I had a procedure. After surgery, I was in the PACU coming out of anesthesia, I was interacting with Laney when I suddenly lost the ability to swallow, to speak, and to move my arms. I then lost consciousness again. When I came back around, Laney was right there explaining what had happened. She stayed with me, closely monitoring my condition until I was released to the short-stay unit around 4:30. She had made contact with my sister, to explain the situation. I found out from my sister that Laney had been keeping a close eye on me and recognized I had quit breathing. She grabbed the equipment that allowed her to keep breathing for me while the PACU staff was trying to figure out what had happened. Without her quick response, I would have suffered brain damage or worse. She was calm and caring while keeping me alive. It was scary to hear people talking about my experience as very unique. Laney kept the focus on me. I got an unexpected and unknown dose of the paralytic drug. The doctor figured out my symptoms with Laney’s input.

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My sister had a procedure and was in recovery for approximately 1 hour when she began to experience trouble swallowing, talking, and moving her arms. A doctor wrote a CT scan order to rule out stroke. No stroke was indicated. When she got back to PACU, Laney was astute in recognition of bilateral paralysis, especially not breathing. She grabbed the Ambu Bag and kept her ventilated while an anesthesiologist recognized the problem was a medication effect on my sister. Laney was instrumental in fast action to prevent unwanted effects from a medication. The reversal agent was given due to my sister being without oxygen. Laney continued to operate the Ambu Bag, keeping my sister breathing while she recovered. Laney reached out to me, keeping me informed and up to date on what was happening until I returned to my sister’s recovery bed. Laney was Critical Care Certified and used her expertise and experience to advise the doctors it was not a stroke, which is unilateral, not bilateral. I appreciate Laney’s quick assessment skills to prevent an anoxic sentinel event for my only living sister. Thank you, Laney, for your quick response in keeping my sister safe. You provided exceptional care, calm, and compassion in calming me and my sister in what could have been a tragic situation except for Laney interacting with the Anesthesia Team to affect a positive outcome.