Surgery, Setbacks, And Self-Advocacy

One minute we’re hearing, “You can go home,” and the next we’re being warned that leaving in the wrong condition could mean paralysis. That whiplash sets the tone for a raw, honest update from Victoria and Michael after a major spinal surgery that turns into a week of complications, extreme pain, and a crash course in what patient safety really looks like when you’re the one in the bed. 

We talk through the surgery and the aftermath: blood pressure dropping dangerously low, being flooded with monitoring and IVs, and the disbelief of being discharged without basic repositioning that protects skin and supports recovery. Then the plot twists again when the dressings come off and Victoria’s back is visibly, painfully raw in the exact shape of the materials used. The emergency room confirms a severe allergic reaction to medical adhesive and wound products, forcing a new plan with antibiotics, steroids, and topical treatment. If you’ve ever searched “allergic reaction to surgical tape,” “Dermabond irritation,” or “post-op rash,” you’ll recognize how fast this can escalate. 

From there, we zoom out to the bigger issue: patient advocacy. We break down the surgical timeout process, why sedation like Versed can make it harder for patients to protect themselves, and what should happen when allergies are clearly documented. We also share the emotional side people do not warn you about, including who shows up, who disappears, and how to set boundaries when you’re recovering and still being asked to give more. 

If this story hits home, subscribe, share it with someone facing surgery, and leave a review so more patients and caregivers can find these conversations. What’s one question you wish you’d asked before your last procedure?

Transcript

Welcome And A Tough Week

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Howdy all welcome to another blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

I'm not starting over the body.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to another episode of a contagious smile podcast with Victoria Michael, who is stuttering. Not because I'm drunk. I think because I'm tired.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Tired? We've had a rough week. I want to thank everybody for all of the love and text and the emails and the just the smoke signal, everything. This isn't gonna be a very, very, very long one. Husband is taking over the job of noisemaker today. For those of you who do know or do not know, last Thursday morning I went in for a another, another, but this was major surgery. I mean, we're talking no small little, I don't think surgeries are minor anyway, but this was like the grand poopah, if you will. And uh it ended up supposed to be taking like five hours, ended up being seven hours, ended up having complications. Those that know us know that every surgery I've ever had, and now we're what's our number? We're way over 130. I just I don't even count. I don't count anymore. I have never ever ever been admitted after surgery. Even my amputation, I went home the same night, and we had nothing but problems from the surgery. Everything went almost as bad as it could have. And I want to just before we go into anything, thank my amazing husband and my beautiful daughter who kept their wits about them, even in some incredibly scary moments.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

You got to keep your wits about your what? What movie?

SPEAKER_01 1:46

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Harry Potter.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Oh, yeah, Harry Potter. It's Harry Potter. Anyway, so it was quite scary. They brought me back to post stop, and I was like, my, you know how the little boy and Jerry

Blood Pressure Crash And New Fears

SPEAKER_01 2:05

McGuire, do you know the human head weighs eight pounds? That's a load of shit because my head was 200 pounds. My head was so heavy I could barely move. I was in excruciating pain. And I don't know, it was there, yeah, it was there. It was there that my blood pressure tanked, and they called my surgeon because I was ready to go home no matter. And the surgeon, you it part of that's fuzzy. So the surgeon gets on the phone and says something along the lines, and my husband and daughter were right there, says something along the lines of understand that if you go home with where you are right now, there is a possibility of you becoming, he said, quadriplegic, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Right.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

I was like, I'm staying, I'm admitted, I'm staying, and everybody flipped their lid because that is not who I am, and that is not what I do. And so they end up putting me on the neurosurgeon floor, neurosurgery floor, something like that. And I am bombarded with everyone and then some. I have multiple IVs, and of course they won't draw blood out of an IV, so they're sticking me every like five minutes. And my blood pressure tanks to 55 over 30. And then everybody comes rushing in, and I'm, you know, worried about my family, and they decide to administer dextrose five, which is what they do for sugar, people who are, you know, having major, major low sugar numbers, and they are pushing it by hand over, I think it was like five minutes, right? Something like that. And then they come in to start doing labs like every couple of hours. They're doing blood pressures nonstop, they're they're doing all of these things, and they can't do anything on my left because that's my amputation arm. And so I have all these IVs being pushed and meds being pushed, their blood pressure cuff is taking all that and making it so much harder. They have me in this position in the bed, and I cannot move. And one thing I know for certain is you're supposed to move every two hours. I was on oxygen cannula, which was weird that I was still on it after surgery and post-op. I had the massagers on my legs. They were giving me lobinox and heparin injections for clots. And I mean, I felt like they were constantly either sticking me, poking me, prodding me, or doing some kind of reading of something, but they never turned me. They never turned me, they never moved me. And my husband and daughter, who were sitting in the world's most uncomfortable tiny seats, are watching me.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

