In Recovery and 1st Evening

I woke up in Recovery fairly quickly.  I don't remember feeling groggy, I was just suddenly awake.  I could hear someone talking about me on the phone - telling someone on my floor that they were about ready to bring me up.  I heard him say, she is 54 but doesn't look it.  I said, "Thank you" and he laughed.  I said, "I'm a teacher.  I hear everything."  He laughed again.  They wheeled me up to my room (206) at about 3:30.  The next little while was spent with my RN and my Tech getting up to speed on me.  They had to go over my meds and get me all situated in the bed.  I had leg pumps on my calves, but more about those later.  They hooked me up to an IV with basic hydrating fluid and antibiotic.  They hooked me up to a monitor with 5 or 6 contact points on my chest, and a pulse/ox meter taped permanently on my finger.  Then they took my blood pressure for what would end up being the first of about a million BP checks.

My friend was there waiting for me.  Once the nurses were done with their initial "stuff", I called Hubs and assured him that I was indeed still alive and still had both legs.

About 6:00 pm, Gabe from Physical Therapy came in and announced that I was going to walk.  I laughed.  He said, "no, really!"  And... I DID!  With his help of course, and with a walker, I got up and walked from my bed to the door and back again.  I was amazed !!

Gabe also instructed me in 3 leg exercises that I was told to do 10 times each hour:  1 - ankle flexes, 2 - quad sets (tightening the muscles in my thigh just above my knee and bringing the back of my knee down to the bed), 3 - butt squeezes.  I learned that my leg would be kept flat against the bed so it would heal straight rather than having it bent over a pillow where it would heal bent and be harder to straighten out later.  This is a change from when my mother had her knees done. Her legs were propped on pillows when she was in bed.

From a Respiratory Therapist, I was also given an Incentive Spirometer These are very common in hospitals.  Patients are instructed to inhale through the mouth piece and make the little ball at the right float and the big yellow thing slide up the scale to the indicated point.  I was told to do this 10 times an hour.  This helps keep the lungs clear and reduces the chances of pneumonia.

Also around 6:00 my nurse gave me my first pain med - Oxycodone, a 12-hour slow-release variety (it was explained that my spinal was still providing pain relief), and aspirin for blood thinning.

About 7:30 I met my night-shift nurse and tech - my vitals were all good. I still felt "drugged" but not sleepy.  I ordered my dinner from room service (I was only allowed clear liquids until my intestines woke up, which would be signaled by passing gas) :  chicken broth, orange and red jello, cranberry juice and Sprite (which I mixed together).  I ate very slowly and didn't feel nauseous at all.

At 8:00 my sugar check was 156.  At 9 my vitals were good again and I was given my cholesterol med, iron and a stool softener.  It was then a very quiet several hours.

:) Amy