Uh Oh...

[Catch91]

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Well...

Do you all remember that thread I posted about my first surgery shadowing experience? How it went so amazingly well, and I was so excited to go again? Well, I finally went again. And let me tell you, it did not go as planned.

So I got there, talked to the vet, and we saw a few patients from the humane society. After that, like last time, we prepped for the surgeries. We were about half way through the first one, a cat spay (which I've already shadowed three of!), and I started to feel sort of woosy. I sort of tried to fight it, thinking I was fine last time, so nothing was going to happen now. Well, something did happen. I finally had to excuse myself and went to sit down at a desk. I was incredibly light headed, I couldn't hear anything or see anything, and I literally broke into a soaking cold sweat within minutes. I literally couldn't help it! Like I said, I tried to fight it, and I wanted to stay in the surgery, but for some reason it just hit me. I really don't know what triggered it. Everyone at the clinic was so worried about me! The manager of the clinic, Jeff, made me stay down and gave me a damp cloth to hold on my head. He said my face was literally white and my eyes were sort of rolly. I sat down for about 25 minutes or so, until I started to feel better, since I had to drive home. The whole thing made me feel extremely exhausted and cold, since I was sweating and got chills, so all I wanted to do was go home and take a hot bath and go lay down. Jeff offered to drive me home, but I thought I would be okay, and I didn't want to have to arrange to get my car later.

Anyway... sort of embarrassing... and making me think, "Am I really cut out for this?"

:cry:

 

[VAgirl]

Totally normal. Probably vasovagal syncope type response. In other words, there is some external stimuli (in this case, the surgery) and your body reacts to it. Blood pressure drops, you can have nausea, cold sweating, pulse racing, and fainting. Lying down/sitting are helpful since they decrease the chance of passing out and decrease the damage to yourself (and surroundings) if you do pass out. People also experience these kinds of reactions to other stimuli, to changes in position, or to weird things like sneezing, urinating, evacuating, etc.

It's not a big deal. I think everyone who does this kind of work has had to deal with something like that at some point or another. I fainting twice (due to this same thing) during my first monkey necropsy. It's freaky and can absolutely make you doubt yourself, but don't. If you want to overcome it, you can. First of all, you shouldn't ignore the warning signs. Sit down when you feel this way!

Also, something really weird...I have trouble watching necropsies, but I have NO problem doing them. My guess is that when I'm just watching, my brain doesn't have enough to do so starts pondering all of the ethical, moral, emotional, etc. ramifications of what's going on.

Anyway, don't stress. This definitely happens. It doesn't necessarily mean you're in the wrong field. Only you can determine that. (Not your body's automatic reactions to unfamiliar circumstances!)

 

[greenie53]

Of course you could definitely be cut out for vet med!! Not to speak for everyone, but I'm sure that almost everyone with vet experience remembers a time in the beginning when they almost passed out!

I remember mine, it happened on the second day I volunteered at a clinic in high school. I had already seen some spays and neuters, but when I went back the next day and saw a thyroidectomy I was incredibly close to falling right on the floor because no blood was getting to my brain! The next week I was able to watch all sorts of gory surgeries including an amputation, and I was fine 🙂 Don't be so hard on yourself! Now, I am fine around most surgeries and actually I do better the gorier the surgery

Just make sure you've eaten, gotten fluids, and you should be ok. If you start to feel a bit light headed again, just excuse yourself before it gets too bad to control. You'll get better I promise! 😀

 

[greenie53]

VAgirl- we have a serious SDN addiction! haha, I'm just laughing to myself about how every post I look at today which is about every 15 mins that I refresh, you've posted something! I thought I might have beaten you to this one, but I guess not 😀

Can't wait until Davis notification comes so I won't be so obsessive anymore!!

 

[VAgirl]

VAgirl- we have a serious SDN addiction! haha, I'm just laughing to myself about how every post I look at today which is about every 15 mins that I refresh, you've posted something! I thought I might have beaten you to this one, but I guess not 😀

Can't wait until Davis notification comes so I won't be so obsessive anymore!!