That's an understatement.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Are watching me, and I'm just trying to move my neck, like I'm just trying to go any tiny movement left to right or up and down, and I feel like a sledgehammer has just cut my head off, literally, and nobody is helping me move. And so this whole thing happened, and then I was so dumbfounded because I was like, I'm burning, I feel like my back's on fire, something's very wrong. And we go through this whole ordeal. So they get my stuff regulated and then back to normal or whatever, if you will. And after that and the complications, they discharge us, and I am like dumbfounded that they're ready to discharge when I haven't been moved, not once. I haven't even been able to get up or sit up in bed, and I can't even get up to go to the bathroom. And now they're like, okay, you can go home. And I'm just dumbfounded with 12 hours or 24 hours or whatever it was ago, you're telling me one bad thing, and I'm a quadriplegic, and now you're doing this. So we get home, and it had to be the worst two and a half, three hour drive ever. And I am so out of sorts now. Me normally right back into the office, right back into work. Not this time. And I think I dumbfounded my husband and my daughter because it would take me an hour to get from the lying down position

Discharge Confusion And Pain At Home

SPEAKER_01 6:10

to moving my feet to the side of the bed to prying myself up, like I don't know how to explain it, to like trying to make myself sit up just to go to the bathroom. It would take an hour, and it was excruciating, it was awful. So never took the pain pills and called to check-in, and they said, Okay, you can take the dressings off on day three. And we explained everything. They said, Nope, take the dressings off so you can start getting air to it. And still horrific burning. My husband bless his heart, goes to take off the dressings. And do you even want to explain your first thought?

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Like it was it was just raw, ugly looking, but that's all right. I mean, it it's it's fresh battle wound.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

So there's three, four, how many, how many incisions do I have?

SPEAKER_00 7:09

I have I think you have three. One from the nape of my neck, one, two, three, and some hole.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Okay, so one's from the nape of my neck to how far down?

SPEAKER_00 7:18

About five inches.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

And we find out they cut through all the muscle in my neck. So that's another reason why my neck is so heavy and on fire. And then there's another one over the right flank that's how long? That's a pretty long one, too.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Another five inches. But it's in the form of a V.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Right, and then there's a long one that's a right. So pretty much they've made me into either a checkerboard or a railroad tracker. So I'm like, something is wrong. My husband takes this all off, and I'm like, I want to pull up and see what has happened and my chart. Good.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

May I vent? Please.

Dressings Removed And Skin Is Raw

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Okay. Give me the microphone. Okay. I might be three minutes on my vent.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Good. Just don't say any specific name.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Okay. So my wife and I have run into this problem many, many times. And my wife knows where I'm gonna go with this, probably before I even say it. Why don't you doctors and nurses give a shit? Okay? Now let me explain. It's not all of y'all. It's most of y'all. A good portion. You don't give a shit about the patient. It's a job, it's a number. Okay? It's it's insurance payment. It's it's my meal ticket. Oh, you're interrupting my TikTok time. Whatever. You don't take the time to learn your patient. Okay? Man, spend two minutes. Okay? Look over the chart. Go back in their records. If the patient's been there for many times before, after 150 surgeries, I'd say there's a history of my wife somewhere in that damn hospital that says, hey, my wife is allergic to XXXXXY and Z. Okay? Don't give my wife XXXXXX and Y and Z if she's allergic to it. Read up on your patient. Take two minutes, three minutes, ask the patient. Okay? And then follow through with what the patient tells you. So many times we have been through the same scenario. Okay, we're going to what's it called? Not a takedown, but timeout. We're gonna go do a timeout. I was in two of them. You were in one. Okay, a timeout is where they go over the patient's do's and don'ts, sort of.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Date of birth, name, surgery.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Right? This is the patient, this is what we're doing, this is what they're allergic to. Is this all correct? Patient X. Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

You were in there for the first time out.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

