Any nurses about ?

[Threebutterflies]

Hi I had a general anaesthetic exactly 15 days ago now . I had a cannula in so assumed they would put the anaesthesia in there . But when I woke up I had one on the back of my hand and one on the side of my wrist . Is this normal to have 3 different injection sites ?
also there still really bruised is this ok so long after the operation?

I had terrible bruising like that from a canula too!

Hi Threebutterflies,
I'm a nurse. Yes, unfortunately this is relatively common. It's quite possible that you have veins which are difficult to cannulate (may be very narrow, or a little dehydrated - esp as you would have needed to fast before surgery, so understandable!). The cannula may also have 'tissued' (basically rendered useless!) part way through the operation. Therefore they'd have needed to put a new one in.
The bruises will fade but it can take some time. Only need to keep an eye on any areas becoming red, painful and/or inflamed as this would be a sign of infection (unlikely to happen 15 days post-op though)
Wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery from your surgery.

ah interesting @Harlechchick i do indeed have narrow veins which are very hard to cannulate!

Yes, me too! I had to have a recent stay in hospital for IV steroids myself, and ended up having 3 cannulas in total for the 3 doses 🤣. I wasn't dehydrated either, so I assume narrow veins!

i got thrown out of the blood donor centre for having such rubbish veins 😥

Those needles are huge emmathedilemma aren't they?! So there's not much hope for us at blood donors is there 😁. Sadly, I've got an autoimmune condition which will not allow me to donate blood anymore ☹️ - but I bet the staff were glad to see the back of me & my veins!

@Harlechchick
Thankyou so much for the reply 😀 I’m relieved to hear it’s ok as I was worried they had damaged the vein or something as it’s still so bruised. I’ve started taking Arnica today to see if that helps . Now I think about I do bruise easily . I was just suprised to wake up with another two injection sites as already had the one in inside elbow. And yes was very dehydrated. In Turkey I had to fast before and after the operation it was awful 😭

Yes, it's very disconcerting to be covered in bruises when you have no knowledge of why! Glad I was able to shed some light on things.
Plenty of rest and treasure yourself & I'm sure you'll be making a good recovery. It's always surprising how long recovery can take after surgery isn't it? But you'll get there 👍👍