Aug. 29
I've got 24 days to until I next see my surgeon and presumably get the OK to start putting weight on my operated leg. Aside from the odd twinge, especially in the knee, I feel so good that it is a huge effort to keep hopping around on my crutches while carefully keeping my operated foot off the floor.
Those of you who have never had to contend with orthopedic surgery are probably unaware of the many assistive devices that exist to make the life of a recovering hippy much easier. One of these devices is the "transfer bench", which sits with two legs in the bathtub and two legs outside. The bather sits on the bench and swings her legs over the edge of the bathtub in order to sit in the tub and use the shower. After my last surgery, it must have taken me a month to do this myself. John would have to carefully lift my operated leg over the very high edge of our tub to get me in and out. Yesterday, I had my first shower at home. Although John was there to help with adjusting the taps, drying my feet etc. I managed to get in and out of the bath using the bench all by myself. I know, the crowing sounds are deafening.
Today, it rained for a good part of the day so I was unable to go out. Tomorrow, I will hopefully hop over to our local café and meet with some colleagues for a little business meeting. It's so great getting back to real-life activities!
Aug. 28
Here is a post that I made to one of my hippy sites today:
Dear B.,
Your comments blow me away. It has been a rough ride for me, but I think that telling things as they are, honestly expressing the pain (the psychological pain was, if anything, the worst), has been the most healthy way for me to deal with things.
I think that there is a fine line to tread between blind optimism and total despair, and that is what I constantly work on reaching. Throughout this experience, I have been learning a lot about myself, the effects of my past on my present outlook, the courage I and my family have had to find, the strength that you and countless others whom I have met or may never meet have been so generous in giving to me.
If all had gone well the first time, I would probably not have sought help on the Internet. Life would have been much easier, both physically and psychologically.
I would not have refused an easy, positive outcome. But this difficult experience has also given me great gifts: friendship; a better knowledge of myself; a re-affirmation of how blessed I am in having a wonderful husband, children, and mother-in-law; the realization that I love to write and not just police other people's grammar (though that it both fun and frustrating).
My goal is to really get better and get back to my hectic, stressful, loving, fun, crazy life. But the lessons I am learning along the way are priceless.
Thanks again to you and everyone else (you know who you are!).
Wendy
Aside from mentioning that I have to do my Mickey Mouse exercises twice daily, that's about all I have to say today!
Aug. 27: I'm Home!!
Hello Faithful Readers,
I am thrilled to be home and extremely touched, indeed blown away, by the popularity of this blog and the realization that there are so many people out there reading my story and rooting for me.
I have to thank all of you for your much appreciated moral support. This second time around has been much easier physically but knowing how many people are supporting me has given me an immense psychological boost too. Thanks again for all your comments, too!
Of course, I cannot thank my wonderful husband John enough for his posts. This blog was his idea in the first place and a truly inspired one at that!! It may be a cliche that you only really see what your spouse is made of in times of trouble but boy is it true. I am one lucky woman to have John by my side.
It's 10:30 a.m. and I've been home for about 1 1/2 hours. I've kissed my kids, husband and mother-in-law (who's here to look after us until I'm back on my feet) numerous times and already done my telephone banking, paid the bills and sorted my mail. I also had the first decent coffee I've tasted in almost three weeks! I'm not a huge coffee drinker but my morning cup is sacred and as we all know (or suspect), institutional coffee is not much better than coloured dishwater.
John has just reminded me that the last time I came home--after slightly over 4 weeks rather than slightly under 3 in hospital--I immediately went up to bed. This is a big improvement.
Since I'm not allowed to walk for another 3 weeks and 5 days (but who's counting?), I can't predict how things will progress. What I can say is that a fracture is not a nice thing: it was hugely painful. In comparison, this time around is much easier, even with my sore knee (which is getting better) and some incredibly tight muscles. I still don't quite understand how in the space of 3 1/2 hours of surgery, my muscles could go from their normal elasticity to almost no elasticity. I've heard the surgeons put you in some pretzel-like positions during surgery. That must be at least part of the reason.
Our cat Jelly Bean has settled into her favourite spot on the windowsill, right behind the computer. Ah, home sweet home.
Day 17
Not much to post today. Getting ready for Wendy to come home on Friday, the boys are really looking forward to it as are the rest of us. Wendy was in much better spirits than before. Not sure if I mentioned that Wendy has kept up reading to the boys eventhough since they're not in camp this week they don't come to the rehab hospital with me. After I leave at around 7pm, Wendy calls home and reads to them over the phone!
Day 16
So, it's for sure that Wendy is coming home on Friday. Eventhough her knee is still hurting quite a bit, I guess that there's nothing more they can do at the rehab hospital. She'll be doing outpatient physio there once she's home, although there is a two week waiting list to get started. What we're really focusing on right now is pain management for her knee. Wendy will probably get a percoset prescription before coming home -- not so she can use them regularly, but really to control the occasional bad pain, especially around bed time. Overall, Wendy is a bit anxious about the whole process: waiting the 2 or 3 months until we really know how the operation went is going to be long.
Ok, Ok, I'm not missing any more days!
Back by popular demand, I promise not to miss any days posting until Wendy comes home from the hospital. Not much to report, though. Friday still seems likely, but Wendy still has to get the final ok. As for the staple count, Wendy lost count but figures between 40 and 50! The next step is to make sure we have the equipement we need at the house for her return. We need an extra large bath transfer bench since we have a very tall bathtub. We've also decided to get a wheelchair this time. We figure we won't use it a lot, but it'll give us the option to travel around the neighbourhood a bit more with the (hopefully) nice weather. Last time, we didn't get a wheelchair, and regretted it. Even in winter, it would have given us the option to go out a lot more around the neighbourhood, lessening the claustrophobic feeling of being mostly indoors in winter.