So if this is being done, why is it not being adhered to and followed through? Okay. My wife says, hey, I'm allergic to bee steams or whatever. Don't go putting a wasp on my wife as part of the procedure. Okay? He's just using a nerf. If she says, I'm allergic to this tape, don't put this tape on my wife. Okay? There are other forms of shit out there that will adhere and cover a wound. Right? Guys, it it is not like in the movies, in the ER shows that you watch, where the doctor comes in and says, Alright, what's going on here? We got a GSW to left abdomen and blood pressure is 180 over 75. Okay, give me 20 cc's of this, this, and this. No. I'm telling you guys, we we we we do this all we've done this so many times. And it it's appalling that we have to wait an hour and a half to be seen while we're looking at nurses and doctors out there on their damn phone at their little booth or nurse station.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Well, you're jumping for one, or just you're jumping ahead for one minute.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

So he's just my event.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Okay, but you and Faith were in there for take for takeout uh takedown one, sip timeout one, and so then we go, and this is one of, if not one, of the main reasons why I don't do versette or anything before going back. Because I make it abundantly clear that I want to be what does Versette do to you? Versette actually gives you amnesia where you don't remember things, and a lot of patients won't remember going into the OR room, remembering how they saw all the instruments because that does give a lot of people like triggers and oh yeah, it's crazy. I mean yeah, I've gone in when I had no versette or anything, and I'm looking at drills and saws and stuff when they're taking my arm off. And you know, I could understand if somebody didn't have a strong stomach how that would, you know, cause trauma. And here's the other thing. But you don't take it because, okay, for multiple reasons, but one, the main one, I want to be awake for every single timeout to make sure that everything goes the right way and that they understand my allergies uh for that reason because I I have a lot of allergies. But here's the thing is that I've had most of my same surgeons over and over and over and over again, right? And I know I'm not their only patient, I know it. So going in for the next timeout, and this is a new surgeon, is all over my record that I constantly wake up when under general anesthetic. Like, not only does it take me forever to go under, because I am a redhead and I have a higher tolerance.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

You're a beautiful redhead.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Thank you. But the fact that I do wake up while being put under, like in the middle of it. Like I actually woke up when they were doing the amputation while they were cutting me open. Like I was awake.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

That would have been wild.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

And they looked over and I don't remember what they said. I remember the whites of their eyes. And so I was in a device that looked like a clamp that y'all have in your workmen work, you know, shop. And I I remember it. And so that's another reason they use versette and other things like that, so you forget. So we go in there Thursday, we're thinking it's you know, four or five hour surgery, and I'm in there and I'm like, look, you know, it's scary because I've been told worst case scenario, they're gonna open me from the nape of my neck all the way to wherever, and they'll be removing vertebrae. That's really scary because your your set your nerve your central nerve system is right there. You know, that is like the breaker box to your home. Your breaker box is in your neck and brain, right? So I'm thinking, oh my God, what if he sneezes? What if he does whatever and he nicks something? I'm gonna, you know, be in a chair or not able to speak or not able to take care of myself, or you know, there's all these things when you're a wife and a mom and you're worried about leaving your family. Like, so I'm in there for the original now timeout, and they say my name, and I'm like, I kept telling them, do not even begin to give me anything until this is completed. And I kept saying that over and over. And I even heard them say, she's allergic to blah blah blah. And so they were like, you know, here's the time, and then they say the time, and then they're like, This is what we're doing, and all this. And I watched them and listened to them do the whole thing. So

ER Reality Check And New Meds

SPEAKER_01 14:40

that being said, now let's skip forward. And he takes off the bandages four days later, and my skin is completely raw, raw, and I go and look at my chart from the operating notes, and there's a bunch of them, and one of them, clear as day, says, Yes, we're aware of Miss Cure's allergies to this, but we decided to use it anyway, and they openly state that they used it, and I'm allergic to a bunch of things, but I've never had where somebody chooses to use basically all of them. And so I reached out back to the doctor, and the doctor's like, I called yesterday afternoon, waited to hear back, heard nothing, absolute misery. They called me back at like seven last night and said, Yep, you need to go to the emergency room right now. Well, first of all, they asked me to come all the way out there to them. They wanted me to come back out two and a half, three hours, and I was like, Nope. Uh-huh. You are not getting me in those roads, you're not getting me on those bumps, you nope. So we went to a local hospital, and I walk, you know, in and I said, I am whatever many hours, days, whatever, uh spinal post op, and you should have seen their face. And I was like, Yep, I'm having a problem. So they they take me back there, and I'm sitting in a room. My husband goes to park with my daughter, and they they hook me up, they're watching my blood pressure, watching my pulse socks and all. And the doctor comes in and goes, Oh my god, and looks at my back and says, This is just an absolute, no doubt, raw reaction to your dressings. I mean, it was even in the shape of the dressings, all over my back. And he says, You have blistered and the blisters are opening. And I don't mean to gross anybody out, but on top of that, they are also, what did they call it? This not, it's like skin glue, dermabond is on as well. So he said, What do you want? What can I help you with right now?

