DGAF levels immediately after surgery?

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almost_hectic

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2015
Messages
779
Location
naples, florida
Be forewarned this post may contain material not suitable for individuals preparing for surgery. PLEASE Stop reading now if it may upset yoU.

Anesthesia and pain killers sent my DGAF levels soaring right after surgery. I went in with a positive attitude but pain and mind altering meds made it almost impossible for me to care. Anyone else have the same? Meds did a lot of weird stuff to my brain function as well as memory of events.
 
Surgery, the actual trauma of surgery, the anaesthesia that they use for surgery, the meds they use when you're kept under following the surgery, and the meds they use for pain following surgery, all affect the brain majorly !

My first day in ICU was the only day I felt 'normal' ! That's not a memory thing, I felt really well, perhaps that was because I was on morphine which suited me much better than the pain meds I was put on when I was moved to high dependency and the ward (morphine can also give a sense of well being which I think we need post surgically !). The pain meds I was moved on to were dihydrocodeine and Tramadol which actually weren't much use for pain for me (not everyone is helped by those particualr meds). I stopped caring about most anything, it was a kind of apathy. I couldn't eat, I literally didn't feel like I cared to eat - no appetite, not even for fluids - this was very difficult as I lost a huge amount of weight which was masked by the fluid retention from surgery. Once I'd susequently lost the surgery fluids around two weeks later I was way underweight. I also didn't care to do the breathing exercises I was supposed to do. I had practiced them fine prior to surgery and I could do them fine in ICU, but afterwards I didn't do them. I simply didn't care. I didn't cough either - I have small airways disease and was given the wrong inhaler and that made it all worse so that I ended up with pleural effusions ! I did the walking up and down the hospital corridor but just the minimum four laps I was instructed to do !

Several doctors have told me susequently about how this kind of surgery, the anaesthesia, the pain and narcotic pain meds afftect the brain.

The only thing that didn't get affected was my memory ! I also wrote stuff down just in case it did - I felt it important to keep a record of what happened.

PS - just remembered something rather ironic: prior to surgery I was discussing with my endocrinologist what I would eat in the hospital. I was in a private hospital which meant hotel style catering. I was so excited that I could have great cuisine and somebody else was going to do the cooking ! I was going to have the full English breakfast of bacon, eggs, black pudding, I was going to have steak for lunch. I could have had those things every day and I ended up with half a glass of milk each 'meal' - I just couldn't care !
 
Yeah I still under the spell of the meds and what it all does to you. Nothing's as bad is my DGAF was in the hospital toughl. Because there was just handfuls of pill and injections every so many hours. I was really unplugged emotionally and just intently focused on my misery. Going from sweating bullets to extreme shivering. Move from the chair to the bed to the bathroom repeat. But all so slowly because it hurt so such just to move. It took a lot to focus through all the haze what I was really going through at the time. Time stood still. I didn't care if friends had sent mail didn't want to read it. I didn't care to text with friends or talk much at all. I didn't care that I grew a weeks beard or hadn't had a shower. Didn't care to eat the terrible food that was never what I ordered anyway. My memory was the first thing to go so not sure who wins that one you or I, my time ICU was a blur. I kept telling anyone who would listen that I was in the wrong place because I hadn't received my surgery yet. Well then what we're all these tubes for? I think I started as a bad patient and finished as a good patient.

I credit the nurses for getting me through it all. Don't get me wrong my surgeons were second to none. But the nurses are what made all the difference and without them I don't know that I would have done. I will say not all of them, but most of them were sent by God. I have nothing but respect for them now. I wish I had been coached going in how to better treat these noble spirits. They put up with everything. My impatience for whatever I felt i needed but probably didn't. My beat up bruised and bleeding body that constantly needed clean bedding and gowns like five times one day (blood got too thinned out and it wasn't pretty). Basically it didn't matter to them what my issues were they were committed to caring no matter what. And they were! Basically by watching and listening to them as they busily worked from my room to others and back at ALL hours. They inspired me to put in the effort too. To suck it up. I wish I had got to know them better and under different circumstances because they were such amazing people, very skilled at what's probably a thankless job most of the time. All from different walks of life with their own stories. It began to fascinate me and I started thanking people every chance I got. I still didn't care about much but felt like I owed it to my nurses to get better. I started doing my breathing machine more often and going for walks when I really didn't want to. Even trying to eat some of the food and keep taking in fluids so I could attempt a bowel movement. All I had to do was whatever my nurses said and I got better and sent home. Thank you my nurses!!❤️❤️❤️
 
