Being Dead Hurts Like Hell!

[Willie_B]

Best wishes Dave.

[BruceK]

I heard from Dave that the operation early this morning went well.  This afternoon he is already walking around and even climbing stairs, although he's on heavy pain meds.  Tomorrow they cut back the pain meds and I'm sure it will be hurting.

[94touring]

Good to hear

[cstudep]

Glad to hear it, now on to the road of recovery!

I'm sure he's glad to have the surgery part done and over with.

[BruceK]

Forgot to also mention that he supposed to go home tomorrow.

[MiniDave]

Yep, home and dry.... I got notice from DHL that my big shipment of 6 big boxes was coming today, and I was sweating how I was going to get them in the garage if I missed him - but fortune smiled, and he pulled up right behind us when we got home and he carried them right into the garage - easy peasy. Of course I'll be going nuts wanting to go see if they shipped everything.....

So, we arrived at the hospital Tuesday morning at OMG 5 am, which meant getting up before 4 am so I could take another "special shower". I took one Monday morning, then another Monday night and the third Tues morning using the special soap they gave me and paying particular attention to the appropriate spots.. We had to use freshly laundered wash cloths and towels, and Rose had to put clean sheets on the bed for Monday night. Then I had to wear loose fitting, easily removed clothes - sweat pants and a T shirt - and when they got us "checked in" we headed off to the pre-surgery room. There they went over all my meds (for about the 30th time) and discussed what was going to happen before, during and after the surgery. We were there for about 2 hours altogether....

The anesthesiologist came in and told me what he was going to do - it wasn't quite what I expected. I thought it would just be a general, but nooooo.....so they first shot a deadening agent in my lower back - which stung like hell!, then gave me a spinal tap - no, spinal block - which felt like a needle the size of a baseball bat going in my back. Once that was done I lay on my side and the most wonderful thing happened - not only did I get the tingles and numbs, but my legs and feet felt so warm! He said they do it this way so they don't have to intubate and I can breath normally - but when I woke up I had a hella sore throat, so clearly that plan didn't work out as hoped.

So they wheeled me in and I was out like a light till I came to in the recovery room. My knee was wrapped like a mummy but due to the spinal block it really didn't hurt.....of course once the block wore off ........LOOK OUT!

They had me up and walking with a walker an hour after I got up to my room. I did several laps of that wing of the hospital and things were just ducky......till the block wore off about 6 pm. They started the oxy then, but I swear it didn't really feel like it did anything except make me a little woozy.....it still hurt like hell. I did another lap about 8 pm, then called it a day. One of the other effects of Oxy is that it makes you SO dry mouthed, I drank ice water constantly, and of course that means you have to get up to pee! The first time I put 850 ML in the jug! They make you use the jug so they can measure your output.

I made it thru the night somehow, they didn't bother me too often, about every 2-4 hours, so that was nice, but it didn't matter. Either I had to pee or drink - or both, and of course I wasn't allowed to get out of bed without someone there with me. First time I tried it alone a really obnoxious alarm went off.....

Once the pain meds began to wear off of course it hurt like a mother - still does. I'm hoping it's like childbirth - once you get thru the first couple of weeks you forget the pain. They sent me home this afternoon, Rose picked me up ....We have a split level house, which means any place I want to go involves stairs and a cane.....I always think of the scene in Young Frankenstein, with Marty Feldman handing Gene the cane and saying - no, like this!

One more fun thing about Oxy, it blocks you up like concrete - I'm still working thru that little issue.

When we got home of course the boys were excited and both jumping up and down and trying to climb in my lap, they've calmed down now but I'm sure I'll be fending them off for a while yet.

So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it......I did get to watch the inauguration today.

Oh, and I had one little bit of excitement today - they gave me my Oxy pill about 9 am, and in a few minutes I started feeling really woozy, like I was going to pass out! I was cold and sweating at the same time and I didn't know what was happening. The nurse did my blood pressure and it like 95/60, then she did it again in my other arm and it was 87/52, she went back to the first arm and now it 80/40! No idea what caused it because within 10 minutes or so it was back to normal. I thought maybe I was having another heart attack, but it was just low oil pressure! No idea why it did that, and I've had another Oxy since then with no issues.....

[MiniDave]

Day 3 post operation

I had no idea it would hurt this much or I might not have gone thru with it......tomorrow is my first day of post op torture.....erm, PT   :-\

Maybe I should change the title of the thread to Being Alive or Dead Hurts like Hell!  :(

Oxy really doesn't seem to do much, I don't understand how/why people get hooked on the stuff.....they'll transition me to Hydro in another 10 days, then two weeks after than it will just be Tylenol. I hope they know something I don't!  8.gif ::)

[BruceK]

Sorry you are hurting so bad.   