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

And I was like, I'm on fire. And he said, Absolutely, you are. And I, of course, who don't take pain meds, was like, Can I write you for more pain meds? And I said, No, I didn't ever get the ones I got to begin with. Like, I haven't taken any. Oh, they knew in the hospital how bad it was. They hooked me up to a pain pump, and they were more intrigued. I don't know if that's the right word. Everybody kept saying, This girl has not pushed the button one time. They hooked me up to a free-for-all, give it all whatever you want, whenever you want it, push the button and get as much morphine as you want. Button. And I guess it showed up on units, and I never pushed it, not once. And I now realize firsthand, because I've never been admitted after surgery. And when I was in the hospital with her, though, all the times I was pregnant, they didn't give me that because I'm pregnant. That is how so many people get addicted, right? And I'm like, I don't want it, I don't want it. And they're like, but it'll help. No, it's a band-aid, you know, I don't want a band-aid, I want a solution. And they were just like, I can't believe she's not pushing the button. And it's like, why don't you help me instead of push the button? Right? I mean, that just doesn't make any sense to me. So they end up telling me, I need an antibacterial, I need an antibiotic, I need steroid, I need this, I need that, and I gotta start putting it all over my back. And that's kind of where we are. And it has been

Allergies, Versed, And The Timeout Problem

SPEAKER_01 18:35

miserable. I mean, absolutely miserable. And the thing is, is what about the patient advocation for those? Because I am the pit bull bitch when it comes to advocating for anyone I love. My husband, God knows my daughter. She'll come in and tell you in a New York second, I will rip someone's head off for not doing what they're supposed to be doing for our kid. But you turn around and it's literally like, what for the people who don't have anybody advocating for themselves? And what if they did take the versette? Which is most people think, okay, this is what I'm supposed to do, I'm gonna take it. And then they get the versette, they go back there, and what if they're not awake? They're not coherent for their allergies. And then this happens to them.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

I you know, I and that's where I argue that during the timeout, if if the patient is going under at the time or already under, it should be recorded audibly and given to the patient.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

I've asked for that, they won't do it.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Well, I don't see why it's not legal. It's only for the patient and it's about the patient.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

They will also record and take videos and photographs and also let other doctors who are residents come in and work on your surgeries to learn how to do them, unless you tell them, no, I don't want anybody else touching me. Like, I did not know that for the longest time that you might think Dr. Doolittle is coming in as your surgeon and Dr. Smith, Joy, happy boy, and donuts is the ones who are actually doing it. Like, and we just found this out because I told my husband, I have to get out of the house, I'm going star crazy, I have to get out of the home for a minute. And I start reading another note because there's so many of them, and it says in there that my surgeon, who is like supposed to be world-renowned, and people come from all over for him, and everything else. I don't even know if I can say this because I'm I'm still so like aghast of this. It clearly said, how do you summarize it? Like, I'm still dumbfounded. It said that my surgeon was there for the critical part of the surgery, and he made himself available for the rest, but not in the room. He was not in the OR, but he made himself available.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Yeah, I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

