Anesthesia Care Puts Patients at Ease During Surgery [Bill Thelen]

This video features Bill Thielen sharing his experience with anesthesia care during orthopedic surgery. He discusses past anesthesia concerns, how clear communication helped him feel at ease and how attentive, personalized care made a meaningful difference before, during and after surgery.

  • Concerns Addressed Upfront: Previous anesthesia experiences caused anxiety, which was directly discussed and planned for before surgery.
  • Clear Anesthesia Communication: The nurse anesthetist explained exactly what would happen and stayed present throughout the procedure.
  • Comfort and Trust: Familiar faces, detailed explanations, and personal connection helped ease fear and build confidence.
  • Smooth Wake-Up and Recovery: Anesthesia was carefully managed, allowing for alertness and awareness shortly after surgery.
  • Compassionate, One-on-One Care: The patient and family felt supported, informed and cared for at every step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Anesthesia care is the medical management of pain, awareness and comfort before, during and after surgery. It is provided by trained anesthesia professionals who monitor patients continuously to ensure safety and comfort.

Anesthesia is adjusted based on a patient’s size, medical history, prior anesthesia experiences and type of surgery. Providers explain the plan ahead of time and stay with the patient throughout the procedure.

For patients with past concerns, anesthesia providers can adjust medication types, doses and timing, along with closely monitoring responsiveness during surgery to reduce risks and improve recovery.

Potential risks include delayed waking, awareness during surgery or side effects after anesthesia. Careful planning, monitoring and communication help reduce these risks.

Effective anesthesia care can lead to clearer thinking, better pain control and a smoother recovery experience immediately after surgery. 

Video Transcript

I'm Bill Thielen. I am Director of Environmental Services at United Living Community in Brookings. I've been there going on 15 years.

Why did you need orthopedic surgery?

By the pain I had in my shoulder, I couldn't lift my arm above my head and couldn't sleep very good at night. I've had both of them operated on already and then I wrecked this one again and that's when they did the total replacement reversal. It's just been a blessing. The pain's gone and I'm just dealing with getting arm to work the way it should.

When did your pain start?

I'm not real sure what actually caused it. It was 15 years ago I had this one done. I fell off my deck and landed like this, and I know I hurt them both. This was the worst, so I had that one done first. A year later, I had this one done. And 15 years later, I just couldn't take it anymore so I stopped in to see Dr. Looby and he took an x-ray right away and gave me a shot of cortisone. He said that might last a while, it might not last at all. About two weeks it was terrible so I saw him again and sent me up for an MRI and some x-rays and said it's not very good. We're gonna have to move on with this.

How were you treated by the staff?

From the time I walked in the front door it was amazing. The receptionist, Stacey the nurse, was amazing. How she planned, walked us through everything, talked with me, talked with my son who was in the room with me and my wife. She went in full details and everything and didn't have to explain a lot when she was done just because she went into full detail, so it was great.

What concerns did you have about anesthesia?

I had surgery on this shoulder back in '15. I didn't wake up until five hours after surgery so that was a concern of mine. In the next surgery, this one, I woke up in the middle of surgery so they always tell me because of my size, I'm off the charts, it's hard to give me the right amount of anesthesia. So Josh came in, explained what he's going to do, and he was right on. It was perfect, exactly what he said.

How was your experience with the nurse anesthetist?

I thought he did a great job. I know Josh personally and it made me very comfortable when I saw him walk through the door, that he's going to be the guy that's dealing with me today. So he told me he's going to be in the room all during surgery. When the surgeons were done he would shut the anesthesia off and give me a dose of, I don't remember what it was called, but it'd be about 10 minutes I'd wake up in a recovery room, and it's exactly what happened. I knew I was in good hands with Josh number one and that he knew my concern and he's going to deal with it.

How was your recovery?

The recovery was awesome. The last two times I wasn't alert, didn't know what was going on, but I was awake. Understood everybody that came in. Dr. Looby's PA, Stacey was there, Josh came back in, the physical therapist stopped in and it was great.

How was your pain after surgery?

It's improved it a lot. I don't have the pain. I can lift my arm up over my head. I get a good night's sleep. So I think everybody else around me appreciates that also.

What did you appreciate most about your care?

How genuine everybody was. Stacey was in the room prepping me, getting everything ready and she explained everything in great details. I had my son there with me, my wife, and she answered all her questions and dealt with them. It was great. Josh came in, he and I talked. He actually wheeled me to the operating room and we were shooting the breeze a little bit, deer hunting stories and whatever. He told me what he was going to do and before I know it, I woke up in recovery room. It was just that easy.

How did this surgery compare to your previous experiences at other hospitals?

The procedure that took place here, it was more one-on-one. They were in a room to take care of me. They showed it. The other place I had the surgeries at, it was just like you're another body. They ran you in and moved you through. My wife and I and my son sat in there. I was in bed but they sat there for five hours waiting for me to wake up, my first surgery. And it was not good. Second one, I woke up in the middle of surgery. That wasn't good either. And just the care afterwards, how everybody checked on my family, explained things to them. Dr. Looby did, his PA, Joel, came in. Josh came in. They all explained things to my family. And then when I was out of recovery and in the room, they came back and talked to me also and it was just amazing.

Why was local surgery important?

The best part was after surgery I could go right home, not have to travel the 50 miles there and back again. The first surgery I had in Sioux Falls, I had a pick in and barely got out of the driveway and the pick fell out of my neck. So I had to pull over and she had to push that back into my neck. But here, once I woke up, was able to eat something, we went home to my own house, 10 minutes away. So it was amazing.

Would you recommend surgery at Brookings Health System?

From the care I received, how caring and sharing everybody was, the compassion that people showed when I was here, the surgery that took place for me, how it went down, the final ending, how people treated me and my family was awesome.

Are you one of Brookings Health System's grateful patients who would like to give back to us? Learn more about how you can give back at brookingshealth.org/MyThanks.

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