September 23, 2005
A funny thing happened to me on the way to surgery. How’s that for an opening? A few weeks ago I required surgery that necessitated general anesthesia. While I’ve had “conscious sedation” before, I’ve never been put completely under. The prospect didn’t bother me a bit as I definitely did not want to be awake whilst the surgeon was poking and prodding me with razor sharp instruments! But I digress….
Before surgery, I had to meet with the anesthesiologist to discuss what medications I can and/or can not tolerate. As I’ve previously reported, I encourage the use of, and actually use it myself, a personalized patient medication sheet that lists all the meds I am currently taking, why I take them, who the prescribing doctor is and which pharmacy fills which prescription. In my case, I have two pharmacies. One is mail-in through my insurance company for long term meds. The other is my local pharmacy for spur of the moment issues like antibiotics, etc. Additionally, I have all of my known allergies listed. As the doctor was reading my sheet, I asked what med would be used to put me under and what med(s) would be used for pain. He was very impressed with my complete med history as it significantly impacted his decisions on what he would give me, and more importantly what he would not. Since I take a daily, long-acting opioid for my migraine, the amount of opioid in my system had to be taken in to consideration as well. This particular hospital’s drug of choice for severe pain is fentanyl, but since I had that I am severely allergic to fentanyl in big red letters on my med sheet, the doctor was able to plan for and discuss alternatives before the surgery instead of making decisions on the fly. I found that both nurses and doctors took a great deal of time familiarizing themselves with my sheet so no known allergic issues or over-medication would happen. The end result: my experience was extremely positive. I was properly medicated and experienced no side effects what-so-ever. It was reiterated to me several times that they – doctors and nurses – wished more patients would take the time to accurately list the information as it made their job easier too. So, I again encourage you to make the list and provide a new copy – even if it’s the exact same info – at every doctor’s office visit or medical “event”. The last word you ever want to here while you’re in surgery or the Emergency Room is “Oops”!
