In hospital after an operation and I’m panicking

[Mpark]

Is one one awake?
I had an operation and I’ve been kept on day case over night as my blood pressure isn’t behaving so unable to go home ….. I’m in my own room but all I have heard all day is a woman being sick -
I have a massive phobia of vomit (a stomach bug went through my family of 5 3 weeks ago so I’m panicking about getting it again so soon)
I asked the nurse if there was anything contagious on the ward - she said she can’t discus other patients but reassured me there is absolutely nothing such as norovirus ect on the ward so I feel a little reassured but I’m still panicking 🫣🫣

Sorry you're in hospital as that's never great but if you're isolated then you're unlikely to catch a sickness bug. Nurses change gloves etc between patients and are more than aware of cross contamination

i asked the nurse and she said there’s no norovirus ect on the ward but im still panicking 🤦‍♀️ I have no reason to panick because the nurse wouldn’t lie to me but I always worry more when I’m away from home x

Reassuring things

You aren't next to her

Nurses etc will be washing hands etc all the time

Presume you aren't sharing a loo and no food cross contamination

People are sick in hospital for a myriad of reasons. Eg give me morphine and I am awful. Nerves, antibiotics, steroids, loads of stuff

Some people react badly to anesthetic like sea sickness. I am one of them.

Hopefully, you’ll be discharged tomorrow.

hypothetically am I likely to pick up another bug when I only had one a few weeks ago 😭

If it was a different bug you could BUT thats not going to happen

hypothetically could I catch a bug so soon after having one 😭

Well that’ll be doing nothing to ease your BP issues!

Have you got AirPods or similar with you? If so, get them in.

I’m panicking so bad ! Even though the nurse has reassured me im
still
worrying . Surely I can’t get a bug so soon after already having one :(

You're spiralling. Stop it , take two short breaths in and then a long deep breath.

You aren't going up catch anything

Even if you were you aren't going to stop it by worrying. Allow yourself to let go of the worry and responsibility.

You will be ok. I know it feels like the end of the world but it's absolutely not. Think seriously about that, you will be home and healthy again very soon.

I was in hospital and someone was in suffering from that extreme form of morning sickness where you just vomit the whole time. I felt so sorry for her. It could easily be something like that, try not to worry OP. Realistically you can’t do anything about it, and worrying doesn’t help your recovery. If you are in your own room that’s a big help, wash and sanitise your hands when you use shared loos etc and that’s about all you can do. Hope you are back home soon!

You need to calm down. You could pick up anything in hospital or out on the street but you're more protected in hospital in a single room.
You needn't calm down. Sorry to sound harsh but you could catch a sickness bug wandering around the supermarket.

Take some deep breaths.

I’m emetophobic too so I completely understand the state of panic you’re in right now, however if you’re on a surgical ward it’s likely that the poor woman has reacted to the GA or the pain killers she’s been given.

Try to relax and get some fluids into you if your BP is low, then you’ll have a fighting chance of getting home in the morning.

Surely I can’t get a bug so soon after already having one :(

Of course you could, as it would be a totally different infection, so you wouldn't have developed any immunity through the previous one, but spending one night in hospital would not increase the risk massively.

OP, I completely sympathise. I am exactly the same and have such a huge panic over anything vomit related. I'm also a clinical member of staff so come into contact with my fair share of bugs!

Rest assured that every single member of staff on that unit will absolutely feel the same about a vomiting bug. Therefore, God forbid there is another bug lurking, every single person will be doing EVERYTHING to stop getting it themselves. Something we are trained in every single year via infection control. And if they succeed, which they do, then they have zero way of possibly transmitting it to you.

You're in your own side room. You're in the safest place in terms of cross infection. I know the spiral you feel all to well, really, I do. But you're fine. This isn't coming for you!

Sorry you're not home as expected and hopefully you will be imminently.

You must try and focus on lowering your blood pressure. You’ll get to leave sooner. Try to rationally think about it. Like would you be as worried about getting it if it someone further up the street where you live was sick?
maybe ask if they can give you something to help you sleep

Just keep washing/ sanitising your hands @Mpark.
You are isolated from the vomiter so chances of you catching anything are very, very small.
Can you fashion some earplugs with tissues so you can't hear her.
Hope you can relax and get some sleep.

Presumably it’s a surgical ward? So she is not in there with a virus. My friend’s poor daughter had a terrible reaction to the anaesthetic after a routine surgery and had to stay in overnight.

What you need to focus on is your own recovery. Stress will keep your blood pressure high, you need to calm down. My mum gets herself into an absolute state before any surgery which sends her BP through the roof. Breathe and yes if you have headphones put them in!

@Mpark, the woman on the ward with you will be throwing up because she had a reaction to her anaesthetic and/or opiate pain medication, not because she has a bug. It’s very common for people to be sick a lot after an anaesthetic, and morphine makes some people sick too. If the nurses had any suspicion that it was norovirus she wouldn’t be on the ward.

That’s very true - she’s been like it for 15 hours now - heard everything :( nurse is bringing me a hot sugary drink to calm down x

I had a reaction to general anesthetic after having my wisdom teeth out. I puked for 48hrs straight. It was not fun with stitches from the top to bottom of my jaw! It's probably something like that rather than a bug.

Hey lovely, I’m emetophobic too so I know exactly how you feel but here are some things that may put your mind at ease.

• nurses from day 1 are taught the importance of proper hand hygiene to prevent spread of illnesses. Look around and see how many hand washing related signs or things of hand sanitizer you can see.
• if a nurse comes into contact with vomit or faeces they are extremely strict about using appropriate hand washing procedures after, or else every single person in the hospital would be ill if one person came in with a bug.
• you are not sharing a room or bathroom so will have no contact with potential norovirus vomiting/faeces
• the vomiting woman could be vomiting from anything. Obviously depending on circumstances, She could be pregnant and have hg, she could have food poisoning and that’s why she’s in hospital, could have a chronic condition such as cyclic vomiting syndrome or migraines, she could be on medication with vomiting as side effect, either prescription or one given to her in hospital, she could be vomiting because she’s nervous she’s in hospital etc so many reasons
• you will still have antibodies from your last bug so if there is a bug going round your area you likely have already had it
• even by the small possibility you did catch a bug, you could be asymptomatic and not display any symptoms. You could also just have diarrhoea and no vomiting, that is very possible with stomach bugs (happened to me the other week!)

I hope this helped a little bit and that you feel better soon. Noise cancelling headphones and the second something triggers you immediately begin deep breathing, in for 6, hold for 4, out for 8 or whatever works best!

Vomiting doesn’t mean stomach bug necessarily.

My mom vomits from Crohn’s disease. My son from a rare bowel disease. Me from migraines and endometriosis.

Lots of reasons.

If the person being sick was contagious they'd be isolated.

If you have been kept in on daycase overnight then the other lady is likely to have also had surgery and be vomiting from the anaesthetic/pain relief drugs. Some people react really badly. A patient with unexplained vomiting will be isolated if there is a chance it is infective. As it stands you are also in your own room so even if it was contagious, the chances of you catching it are slim. Those nurses would be washing their hands very thoroughly to avoid catching it themselves let alone spreading it to others. I still think she's more likely to be vomiting from something other than a bug though. Hope your blood pressure settles and you have a speedy recovery.