I was speaking to my doctor a few days ago and he suggested a procedure "just to make sure". Unfortunately this particular procedure generally involves generous amounts of "sedation" whether the patient needs it or not. I flatly refused...it pays to do your homework. I already figured he might want me to have that procedure and already knew it involved Versed/Midazolam. No dice.
Of course he questioned me. I think he was surprised at my refusal. After all, he IS the doctor. I'm PAYING him for his expertise and here I am saying an emphatic NO! So I told him that Versed was used for that procedure and that Versed was NOT going to be used on me, never, ever, never, not under any circumstances! I began to get nervous and jittery. I don't want to be a "bad" patient, but I have zero intentions of putting myself "in that situation" (as one poster put it) where I might get Versed. I have said I'd rather be dead than have Versed again and I thought that might be in the cards if I refused this procedure. I didn't reveal that to the doctor however. I just said NO!
The doc wanted to know what my problem was with Versed. So I told him. Here's where it gets almost unbelievable. He said that he gets at least one patient per year that has the same reaction as *I* had. (he's not a gastro, so his patients are more limited) Amazing isn't it? Crna's, ICU nurses and the like (the theme is nurses of any kind) will categorically DENY that there are any problems with the drug. Oh HELL to the no, it cannot be Versed. Versed is wonderful and safe. NOBODY ever, Ever, EVER has a bad reaction to Versed. It must be ME! Yeah, well, OK, but my DOCTOR says otherwise and so do many of his patients. The biggest difference is that my educated specialist of a doctor believes his patients. Fancy that!
My doctor went on to explain (in an incredulous tone) that when these anesthesia/sedation people get patients like me, they give them MORE Versed! Right from a doctors mouth. If the patient has a paradoxical or other bad reaction to Versed they give you MORE of it. Sure, that makes sense to me. NOT! On the surface it makes no sense...but in reality, given the nature and mental processes of these anesthetists, crna's or whatever, this does make sense. If you are willfully blind to the effects of your favorite drug. If you refuse to believe what the stupid patients are telling you. If you do NOT read any scientific studies which show the devastating effects of Versed on people, then sure, let's give the patient MORE of what caused the problem in the first place. How ignorant is that?
Although I will not be having the procedure that my doc wanted, we came up with an alternate plan, and will avoid the whole Versed issue for now. He stated that he will personally ensure that I don't have Versed, even if it turns out that I really do need that procedure. My highly educated DOCTOR will make sure the anesthesia person doesn't give me Versed. I'm thinking that my doc doesn't need me struggling in restraints during the procedure. (he doesn't know that I was trying to kill people last time, the only time, I got Versed) He also caught a glimpse of the emotional toll Versed took on me. We haven't talked about the other NO I have in mind. That being that a crna is a big NO, nein, nyet! I want one of my doctor's peers, not an underling. He/she still can't use Versed on me, but at least an anesthesiologist can do their job without it.
No comments:
Post a Comment