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I had to have a general anaesthetic for a bit of day surgery today. The anaesthetist had been the doctor in HMS Vanguard, our chatter before he put me out certainly bemused the theatre staff. It is good to see the next generation of submariners is looking after us oldies. :-)
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Bearing in mind the bad press that the NHS has been getting recently, I have been a "customer" of four different hospitals in the last couple of months, with surgery in two of them. I have nothing but praise for the staff who have cared for me, also an elderly friend has been impressed with the care she received as an inmate of the local hospital, which has had bad press. The impression I get is that everything is procedure driven, and as long as you are patient (groan) and realise that you are not the only priority, things will run smoothly. While I realise there have been some horror stories I think there are a few "Me now!" professional whingers running to the press with a brain full of pound signs.
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Good to read, ON. Hope you're fully fit again soon.
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Yes indeed, fast recovery Navy.
I remember the 2 lovely ladies who put me to sleep just before an op a few years ago, they were discussing wearing stockings as i went under...don't think i was dreaming the memory was too vivid, wanted to stay awake to listen more intently but couldn't fight it....i'm sure it was deliberate...enjoyable though.
:-))
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Mrs B works as a Nurse in NHS hospitals (but not for the NHS). She tells me that the quality of staff can vary greatly not just from ward to ward, but also between shifts.
There are those that do the job professionally, those who do above and beyond, and those who are hopeless and end up being carried by the others.
Our youngest needed surgery in the childrens hospital last year - she passed through a ward and intensive care. In IC the level of care and professionalism was incredible, and I was touched to see people who had no connection with my daughter take such good care of her. The ward was an altogether different experience, and the highest level of care she received was from an agency nurse
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I found the whole operation process very slick and well orchestrated from the veryfirst night in acute cardiac care until well after the operation. Well done NHS.
I can't remember being at all concerned at any time, even laid on the trolley in the knock-out room ( can't spell anaesthetic, sorry ) .
I suppose that was the nearest experience you get to actual death......just nothing in your head, no dreams, no sensations. If I hadn't come round after, I wouldn't have known a thing about it all.
Glad all is well with you, Ancient Mariner.
Ted
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I've been put to sleep a couple of times. My last experience wasn't that great, it was day surgery and I was very ill when I woke up. I had very low blood pressure and kept fainting. As it was day surgery they sent me home the same day, and said ring 999 if I didn't get any better. All seemed a bit mad. I did however make a good recovery without the need for a further hospital visit.
My dad broke his elbow a few years back and it needed an operation, it kept getting cancelled as more urgent cases came in, including those who injured them selves running from the police! The lesson learnt was to avoid inner-city A&Es like the plague.
My last experiences of hospitals has been very good, I went to a local community hospital for a blood test a couple of years ago, I was back home after minutes after my appointment time and that hospital is a 15 minute drive away! I then had to go to the local major hospital (where Ted went) for a scan and again the experience was positive.
A lot it is just purely down to luck, it just depends how good the doctors and nurses are on that ward. I get the impression most nurses are good but are restrained by management policies.
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>> As it was day surgery they sent me home the same day, and said ring 999 if I didn't get
>>any better. All seemed a bit mad. I did however make a good recovery without the need for
>>a further hospital visit.
Sounds as though they knew exactly what they were doing, then. Tough love for you Rattle, it's what you need.
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>> as long as you are patient (groan) and realise that you are not the only priority, things will run smoothly.
Hard luck ON, so far so good... good. Swift recovery.
I too noticed when in hospital, some time ago now thank goodness, that older people like us are more stoical in hospital, better 'patients', and have a less bad time as a result. Some of the youngsters were terribly wimpish and over-anxious.
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Hope you recover well ON.
Mrs madf's experience of a hip replacement last year was first rate. It was on the NHS: but in a private hospital.