😳😳 It's partly that and partly that for my job I'm constantly checking new reports that come in (via the internet!!) to see the status of things I'm monitoring. So I'm just addicted to the instant gratification. I need to cut back. Maybe there's a 12 step program I can enter. 😛

Ok, step one...sign off SDN. Soooo...I'm done for the day, kids. I'm signing off and won't be back till tomorrow. Good night and good luck! 😉

 

[greenie53]

Aww! I didn't mean to scare you away! I'm sorry! 🙁 I'm just as bad, and I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there who are certainly SDN stalking quite obsessively too! 🙂

 

[guppy73]

Just make sure you've eaten, gotten fluids, and you should be ok. If you start to feel a bit light headed again, just excuse yourself before it gets too bad to control. You'll get better I promise! 😀

SO important to take care of yourself! I've found myself feeling this way at times, even after observing/assisting with many surgeries. When I stop to think about it for a moment, I usually haven't had anything to eat for hours and am getting by with just a large cup of coffee (which is worse, with caffeine being a diuretic and all). I'm usually really dehydrated and have lost track of time.

Other factors to consider: A surgical suite that's too warm, and anesthetic issues (e.g., machine tubes not hooked up properly, an ET tube that's leaky/not in correctly/cuff not inflated, or an iso mask that's not fitted well to the patient's face). Any of these could make anyone woozy! 😴

The important thing is this: Don't give up, and don't sell yourself short. While it's important to know your limitations, try not to get bogged down by them and have them interfere with your goals and dreams. If you do find that surgery continues to be an issue for you, always remember that the beauty of vet med is the range of options and opportunities it has to offer--some of which may not directly involve surgery, such as research or public health. Hang in there!

 

[VelcroSky]

Just wanted to pitch in and let you know I had trouble at first myself. I got over it and you probably will too!

 

[rustysmom]

I had something similar happen about 6 months into my shadowing - got really woozy 😴with a ear hematoma.... I realized that I hadn't ate or drank anything since 7am and it was almost noon (dehydrated) and I was coming down with a cold (didn't realize it at the time - thought it was allergies). The next week, I was able to assist in many surgeries and haven't had an issue since then.

If I know I'm going to be assisting in surgeries, I make it a point to drink a glass of water before going in - this has helped me tremendously. Hang in there 🙂

 

[meadow36]

I can handle anything - blood, guts, gore, maggots, you name it - but sometimes the smell of the Isofluorane can make me light-headed. Make sure your trach tubes aren't leaking, and check your anesthesia hoses/bags for leaks. When using a mask on an animal, stick gauze around the sides to ensure a tight fit if it's not already. When pulling a mask off an animal, point it away from the general direction of your face, and for pete's sake shut off the gas!! Do you know how many times I've seen people pull the mask off and wait several minutes before shutting off the machine?? In most situations it is best to shut off the Iso early and let the animal suck straight O2 for a few minutes; this will also help diffuse the remaining Isofluorane.

Also make sure your gas waste system is working; we have hoses that go into the ceiling that need to be turned on by a switch on the wall; and for the portable machine and box we have F/AIR canisters.

 

[Cheska]

Look on the bright side- at least you didn't .... I did! I hadn't been volunteering for long, and while watching a dental it just came up 😀 And don't you know it, I *almost* made it to the garbage can 😳 I stayed at that clinic for two more years

But that was years ago, and it hasn't happened since. A few months ago I had a girl from the local high school shadow at the clinic I was teching at- she did the same thing. It brought back not so fond memories. But she came back again and did fine. A few weeks ago I was doing anesthesia for a surgeon who is 15 years out of school- she stopped in the middle of surgery, sat down, then passed out. I stocked the surgery room with smelling salts after that one!

That awful feeling you described sucks, but it happens to a lot of people. Listen to everyone's advice about sitting down and taking care of yourself- and don't be afraid to get back on that horse!

