To leave him alone (for a couple of hours) 12 hours after general anaesthetic

[awsedrftghyh]

My (fit, healthy, 71 YO) father had a biopsy at 2pm today under general anaesthetic. It's a minor op obviously but the location (inside throat) means it will be done under general anaesthetic.
He has had the op and is now in recovery, I'm picking him up at 6pm.

The hospital told him the usual advice is not to be left alone for 24 hours after general anaesthetic.

I had something planned that means being out from 6-8am tomorrow morning. I really want to go but easily could and am more than willing to cancel.

He thinks I should still go because he will be asleep at that time anyway, and I obviously wouldn't be watching him sleep but would likely be downstairs, or asleep myself if I don't go out. He thinks it won't matter if I 'pop out'. I'm a bit more cautious.

What would you do?

YABU - don't go, too risky
YANBU - go, the risk is very negligible

I think this is really something for you to decide yourself. Most likely everything will be fine, personally I wouldn't do it just in case, but that's me and I'm a worrier and risk averse. There's no right or wrong answer, just truly take a moment and ask yourself to follow your own gut instinct. Hope he has an easy recovery.

If I was the patient, I would tell you to go. It's your choice if you feel it's too big a risk.

I think I'd go. It's 6 am right? So he will be asleep and probably still asleep when you return at 8. If you are there you would probably also be asleep so not much use to him if he became unwell unless he called out loudly. Also he will be a full 12 hours home at that point. Needless to say, if anything develops over night or he is up a bit during the night you should cancel but presuming all is as expected, I would go

Go fgs, presumably he'd be in a different room fast asleep at that time in the morning anyway even if you were in the house.

I would be staying. I would spend the entire time worrying anyway so I would reschedule.

haha snap

Don't go.

Sure, he'll probably be asleep. But if he gets up to go to the bathroom and falls while groggy, or wakes up in pain or bleeding, or with trouble breathing none of these are situations which will be good for him. The advice is given for a reason.

I'd see how he is. I've had loads of GA and the only time I wasn't well, I was feeling rough from the start. I wasn't fine for hours then deteriorated. If he's totally back to normal by evening, then I'd go. He'll be a bit tired so will probably have a nap and then be ok by the evening .

Yes, he's 70, not 80.

He’ll be fine. As he said he probably won’t be awake!

Honestly I’ve never been supervised after a general anaesthetic, I can’t think of anything worse than having someone hanging around when I just probably want to sleep. As long as he is usually sensible and has a phone to hand if he needs any help he’ll be fine.

Is it worth the stress for a gym class?

Is he likely to get up and use the toilet? As if hes been to bed all night he may feel lightheaded.
The other issue may be bleeding (quite common in the throat.
I'm not sure I'd risk it. He'll probably be fine but that small chance hes not is it worth it? If I was to go I'd assess make the decision just before (not now).

He could come with you and sit in ?gym cafe?

I wouldn't, throat ops however minor are prime suspects for post op bleeds.

As the patient I’d always tell you to go I’ll be fine. As the ‘watcher’, although I’m usually pretty easy going about most things, I’m not sure I’d want to risk it.

imagine having to answer the question, how long has it been since it started and having to say I dunno, I wasn’t here.

Part of the discharge paperwork involves specify ing who will be there for you for the first twenty four hours.

He's not going to be up to that after a GA.

I would not go to be honest. There is not only the side effects of GA but also a chance of bleeding with it being throat. I probably would not sleep well that night either and be popping in and out to check on him

That’s a good point. A little girl, Amber, recently died from a post op haemorrhage after having her tonsils out?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8jy1vy2pgo

Another one saying caution regarding post op bleeding and swelling, regarding where the biopsy has been taken from.
The GA aspect wouldn't concern me unduly.

I think I'm going to go with seeing how he is when he gets home, taking the advice of the nurses when I pick him up and seeing how he gets on over night.

If I do go, I'll make sure he has a fully charged phone and some water to hand and a bucket by his bed to pee in if he needs to so he doesn't have to get up!
But as PP have said, he is likely to be fast asleep both when I leave and when I get back and I wouldn't be checking on him if I didn't go out (he would hate that!)

I can also shorten the time I'm out if I go. I still haven't made up my mind, the votes and comments are very split!

I would consider how important the thing at 6am is compared to the potential guilt if something were to happen.

The most likely is that he will be fine and he will be sleeping, however I would cancel if I were in your shoes because I wouldn't be enjoying the activity thinking if he is ok, (main reason), even if he just ask for a glass of water to be fecht, I would struggle to enjoy the activity.

This is terrifying, but probably not relevant as it was a ruptured artery. He is having a biopsy on a small cyst at the base of his tongue that could be the source of cancer cells in his lymph nodes (biopsies are usually done under local anaesthetic but the location makes that hard). I think the major journey is ahead of us and this is just the first bump, but he is fit, healthy and hardy so we're trying to stay positive.

I went to work the next day after dh had surgery mid afternoon, it was less than 30 minutes under and he was 15 years younger than your dad op. I had no choice as I had no idea that he needed to be supervised the following day and had just started a new job (I’d dropped him at 6am as per, just he was waiting all day!)