia team. A block cna numb you completely and you can be numb for a day. The arm doesn't move, you cannot feel it, etc. However, ANY block can be "spotty" and this means there may be some areas that the block does not completely numb....its not a perfect system. Some areas may be a bit
more sensitive...and we have no real way to measure every single area in the arm. Therefore this is when your medications and breathing gas and sedation comes into play. We generally try to give you enough "other" stuff to cover and spotty areas. Nobody should have to hurt during surgery. However, after surgery is another story. People undergo huge surgery's and seem to be surprised that they are hurting afterwards. Sometimes you want to say "Duh ! You HAD surgery. It will hurt....some. It does not have to be unbearable or excruciating but it WILL hurt. We cannot GET RID of the pain completely and 100 %. It does not happen. All we can do is make it more bear-able, less intense, more
easy for you to at least sleep, dull it, etc. We cannot do magic. If a surgeon opens up someone and cuts through muscle, bone, tendons, etc, its impossible to expect "no" pain at all. WE just cannot do that, we dont' have a magic wand. But during surgery, absolutely, we can and we should. We are certainly able to do our best with that....although some places and some providers are not as good at it as others.

[kellyt]

I agree.  My block was done by the Anesthesiologist herself.

[hashim50]

Irishgirl - Have you heard of the singing group  'Laryngospasms'?  If not, you can google them and hear cuts from their CD.  Quite funny!! Noel

[IrishGirl]

Hashim50.

I have. In fact., I have their tape....I got it years ago at a conference....and its hilarious. My personal favorite is the Little Ole Lady with the
Fractured Femur. Too funny. Just love it.

[Stacy Without An E]

Thanks for providing a forum for questions.  I'm getting close to a third kidney transplant and I'm a little worried about waking up during the procedure. I've read these stories (I don't know what the clinical name is) where you wake up during surgery.  Since you're under anesthesia you can't move your body but you feel the immense pain of the procedure.  The more I think about this, the more I'm fearful of the eventual surgery.

Can you explain what this is and how common it happens?

[IrishGirl]

Stacy,

Its very very rare. But I wont lie to you, it can happen. Now that we have seen it happens, we have updated moniters and changes have been made because of all those stories! We now have an awesome moniter that we did not have before...it will actually moniter your brain waves and we will be able to tell if you are having any wakefullness in your brain. We have lots of ways to tell how "Deep" your anesthesia is but this last moniter pretty much gives you a 100 % guarantee you wont wake up, or feel or remember ANYTHING. We also have breathing gases now that work very deeply and still allow you to wake up without the hangover and throwing up. Its just something that needs constant perfecting and we do our best.  The old vaporizers that delivered the breathing gas have now been improved to make sure they dont run out of vapor or breathing gas while you are under as well. Please do not worry. I have been doing this for 13 years and have never had anyone who was "awake" during a General Anesthesia, or woke up, or remembered anything. Keep in mind that many of my patients tell me they "Woke up" during their last surgery. Then when you talk with them further or you go through their old chart you find out that they did NOT have a General Anesthesia and they never recieved any breathing gas. They only had sedation.....and thats light, and people are only in a "twilight" sleep, its very common to be "in and out" during that. There is no way it will happen to you while you are under. Every transplant as far as I know is done with a General Anesthesia. This means you will have breathing gas and your whole body including your brain will be deeply asleep. Please do not worry. With a spinal you get sedation and you can also wake up during that due to the same. The only guarantee is the breathing gas.  Rest your mind !!

[paris]

IrishGirl,     What a wonderful resource you are to all of us!  Thank you for your honesty and compassion.  It is good to know you are here and are willing to help us.  Thank you!

[IrishGirl]

You guys are SO welcome! Anything I can do to help folks understand a bit more is a good thing. Its so SO scary to go to a place and let someone do surgery on you and put you to sleep, etc.  It petrify's people and I can't say I blame them a bit. My 22 year old son just went through a major neck surgery and he was just terrified. Its safer now then its ever ever been...the agents we use are just like magic. I call it pixie dust..and I believe very much that God is over our shoulder helping us all help our patients. If I thought I was doing it all alone, I would be terrified.

[paddbear0000]

Do hospitals take requests?    I'd like to request that you assist in my surgery!