 

[thereservoirdog]

Don't worry, pretty much the exact same thing happened to me. I was watching a spay and then I got tunnel vision and it felt like I was going to pass out. I excused myself and the doctor just said "uh oh we got a green face!" and laughed. I drank some water and came back 5 minutes later to watch the surgery and I was fine. I think it just takes a while to get used to all the horrible sights/smells/sounds of surgery.

 

[NoleDevil]

I had a very similar experience during the first couple of surgeries that I shadowed (although I didn't pass out, I did get pretty woozy!). I was kind of freaked out that I had this issue at first - I asked my vet and a friend already in vet school if they ever had this problem, and they were both like, "Nope." 😳 However, if you google this sort of thing (or just take a look at this thread!), you can find numerous cases where people in vet school, med school, etc. have had the same experience. One case I read occurred while the student was a resident at a hospital!

I think like most things, the more you are exposed to surgeries, the less psychological effects it will have on you. Like VAgirl said, I think a lot of it has to do with disconnecting yourself from the emotional tie with the animal. Personally, I noticed that surgeries somewhat bothered me at first, but I never had a problem with necropsies. Maybe that was because I knew the animal wasn't alive anymore so I couldn't harm it, but I can't say for certain.

Again, if you google this sort of experience, you can find a lot of people sharing a similar struggle! Plus, you can also find tips on how to overcome it. There's all sorts of strategies like forcing your mind to focus on something else (although that might not be helpful if you need to pay attention to the surgery), wiggling your toes, making sure your knees are slightly bent, and, of course, eating a good meal and getting plenty of fluids beforehand. No worries! 😉

 

[hoodle]

I've had the same sort of feeling as well, but more involved with my own health (GI issues). Exact feeling - sweaty, couldn't hear or see, I was convinced I was dying. Really scary stuff. But like VAgirl says, it was probably a vasovagel nerve thing... at least, that's what my ER-doc sister said! Don't let it put you off.

 

[HopefulAg]

Eh dont' worry about it. I felt light headed during the first spay I watched. I'm pretty sure everyone has at some point or another. Surgeries are not exactly something you see every day as a normal person and then when you do, you get used to it.

We had a girl that passed out as soon as the needle hit the skin while we were giving fluids to a dog. It was just SQ too and she's holding the dog while I'm putting the needle in and soon as I puncture the skin her arms just slide out from around the dog and she hit the floor lol. For a second I was wondering if I had punctured her skin some how with a potassium solution or something lol. But no, it was just a lactated ringer bag and she just passed out. She works there still and does surgery assistance (and SQ fluids!) routinely now.

Just different stuff sets different people off. You'll get used to it.

 

[168135]

I felt faint during my first spay, bladder surgery and while I was holding puppies that were having their dew claws removed. My vision would get fuzzy or I would get really hot... as soon as that started to happen, I would excuse myself, grab something to drink, have a seat for a minute and as soon as I was feeling better, I would go right back in because I didn't want to miss a thing.

My mom is a nurse and she used to have problems with certain things. She told me that chewing gum helps... if you start to feel faint, chew and swallow... it helps keep your mind off of what you are seeing and more on the gum... she swears it helps. I haven't really tried it!

 

[Steelmagghia]

I totally almost passed out the first neuter I saw. I still have a problem watching too many bone surgeries (the smell gets to me).

Everyone has given some really good advice, but I have a couple of tips as well:
1) If you're feeling hot, walk out of the room or get something to drink real quick, heat makes everything worse.
2) If the smell is bothering you, recognize that that is the problem and try to expose yourself to similar odors in different situations (that way the smell and the surgery don't necessarily become associated and you can get used to that smell).
3) DON'T LOCK YOUR KNEES-- this is a really common thing to do when you're standing for extended periods of time and it cuts off the amount of blood which can return from your legs to your upper body, making you faint. This is why you sometimes see high school choir students pass out on stage...they lock their knees because they are standing and nervous and then crash. 🙄

Last: exposure is key. The more you see and do these sorts of things the less they bother you. And do take care of yourself. It's always helpful.

