Recuperating

Last Tuesday I had routine laparoscopic gall bladder surgery at our local hospital. It's a simple surgery and they now do this as outpatient and send you home the same day.

I was asked dozens of questions before surgery including if I was allergic to any medications. When I explained that I was allergic to morphine they placed a red wrist band on my arm to alert the staff of my allergy.

Shortly after I awoke in the recovery room the nurse asked if I was having any pain and I requested some pain medication. After an injection of pain meds into my IV, I began to get sick and you guessed it...... they had injected me with morphine. It took an additional 8 hours before the drug was out of my body and I began to feel better.

Although my reaction wasn't life threatening, I keep thinking about how often things like this happen with outcomes that aren't always so benign. Hospital personnel are human and make mistakes just like everyone else. At most jobs, a mistake isn't terribly serious and the damage can be easily fixed. But in the medical field it can have drastic effects.

So I just want to remind everyone to be your own advocate. Ask questions! Although the nurse should have checked my armband before she administered the medication, I should have asked her what she was injecting. It would have saved us both an unpleasant time.