Sequoia Surgical Pavilion would like your feedback!

This was one feedback form that needed filling out

The day after surgery, with my barf bag, ice matching and Harriet who only left my side to eat and bark and the neighbor’s dog.

Just a few days after having a shoulder replacement, I received the following feedback form from the place I had my surgery done. I didn’t fill it out for a while since I only had use of one arm and it’s my inconsequential arm. I think the usual term is my “non-dominant” arm but after only being able to use that arm for several weeks I have been calling it my “useless” arm. Then after a practicing a moment of gratitude, I realized that’s a bit harsh because after all, thank God for it or life would have been even more difficult. So now it’s my “inconsequential arm.”

After each question, the following options for answers were given:

1. Yes, definitely

2. Yes, somewhat

3. No

1. Before your procedure, did your doctor or anyone from the facility give you all the information you needed about your procedure? Yes, somewhat

First of all, I feel strange answering an all-or-nothing question with a middle-of-the-road answer but I was given some information, just not all of it. At my pre-op appointment, my doctor answered just about every question I asked regarding my procedure, with “I won’t know until I get in there.”

2. Before your procedure, did your doctor or anyone from the facility give you easy to understand instructions about getting ready for your procedure? Yes, somewhat

If I hadn’t had a previous rotator cuff surgery previously, I would have been pretty unprepared. But maybe I just didn’t read what they gave me or told me since this was my fourth shoulder surgery.

3. Did the check-in process run smoothly? Yes, somewhat

We exited the elevator and saw a sign at the reception window that read, “Please sign in, take a clipboard, and fill out the paperwork. Hold on to the clipboard until your name is called.” So I wrote my name and time of arrival on the sign-in sheet. We sat down in a chair that faced the reception windows. I filled out the paperwork and set the clipboard in the chair next to me. One other person sat in the waiting room reading a book. Lisa and I chatted and I complained several times about how much I wanted coffee and something to eat. After about fifteen minutes, a woman wearing medical scrubs exited the elevator and entered the door to enter the reception desk area. She pulled off the sticker where I had written my name and looked around the waiting room. I looked at her, eagerly, conveying ‘I’m right here’. She said something to the lady behind the window, walked to her reception desk, and sat down. She looked at the sticker again, crumpled it up, and threw it in the trash can under her desk. She began typing on her keyboard, and I thought Oh she must be pulling up my info on her computer. She then asked the first reception lady, “I don’t know what everyone wants for lunch. Where should we order from?” The other lady said, “I don’t know, but they need to have some gluten-free options.” The lady at the computer replied, “What is gluten anyway? I don’t even know what has gluten in it and what doesn’t.” The first lady said, “I think stuff like bread.”

“What about potatoes? Does that have gluten in it?”

“That’s a good question.”

“Can they eat rice?”

Being gluten-free myself, I thought I would help them out so maybe they could finish ordering lunch and check me in for surgery where they are going to cut off the top of my humerus, hammer a metal stake into it, cut my bicep tendon and reattached it to the bone, and drill a rectangular piece of polyethylene plastic into my scapular (that’s the shoulder blade.) Loud enough to be heard across the room I said, “Anything that has wheat in it has gluten in it. They can eat rice and potatoes. I am gluten-free.” The lady looked up at me. “Have you ever eaten at the Buckhorn?” I replied, “Yes I have.” “Have you ever had a salad with those fried onions on top?” “Those onions have flour on them, so the gluten-free person cannot eat those.” “Oh ok thank you.” The two ladies talked some more about what to order for lunch. My lack of coffee and being nervous about my looming surgery caused a WTF to bounce around in my brain. After around twenty-five minutes since we arrived had gone by, fully knowing I was supposed to wait until my name was called before I brought my clipboard up, I decided I had to break the rules and said to the lady while holding my clipboard up in the air (which I had done a few times to signal that I needed to be helped,) “Um, am I supposed to bring this up or…” “OH MY GOD I am so sorry, yes please come up.” Apparently when this lady first walked in she asked the first lady if someone was waiting to be checked in and she said, “No.”

4. Was the facility clean? Yes, definitely

5. Were the clerks and receptionists at the facility as helpful as they should be? Yes, somewhat

Once the clerk began to help me, she was very helpful. Very VERY helpful. And apologetic.

6. Did the clerks and receptionists at the facility treat you with courtesy and respect? Yes, definitely

7. Did the Doctors and nurses treat you with courtesy and respect? Yes, definitely

Except a “surgery prep technician” came into my pre-op room and explained she would be prepping the area to be operated on. I soon learned this meant shaving any hair and liberally applying iodine all around the area that will be cut. She rolled back the sleeves of my gown to expose my shoulder and exclaimed, “WOW! There’s no hair! I won’t even have to shave you!” She said “Wow” a few more times, absolutely astonished I didn’t have a shoulder full of hair. I looked at my wife to see if she thought this was kind of a weird thing to say and she gave me the look, “Oh ya that was super weird.”