Day 14
The boys and I visited yesterday and today for about 1 hour each day. Not much to report. The staples are coming out tomorrow, so I guess we can start a pool guessing the number of staples in the incision. Wendy continues to not have that much pain, to use crutches more than the wheelchair and to be in very good spirits. Oh yes, she might get internet access tomorrow for a little while, so the next post you see here might be Wendy!
Day 12
Haven't posted in a few days, basically because there hasn't been much news. Now there's a bit to catch up on. Wendy's continuing with the physio, her knee is feeling a bit better each day. Now when we go down to the caf for a bit to eat, she goes down with her crutches rather than a wheelchair, which is a big improvement over last time. Then she didn't start using the crutches until about 3+ weeks, never mind longish distances. The best news is that it looks very likely that she'll be coming home next Friday.
Day 9
Wendy has moved to a private room at rehab today. Last night there was an elderly woman in her ward who vomited all night, with noisy relatives. Another woman called a nurse to go the bathroom about 5 times during the night. So, when a private room became available today, she snapped it up. Ah, insurance. Wendy's knee is still bothering her quite a bit, so that is the main thing they're working on with physio & pain management.
Day 8 -- On to rehab
A smooth transition to the rehab hospital. Wendy's now very glad to be in her own clothes rather than the hospital duds. The boys and I visited after work & camp for about an hour; we went down to the cafeteria where the boys and I had a bit of supper and Wendy read from the Oppel book. Now, to solve the mystery of the missing running shoes...
Day 7
Wendy was feeling much better today, both physically and otherwise. Not so much pain in the knee. She's really ready to go to the rehab hospital tomorrow. She's resumed reading to the kids over the phone in the evening -- it's one of Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing books, I'm not sure which. This coming week, the kids are at camp where i work so we'll all be visiting Wendy briefly after work on the way home.
Day 6
Things continue to be a bit tough, as Wendy is having quite a bit of pain in her operated-side knee. She's having some trouble getting the attention of the docs on this problem, but will work on the second banana surgeon tomorrow. My mother brought the kids to visit today, so that is always a lift. Also, it's looks certain that Wendy will be going to the rehab hospital on Monday. We're guessing for one or two weeks. Another telling point: she's really noticing how bad the food is this time. Last time she was so out of it, the hospital food seemed almost good.
Day 5
Not much to report today. Even though Wendy was feeling a little down compared to yesterday, she's still progressing nicely and is overall very positive in her attitude. She says that she can tell how much better she's doing compared to the first time by how much more she's interested in reading and not so much interested in just watching tv. A friend gave her A Round-Heeled Woman yesterday and she's really enjoying it.
Day 4 -- More good news
Wendy felt even better today than yesterday -- the residual effects of the transfusion having worn off. Wendy first started sitting up today, and also getting around a little with a walker. As far as pain medication is concerned, she is mostly only using Tylenol, with only the occasional shot of morphine to get through the introduction of new activities. By comparason, the last time she was on percoset for about two months.
Administratively, I removed the requirement to be registered to post comments. Now anyone can post with no hassle -- just use the anonymous feature.
Day 3
Another day getting better. Wendy felt really well today, up until the afternoon when they decided to give her some blood due to low hemoglobin. As usual, it was a nightmare finding a vein, the blood didn't agree with her and she ended up feeling a bit wiped out by the end of the day. Not much supper, but she did eat a bit of the fruit salad I brought her. Looks like she'll be going to the rehab hospital on Monday, same one as last time.
Day 2
I spent the day at the hospital today. Wendy told me that she had a tough night last night, drifting in and out of sleep, with quite a bit of nausea and vomitting. The vomitting was a reaction to the anesthetic used during surgery. At one point they took some blood, and that was tough because Wendy has small veins. They ended up calling in a "specialist" from the ER. The doctor did drop by very briefly and confirmed that in was only the stem that was replaced. Also, Wendy will not be weight-bearing at all for a while, due most likely to a bone graft that they did. It also looks like Wendy will go to a rehab hospital, probably next week. We figure it will be for about 1-2 weeks.
Overall, Wendy was in very good spirits today, even with little sleep last night. She was far more on-the-ball than the same time during the last surgery. She's using the morphine button much less that last time. Food-wise, by supper Wendy was having a bit of solid food. There is a huge difference compared to the first surgery, Wendy is obviously feeling and doing much better.
I'm back to work tomorrow, so I'll be going to the hospital for around 6pm, back home by about 9. Like yesterday, I'll print out and pass along any comments.
Good News
Well, Wendy's surgery was at 8am this morning. We had to be at the hospital for 6am, which made for a very early morning. The surgery seemed to start more or less on time and lasted until about 11.30, for about 3.5 hours. That's a little longer than the doctors estimated just before the surgery. About 20 minutes after the surgery the doctor called me in the surgical waiting room to give me the good news. The surgery was a success, the prosthesis had been very loose and everything was fixed. He still hadn't looked at the x-rays, so I'll update on that when I have more info. As for Wendy, she was quite groggy, a little queasy but in very good spirits when I left her at about 6.30 this evening. If anyone wants to leave comments, I'll certainly print them out and give them to Wendy.
