Hope so. Just hitting a point where i feel up to long-form on anything: speaking, reading, writing, or anything else. I’m also discovering that a number of things I like to do take two hands to do right. More on that in a bit.
No, things didn’t go as planned. Shortly after arriving for surgery sans mobile as I was only going to be there a short time, I was informed that they had decided to admit me after all. Honestly, I was a bit relieved and it proved to be a good idea. Major pain communicating with my ride home though. Not going to leave the phone at home again.
BTW, if you ever need a sure bet, go for my cause of death as being the result of my being a smartass. When asked why I was in that day, my response was that i was about to have a very one-sided and totally unfair knife fight with the surgeon and that when i lost he was going to amputate my right arm, take some souvenirs, then re-attach it. Cue male nurse freezing, locking up really. A very delayed forced chuckle. Later, the surgeon got a good laugh out of it. Still a bit annoyed they wouldn’t let me keep the ball joint they cut out, and yes i did ask.
The anesthesia team was good, and unlike the open heart surgery I remember the start of the nerve block. Weird, but cool. Remember a bit of being wheeled towards OR then being wheeled into a room post surgery. TV was on, couldn’t figure how to cut it off, so found a channel doing some sort of Harry Potter marathon, muted it. Beat the heck out of being on morphine and watching Cirq du Soleil. [Que the late great Bill Paxton screaming bad trip instead of game over]. An experience I do not want to repeat.
Ate, slept, got to meet my new best friend: the liquid cooled aircast. You can see it above, and it is fantastic! Beats the heck out of any cooling pad/system I’ve ever used. cycle about every hour, and essentially no swelling.
Up until the last couple of days, Ive been on a very intermittent sleep cycle. With the move away from strong pain management has come a return to a more normal sleep cycle. May take a few more days to shift, but getting back on normal routines. I have the strong pills if needed, and boy howdy do you need them on occasion!! Bumps, jostles, and unwise movements can bring pain such that I’ve apologized to the landlord, housemate, and even the cats for the outbursts of invective. And, yes, the move on painkillers is being done VERY carefully. In my case, I’m no longer needing them when I sleep so I dont take them then. Morning/evening when I do PT and such? You bet your bippy I take them.
Years ago, I pushed on pain and on activity after a surgery. Ended up setting my recovery back more than six months. I have no plans to be that stupid ever again. Even if the surgical/care team were inclined to let me, which these are not.
Oh, yeah. Not going as planned. It was a good thing I was admitted, as it let me work with an Occupational Therapist and a Physical Therapist before going home. Can’t say enough good about the OT, much like my nurse/technician teams in recovery. There’s a reason I’m bathing, dressing, and doing therapy on my own… Hate to say it, not impressed with the PT person. Number of reasons including that by the time she finished talking about an exercise and wanted me to do X number I had already done 10-20 iterations. Didn’t help that my BP decided to drop while dealing with her and it took a moment to get a word in edgewise so i could sit and get the BP at least sort of measured. First time was basically 60s/30s, but finally stabilized at 70/40. Thinking back, it is similar to something that happened after the botched colonoscopy, and to what happened every time they tried to stand me up the the first couple of days after the open heart. It did it a bit again today even, and yes it is being watched.
Thank goodness for the immobilization brace, especially since my inner subconscious is a major asshole. It keeps you from doing many stupid things, even if it does invite others by sticking out in odd locations and ways. Trust me, you learn very quickly not to let it bump. No one seems to have a clue what the rubber ball is for though. I have mashed it flat a time or two when I did something stupid and brought on the pain. Meantime the brace has kept me from flailing the arm when the subconscious brings on dreams of tripping, falling, fighting, and other delights.
Other than the PT issue, the only gripe is with the sticks, and most of that falls on pre-op. Out of 6 sticks, they only got one in my book. They brought someone in for the one, and she nailed it. BTW, the back of my hand doesn’t look much better.
That’s enough petty bitching for the day. So far, the surgical team seems to have nailed it and overall things are better than I expected. Post-op care and OT were outstanding. Really looking forward to my follow-up next week. Also, hope to do more here and soon.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery
Thank you!
Stronger you have grown.
Heard that in Yoda’s voice I did 🙂
Glad neither party lost the knife fight (some opinions may vary….). I’ve always thought the scalpel wizard had the easiest job, the patient the worst; ours starts when his ends, and ours is months longer. When I was on pain meds what little sleep I got introduced me to some very interesting characters, none of whom I would prefer meeting in person, but as fleeting midnight visitors they did provide some diversion. Sometimes I actually relished the sleeplessness that came from trying to turn over so the pain would wake me.
Good luck climbing the hill back to (what passes for) normal. The really tough part will come shortly when you start thinking you can do more; you seem to understand the hazards there.
One day at a time, as the saying goes.
Iggy
Heh, true and glad both seem to have won. The midnight visitors have thankfully been few. Already hitting a bit of the do more hill, trying not to push it yet. That said, glad I can do my morning ablutions and get dressed by myself. Wouldn’t mind a little help in the shower, but that can get me in trouble with certain elements, including the priests. 🙂
Sounds like you have the dreaded rolling veins. Mine have frustrated a few nurses and techs over the years, but I try to give them fair warning. (Recalls the time I didn’t, and the preop nurse had to call in another to start an IV in my hand. Not fun. Protip: Warn them before they administer the Damitol so you don’t forget. Been there, done that, had the bruises.)
I’m usually not too bad a stick — unless liquids have been witheld. Then I become a challenge. Saturday morning was fun because protocol says no to blood from IV and most of the good veins were blown by pre-op. The bruises are spectacular, that’s for sure.