8. Did the Doctors and nurses make sure you were as comfortable as possible? Yes, somewhat

The surgical nurse came in and said, “Hi! I’m Suzy and I will be your surgical nurse today. I see you are here for a revision.” I replied, “Nope. I am here for a shoulder replacement.” The nurse replied, “Oh, let me go double-check.” This caused me to feel uncomfortable. I am not sure if this form is asking if the bed and pillows were comfortable or if I was warm enough but having the surgical nurse think I am having a different operation made me just a bit uncomfortable. Then when I was sent home with post-surgical instructions for a “Rotator Cuff Repair” I once again felt some discomfort.

9. Did the Doctors and nurses explain your procedure in a way that was easy to understand? Yes, somewhat *please note previous answer

10. Anesthesia is something that would make you sleepy or go to sleep during your procedure. Did you receive anesthesia? Yes, definitely

The anesthesiologist walked into the room and introduced himself by saying, “You are so young to have this procedure!!! What on Earth did you do to yourself?!! I’m Dr. So-in-so and I will be your anesthesiologist.” I told him I was a firefighter for many years so give me a break! Once they brought me back and I was lying on the operating table, he put a green mask over my nose and mouth and after a few seconds he told me to count backward from 10. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1” I wondered if I was supposed to say “zero”. In every episode of Grey’s Anatomy, the patient never makes it to 1 so I began to wonder if I was not going to receive anesthesia. He told me to take some deep breaths—so I did. Still awake. He told me to take some really deep breaths — what in the fuck — and finally, the really deep breaths did the trick. Once I woke up from surgery, the nerve block he performed was supposed to make my shoulder and arm completely numb. Instead, my shoulder and arm had total feeling but breathing was a little difficult.

11. Discharge instructions include things like symptoms you should watch for after your procedure, instructions about medicines, and home care. Before you left the facility, did you get written discharge instructions? Yes, definitely

I did receive discharge instructions, but they were for a rotator cuff repair, not a shoulder replacement.

12. Did your doctor or anyone from the facility prepare you for what to expect during your recovery? Yes, somewhat

Although just about every question I asked of my doctor regarding my recovery he answered, “I won’t know until I get in there.” He did talk to my wife after surgery but never talked to me.

13. Some ways to control pain include prescription medicine, over-the-counter pain relievers or ice packs. Did your doctor or anyone from the facility give you information about what to do if you had pain as a result of your procedure? Yes, somewhat

Due to the law or pharmacy rules, I was only able to fill the pain medication prescription for 18 pills. Since my shoulder was sliced open and a metal rod was hammered into my humerus, my shoulder hurt quite a bit. Since the nerve block, administered by my anesthesiologist who was simply astonished I was getting a shoulder replacement at 54 years of age, didn’t work at all, I was in quite a bit of pain straight away. The instructions on the orange pill bottle said to take pain meds every six hours. So two pills every 6 hours equals 8 pills a day, and since I had surgery on a Thursday, I ran out of pain meds Saturday in the middle of the night. In anticipation of this, I called my doctor’s office on Friday. The office lady said she will talk to the doc and call me back. No one called me back. I called them again right before they closed. She said he has been really busy and will let me know when he calls in the prescription. No one called. Lisa looked in her stash of meds and vitamins and found a prescription for pain medication from when her mom had a knee replacement. Those pills got me through until Monday when I looked at my pharmacy account and saw that the doctor had authorized a refill. So I indicated that yes, I would please very much like that prescription filled.

14. At any time after leaving the facility, did you have pain as a result of your procedure? Yes, definitely Most definitely

15. Before you left the facility, did your doctor or anyone from the facility give you information about what to do if you had nausea or vomiting? Yes, somewhat

Since I was still vomiting as I was leaving the facility, the recvoery nurses gave me a couple of barf bags to take home and said, “Hopefully this will clear up soon.”

16. At any time after leaving the facility, did you have nausea or vomiting as a result of either your procedure or the anesthesia? Yes, definitely

I vomited on the way home and vomited some more when I got home. So I took some of Harriet’s (my dog) leftover Zofran (anti-nausea medication) from when she had surgery a few months ago. *And don’t fret, they were just extra, Harriet got everything she needed and then some.

17. What is the highest grade or level of school that you have completed? A Bachelor’s degree

Wait what? What in the hell does this have to do with my experience at the surgical pavilion?

With all of that just said, I am very grateful to everyone who took a part in giving me a new shoulder. Going to nursing school and medical school is a butt load of work and I am forever thankful these people took on the weighty odyssey of completing these vocations. I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t do what I love to do anymore. But because of these people, I will get my happy life back.

My plan was to be a doctor but said F that, I am going to go ride around on a fire engine, squirt some water and break shit. Having to take upper division Organic Chemistry alone is a feat worth applauding. So to all you doctors and nurses and surgery prep techs and surgery techs out there, I thank you.