Sunday, June 5, 2011 Day 2

This morning around 6am they removed my drain. He told me it was going to feel weird, not hurt, just feel odd. Well last time I felt nothing and the same thing happened this time. YAY one thing, GONE! Things start to get removed now little by little. I slept pretty crappy, woke up every hour on the hour. Was taking Valium and that was really messing with me, none of that tomorrow.

Dad left to go home around 8am and Kevin and Mom came over around 10am. Dr. Millis came in around 11 and changed my bandage. No rubber gloves or anything! He is so amazing! He said I was looking good and that later today maybe the epidural could be lowered and start on oral meds! I couldn’t believe it, but let’s go! He also suggested I get wheeled to the garden later in the day. But I’m supposed to get my blood later on so I think that’s too much for one day. Plus I don’t want to carry my pee bag around with me.  I’ve been eating well. Yogurt and granola, some toast and a warm hard-boiled egg. YUM! This is much different than last time since all I did was sleep the first two days before and had zero appetite for the first 4 days or so. I’ve also been watching TV a lot which I didn’t do last time.

I started my blood around 4pm and she told me it was going to take 4 hours since it was whole blood and not just the rbc’s. She gave me heat packs to put on my hands to help the veins open so the blood could go smoothly, boy that burned! But I had more life to me after that!

Mom, Kevin and my brother went to dinner at Bertucci’s (since it’s the only restaurant close to the hospital) and stopped back afterward to bring my wheelchair and crutches in case they were late in the morning.

I’m getting SO full and bloated I feel gross. Nothing appeals to me, I just want to go to the bathroom! So during the day they ended up turning the epi completely off and around 11pm Pain Management came and removed my epidural. WOOHOO another wire, GONE!

However, today I got my period!! It always happens after surgery. But this time I was prepared! Surprisingly though, the meds were not helping with my cramps at all!

Out of bed!

Saturday, June 4, 2011 Day 1

So I slept OK. I fell asleep after my family left last night but woke up around 10:30pm and was WIDE awake. I talked to Kevin on the phone and was texting my Mom. I also had the TV on. This certainly did not happen last time, I didn’t know what to do! Hha

Two of Millis’s “assistants” or “fellows” came in today and didn’t know their ass from their elbow. One of them, Omar I think, was freaking out because only one of my legs was numb and not both. I told him that happened last time and I spoke to the anesthesiologist about it. He said ok..but came back later to freak out some more! I said it’s fine. Haha The next morning he asked “you don’t have a catheter right” umm, are you stupid? You do realize my epidural is in right? How do you think I’m going to get to the bathroom? So the other guy, I think his name was William, was telling me later than day they would start my oral meds, remove the catheter and get me out of bed the next day. OK, so I know medicine is constantly changing, but in 5 months it changed this much? Doubt it. I asked my nurse and she said no, it’s usually still Day 3. Stupid guys.

Mom and Dad came around 10am and Mom fed me some pudding, it sounded SO good to me all night. Millis came in about noon while Kevin was taking a shower. I also ate some ice cream with graham crackers, MMM! Tasty.

I am both tired and bored. The TV is on but nothing to watch and no one is really talking to me. I have to wear the white medical stockings that help with clots (didn’t have those last time!!!) I also had the “air pants” as my brother calls them that expand and contract to keep my blood moving.  They feel ok for a little while then I can’t wait to get them off and have someone scratch my legs.

Mike came around 5 and they all headed to dinner and came back after to say goodnight and watched the Bruins game for a while. They left around 9pm and I had peace and quiet.  I woke up often…around 11pm and again at 1:30am and in that time frame, two flower arrangements showed up in my room. I was too lazy to ask anyone to reach me the card so I left them until my family came the next day.

This surgery has already been so much different and even better than the last one, and the last one was amazing!!  I’m alert, have color, watching tv, have an appetite….just so much different than the first surgery! I can’t believe it. I’ve also had no fevers the entire time which was a huge annoyance last time.

Friday, June 3, 2011, D-DAY!

I had to be at the hospital for 6am. I woke up around 5am and left around 5:30am. I was feeling fine. Kevin kept rubbing my back, but I said stop accusing me of something before I do anything wrong! Like, don’t calm me down if I’m not worried! Haha. We got the hospital and I got my wrist band and did the questionnaire, also peed in a cup so they can do the pregnancy test, which they do for any female over 12 yrs old.

They took a bunch of us up to pre-admitting..or whatever it’s called and you lay there until anesthesia and the Dr come to see you. They started one line of IV into my hand which took a while, that hurt. Dr. Eduardo also wrote on my legs 1 and 2 so they knew which was the PAO and which was the screw removal. They wheeled me off, got into the freezing cold OR where they washed me for my epidural which seemed to take them forever to insert! I didn’t feel a thing! I switched beds and don’t remember laying back down. When I woke up it looked like it was before 2pm, I think I was having a dream and I thought, did they even start yet??? I was in recovery!  They had to call my family twice and they came in to sit with me. I was shaking a LOT! I asked what my epi was on, she said 10ml/hour I asked if she could drop it to 8 (this is what I had last time and it worked great, plus my foot was going numb). She called pain management and they OKd it. I started to have some dry heaves, but that was the end of that. The antibiotics did that to me a couple days over the next couple days, but after I had some food it was fine.

Kevin and Mike left for a beer festival, so Mom and Dad were in control of me!  It took me a while before I got to my room around 4pm, a single room!! Mom and Dad left around 8 as I felt fine and didn’t want them to feel like they HAD to stay. I fell asleep, but ended up chatting with Kevin (drunk!) and Mom around 11pm. So far I feel great! Also, I only had one fever that was 100.8! YAY!

