My eldest son, Balthazar, had a muscle biopsy. I was perfectly calm until the drive down to the hospital. At this point, we go to so many doctors and hospitals, I can't get nervous anymore days before an appointment. Even day surgery is fairly routine. However, we now know that no anesthesia will ever be routine again. Congenital myopathies can come with serious, fatal consequences to anesthesia. We did the biopsy in part to determine what the risk is. There are many other consequences of a myopathy, but it was the anesthesia complications that really threw me.
He did just fine. The anesthesiologist assumed that he did have malignant hyperthermia. He underwent the clean technique for the procedure. He came out ok, and went home at the earliest time. By late afternoon, no one could have guessed that he'd had a high-risk surgery that morning.
Now we wait one month for the results. It will be long and challenging. We may or may not have a diagnosis. This could very well be the first of a long series of tests. None are likely to come with anesthesia, though. We will avoid all but the most necessary anesthesia procedures until there is a cure for whichever congenital myopathy this is.
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