And my post op from this was like just shy of three weeks from the date of operation. That to me is crazy. That's crazy. And then I don't even see him. I don't see him. I see a nurse practitioner. Right? And this is something that it's not like I don't know how to explain, it's not like getting a wisdom teeth pulled or something like that. They have they they ended up removing vertebrae in my back, multiple vertebrae, then they ended up drilling holes and putting anchors and what else they say and screws and bolts or whatever, and paddles, and then they wired it all through my vertebrae, and then they had to cut the muscles in my neck to get it through the way that because I had so much scar tissue, they couldn't get in anywhere else, and they reopened. Opened or made another place on the other side because they needed to make sure that you know there wasn't that much scar tissue, but all they found was scar tissue. And so they had to go and do all that. And then they inserted what I call as a like kind of like a pacemaker, but it's this device that you can feel under your skin. It's about the I don't know, I have small hands. It's like the palm of your hand without your finger size. Is that about right? It's another wonderful device I get to plug up into every day. I'm like a walking, talking electric device because let's plug in the hearing aids, let's plug in the hand and charge it, let's plug in the back and charge it. Let's plug in. I mean, seriously, like I need a multi-unit charger for my body.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

I'm out of, I'm out of energy. Can I plug in?

SPEAKER_01 22:47

You're not right.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

So let me let me give a shout out to those of y'all who did give a shit and actually checked up on my wife. I want to thank you, Danielle, Sam, Daniel, Misha, all the other ones that actually did. Allison. You know, at least send that to you.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Mike McNack.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

I got Oh Mike.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

He checks in with me, not you, though. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

You know, it it's disheartening to see that, you know, when your wife goes under a major surgery and the folks you thought you could count on are not there. That they just, you know, if if I can't get something out of Victoria, why do I need to call her, check up on her?

SPEAKER_01 23:30

I will tell you, and your initial reaction is justified, and you may do so, that I had people writing me asking me to do stuff for them even after the surgery, like the day of and the next day, and says, Hey, I know that you just had this done and you said you would get back to me soon, but could you just do this for me right now?

SPEAKER_00 23:49

And you told them all politely.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

I told him I wasn't available to do kiss my grits. Lord, I will never be out. I guess no, I wouldn't be out, so I'd be flow, right? The redhead flow. But seriously, knowing I had all this done, and I wrote back to individuals that I'm so sorry I had some complications. Well, could you just do this part for me? Can you help me with this? Can you help me? And it wasn't somebody in a domestic violence situation at that moment, it was people asking to better themselves with other things. And it wasn't how are you? How are you doing? Do you need anything? How is the husband and your kid? I mean, it was none of that. It was, can you do this?

SPEAKER_00 24:29

I I've been married to this beautiful woman right here for over five years now, and I have never, ever seen her.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

You've also known me for 25 years.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

That makes it even, you know, so when you're about to laid up after surgery for so long. It was awful. I mean, normally she she's a spring chicken. She'll spend, I have to make her spend one day in bed. Never happens. The minute he goes to sleep, I get up and go to the office. And then

Surgeon Coverage And The Implant Aftermath

SPEAKER_00 24:55

the next day she's she's back at work, she's doing something. But this time it it majorly kicked her ass, and she was out for days. And it it's just really taking a big toll on her. So the hell with y'all asking for shit after this beautiful woman has given her heart and soul to y'all and not asked a crying thing, and here y'all are asking something from her, and she's in misery, she's in pain, she's burning. Guys, she don't take the medication, not because she's she's dumb, but because she has a family to take care of. She doesn't want the stuff inside of her body in case you know something happens down the road and we need to donate an organ or something to our daughter, which we've already talked about.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

But it's not just that. I want to say that out loud, but it's it's the fact that like I don't want all that chemical in me. I don't like it, I don't want it. I do not like not having control of the situation of what's going on and being under the influence of something. I I just don't want to do that. And the thing is, is like my husband had to watch me. And it's it is not exaggerating. It would take me an hour to go from laying down to a sit-up, stand-up, go to the bathroom position. And I would literally lay there and and like I took my first shower and damn near passed out, fainted. Yes. And then I get on a pillow and I'm just so mad and angry that I cried. I screamed, cried. Like I put my face with a pillow, excuse me, and I screamed, cried. And Faith came running in going, Oh my god, what's going on? I don't know what you said to her because I had my head buried in a pillow.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

I said I said she's mad, she's angry, she's upset.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Because that's not me. Like I I couldn't even, I couldn't even sit down to go to the bathroom and pull my pants down. Like I that's my job. Whatever. But like I literally, I couldn't. You can't get comfortable. It's excruciating. It is so excruciating to it just to even move. I mean, I tried to lift my head up for five minutes and I was like crazy pain, crazy, crazy pain. I tried to lift up my purse today and it was too heavy for me to pull. I mean, it was just, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

The uh the regular cups that I give her that I put her unsweet tea in.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Oh, this is ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

It was it was, I'd say it's probably what, two pounds, maybe?

