I was scheduled as the first patient of the day because I was told the doctor like to do his more complicated surgeries first. Lucky me. So, Stan and I reported to the hospital at 5:30 a.m. I was holding it together pretty well that morning. I got prepped for surgery. All my labs looked great (I hadn't had blood drawn in so long I was curious, but turns out I'm pretty healthy) My nurse was easy to talk to and we chatted about lots of things, which helped my morning go quickly.
The surgeon showed up and the waterworks started. It got real. When I got wheeled into the operating room, I remember seeing a computer set to a music streaming service, which music playing in the background, lots of equipment (if you know orthopedic surgery, it's not fun-looking...saws, hammer, drills, ...)and the doctors and nurses. It was very cold and I was shivering, probably from the temperature and the anxiety. I was trying to be brave. They put a mask near my mouth and nose and told me to take a deep breath. That's all I remember.
I woke up in the recovery room, which seemed like a minute later. The surgery had taken about an hour and a half. The nurse was talking to me and told me we would go to my room soon. At that point I either dosed off again or just don't remember anything, but I wasn't in pain. When I got to my room, I saw Stan waiting for me. Stan told me that they used a "hammer and chisel" to move my bones together, and I had a tear in my medial meniscus that he repaired, but I wasn't in pain. The nurse was very sweet. I was told I was not to get out of bed. I felt relief and it was finally nice to be taken care of without feeling like I was bothering anyone. Of course, I was on morphine, so that might be one reason I was feeling relaxed. I could barely keep my eyes open.
Once the pain medication began to wear off, I began to experience quite a bit of pain...like 9-10 out of 10. I was trying not to be on morphine, but it was the only medication that worked. This continued throughout the night and I got almost no sleep. In the morning, I asked what else they could try and the nurse told me the doctor ordered Toradol. So, I wanted to try it. It helped a great deal. Once the pain was relieved, the nurse came in and told me if I was feeling up to going home. At the time, I probably could, but I had a fear that the excruciating pain might return and I told them no. The doctor approved another night.
The physical therapist and occupational therapist came in. I was about to cry because I was just feeling better and I was worried that they would torture me again. They didn't . They did make me walk using the walker (of course non-weight bearing) and go use the bedside commode and they told me what exercises to do with my feet, which didn't hurt. I was a good student and continued to practice for the rest of the day and into the evening and made a lot of progress, able to walk to the real restroom when I needed to.
Sleeping in the hospital is difficult because there is a lot going on and they always decide to do lab work at 3a.m. So, I didn't sleep much, but I felt better by the hour. On Sunday, I was told I'd be discharged and I felt I was ready for it. OT and PT came in again and were amazed at the progress I'd made and said I was ahead of schedule with what most people do. So, about 2 pm I was able to go home.
I'm determined to follow my exercise routine and heal as quickly as I can so that we can make the most out of our Hawaii trip.
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