 

[PrimalMU]

Like everyone said, its a perfectly normal response. My first day working at a clinic I was helping in surgery (this clinic didn't have techs, so the vets did everything in surgery -- I was just there in case the doc needed another pair of gloves/fluids/drugs/etc). The first surgery I saw was a little kitten getting spayed. I got light headed and sweaty; had to leave to take a breather. And I'm no wuss, either, though I sure felt like one! The next surgery was a bit better, and by the end of the surgeries that day I had a stomach of steel and never had any more problems. I think its really just something you have to get desensitized to.

Several weeks later I witnessed a spay on a mastiff with pyometra. I KNOW that would have made my stomach roll, but I'm glad I got desensitized early because it was one of the more interesting surgeries I've seen.

Now, the most difficult thing for me to witness is pulling teeth. The crunching just gives me the heeby jeebies!

 

[VetMed555]

I also had some trouble adjusting. My first surgery was a C-section on a large dog (don't remember breed). And it was very hot, and I nearly passed out. I got really light-headed and nauseous. Now, after 3 years of working at the emergency clinic, I got over it. I do have to make sure I eat a good breakfast before coming in, because not eating/drinking can make it worse. Don't worry, it's totally normal. Many vets I worked with told me they had similar experiences.

 

[lailanni]

Now, the most difficult thing for me to witness is pulling teeth. The crunching just gives me the heeby jeebies!

Ditto! I really dislike the dental stuff. I try not to think about it too much, but it does give me the heebie jeebies!

I second the 'drink some water, get something eat, have a seat' advice. It's good advice! I've never had the woozy problem, but our OR is quite warm and not ventilated as much as it needs to be. So I've gotten very sleepy feeling during longer surgeries. (I'm such a weirdo, if some place is nice and warm and quiet I just want to curl up and go to sleep. Kind of like a cat?) I snap out of it by going out for a breather and getting some water.

 

[pressmom]

I was in a surgery with a rabbit getting pins in its leg. All that "tink, tink, tink" was enough to make me a little woozy, but I held it together. When I was taking people on tours here this week, they were doing orthopedic surgery in one of the suites and I didn't feel sick this time. But I still don't think ortho is my thing!

 

[SillyFilly]

You can do it! Don't get discouraged. 🙂


And, this is a helpful tip, smiling can GREATLY reduce your gag reflex. This helped me during one particularly eventful foaling season where all our placentas dripped out of their bags in the fridge and the fridge lost power. Hot horse placentas 3 days old?


Also useless - saying "fish" gets rid of my hiccups. WHO KNOWS why... though I have read of hiccups stemming from our fish ancestors! 😛 Maybe it's just that it worked once and now I believe it?

 

[pressmom]

Also useless - saying "fish" gets rid of my hiccups. WHO KNOWS why... though I have read of hiccups stemming from our fish ancestors! 😛 Maybe it's just that it worked once and now I believe it?

For me it's always a teaspoon of sugar....weird! (On both accounts!)

 

[thesonofdarwin]

Blood, give me all ya got. I really enjoyed spays, amputations, etc. But my very first dog castration is all it took. No blood except that of a papercut, but I broke into the sweats and took it for awhile. Then my camera started to shake uncontrollably (was documenting the "firsts" of all the surgeries). He was talking to me and once he noticed I stopped responding to him he called the tech in to get me a seat. I stepped that one out, but 30 minutes later I was back in it for the next one. Got a little lightheaded for that one to, but I made it through. I was determined, and now I'm fine. Have the stretcher ready for the first large animal castration, though I had seen feline castrations before, but when it hits a little closer to home it's not quite the same.

Needless to say everyone that my vet talks to about the procedure tells the story.

