Was wondering why I almost died after my surgery I had in the recovery

@lollypop9

Welcome to Mayo Connect. Though Connect members cannot give you an answer to your exact situation, they can offer advice that might help you.

You can request your medical records, including surgery and recovery room notes. This would include any medications given. The problem is it will be very hard for a lay person to interpret and understand. Everyone reacts differently to drugs. My sister has terrible time with anesthesia where I have never had a reaction to anesthesia.

During my gallbladder surgery, after anesthesia was started, they were unable to insert a breathing tube due to narrow throat opening; they had to reverse anesthesia and wake me back up. I remember waking up and asking for suction and trying to wave arms around. They did eventually get breathing tube inserted and were able to continue with surgery. The most important thing for me after surgery was to make sure it never happen again. Every anesthesiologist I have think there better than previous one, but I still warn them prior to surgery.

Few questions I would ask your surgeon:
- Are the mental changes your having a result of surgery or the experience you had in post-op. Will it improve?
- Is there anything that should be done different if you have future surgery to prevent a similar situation happening in post op. Can you have it documented in letter to share with future surgeons / anesthesiologist?

Do you have a follow-up appointment with surgeon scheduled?

Do you have allergies. They might have given you something your bday reacted too. I have many and I always tell that. Many times they had to change things.

Unfortunately, doctors aren't going to give you all the answers you are seeking, if there was a mishap. They will protect themselves and their associates. I went through something similar, with an anesthesia event. I naively thought they would sympathize, and answer all my questions. Instead, the surgeon, nurses, social worker, and patient relations representative, gaslighted me completely. You are never going to know the answers to your questions from them. It sounds as if you might have been damaged, unlike me. You need to see an outside doctor, that is not within that community. Maybe out of state. And consult a lawyer.

Please look up the term POCD. Post Operative Cognitive Dysfunction.

Thank you @colely for mentioning POCD.

I learn something new every day. I had never heard of POCD , so did some reading.
This page does good job explaining:
https://sunnybrook.ca/research/content/?page=anesthesia-brain-health-education-pocd

@lollypop9 , if it is in fact POCD, it can resolve itself without any treatment. Most patients’ brain function return to baseline (before surgery) within a few months following hospital discharge.

I am glad if I could help. We are here to help each other heal.