I don't know how to explain the change that magically occurred over night from Day 1 being horrible, to Day 2 being Very Good. Part of it was about pain management.
People can tell you "it will hurt", but knowing that doesn't prepare you for the reality of the pain, especially when it is relentless. Once the spinal wears off, and your body starts responding to foreign things having invaded, and the trauma of the assault, it takes awhile to find enough meds in the right combinations to actually make a difference. The nurses work hard on pain management because that is one of the big goals that has to be reached before a patient can be allowed to go home. During the night between Day 1 and Day 2, we found my pain management formula, and I started noticing a difference - that was a huge relief.
The other magic was the whole bladder issue getting resolved. I know that many surgery patients have constipation issues after surgery, but I didn't know the bladder could actually go to sleep and not wake up. I felt insulted by the bladder issues. I was thinking, ok, here I am dealing with this leg-thing, and now they have to drain my bladder? Really? On a practical level, I get it - the spinal anesthesia puts everything to sleep from the waist down. But, emotionally, it is one more thing to have to deal with. Then, I'm thinking, oh yes, let's give me a pill to make me have to pee, and then make it very difficult to actually go to the bathroom to do it! That's a winning plan! Can you tell I have an attitude?
About 6 am on Day 2, my surgeon came in for the first time. I hadn't even seen him in Pre-Op. He came in with 2 assistants. One of the assistants pulled my TED hose down so he could see my wound dressing. He said, "it looks very good". Then I took a chance and dared to ask him if there was any chance I could stay one more day. He listened to my reasons, then told me they were weak reasons. I said that I felt if I could get stronger before going home, it would be less of a strain on my home care-giver. He said that if there were actual scientific reasons for staying that's one thing, but the reason I gave wasn't scientific enough for the insurance company nor the federal government. He said that if I pass all my goals, which I was on target to do, I would be going home later in the day. He also went into a long tirade about all the reasons to NOT keep people in hospitals any longer than absolutely necessary. He talked about sending his own family members home as quickly as possible. Okey dokey. I get it.
A little while later the hospital GP came in. He went over my computer records, asked me questions, checked me out, we talked. I expressed the same "stay one more day" wish to him, and basically got the same response only a little nicer.
I did the eggs and bacon breakfast thing again, but I kept falling asleep over it, and by the time I was about half way finished the eggs were cold. I guess the pain meds were making me sleepy, and because the pain was reduced I was able to sleep.
My PT lady came in and took me for a walk. It actually felt good to stand up. I was able to walk all the way to the nurse's station and back - she was VERY impressed with my progress and so was I !
The Case Manager - I think I forgot to include this in Day 1. It was actually something good that happened on Day 1. A woman who identified herself as my case manager came in and indicated that she would be setting up my outpatient physical therapy. She said that my insurance would cover total home PT at 100% if I was interested in that. Ummm.... YES! It would be one less thing to have to deal with if I could get all my PT at home, so she said she would set it up. A different case manager came back on Day 2 to confirm that I'd been set up with a company called Home Health Plus (or something like that).
After PT, I was allowed to take a shower. A couple of the techs helped me get dried and dressed in real clothes, and we started the process of getting me ready to come home. My ride and Hubs were coming at 11:30, and he was to work with the PT to learn my exercises. The process of getting ready to go home took a long time - hours. There was a lot of waiting for people to do things and for the process to happen. Finally, around 2 ish, everything came together and I was sent on my way. I got home about 2:30. WHEW! At that point, I felt most comfortable in bed, so that's where I went.
And so, the home care process begins....
:)Amy
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