Here I am in recovery looking beautiful:

Thursday, June 2, 2011 Surgery-eve

Got into Waltham around 4:30pm to meet up with Mom and Dad. Mike picked a restaurant for us in Boston so we jumped on the T and headed towards Copley, about 40 minutes, but not bad! We ate at City Table at the Lennox hotel. I wanted to eat light as heavy food with cause nausea after surgery.  We ate, hopped the T back to Waltham and went to bed soon after,  5am comes quickly! I slept fine, no problems with that like last time, and no cramps to deal with. The morning comes all too soon!

Monday, May 30, 2011 - Almost 5 months

Well I'm 4 days away from my LPAO and I can't wait. I DO have mixed emotions, but just so incredibly ready to get it over and have everything behind me. I can't believe how far I've come...especially based on how low I was early on after the right PAO.

I really don't have much to update, just that I can't wait for Friday to come and go and hope Day 3 flies by. Looking back to the other post-op I was so miserable for about two weeks but based on how fast I snapped back it wasn't that bad when I look back. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is going to a wedding a few days after surgery and not being in my own house....but whatever.

Here are a few pictures of what my incision looks like before it gets cut open again! It's looking pretty great...for now.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - 4 Months and a few days

I had my pre-op/post-op yesterday. Yes I received funny looks from the staff at the hospital about that one. Post-op on my RPAO and pre-op for my left. Sheesh, people would say I was crazy....but I'm not.

The day was VERY long though. So many obstacles and what not. But when I finally got to see Millis (2 1/2 hours after my appointment time) it was all good. Actually I had seen him earlier when he was holding my leg for xrays. But Erin and Jaime came in and did most of my appointment. Doing my range of motion and what not and they were impressed with the ROM on both legs. So that's pretty cool. I was the most flexible of the day (except for the little down syndrome girl!), YES! I asked a few questions, she said the screws may be causing some of the odd aches and pains I've been having so once they are out I will get a better feel for what's going on in there. I feel like a pro at this. I only went through it 4 months ago! It's still fresh in my mind. Millis came in and also moved my legs around and almost broke off my left one! He was flipping it all around and I'm like OW! Then he goes "oh did that hurt" uhh yeah actually it did. But I said it's OK since I'm getting a new one, so break away! He again said he's going to cut a bit more and rotate it more than the right since the right one isn't as covered as he had wished but he wasn't sure while he's doing it.

Then I met with Jaime in PT and she had me walk with the crutches again. It's tough to get it into my head to switch legs. I'm used to the one leg but now I have to focus on the other one. Obviously it'll be easier after surgery because there's only one way I'm going to able to walk. But she was also telling me what to expect on the right hip after the screws are removed. It will be sore, but the three days in bed will help with that. There will be not weight restrictions so I can stand on it full weight right out of bed. Then I will officially be done with my right hip! Amazing if you ask me. She also works Monday and Tuesdays so she might be the one getting me out of bed on day 3! I apologized in advance for my mood on that day! That was pretty much the ONLY time I felt pain. Just a few tears but I got through it. Dread that day for sure!

So that's all I got....may not update again until after surgery so wish me luck!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 4 Months

So...sorry for the HUGE break in updates but things have been pretty crazy since my last update.

The hip has been pretty good. I have since started back at the gym...a few days a week. I want to get in decent shape until my next surgery so my recovery can be quick and I will have more strength. So that has gone well. I do the stationary bike for 20-30 minutes with 5-10 resistance level. What a boring exercise is all I have to say. After that I try to do 10 minutes on the Elliptical, but my stamina definitely isn't back to where it was pre-op so I'm huffing and puffing by the end of that. I have also been trying to keep up with my hip exercises Jaime gave me at my last post-op appointment. My right hip is MUCH stronger than my bad one which I think is awesome. So I hope for the same in my left one after surgery. After I do those exercises, my love handle area is very sore. From what I hear, this is where the hip muscles attach and since we compensate for the pain, these muscles don't work properly, so now they have a big learning curve. So it is sore sometimes, but now I know it is a good sore.

My lower abdomen is still fairly numb, the scar is looking great. I will post pics eventually.

Ummm, indian style sitting is fine. I can get a full stride in and it doesn't really feel tight anymore. Sometimes when I stand up from sitting for a while I'm a little sore (similar to the pre-op feeling) and sometimes it feels as though the joint is stuck and needs to get back into position. I am hoping some of this is due to the screws so I won't know for sure until those get removed. I know full recovery is about a year and I'm not even halfway there yet so there is still a lot of healing left so I can't get too worried about the feelings yet.

So...just need a place for my mini rant...haven't been on here lately due to many reasons, but one would be the passing of my Grandma one week ago yesterday. She loved reading my blog and said it was the best novel she's ever read...and she has read practically every book out there! But at 95 years old, that terrible 6-letter word got her for good. The last week has been very difficult for me and doesn't seem to be getting any easier. For her, I will keep up with my blog because I know how proud of me she was.

On a lighter note, Tuesday is my pre-op for the other dumb hip and then another couple weeks and I'm under the knife again. Did I mention we're going to a wedding a couple days after I get discharged from the hospital. Assuming all goes well, we'll go from the hospital right to Cape Cod. If I'm not feeling up to it then I can always go home with my Parents for a few days. So it's going to be a hectic time.

So, that's all I have for now. Will probably update after my pre-op appointment when I get more news.