As related before, friends' experience of North Staffs Hospital is of the "run away and don't go back "type. Nurses don't want to know. (Not too busy at work. Too busy talking - about social affairs)
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I think it might be fair to say the more serious the condition the better the ward you go into. And of course I hope you get better soon. It is great that you're able to post on here so soon after waking up.
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Best wishes ON and good to hear it’s not all bad in the NHS.
On the theme of ‘small world’, I had a ‘what are the chances’ encounter last month.
Pug had an MOT failure list running to a second page (all suspension related). Anyway, watched a few youtube videos on replacing various parts and discovered I needed a tool to remove the ball joint. Called round a few places to be told a local(ish) store had one in stock for a tenner.
Get there and they have no idea what I’m talking about (sigh). Guy behind me in the queue pipes up that he has the tool I require and will lend it to me. Turn round and it’s the guy from the youtube video!
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Over the last 4 years my experience of the NHS has also been pretty positive too although night shift on the urology ward was an experience best forgotten. Still, regular General anaesthetics for cystoscopies in day surgery have all been positive experiences. Next one is back to a local anaesthetic with a smaller camera (no sound crew!) - although this represents progress on balance I think I prefer to be unconscious when they stick that thing in me:-( Also, I'll miss the little chats you have as they put you to sleep.
Well done the NHS and keep up the progress ON.
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NHS programme on BBC 2 last night showed a lady with such severe shaking from Parkinsons that she was completely unable to do anything for herself without shaking , had a very low quality of life and had lost two stone in weight.....
They showed her operation ........where the neurologist planted an electrode deep in her brain . While she was still awake and talking - he asked her to raise her arm with hand still shaking above her head.......and then he found the correct position for the electrode and the shaking stopped completely and immediately...... like a switch had been turned off .. amazing.
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>> I too noticed when in hospital, some time ago now thank goodness, that older people
>> like us are more stoical in hospital, better 'patients', and have a less bad time
>> as a result. Some of the youngsters were terribly wimpish and over-anxious.
>>
I think another factor is that in the current instant result, impatient lifestyle, many people forget that humans are slow to recover from illness or trauma including surgery. After a couple of my medical escapades I was told "After two years you will be as good as it is going to get". Fortunately in each case it was an almost full recovery, but it takes time.
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"I too noticed when in hospital, some time ago now thank goodness, that older people
>> like us are more stoical in hospital, better 'patients', and have a less bad time
>> as a result. "
Not sure that's true - Most of the moaners and complainers I encountered were all sixty plus , a theme that is fairly common in life in my experience.
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Best wishes, ON.
A few years ago one of my sons was in Intensive Care for a week following a drunken accident and brain surgery - at the Royal London Hospital, since you ask. The level of care there was absolutely faultless and he was discharged after a subsequent very short spell in a general ward. Given the type of injury he sustained it's not too much of an exaggeration to say they saved his life.
His recovery was amazingly quick, in contrast to the other guy in the same IC room who was slowly deteriorating, following a similar injury caused by falling down stairs at home.
The whole experience provided much food for thought about life, fate, the human condition and what one's priorities should be.
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>> Small world
>>
Maybe, but you still wouldn't want to be the one who has to paint it.
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For moaning & groaning it depends how you were brought up. In my school days some of my fellow pupils were off school for the slightest sniffle, whereas I, unless actually dead or dying was packed off to school with few extra hankies. This just carries on into later life, when I never take days off sick (touch wood an whistle!)
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Good idea. Infect everyone else.
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New Scientist did a tongue-in-cheek article many years ago, describing Virally-Induced Keenness, Industry and Needless Ginger Syndrome, or VIKINGS. This is an evolutionary strategy on the part of cold viruses, through which the infected are driven to keep on working and come into contact with as many potential hosts as possible. There was a contrasting syndrome, whose name I've forgotten, in which the infected person retires to bed and demands hand-and-foot waiting, again increasing the virus's chances of a new host.
Just stay out of the way. Anything else is doing just what the little blighters want you to do.
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Small world. - Old Navy
