I almost passed out!

This week at the hospital I did my rotation in Day surgery. It is not exactly what it sounds like. I did not see any surgeries. That will be my OR rotation. Day surgery is pre-op and post-op. I admitted the patients, went through their history, got them squared away with their gowns and warming blankets. The blanks are so cool, it's an inflatable blanket that continually blows warm air on the patient. One of the patients I admitted was getting a colonectomy (a part of his colon removed b/c of colon cancer), and I was able to go with the anesthesiologist and watch him administer an epidural. I was excited b/c I never received an epidural with my 3 kids, and only saw one from a far. I thought I was in for a treat.

I must preface this experience, in that I had to be there at 5:45am, which meant I had to wake up at 4am to get there. I ate a light breakfast, because it's hard to eat that early in the morning. It had been about 5 hours since I ate anything when I went with the patient for his epidural. I was standing and watching for about 15 minutes as the anesthesiologist tried not once, but 5 times to get the epidural in the right spot. I was amazed at how far the needle went into his spine. I swear, it almost touched his belly button! :) Well, after the 5th time, I started getting light headed and sick to my stomach and my pupils started to constrict. I sat down and I began getting cold sweats. The nurse with the patient had to call another nurse to assist me to the break room. When she saw me, she could see how pale I was and walked me ever so gingerly to get some crackers and juice. I was greeted by surgeons, nurses, a nurse anesthetist, and a fellow nursing student. Embarassing!!! They all smiled because they've all been there. They gave me a few good words of advice. EAT!!! I will make sure to eat often when I am in the OR next month.