 

[soxbox]

part of my job when I worked at Tufts was to run the junior spay clinic... there was a student who completely passed out cold during her surgery... well lo and behold a few years later, she is now a board certified surgeon 🙂

 

[handh02]

I've come to the understanding that this is totally normal. I also got tunnel vision and cold sweats the first surgery I saw. In that case it was the smell, as we were cauterizing on pig (bacon has never smelled as good since). But about a month ago, after being fine for several years, I passed out again, this time during a dental, go figure! I really have to say I think it has a lot to do with what you've eaten or drunk that day! Both times I passed out, I had skipped lunch in order to help out with the procedure! Now I go get a drink before any procedure that I really want to stay in!

 

[clawsbeatskin]

Memories! This happened to me when I saw my first ear crop. For some reason, the doc took the vice off early and blood was squirting everywhere! I think it was the surprise of seeing so much blood combined with my own doubts about the ethics of ear cropping that did me in. I ran and sat down, luckily I didn't faint and fall on the ground.

Funny, I just remembered that I did end up fainting during the first day of Ichthyology lab...we were watching a VIDEO of a dissection! I was sitting at the lab bench and I just remember waking up in the lap of the girl behind me. My friends across the bench were laughing because they thought I was making fun of how boring the video was! They felt so bad when they realized I had actually fainted! So weird...I had done tons of fish necropsies at work, and this was just a stupid little video.

Don't let it get you down!

 

[Catch91]

Wow! Thank you everyone for your replies! I definitely feel like I'm not alone in this, and that at some point it happens to everyone.

That being said, I'm still a little nervous. I don't want to go back and have that happen again, since now I'm sure I have psyched myself into thinking it will. I'm thinking of being a biology major in college, and I will most definitely have to dissect things, etc. And not to mention, in vet school a lot of it will be surgical, correct?

Still nervous, but you guys have helped so much!

 

[twelvetigers]

I was fine though a whole COW necropsy, but I got all weird and sweaty during a BEAVER necropsy. So strange. I think it's just something that comes and goes as you get used to different things, and also it has to do with what you've had to eat or drink that day. Pack a cereal bar and some water, just in case something comes in that you'd like to watch!

 

[Electrophile]

I've never gotten sick or passed out yet *knocks on wood*, but I'm a pretty smell oriented person, so anything rotting, gangrenous, pus-filled...or even worse, gross stuff with eye injuries or maggots...blech...

Amniotic fluid is also pretty nasty and it just stays with you all day. When I used to do c-sections on pregnant mice, I would put on a gown or lab coat, cap, gloves, etc and I would still leave with the smell in my hair or, worse yet, my bra 😱 even with really good air circulation in the surgery room. 👎

 

[VelcroSky]

I've never gotten sick or passed out yet *knocks on wood*, but I'm a pretty smell oriented person, so anything rotting, gangrenous, pus-filled...or even worse, gross stuff with eye injuries or maggots...blech...

Oh that's easy to fix. Just start smoking two pack a day and you won't smell a thing! Don't worry, the advice is free and just keeps on comin'. 🙂

 

[cows93]

I totally almost passed out the first neuter I saw. I still have a problem watching too many bone surgeries (the smell gets to me).

Everyone has given some really good advice, but I have a couple of tips as well:
1) If you're feeling hot, walk out of the room or get something to drink real quick, heat makes everything worse.
2) If the smell is bothering you, recognize that that is the problem and try to expose yourself to similar odors in different situations (that way the smell and the surgery don't necessarily become associated and you can get used to that smell).
3) DON'T LOCK YOUR KNEES-- this is a really common thing to do when you're standing for extended periods of time and it cuts off the amount of blood which can return from your legs to your upper body, making you faint. This is why you sometimes see high school choir students pass out on stage...they lock their knees because they are standing and nervous and then crash. 🙄

Last: exposure is key. The more you see and do these sorts of things the less they bother you. And do take care of yourself. It's always helpful.

This is soo true. I've worked in the feild foor 10 years and there are every once in a while still days I ahave to go sit down. Usually from dehydration or low blood sugar.

Locking your knees is also a surefire way to pass out. They warn everyone about this in the military when you have to stand for long periods of time.

I've also found heat, and especially under the bright lights in surgery do not help. Our one doctor doesn't use the extra lights unless he has to and I've never been sick in his surgeries.