Good topic .. truth is that's what's morphine fentanyl Oxy and all other mind altering substances do to a person no matter the situation... but like Paliogirl says coupled with pain and trama elevates the DGAF factor. I will be very honest here that l am concerned about the amount of narcotics administered before and after surgery and throughout recovery as l am a recovering alcoholic addict.
Maybe to much information but most definitely a real concern. For an addict in recovery. I know Dr.perscibed used to control pain and to give you comfort always seem innocent enough. Trust me when l say that is where my journey started. So having said that l am very aware of the DGAF and quite frankly seek continued support and even more so as l get closer to OHS. Clean and sober and RDGAF. So l remain very aware of issues around the use of opiates and other narcotics. I have been sudated at least a dozen time for perceedures and surgeries in the last 2 yrs. However nothing for more than for the percedure it's self. And l just didn't care lm nasty bitchy and don't talk to ppl very nicely.and very rude even to the ppl trying to help ie; nursing staff. I hate that !! Cause l am a really nice person. Just not when l'm coming off of .. any substance.
 
Harriet - I think there has to be a balance as without good pain relief you can't do the exercises etc so well which help you recover. The breathing exercises are particularly important after heart surgery. The pain meds I was put on in high dependency and the ward didn't work for me so I had the DGAF factor plus pain. I told the nursing staff I was in pain and they gave me more of the same meds which simply didn't work and only increased the DGAF factor - they didn't change me to different meds which they should have. I didn't complain though - I should have but I was feeling that DGAF. Once discharged I stopped the pain meds as I knew they were just giving side effects, by then hallucinations, but even the fluid retention was exacerbated by them. GP put me on oramorph (liquid morphine). I wrote everything down, gave copy to my cardiologist so that when I one day have a re-do (probably years away but you never know) issues like pain relief can be addressed better. In hindsight I should have been put back on morphine on the ward. I've spoken to a doctor and read on a couple of cancer websites that morphine isn't addictive if a person is in pain, and it can be given in tiny doses (the oramorph my GP gave me had the doses for babies written on patient leaflet). Re food and appetite - my GP prescribed me liquid nutritional food which was very helpful - the hospital could have done that. Again, forewarned !
 
Hahahaha Paliogirl there is always a plus plan !!! Always appreciate your knowledge and wisdom and humor. As a person in recovery from life l will only just have to be more vigilant and responsible when it comes to my recovery of the heart. It sure has taken a beating.
I love the life l have today just Heart Surgery getting in the way of living it the way it was meant to live. At a little faster pace and without breathless would be the icing !
 
Hey Harriet one thing that totally slipped my mind earlier. My surgeon was using a new method he developed after having undergone some surgery himself as the patient. They used potent liquid intravenous Tylenol to ease off the need for opiates so heavily. Nurses claimed hi patients were the only ones who got the treatment,but I'm sure there must be knowledge on the topic out there your surgeon could tap into if that's a way to help your situation. Hope so!
 
Almost_hectic sounds great l will check into it.And discuss all of those options and alternatives directly with my Surgeon as well. I in fact have been clean and sober for several yrs now but l also know how powerful and patient the disease is. I prefer to take a proactive approach to my recovery. Thx for you suggestion.
 
Paliogirl lol l totally misread the line that said DGAF plus pain.
Thought it said DGAF plus plan .. like r you really really DGAF lol .
I just reread and l hear you. I will be vigilant and there will be my son to deal with, he will be on watch and a gentle reminder.He is my voice of reason. I also understand pain management and the necessity in order to achieve curtain goals and progression like Breathing. Thx you Xx
 
Hi
almost_hectic;n857625 said:
Be forewarned this post may contain material not suitable for individuals preparing for surgery. PLEASE Stop reading now if it may upset yoU.

