Stella Dimoko Korkus.com: Emergency Room Series: Addiction And It's Consequences

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Sunday, February 04, 2018

Emergency Room Series: Addiction And It's Consequences

Everything in life should be in moderation. 





A man in his late twenties was rushed in to the ER in company of his relatives. He was in extreme painful distress, sweating and very irritable. 

He was said to have been having pains around his groin for a while and would use painkillers but the pain grew worse. He was also vomiting and had a fever. His blood pressure was slightly high and his heart rate was also fast. It was most likely as a result of the pain. 


He had an urgent ultrasound done to see what the source of the problem was and it was discovered that he had inguinal hernia and it had become strangulated and had blocked blood flow to the intestines which meant he would need immediate surgery. 


His blood samples were taken for screening tests and his parents signed the consent form on his behalf. The surgeons also came to see him and he was reassured that everything would be fine. He was wheeled into the ER theatre. 


While in the theatre, he was noticed to be having pain-like facial expressions which wasn't normal for someone on general anaesthesia. It meant he was somehow awake and was feeling all the surgical pains as the blades were cutting him. The anaesthetist increased the dosage of the medications given to sedate him. 


After about 45 minutes, his eyes popped wide open! 


He was awake again but couldn't move or talk. The surgeons stopped and were surprised. It was confusing. Imagine having a man on a theatre table with his intestines out and he wakes up suddenly, it felt like a scene from a horror or zombie movie. The dose of the anesthesia was increased again. The anesthetist had to be careful because if the dose got too high, the patient could sleep and never wake up.

 After about 2 hours, he was wheeled out. The surgery was a success. Little did we know that it was just the beginning of the main problem. 

While he was at the recovery room, He had some injections to relieve the pain but he kept complaining of severe pains at the surgical site. The dosage of the painkillers was increased but it didn't help for long. For example, p**tazocine is a strong painkiller and ought to relieve pain for about 2-3hours in severe cases but this guy would complain of pain after 45mins of having it. 

The doctors tried other types of painkillers, nothing seemed to be working. His mother was panicking. He even had an ultrasound done to know if the problem was from within but the findings were normal for someone who just had a surgery. 

Because I had seen a similar case in nursing school whereby pain meds don't work after surgery, I asked the guy if he takes a lot of alcohol. His mother was quick to say yes and that he was undergoing therapy for it too because it was affecting his job. I told the doctor in charge of his case who changed the pain medications to stronger opioid medications(like the ones meant for cancer pain). He got better and calm and was able to sleep.


Alcoholism causes low pain threshold sometimes, and in some people it causes high pain threshold. Pain threshold is the maximum level of pain a person can withstand. It also disturbs the effect of anaesthesia during surgery.


For the guy to have woken up during surgery, it shows that he's not a social drinker but a chronic alcoholic. Imagine having a surgery and you just wake up all of a sudden because the injections that would make you sleep didn't work for long. Scary. 

People who are addicted to alcohol also have a high tendency to be addicted to painkillers. I know of patients who take as much as ten tablets of paracetamol or tramadol a day. Its not as if they are in any seroius pain but their body would make them feel they always need it. Once they try to stop taking it, they get paranoid and irrational.


Alcohol is an addictive central nervous system depressant. That's why people who drink alcohol get high and after a while, they get sober or depressed.

Moderation is key when taking alcohol. It should never be in excess. You shouldn't take it to the point you wouldn't be able to feel your face. Alcohol kills and it kills in the most unimaginable ways as it affects multiple organ systems.

 I remember the case of a popular singer who lost a friend to excessive alcohol intake at a club. Most times, the cause of road accident is alcohol intoxication. It also causes cardiac arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, cirrhosis, bleeding from gastritis or esophageal varices, hepatitis, malnutrition, pancreatitis, and psychiatric disorders.

psychologists are making a lot of money from alcohol addicts who want to get their life back together. I know of People who spend a lot of money to get out of alcohol addiction after they've lost their jobs and marriages because of it.

 I'm not saying you shouldn't take alcohol but it should be in moderation.

 Thank you.

41 comments:

  1. This scared me! God have mercy. Thank God he was ok

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    Replies
    1. Thanks alot. Personally I don't take alcohol.

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  2. Must they take alcohol? Thank God for me o, I can't even taste it




    *Larry was here*

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  3. I am a doctor and have been reading your presentations and I can say that I am impressed. I couldn't believe initially that it is not a doctor writing this. And above all, you break it down to the level of the common people to understand. I wish you all the best in this profession you've got passion for.

    Please if you wouldn't mind, which Nursing school did you attend?

