Sorry to hear you've had to go through all of that but I'm very happy you survived and seem to be doing well!
I haven't had to experience that myself, but I've seen and learned about many similar surgeries on animals that involve pins. We usually anesthetize the animals but I can understand why that may not be a good idea for you. A nerve block is great, or you could even ask for a lumbar or sublumbar epidural. That will numb everything below the waist basically and since walking at this point isn't a big deal, it may be a good option!
You could ask for a sedative as well. It's always worth asking and communicating your concern with the doctor. Just because we see procedures a lot does not mean we know how it feels or how each patient will react individually. Sometimes it is frustrating though because in human medicine we expect people to handle a lot without local anesthesia or sedatives. In animal medicine, we as vets really make pain a number one issue and we do everything we can to help animals so they don't feel pain during our procedures!
Good luck. In my experience with other things, researching on the net will just make you more nervous, so try to avoid doing that!
I haven't had to experience that myself, but I've seen and learned about many similar surgeries on animals that involve pins. We usually anesthetize the animals but I can understand why that may not be a good idea for you. A nerve block is great, or you could even ask for a lumbar or sublumbar epidural. That will numb everything below the waist basically and since walking at this point isn't a big deal, it may be a good option!
You could ask for a sedative as well. It's always worth asking and communicating your concern with the doctor. Just because we see procedures a lot does not mean we know how it feels or how each patient will react individually. Sometimes it is frustrating though because in human medicine we expect people to handle a lot without local anesthesia or sedatives. In animal medicine, we as vets really make pain a number one issue and we do everything we can to help animals so they don't feel pain during our procedures!
Good luck. In my experience with other things, researching on the net will just make you more nervous, so try to avoid doing that!