SPEAKER_01 27:19

It is a stainless steel, kind of like a Stanley. It's not a Stanley, but it's like an off-brand Stanley. This, I think it's a 30 ounce or 40 ounce cup with a handle. I could not pick it up to drink because it was so painful to do that.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

Remember, all the muscles in her neck have been whacked. Okay. Try to lift your arm and you feel the muscles in your neck pulling. Okay. All hers are weak. I mean, they're they're they're just atrophying, just all the crap. They're trying to mend back together. So that's where we've been for the last few It's a week. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Yeah. It's it's actually been a week. I haven't watched this much TV in five years. But my husband, bless his heart, would come lay there with me and he'd pass out. And I literally would have to take an hour just to get my feet turned around, onto the ground, to get up, to even try and go to the bathroom. I mean, it was excruciating. And I think I'm a little more mobile now. Today's the yesterday was the first time we went out.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Yeah, we went out for coffee tonight.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

And we went, well, that was the emergency room yesterday. And then today we went to go get a coffee, an iced coffee, just to get out for a minute. And I had to go pick up more medication. They've got me on an ointment for my back now, and antibiotics and all that stuff to try to get this better control. And that was the longest I've been able to sit in the car

Who Shows Up When You Are Down

SPEAKER_01 28:50

because every bump, every anything, I was just in agony. And it's horrible. And I've been trying to put on that strong face because I see face. You know, it broke my heart to watch my husband and daughter like in these chairs, so miserable, so uncomfortable, that I just wanted to go home for their comfort. You know, that was just I didn't want to watch them. And I asked them to go home and they would not we're not leaving your side. They they wouldn't go. And you know, I go back and I sit and think about all the people, no matter who has been in our life, whenever they have something like this going on, I check in with them every day. You know, what do you need? What can I do? Can I send you food? I've sent care packages to people out of state.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Shame on y'all.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

But you know what? There's no reason to say that because that's who they are and that's their true colors. And if that's how they're gonna be, then they're not gonna change for anybody and they're not even gonna change for themselves, you know.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

It's more eye-opening to me because Well, this is my show, I say what all.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Well, I'm more just dumbfounded because there's certain people that in this particular incident really showed me who they were, and I hadn't I had an idea, and there's one we're not gonna say, I'll give you this clue. I won't say her name, but I advised that there were complications, and there was no other question or anything answered between that and even right this moment. You have a strong dislike for her. I've known her like 15, 17 years, 16 years. You are not her you y'all do not like each other. You know what I'm talking about now?

SPEAKER_00 30:28

Yes, ma'am, I do.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

And not even a how's it going? Is there an update? I mean, nothing, and that just floored me, absolutely floored me. Because this was someone like a mom. Yep, and oh, I'm so itchy, sorry. And then I reach behind me and I've got all this derma bond sticky crap on top of incisions and and everything, and you just want to like like I want to just it's so bad. So bad. So I apologize that we didn't get to do our normal podcast. We have a lot of good stuff coming down the line here in the very near future. We have a lot of growth opportunities for people here coming as well that we'll talk about here soon. I just refuse to change who I am, babe, for the wrong people. That's like me or you changing for our sperm or egg donors. Then we're changing to confine into what they want and who they want us to be. But then the people who deserve the real me and real you don't get them because the wrong people got us to change for them. And so I won't change us because somebody else deserves it. But to see how much I, especially me being such a caregiver for people, and I'm like, what do you need? Let me send you care packages, let me,

Discharge Safety, Legal Limits, And Small Care

SPEAKER_01 31:50

you know, be your medical power of attorney and help you through all of this. And I don't ask for anything in return. I mean, ever. And I'll be with them night and day, whatever, as long as my husband and daughter are taken care of, and not to even say a word. And I think that really made both my husband and daughter mad. We're not asking for anybody to come sit there with us. You know, they kept me on oxygen cannula until 30 seconds before discharge. They didn't even say let's DC her. And I was on two liters, which is not light oxygen, and they had me on two liters to keep me up where I needed to be on my oxygen oxygenation. And they literally pulled the cannula out and said, All right, let's take out your IVs.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

They didn't even say, let's see 15 minutes before, let's take you down. They're supposed to like move you down on the oxygen level, maybe go from two liters to one or 1.5 and then 1.5 and then zero, and then say, Hey, let's see how you do for 15-20 minutes without any oxygenation through a cannula, and then we'll, you know, process you to go home. And none of that happened. I I just am so shocked at health care now that it's just mesmerizing to me.

