The first occasion was in 1957, when somebody decided to take my tonsils out at the age of 5. They used ether as anesthetic. My father took one whiff of me when I came out of surgery and crumpled to the floor.
You should know that surgical anesthesia has come a long way since 1957 when ether was still widely used. I somewhat doubt your dad crumpled to the floor because of any ether still in your body, because first of all if that were the case, all the doctors and nurses would have crumpled to the floor as well and secondly, if the dose of ether was that high you most likely wouldn’t be alive today to tell the tale. While you may not like hearing this, it is probably more likely that your dad simply fainted. That’s not to say your dad wasn’t a manly man but sometimes dads get very emotional about their kids – the stress of seeing you come out of surgery might have been too much for him.
When I had my tonsils out when I was 18 years old, I had to have blood drawn the day before the surgery and there was a big burly guy next to me also having blood drawn – he passed out while I on the other hand actually watched the nurse put the needle in my vein just because I wanted to see how blood was drawn. The nurse was amazed that a supposedly whimpy teenage girl watched while a big burly construction worker passed out even before the needle went into his arm.
I would also mention that there was a time when tonsillectomies were performed without much good reason, but that severely infected tonsils can lead to serious complications like septicemia. I my case, my tonsils should have come out years earlier but at the time doctors were reluctant to have them taken out. By the time my parents finally took me to an ear, nose and throat specialist because of my constant sore throat and numerous infections, he said, “You need to have them taken out and the sooner the better, as in like yesterday”. I had the surgery two days later. And after I had my tonsils out, I stopped getting sick all the time – the constant and untreated infection had worn down my immune system to the point that it couldn’t fight off any infection.
The second and last occasion was 8/2/12, when I took a fall off a roof and fractured 4 ribs in 7 places. That is a continuing nightmare. The only thing they did was jack me up on painkillers and muscle relaxants and send me home. I don't think I'm going to do any more healthcare.
I’m very sorry to hear that. Unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done for fractured ribs other than to provide pain meds and muscle relaxers (to keep you from having muscle spasms) and to advise you to get rest at home while the ribs heal on their own, which can take at least six weeks. Once the ER docs ruled out that you didn’t injure any organs from your fall, it sounds like they actually did the right thing by sending you home with pain meds as there is really not much else they can do.
It used to be the standard treatment for fractured ribs was to tightly wrap the rib area but that while that provides some relief from pain, it actually keeps you from taking deep breaths which can lead to lung collapse and greatly increases your risk of pneumonia.
If you are still in severe pain however after almost 3 months, it would be advisable to see a doctor and have some more x-rays done.
Thanks for your advice. Heard all of that before. No, thanks.
You should have seen the looks on their faces when I told them my last physical exam was 1968. I wanted to engage in competetive sports and it was required by the public school system.