Things the Hospital May Not Explain

Most people at some time in there lives have the unfortunate need to be seen by a medical professional in a hospital setting. Others may be the lucky ones that have not needed to be seen themselves, but know someone who has. Being in the medical field myself, I have seen it from both sides. While not even close to an expert, I have seen some things that I feel need to be shared.

If you are one of the lucky ones, who have never needed emergency services, consider yourself fortunate. My husband recently had to have hernia surgery to repair a hernia behind his belly button. To my knowledge my husband has never been hospitalized before and has never had need to take medications. The surgery went wonderfully and we came home the same day. Unfortunately we had to go back to the ER two days later when my husband quit eating and was stumbling into walls and hanging onto furniture.

When we got to the ER, I told to the nurse prior to her administering medications that my husband had never been hospitalized before his surgery and had never been exposed to medications beyond Tylenol and sinus meds. While not an expert, I do know from my work as an EMT that you do not rapidly push to many medications, most medications require a slow administration and careful monitoring, especially if the person has never had that particular medication before. This nurse rapidly pushed three medications and then asked my husband for a urine sample and left the room. What she did not mention was the fact that he could have adverse side effects from the medications she had administered. My husband came out of the restroom and walked into a wall before going into a seizure like activity and almost ending up on the floor. I had to yell for the nurse as I was holding my husband up. The nurse did not explain the possible side effects of the medications she gave him, while she did tell me what they were; I was completely unprepared for what happened. Be informed, you have the right to know everything that goes in your body, what it does, and how it may affect you. Make sure you are heard; I told the nurse he had never had medication before, but I do not think she understood what I was trying to tell her. Every medication can affect each person differently.

Information I gained from the same ER visit. Did you know, when heavily sedated for surgery your lungs can collapse, this is why people are intubated for surgery. What they do not explain is the need to use the Spiro meter ( little plastic chambered item that they tell you to take home and breath into or suck air through) to help your lungs completely reinflate so you do not end up with pneumonia or some other respiratory illness. Also important is the fact that the Anesthesia can cause severe cases of vertigo (that Spinning sensation in your head) that can last two weeks or more. This also effect your appetite which can cause people to quit eating, lets face it no one wants to eat when they feel like they are on a merry go round.

I don't know about you but after what I have seen, I want all the information I can get before they touch my family or me.