Parkies and anaesthetic

I am now in the countdown to my knee replacement surgery, having finished work and I have just 11 days till my surgery. My boss was very understanding to give me the whole of the week before my surgery week on leave. This is a great opportunity to isolate myself as much as possible from crowded spaces prior to my operation and get a few things round home sorted before the day of the operation.

I have had several operations in my life for various reasons and you would think I was an old hand at this! I have had four finger joint replacements as well as a number of others.

So what is different this time?

Why do I feel more nervous?

The answer is this. I did not have a Parkies brain for the last operations. Well, not that I know of anyway. Now that I know I have Parkies and that for many anesthetic is not a friend of Parkinson’s and can cause progression and changes in functioning it feels different. I am a little concerned that having my knee fixed in surgery might cause other problems.

I have spoken to the Parkinson’s Nurse and she is very knowledgeable and said that she felt that the operation should not be an issue for me. The one thing she did say which was very helpful was that I needed to check with my surgeon if I could take my medications during the ‘nil by mouth’ period. He has come back to me to say that if I can take my meds six hours before the likely time for surgery – which is 10.00am – then things should be OK. I guess the need to take the meds is to ensure when the Physio tells me it’s time to get up and try to walk, that my medications ensure that I do not have issues with stiffening up and being unable to walk due to my Parkinson’s.

This is a new complication to having an operation for me. Previously, the worst thing that could happen was that I would (sorry) vomit for up to four days after a general anesthetic! Now the concern for me is that my condition might progress because of it. Helen the Parkinson’s Nurse was quite reassuring, but I can’t escape the little voice in my head that says it might possibly have a detrimental effect.

I know all this sounds a bit on the pessimistic side. The thing is, I have always said that I usually err on the side of pessimism, because if you expect the worst then you can be pleasantly surprised when things go better than you thought they would. However, the reverse is that if you are too positive and things don’t go as well as planned then you have further to fall!

I will try to consciously look on the positive side and look forward to moving freely without crutches in the near future.

But, my natural pessimism will have to be conquered first!