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    Replies
    1. As in eh. I am not a doctor either but this post and LRD I have learnt so much from. most times when I chat with a friend who is a medical doctor and she says certain things, I don't ask for explanations because of what I have learnt from this segment.

      kudos to SDK and the person behind this ER series.

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    2. I'm very sure this nurse is not Nigerian trained.

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    3. Hahaha at anonymous

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    4. Sisi nurse keep hyping yourself in anonymous mode.nurse titi

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    5. @Anonymous 18:30
      I wrote that comment up there and I am not the poster. I am a male for that matter and a doctor like I said. Let's praise good deeds when we see it; especially when it is from a Nigerian because we hear and watch a lot of bad news in the country.

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  4. So informative and educating
    Everything should be in moderation
    Too much of everything is bad

    Emergency Room Series is never a MISS
    Keep up the good work

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  5. I love this segment..very informative.

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  6. My favorite post on this blog.
    Oga/Madam nurse, you go school well. May God bless your hustle.

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  7. Lovely. This is no doubt my favourite post on SDK. In short any thing you decide to do should be in moderation. Thank you for this.

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  8. Like how is it a difficult thang for one to take alcohol in moderation??😕 Nawa ooo! Thank you.

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  9. Nice post but pls stop giving urself undue glory! U mean the anaesthetics didn’t ask about alcohol or drug history before putting the man to sleep? It has to be that discovered the alcohol history..... lol ....story for the gods!

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    Replies
    1. In a great work environment, everyone chips ideas together. That's why in office environments, you have strategy meetings. In the hospital, nurses sometimes steer doctors towards issues. Remember the patient was in crisis when wheeled in. I must comment.

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    2. Mr man, fara buruku bale! Who carried your Sunday rice? Lol. What do you do for a living, tell us something we can learn from too. Why so mad? Una must to show yourself. If you get mind, u for use blog ID. Thank you Nurse jare.

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  10. Nurse ooo, your parent did not waste money in sending you to Nursing school,God bless you dearie, really love this segment very informative..

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  11. It was actually poor form not assessing a patient's social history before a surgery... irrespective of whether it's an emergency or not.
    Anyway, had a similar situation a few months back. Simple reduction of a long standing shoulder dislocation under anaesthesia in a guy that was regular on codeine, marijuana etc. We allowed him a week of abstinence but unknown to us, dude was still sneaking out of the ward to smoke. The day of the procedure was something else. Procedure took 4+hours...had to convert to an open (operation) procedure. He practically 'drank' all the anaesthetic drugs that were available even up to the reserves and even borrowed some.
    Later got to find out, he even smoked some hours before the op.
    As expected,the repeat procedure, he had a 'policeman' standing guard over him to avoid stories that touch

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    Replies
    1. This got me really laughing mehhhhhhhhh





      *Larry was here*

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  12. I love you😘😘😘. Thanks for sharing!!!
    Currently on codeine but I even push my dose far apart coz addiction is real!!!

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  13. Very informative post,In Nigeria once the beer is free people loose their sense of caution and drink till they can no longer say their name.
    Free booze Easy Death.

    LEP😛

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  14. Nice one.. But madam nurse, an anesthesiologist will routinely ask of the patient's drug and alcohol history before administration of anaesthetic. Just saying

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    Replies
    1. Thank you ,drug and alcohol history is routine for an anaesthesiologist to take unless maybe it was an anaesthestist nurse or technician that works there claiming to be an anaesthesiologist. You do a good job Oga Nurse but we need to point out the shortcomings

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  15. Thank you for taking time out to share and educate us.

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  16. Very informative. Welldone nurse

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  17. Very informative. Welldone nurse

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  18. Thanks for this educative information.

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  19. Thanks for this educative information.

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  20. You shouldn't take it to the point you wouldn't be able to feel your face. That one weak Me. Looool

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  21. Very informative

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  22. Nice one. Thanks

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  23. I enjoyed this. Thanks for the information

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  24. When I had my surgery I didn't sleep much woke up in the middle of it and was screaming and struggling they said I finished their sleeping injection but it had littl or no effect on me.mainwhile before the surgery I have not tasted alcohol for a long while and am a female any explanation to that?

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    Replies
    1. You're a zombie. Hahaha

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    2. Anonymous 18:15.hahahaha.u r wicked!

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    3. Anon 17:32,it is very possible you are resistant to that particular drug e.g. some people are resistant to lonart but get better using amalar...

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  25. This segment is very informative, I like it

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  26. Aunty nurse thanks for sharing? Una never see person wey go lie about him alcohol or drug history

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