Outpatient general anaesthetic: What to expect?

i'm 23 and i've had 9 surgeries including cataract surgery under general anesthesia last may. (i'm have extremeely complex eyes so they didn't know what to expect once they started).

i'll try to give you the run down of what happens from the time you get there to the time you leave.

first you'll probably be told not to eat or drink anything effective at midnight the night before surgery.

you'll go to the hospital and go to the admission desk. they'll put some info into the computer and put a wrist band on.

then you go up to what ever floor they tell you to and the nurse will put you in a room, ask you a bunch of questions, take your blood pressure and temp, and maybe ask for a urine sample. then they'll give you a gown and tell you to hang out on the bed until they come get you. you'll then be wheeled on a cart down to the preoperative area. depending on your age they may ask your parents to go to the waiting room or they may let them come to the preoperative area with you.

down in pre-op they will ask you a bunch of the same questions that you were already asked just so they can be sure everything was written correctly. they'll take your BP again (they will put a cuff on that does it automatically every few minutes and this will stay on for the entire surgery and while you are in the recovery room), take your temp again, and also put a pulse ox monitor on your finger. it just measures how much oxygen you have in your body so they can regulate it(this will also stay on during surgery and in the recovery room) it doesn't hurt or anything. and they'll start an IV in the back of your hand or in the bend of your arm. the dr doing the surgery will usually appear to ask if you have any last minute questions and run through exactly what he is doing again. then if you are extremely nervous they may give you something in the IV to calm you down. it will most likely give you a burning sensation in your arm for a minute but it goes away quickly. it may make you feel tired, looopy, or just chilled out depending on what drug they used.

then they will wheel you into the operating room and help you scoot over onto the operating table. they'll then put an oxygen mask on your face and heart monitor patches on your chest. then they will either give you the anesthesia through the mask or through the IV. if its through the mask you will just breath it in. it smells like nail polish remover. you may feel like you can't breath cuz the smell is sooo strong but with in a minute you are out like a light. if its given through the IV you will have a burning sensation in your arm for a frew seconds and then you may start to feel dizzy or sick but before you can even tell someone you don't feel good you are out like a light.

when you wake up you may feel like you just closed your eyes and then opened them again. you may not even realize for a second that the surgery even started let alone it being done already.

you'll almost certainly feel really tired. you may also experience uncontrolable shaking, being emotional and crying cuz you don't know whats going on, feeling dizzy and possibly fainting, and/or feeling sick and possibly throwing up. these are all common side effects after anesthesia.

you will start out in the recovery room where there are nurses and other patients coming out of anesthesia. they will monitor you and bug you every few minutes to make sure you are alright. they don't really expect you to full wake up in this room. once you are stable you will be wheeled back up to the room you started in when you got there and that is where your parents can see you again. at this point a nurse will come in and really start to try to get you to wake up. they'll try to get you to drink something like apple juice or 7up. they also try to get you to go use the bathroom.

they usually try to get you up and out as quickly as they can so they can make more room for other patients.

if you don't feel like you can get up and go then don't let them rush you. its best to go at your own pace this will lessen the chance of you getting extremely sick or dizzy.

one little thing that i always try to let people know is if you get the least bit chilly ask for a blanket. they have a "warming oven" so when they give you a blanket it is nice and warm. if you are still cold ask for another one and another until you feel comfortable cuz when you get cold you get more shaky and in my opinion then get more nervious.

oh and if you are prone to cold feet wear a pair of regular socks and then also a pair of those soft fuzzy socks and it will keep your feet toasty.

all in all you'll only be there for a few hours. maybe a bit more depending on if they are running behind schedule or if you feel very ill after you wake up.

you'll go home and probably feel like sleeping. most likely they will tell you to wear the plastic eye shield they put on you after the op while you sleep for the first few days just to be sure that you don't accidentally rub your eye or touch it too much while you sleep.

you'll have to use eye drops several times a day for a couple of weeks.

you'll see the dr the next day for a check up and then you'll see them most likely 2 weeks later for another check up.

the odd thing to me was after cataract sugery it doesn't hurt at all. i mean NO PAIN WHAT SO EVER.

you'll feel just fine as soon as the anesthesia wears off.

the only things you can't do until the dr gives the ok is left more than 20ish pounds and go swimming with your head under water.

I have had two sebaceous cysts removed. You shouldn't be concerned. The surgery was very simple. It required only a couple stitches. I didn't even take Advil. One of mine did burst, it caused swelling redness and pain. They removed the sac and the pus. They prescribed an antibiotic, and I was fine. It is better to get it removed before it bursts. The risk is that they won't get all the sac... even a small fragment can result in reformation of the cyst. Then they have to do two procedures at separate times. The dermatologist can remove the sac easily when it isn't burst. A sebaceous cyst forms when the pore is sealed over by scratching. All the sweat and impurities keep expanding the pore sac. If there is pressure placed on the cyst when it gets larger, it may burst. Good Luck!

You'll most likely be brought to a recovery room. My experience after a procedure was that the recovery room was just a big room with a bunch of beds and curtains. They'll let you rest for a while and then if everything's alright, they'll most likely send you on your way. Good luck!

My experience with shoulder and knee surgery was they do all of the aforementioned, then they bring you to immediate recovery. That is where they let the anesthetics wear off. When you are awake, they bring you to a secondary recovery room where you looked at by a doctor. They will not release you until you have urinated just to make sure everything is still in working order.

They will take you into recovery after your operation and make sure that you wake up alright. A doctor will likely come in and check on you and make sure everything is okay (take your vitals, see how you feel). Then a nurse will give you instructions on how to care for yourself at home and when they feel you are ready they will send you home. Sometimes they make you eat, go to the bathroom, walk, etc., to make sure that you're okay to go home.