Did anyone have a bad recovery room exp?

Wow, how horrible to read all of these stories. My experience was awesome and my anethesiologist was by far the best I've had. As soon as I got into pre-op he put in my IV, pain free, and gave me what he called "happy juice" and then put in my epidural- again, pain-free! I barely remember OR- they put me out as soon as I got in there. In recovery, they let me sleep and when I finally did wake up they put me in my room in the comfy, adjustable bed. I had morphine through the epidural which was fabuolous, and toradol and benadryl every 6 hours. I never felt any pain in the hospital and they let me keep the epidural for 3 days. I cannot say enough good things about my experience and wish all of you could have said the same.

But...at least we're all on the recovery side now!

I never had a pain issue but I was terrified of anesthesia. I could have died, according to my Dr., because I kept putting off surgery because of my fear. The anesthesiologist was very good to me. Calmed me down and gave me something prior to putting me out. I had a nurse of my own sit with me in recovery. I don't remember recovery but my husband told me. In the room I had a demerol pump (I specifically asked for no morphine - it's horrible for me). I did push it consistently but took myself off by 6:00 a.m. the next morning. Another anesthesiologist came by the next morning to check on me. I though this was kind of standard operating procedure. I'm so sorry for you ladies. That pain that you had to go through is EXACTLY what I was afraid of. I hope you can find a way to get past it but I would definitely complain to the hospital in writing and also ask your Dr. WHAT HAPPENED?

Well, I did not have a bad recovery room experience, but I did have the weirdest thing happen in my hospital room. Only my bf and I know of this as it still unnerves me.

I haven't shared this or talked about it since but I'm going to share this here. After surfing the internet for information, I've learned this is more common than we think.

Ok...here goes. My surgery was at 8:30am and finished at 1:00pm. I was wheeled to my room at 2:00pm. I slept a lot for most of the day, then I was WIDE awake after dinner, and after my bf, kids, and friend left around 8:30 pm I was alone. I tried reading my mags for awhile to get me sleepy but that was not working. ( I had a private room so no roomie to chat with)
I decided to turn off the light and try to sleep. I guess I dozed off for a bit but then was awakened by another 'patient' walking into my room. She was wearing her hospital gown, was quite tall, and had short dark hair. I could see her at the foot of my bed from the light from the hallway. All she said was "oh sorry, wrong room" and promptly left my room.
I mentioned this to the nurse the next morning and she had this 'shocked' look on her face and quickly dismissed me.
I told my bf when he arrived and had him talk to the nurse about it as I was concerned with the lack of 'security' on the floor during the night. Well, after a very lengthy discussion with the nurses (they were very reluctant to talk about it) he comes back to tell me this. About six months prior the same woman I described passed away on the floor! Apparently I was the second person to experience this. As my bf does not believe in spirits he just dismissed me as well and laughed it off. BUT I was not dreaming nor hallucinating. (I was not on a pca pump) I mean, I described this woman perfectly!! She looked as real as you and me.
Anyway, it still freaks me out and I'm not sure what to make of it but I'll NEVER forget it.

I have only the vaguest memories of coming out of anesthesia. My memories tell me that I was screaming for my fiancee while someone was talking very insistantly in my ear to try to get my attention. I have no video memory, just audio memory. I remember coming fully into consciousness, which was a lot less traumatic. I've resolved that from now on, I want to make sure that T (fiancee) is cleared to come into the recovery room as soon as start coming around -- I have some post traumatic stress disorder issues and he's the best person to calm me down.

Ongoing pain management was less dramatic. I had to verbally request my pain meds every 4 hours, which didn't sit well with me, and my surgeon had given me some spiel about wanting to make sure I was coherent for my walks so that's why I wasn't getting automatic shots. Having recently been given a shot of IV dilaudid for much less severe pain I finally understand what he was trying to tell me: When it's not cutting through post op pain, that stuff knocks me flat on my back! The bad part of meds by request is staying awake/aware enough to request the next shot. I had a nurse go walkabout on me when it was time for a pain shot, she didn't return for an hour and then got snippy with me -- she didn't understand that I knew my meds were by-request and i was angry because she wasn't there to make the request of. :P Next time I do this (and I do see laproscotomies (sp?) in my future for endo/adhesions) I'm going to insist on a pain management technique that's not dependent on my ability to tell time :P

I got goose bumps reading your post serendee! My son has seen things before that nobody else has, it unglued him! My only memory of recovery was when I tried to get out of bed, I told the nurse I changed my mind and was going home!

diverchick.......yes, it certainly gave me goosebumps, especially since there were only four of us (patients) on the floor and not one remotely resembled this woman.

