And then there's the weird stuff...

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pem

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2011
Messages
301
Location
Virginia
I understand that most people have at least some unusual perceptual side effects from surgery. I seem to have two. One is that many foods that are not spicy (e.g., chocolate pudding, tomatoes, etc.) taste spicy. The other is that when even a little water streams onto my face during showers, I feel panicky and start gasping for air - this one is very strange as I normally love to let water pour down my face in the shower.

Wondering if anyone has had similar (or different) unusual or interesting "side effects"?

Thanks
Pem
 
Pem - Surprised no responses thus far, my impression was that weird stuff seems to go hand in hand with the immediate post-op period. It even made it onto my official hospital discharge instructions. First, the usual "boring" stuff like checking temperature, weight, lifting restrictions, etc. Then, right there in the middle, as if a usual everyday thing: "Expect vivid dreams". I sure had them, though, so guess that's why they put it on there.

Anyway, back to your question, my food percerptions were also way off. I think I had the opposite reaction, though, everything seemed bland. I hated almost all foods, and combined with difficulty swallowing, mealtime was quite the chore for me for at least 2 weeks.

One of the weird things for me was walking on grass. I felt like I was a toddler or something at first, I noticed every little unevenness in my steps, like an irregular tuft of grass would be enough to make me lose my balance and topple me over. It didn't and I persisted, but just felt uneasy for several days. I was restricted to the hospital bed the first four days due to my pacemaker, maybe that had something to do with it, but I'd been up and walking inside several days before I tried it on grass, so still didn't make much sense. Fortunately, I had a 2 1/2 year old with me most of the time saying "Daddy, come on!" so that helped take my mind off it...
 
That's a great story -very interesting about the way grass felt under your feet. I do recall that my first bite of food immediately after surgery elicited "that tastes awful!", which was uncharActeristic.

I also expected to hear more stories related to this "post-op weird stuff", especially since most people I've actually spoken with have at least some bizarre things to share.

Thanks again
Pem
 
Yeah I remember the vivid dreams. Was also very emotional after surgery, I got my partner to bring my CD Walkman and I was tearing up at the dumbest music. Food tasted horrible, but I put that down to being in a public hospital. (I mean, the plate actually stuck to the food!). Then my hair started falling out for a while, they said this was a reaction to the shock of the surgery. I wasn't supposed to go into the sea til the wound healed, but I did anyway. I'd just wade in and be a part of it. One day this chap came by with a chest scar and I wanted to talk about it but I couldn't. My first meal out of horse-piddle tasted fan-bloody-tastic, a wood-fired pizza and Jim Beam with coke out on the balcony.I'll never forget it! Mind you I had lost 20kg during the whole ordeal. My feet are super-sensitive and yeah I'm very aware when I'm walking on lawn, I get the worst foot-cramps at night though, maybe the Avapro? I got nothing inthe way of post-op counselling or care, so it's very interesting to read that others shared similar reactions to mine. Take care everyone!
 
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