High powered pain relievers don't seem to work very well on me either.

[tsumini]

Re: Oxy. You may want to take this over to the drunk thread. ;D

[MiniDave]

Ha! I must be Oxy resistant or something, I'm sure not getting stoned on them.

Today is my first out-of-the-hospital PT, I am NOT looking forward to it.

So far I'm walking pretty well - with the walker of course - and because of our split level house I'm having to do stairs up and down anytime I need the bathroom. That part is going OK, but rather than have to cart it up and down with me, Rose bought another walker to keep upstairs.

They keep trying to get me to up my dosage of Oxy to counter the pain, but I don't want to get stoned and do something that might set me back. They say the best thing  is to fight thru the pain and keep moving. The main hurt is getting up after I've been sitting with my leg either straight or bent, going from straight to bent or the other way is excruciating.

Healing pain they call it...... ::) :-[

I just call it pain.

If you hear screaming about 2:30 today, it was just me  :-\

[MiniDave]

Day 4 post op - still hurts like a MOFO!

PT was tough but I survived and actually felt a little better afterwards, then that night I had more pain than since the day of the surgery. I actually wound up taking an extra Oxy about 11 (normally every 4 hours - 9 - 1- 5 - 9 etc) as it was un-bearable and there was no position I could shift to that lessened the pain. It was in lots of new places too. Not completely sure it helped but I did get some sleep.....

Anyway, enough with the whining.....

Bored
Beyond
Belief

[94touring]

I'd be taking those pills excessively and coming out of a drugged stupor in the spring.  Only experience with them I have is when I had my wisdom teeth removed. Made me pretty loopy but still functional.  Helped with jaw pain anyways.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, nurses encouraged me to take more also......too stubborn I guess. That and I just don't want to get hooked on them.....

I'm already taking a fistful of pills as it is......500mg Tylenol X2 three times a day, the Oxy, two baby aspirin (blood thinner) and a shit load of other stuff.

[jeff10049]

Sucks it's so painful I've had a few friends get it done some had pain like you some not much but all of them agreed it was the best thing they did ad wish they did it sooner.
One of them did a 2-week backpacking trip in Yellowstone last summer said he never could have done it the way his knee was before.
So look forward to the days ahead.

[MiniDave]

Thanks Jeff, that's all I can do now......I'm fairly committed at this point!   ;D

I also could not do much of anything with my knee the way it was, couldn't even walk my dogs to the end of the street it was so bad.

I keep seeing glimmers of what it will be like in a month or so, that's what keeps me going right now.

I sure do appreciate all the kind words and positive thoughts from my RM friends!   77.gif

[Willie_B]

Every day is a step forward. We are all pulling for you.

[MiniDave]

The boys "helping" with my rehab   ;D

[BruceK]

Great photo! I guess they didn't get the inter-office memo about staying off your lap.

It should've been included with the TPS reports. 

[John Gervais]

Glad you've gotten 'em done, Dave - I'm sure you'll be feeling better soon, but sometimes it's nice to get someone sweet sponge your brow, or bring you a beverage.  Enjoy it while you can!

[MiniDave]

I haven't quite taught them to do that yet...... ;D

[MiniDave]

Yesterday was 2 weeks post surgery and I went to see the knee doc - of course you don't really get to see him, just his PA and nurse......

Anyway, they took the staples out and put on some short lengths of tape over the incision, she said I could take showers starting Friday (I have been already - but now I could scrub over the knee too) and that as the days went along the tape strips she put on would start to fall off of their own accord, and to let them. Taking the staples out didn't hurt exactly, but stung like crazy....weird.

That was the good news......

The bad news, I haven't been working hard enough to get my knee straight or bent, the degrees of bend were way less than immediately post op., this is a bad thing because if you don't get it to move now eventually it won't move any better and might get worse. The only cure for that is another operation, which might not be any more successful.

So with that lovely news still ringing in my ears I went to PT, and this time it lived up to the pseudonym I've given it - patient torture! So they worked me harder than ever, and by the end of the hour session I had made an incremental improvement in how far I could bend it......

They sent me home with new exercise instructions and that's where I'm at now - I simply have to do better.

[cstudep]

Sounds like "patient torture" is a good name for it. Sounds like more pain and effort now should pay off with less of both later, or at least that's the hope. Hoping things get easier and better for you Dave!

[BruceK]

.

[MiniDave]

Ha!  ;D

Just came down the stairs and got my cadence wrong - going up it's good leg, bad leg, good leg etc. coming down it's the opposite and I got out of sync and put my good leg down first......big mistake!. I didn't fall or anything, but it sure got bent up plenty that time!

[jeff10049]

I thought it was the wind howling that I heard earlier. Now I know it was actually coming from Kansas.