I've had other experiences over the years but nothing quite like that.
I still think about it and will never forget it.

I wish I had woken up in recovery. I woke up in the operating room -- after the operation -- wondering, huh, what?? I said "am i done" a couple of times before someone heard me and said yes. At this point, I felt the pain. Remember, I'm still in the operating room, still half out of it. It's been nearly three years now, but I can still remember the weirdest, goofiest, kind of wondering feeling of being both in pain and numb in an area of my body which is by far the most sensitive.
The worst part was that since I woke in the operating room, I was awake through the whole moving to the recovery room and, Oh God, having to get off the gurney into the bed. Ugh, I still shiver a bit remembering that. Then I was bombarded by all these nurses/people/my doctor who had the nerve to try to talk about cauterization. I about lost it there.
The first night's pain was bad, but at least the pump worked. Man, I wish they could have just put the meds in the IV or have done something. All I wanted to do was rest and sleep, but I was waking up in pain, pushing the button, falling asleep, waking up in pain, pushing the button, falling asleep. I had the freakiest dreams and had a hard time distinguishing reality from fantasy. That was the worst night I've ever had.
Oh, and did I mention the second night? The nurses were giving me a powerful pain med (can't recall the name of it) every four hours. One nurse, seeing me sleeping at the time of my next dose, decided not to wake me up! I woke up about two hours later in the most horrendous pain! All the previous meds had worn off, and I was 24 hours away from a TAH! I pressed the button to ask for a nurse, and since I was on a maternity ward, was told she had to "take care of the babies first" then she'd get me my meds. AARRGGHH!

I don't remember much of the recovery room at all...I think that is where I was when I first awoke after surgery...I kept saying, OMG, it hurts so bad...it hurts so bad.....I was in extreme pain....and then I'd be out again. The next time I was conscious they told me I'd already had an awful lot of pain killer and I should be feeling better....I said, well, I'm not....they said they'd give me more morphine. My family says I was in recovery for three and a half hours 'due to pain issues'....finally I went to my room with a morphine pump but I wasn't lucid enough to use it...I never saw my anethesiologist after surgery. He delayed surgery briefly, insisting on a breathing treatment, to insure my asthma wouldn't cause any problems. All in all the surgeons said my surgery was picture perfect and there were no complications. I guess some people respond to pain differently. I had a very large, long incision (36 staples) and radical hysty, including the removal of 27 nodes, each had to be sutured. I'm no longer on pain meds, except Motrin occasionally, and the pain is manageable now. I've never had surgery before so I didn't know what to expect...but I didn't think I'd awake in such excrutiating pain....I guess I should be thankful that they kept knocking me out...

My anesthesiologist did not follow up with me the day after my surgery but he did call me the night before. He offered himself for any questions I had and told me to eat a sandwich and drink a big glass of juice before I went to bed. He asked me the nest day if I had done so. Whatever he did, it worked very well. ( he told me he had "brewed it up the nigth before" ha! and that he was a bartender in medical school!) I was out before I got to the OR and woke up warm and OK in recovery.
I have to say that the stories written on this thread are shocking. I cannot imagine a hell in which you feel excruciating pain and nurses look at you as if you are faking it. Could it get any worse than that?

Blessings to all princesses!

OMG.

I hope everyone who had such awful experiences makes sure their doc/surgeon knows about it.

Even that poor man whose wife had been kidnapped and murdered...sounds like he still needs some help. I wouldn't report him, as such, but just air some concerns that hopefully he is getting follow-up.

The previous time I had been under a general anesthetic, someone had told me that people wake up ok or crying. I woke up howling my head off, no tears that I could recall. A nurse scolded me carefully but firmly, that I was in recovery and would upset other people. I apologized as I had no idea where I was! And I settled down.

My hyst - I did get the suppository during the prep! I preferred that to the epidural (which would have gone into the spinal fluid, not the spinal cord itself).

As I have told in my hyst-story, I was lying on the table in the OR, chatting with the (dis)orderly Matt(the nurse cheerfully agreed he was a dis-orderly!). I heard the anesthetist quietly repeating something behind my head while the EKG patches were being stuck on my chest and the O2 clip on my finger. She was reading softly, "...knows about anesthesia awareness", and I blinked when I heard her, and while I was blinking, another voice told me I was in Recovery!

My first words? "Gee, THAT was fast!" It had been 2 1/2 hours.

I transferred to my bed just fine, the morphine pump worked wonderfully, was off it by 1 the next afternoon.

My pain has been very manageable, and I was able to use OTC stuff when I was discharged.

My experience was a good one. I hope the other sisters who had a bad one can find out WHY.

HUGS!