Poor little thing. I would say that 5 days post op that is fairly unusual for such a routine operation, both the screaming post op and the behaviour now.
Is she willing to talk to you at all about what happened?
I would also speak to your GP about it.
Finally, I would request her medical records under the Data Protection Act, so that you can see exactly what went on. If you need advice interpreting them I would contact AvMA.
I suppose there are 3 or 4 possible explanations for her waking up screaming like that:
- The anaesthetist did not prescribe a post-op pain relief regime;
- The post-op pain relief was inadequate, either because she happens to metabolise drugs more quickly than average, or because she was given an inadequate dose; or
- Extremely rare, and highly unlikely, but I suppose it is conceivable that she had an anaesthetic awareness.
That said, when my son was 2 he was in hospital for about 6 weeks following a delay in diagnosing a perforated appendix. He was very weak when he was discharged (in fact he could not really stand or walk at all). Physically he picked up quickly, but emotionally he was pretty shaken by the experience. It took over a year for me to feel OK about him and for some time after that it was clear that triggers which reminded him of the pain he had been through were frightening and upsetting for him (for example seeing or hearing about others who were hurt or ill).
The difference was perhaps easier for me to track because he has an identical twin.
He is totally fine now, physically and emotionally robust, although I think he has remained quite an empathic child.
Not entirely reassuring I know and not much practical advice I can offer you except to say that it helped my son to feel safe.