SPEAKER_00 33:07

After what we've seen, we shouldn't be shocked.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

And I mean, I made it clear that if that was faith or you in that bed, no, the pit bull of me would have absolutely come out and come unglued.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

That's like it's like you can't even sue them now.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

You can't, you can't, because it's not catastrophic. Right. That's what they say. It's not catastrophic and nobody died. The patient has to die, or have some life-altering, catastrophic in a wheelchair, quadriplegic, paraplegic, something in order to justify, and then there's a cap on it. So you're not even gonna get anything minus fees and attorney fees. Like, so you're not even gonna get anything. Restitution, you might as well forget about it. I mean, it it's almost a you know, the doctors can just make you a pinata and you're gonna sit there and take it, and there's nothing that can be done for it, and that's really sad. And here's another thing I will say that I had the sweetest, sweetest nurse when I was leaving, right? You know, the lady who took me down. She was so nice and so sweet. Here's the only bit of advice that I wish more medical nurses and everything else would take into consideration. Can you answer tomorrow? Just put the word tomorrow for me there. Here's the one thing that I wish people would do, honestly, because I had such an amazing sweet nurse, but when she came in, and I have such a strong, strong sense of smell and everything else, she was covered in perfume and lotion smells. And when you're in there recovering after surgery or you know, whatever the case may be, whatever the case may be, and you're wearing perfume and all that other smell, try not to wear it because the like my nurse was so nice, but she was just wearing so much perfume, and I'm I'm on oxygen and having her close to me, I'm like, ugh, but she was the sweetest lady ever. I mean, she hugged me and I wanted to hug her, and she told me, take your time. And I mean, she had other people say, No, we can take her down. She's like, Nope, I'm taking her myself. And she did, and it's just kind of like you know, there should be more people like that, but just cognitively put into perspective the fact that you're wearing a ton of perfume, and that doesn't really help very much.

Thanks, Exhaustion, And Closing Banter

SPEAKER_00 35:46

So now you're all caught up. That was my rant. Those were our thank yous to those special folks. And look forward to seeing y'all on the next podcast.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

Sorry, we just use this as a ranting, but this is a big deal. This is a a lot.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

We're still tired, y'all. Our sleep has not been normal. Yeah, it's anyway. Thank you for listening to Contagious Smile Unstoppable with Victoria, who is recovering.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

I just have more metal. I'm like even more of a metalhead, you know? Like just think about that.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

Oh, I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

I have more metal in me. Like, so does that mean I'm a minor? Because all my parts age together.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

That is sick.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

Makes me like eight years old.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

That's sick.

SPEAKER_01 36:40

No, I don't mean that. I'm talking about like the fact that you're disgusting.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

You better take that back now.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

No.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

They don't think I'm a pedo.

SPEAKER_01 36:47

You're not a pedo. Remember, it's a map, not a pedo.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

A freaking map.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

That's disgusting.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

You need it, you need to edit that out.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

No, I won't.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

Retract it. Nope. Redact it. Nope.

unknown 36:58

No.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

Good night, y'all.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

And I want to say again thank you to you and Faith for all that you did to help me.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Ewan?

SPEAKER_01 37:04

Ewan.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

Who is Ewan? My name's Michael.

SPEAKER_01 37:07

Bobby Ewan. Is that Dallas? Yeah, Dallas. Dallas.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Who shot JR?

SPEAKER_01 37:11

Who shot JR?

SPEAKER_00 37:12

Did we tell you? Sure. Do you remember?

SPEAKER_01 37:14

One that Sue Ann?

SPEAKER_00 37:17

Charles. I don't know. I I didn't watch the end of that. Charles. I've just I d I don't know who shot J.R.

SPEAKER_01 37:23

Who's Charles?

SPEAKER_00 37:24

I just threw it out there. There's Lou Suanne and I have no clue. I don't remember that. That was forty something years ago.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

I was still a little whippersnapper. You're older than me.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

Easy greasy.

SPEAKER_01 37:38

Two plus years.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Let me tell you how old you are. Go ahead. On air. Go ahead. No. Good night, y'all.