Rectal temperatures without knowing it.

Have you ever had your rectal temperature taken without knowing it? I have.

When I was 4 years old, I had to have a procedure done on my ears that was considered out patient surgery. I was taken to an out patient surgery center prior to my procedure, I had to have the shots that you get to perpare you for surgery. Prior to the shots, the nurse gave me a hospital gown to put on. Then I got my shots into my leg. After that, the nurse brought me some toys to play with.

Not too long after that, the shots of the meds started to run their courses on me where I did not know or care on what was going on around me. It felt like I was in my own world. Then right before I was taken to the operating room, the nurse came to me with this gadget. She pull out this small stick and started to put something on the end of that stick. Then my mom had me over her lap with my underwear pulled down. Again, I was so well drugged by the meds; I did not know what was going on.

With my underwear pulled down, I felt something cold being inserted into my rear for about a minute or so and then it was removed. Shortly after that, the nurses came with a red wagon and I was taken to some strange room and the next I knew, I was in the dark. When I woke up, I woke up fresh and with a sore leg.

As I was growing up and learning about the procedure that was done to my ears, it popped that my temperature was taken rectally before I was taken to the operating room.

Did any of you members ever had your rectal temperature taken without knowing it? Please tell your story.

Once when I was a teenage taken to the ER for vomiting and stomach pains. I was constantly on my side vomiting into a pale or gagging like I needed to and while waiting for the doctor to come the nurse took my blood pressure as normal but slid my pants down to my ankles and took my temperature rectalky while I wasn’t vomiting. The whole thing didn’t phase her at all it was like business as usual.

Once, when I was little and sick with stomach virus, my mom took my temperature and gave me a suppository while I was asleep. After I awoke, she told me she took my temperature and gave me medicine up my butt to make me feel better.

While I have never experienced this personally I have performed this on hundreds if not thousands of patients in my former workplace. I used to work in ITU ( British equivalent of ICU) and as such the majority of my patients would be sedated and ventilated or been unconscious from other conditions, circumstances.

My former lead consultant was a firm believer of measuring a patient's core temperature and felt that rectal temperature was the closest to measuring a person's core temperature. We used a rectal temperature probe , but with the advent of urinary catheters with a temperature port , we started using these.