Anesthesia and pain killers sent my DGAF levels soaring right after surgery. I went in with a positive attitude but pain and mind altering meds made it almost impossible for me to care. Anyone else have the same? Meds did a lot of weird stuff to my brain function as well as memory of events.

my DGAF levels were good (IGAF = high) after surgery but when my wife died they have hit high and stayed there (for three years so far).

after surgery my attention to details went missing and so too did my ability to to simple maths without writing it down on paper. My ability to focus my eyes seemed to drop for a bit but it came back in few weeks.

Why am I even bothering to post this? Uncertain, but perhaps its to get people to shake off their view on how bad things are. Probably if you think things are bad the reality is that things could be a whole lot worse.

anyway ... today is a DGAFF day that's for sure (the second F is "flying")
 
pellicle;n857673 said:
Hi


my DGAF levels were good (IGAF = high) after surgery but when my wife died they have hit high and stayed there (for three years so far).

after surgery my attention to details went missing and so too did my ability to to simple maths without writing it down on paper. My ability to focus my eyes seemed to drop for a bit but it came back in few weeks.

Why am I even bothering to post this? Uncertain, but perhaps its to get people to shake off their view on how bad things are. Probably if you think things are bad the reality is that things could be a whole lot worse.

anyway ... today is a DGAFF day that's for sure (the second F is "flying")

Not at all. My only hope was to share my experience in that DGAF is a false feeling I had to find the strength to push through. For me nurses were my inspiration. I was embarrassed to DGAF when someone I didn't even know was so dedicated to my care. That's where I found the will the focus, I felt I owed it to my nurses.

Nevertheless it is a ver real downside to the miracles of modern medicines, albeit unintended.
 
I think this is quite an important thread. Prior to surgery I wasn't particularly concerned about post surgical problems of any sort, I was sure that if there were any problems the hospital would take care of it anyway. I was very confident. All the pre-admission info certainly impressed that on me. The DGAF feeling is of physical origin, not psychological, although it obviously affects your thinking. It's important to look out for it so that you can try and push through it - and nursing staff should look out for it too.

One thing I kept reading and being told prior to surgery was that it's very common for patients to get very emotional/tearful following open heart surgery. I certainly didn't get emotional or tearful. Maybe DGAF is how some people react ? But certainly I was told susequently that the anaethesia and pain meds do have a direct effect.
 
Sorry for asking something pretty obvious, but my native languaje is not english and it seems i dont completely understand DGAF meaning. I googled it, and i learned it is an acronym of "Dont Give a F***". Does it just mean "I dont care"?
 
Btw Midpack, I think you told us you're from Argentina. This just reminded me of a wonderful film I saw called (in English) 'Don't die without telling me where you're going.'
 
Yes forgive me, I was trying to clean it up but DGAF is a acronym as has been described. It's a very emphatic lack of caring about anything at all, especially ones self in this instance, given the opposite should be the case after undergoing such traumatic life saving surgery. It made it hard for me to focus on my recovery and take the steps towards getting better. I figured it out and pushed through it. As I couldn't just lay there and wait to get better.

Paleogirl I think when I pushed through this is when I got the emotional side you described. As I mentioned I thanked everyone who did anything for me in the hospital, a few times even to the point of getting choked up a bit. I was holding back the emotions or they might have come gushing out. I guess when I was able to turn the DGAFs off I had a huge swing to being very sensitive, as if everything was a life event. Not a bad thing I guess. I was overcome with tremendous amounts of touchy-feely gratitude and respect for this team of amazing people caring for me.
 
Paleogirl;n857687 said:
When this thread was first posted I had to look up DGAF too ! There's a whole new language when it comes to the internet !
Much is a derivation from the SMS (or texting) language, which also comes from the low bandwidth (think 300 baud modem, and dial in internet was typically 9800 or 56,000 baud) days if the internet before there was WWW (which joined the internet protocols in about 1992). In the early daze most of us were using VT100 terminals to connect to a server and to was text only.
L8R
 
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