We had been told that our patient would be in the ICU for one day, possibly two, and then would be transitioned to a step-down unit. As of the afternoon of surgery, her nurse had told us she would be moved the next day. However, our patient is very sensitive to medication, and the anesthetic threw her for a loop. Our matriarch and spitfire was rendered a real-life Sleeping Beauty.
Our patient has a longstanding sensitivity to medication. Also, various anesthesiologists have commented over the years that she is "hard" to wake up, following tests and procedures that require mild sedation. Going into the procedure, she relayed to Dr. R, the anesthesiologists and virtually every other medical professional encountered that she has a low tolerence and that they could use the bare minimum of anesthesia for her. In hindsight, they probably could have placed the mask beside her in the operating room and that would have sufficed.
We weren't overly concerned when she slept through the second day, especially because she had predicted exactly that scenario, saying "it would not be a bad idea" to sleep it off. By Friday, three days post-op, we were a little concerned. After talking with nurses, we decided to ambush her surgeon Saturday morning at 6:00am when he made rounds. "Whoever said a Benadryl knocks her out for three days has her number," he said, before going on to explain that she is doing very well from the neck down but is still knocked out from the anesthesia. He gave assurances, and sure enough, she began to show improvement. She had a good session with PT and OT. When she asked for her shoes and said she was ready to leave, we knew our feisty matriarch was back.
Please continue to pray for optimal recovery.
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