Anybody have a novacain drip to their knee during surgery?

[Barb123]

I had a novacain (sp?) drip to my knee during surgery. Then when they got
me up soon afterwards to walk, it felt like they had forgotten to put the replacement in. I had no control over it. It was like when you have novacain at the dentist and you have no control over your mouth for awhile. It was really scary.

 

[Pattipoo]

I had a nerve block (in the groin and back of leg).....don't know if that's what you're talking about. it hurrrrrtttteeeeddddddd meeeeeeeee that will be the biggest thing I dread next time!

 

[dw6928]

Patti, what hurt about your nerve block? It can't be when they put it in, you were knocked out. Was it when they removed it? That I remember!

 

[Skeet]

I don't recall anything other than a numb leg for a few days. It wore off about the time I went home from the hospital. I never felt it going in or anything. Praise God for good drugs.

 

[dw6928]

I had this weird, almost electrical sensation, when they removed it (from the groin area). I kept thinking it did not work until the moment they removed it.
It had been working just fine. I did notice that its effectiveness is the front of the knee, not the dreaded rear of the knee (the famous dull ache).

 

[Newwoman]

They did the nerve block in pre op and I was fully awake. When I woke up in recovery I felt the passive motion machine pinching my behind so I don't know if the nerve block wasn't working or if it didn't work that high. Who knows as I was not pleased with the hospital or the care I received.
Cathy

 

[Doug]

It is odd how one thing hurts one of us but feels great to another. I had the femoral nerve block. I was awake when it was put in. No pain at all. When they took it out, it took two days to feel the front of my thigh. Then I wanted it back in....
As for that darn passive motion thing, I shifted around in the bed and as it straightened out, it caught my toes on the railing. I got mad and was apparently loudly talking about the ancestry of the inventor, and the machine itself when a very young nurse came running into the room and fixed things.

 

[Jamie]

You're so right that the experiences are different for everyone. I had a spinal block for the surgery that felt like "pressure" but no real pain when they gave it to me sitting on the operating table....thanks to the pre-drugs they had given me. I was asleep but not fully out (better for recovery). That block numbed everything from the waist down for 24 hours. I had the option of taking a nerve block shot in recovery that would have been given in my upper (numb) leg (so I'm guessing it wouldn't have hurt). But decided not to do it because it would have delayed me getting up and walking about half a day. Turned out that was the right choice for me because my pain was well managed once the block wore off. The nurses all said most people do opt for that second block. Some doctors insist on it, but mine did not. I guess everyone has their way of doing things. In the end, though, I was very happy with the blocks and pain management. My hospital experience was wonderful and I feel very fortunate for that. I think a lot of it was due to going to a "boutique hospital" that was just for orthopedic surgeries.....only 10 beds with 1 nurse for every 2 patients. Amazingly the cost for this facility was the same as a big hospital. I would highly recommend that type of hospital to anyone if it is available in your area. We have several here in Kansas City for different specialities.

 

[JenniferG]

I had this thing called pain packs (one one each knee Bi-lats) they were cathetars that went straight in to my knees a pumped in something similar to novacain for the dentist, different drug though. They helped. They took them out after a couple days. They looked like a camera or binocular case. It helped to numb my knees but not to the point I had no control over them. I walked with the packs.

 

[Pattipoo]

I was awake when they gave me the shot in my groin and in the back of my leg......I pinched the Dr. the entire time he SHOT me.....I wanted to PUKE!

 

[1jt@atime]

I had a spinal and don't think I had anything else besides a diladud pump? I had my surgery at 10:00, in my room at noon and up walking at 2:00. I also had light PT in the room that afternoon. I never had a passive motion machine as my doctor felt a patient could accomplish what they needed to do on their own and personally, I would not want to just lay there and be hooked up to a machine. I spent 90% of my 48 hour hospital stay in the recliner chair because my back hurt too much to lay flat in the bed. I had the cortisone shot in the backside today for this but not sure it's working.

Jamie, I had a great hospital stay also. They even came in and gave me a massage! Nurses were always there when needed and I had a private room.

 

[JenniferG]

Patti, i would have pinched AND puked. I woke up from surgery with the pain packs. they put them in whilst I was out. they were not part of the anestesia, but for pain relief after.

 

[Nursepair]

I had the epidural, a sedative I think and a nerve block. I must have been given the nerveblock while I was sleeping don't remember it in or out. Was numb for two days, heaven. I alos wanted it back after that.

 

[Jamie]

There is certainly some truth to wanting to be pain free again...especially after what we're all going through now. But, I knew I would be anxious to get rid of the "bedpan thing" as soon as possible. I was SO ready to walk to the potty!!! (sorry to take it back there!)

 

[Pattipoo]

Jamie...you are SUCH a potty mouth!

 

[Jamie]

I learned it here.....never was this way before! Well, maybe not....

 

[Susan Gizinski]

I had a spinal for my surgery but they put an On-Q pump into my knee during surgery. I kept in for the 2 nights I was in the hospital and was supposed to leave it in for 5 days after I got home. The medicine was in a fanny pack around my waist. At night I hung it on the bedpost and on the 4th night, when I got up to go to the bathroom, I forgot about it. The line pulled out of my knee. The pump really helped with pain. It felt funny because my knee was so numb but I think it helped. I will have it again when I get my other knee done.