Boxmaker1917
junior member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2021
- Messages
- 47
- Age
- 74
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Female
Hi, everyone! I apologize for a disjointed message but it's past my bedtime (which seems to be every two hours). I had my RTHR on Monday, 12/13. I will ask the moderators if you could move or allow me to start a post-op thread under my name, i.e., Boxmaker's RTHR. For the present, there are some things I wish I had been prepared for prior to surgery.
This was my first major surgery and I was focused on getting the surgery (are my pre-op results in? did my Covid test come out ok? Chest xray? [needed CAT scan - huh?) EKG "ok but not great" - again, huh?). I didn't actually think much about the surgery itself. It was major -- surprise!!
The surgeon did a great job, my scar is teeny (and glued), the hospital was wonderful - I don't think I could have asked for better. What I was not prepared for: I was in recovery for about two hours longer than expected as I could not move my legs or toes. The anesthesia made me totally incontinent. I would pee, hobble back to bed and lay down, and immediately have to pee again. They tried an external, vacuum catheter which sorta' worked but they had to change the pad under me frequently. Of course, I was not the only patient on the floor and staff could rarely make it to my bed "in time." I was released on Tuesday and my husband brought adult diapers. I find them uncomfortable, but what a life saver.
Shoes: I was concerned about new, unworn out shoes that didn't need tying. We found rubber bands that go across the top of sneaker but not super comfortable and still a pain in the butt (like I need another one?) to get on. I was afraid the curly elastics would not my foot tight enough but would go that direction for the next time.) I ended up wearing the hospital sock (too big, kept sliding down and bugged me) home, including walking in puddles. Tossed them immediately but still better than the discomfort of shoes. (Apparently your leg and feet swell a bit after surgery. I seemed to have missed that part, too.) BTW, have not gone outside and go barefoot inside our condo.
Nausea: A couple of brief spells at home, due to anesthesia. Wish I'd known and had some saltines.
Constipation: I knew this was coming post-op. I started a stool softener on Friday preceding surgery. I've never used one because I ate bran cereal every morning. On Saturday, I switched to a low residue diet. I had very little problem thus far with constipation thus far and had a normal movement yesterday. My current diet is "does it sound appealing" and not very healthy. I will try to get back to a healthier diet tomorrow, but happy that I've been able to eat at "normal" times. I was luck and had spinal not epidural which I think is easier on one's body. However, if I ever have surgery again, I'm doing the Miralax + low residue diet again.
I went to the gym and did what I could until Dec 1. Everything still hurts but I can do all of the at-home PT exercises ONLY because I did similar kinds of things at the gym. I currently walk like an old lady but my walker is too high for me (about 5", according to the PT and big diff in leg length - my upcoming question for post-op side).
Sleep is still elusive. We have a Stressless recliner - great for most things, but wish we had the "old fashioned" push a lever type. Best sleep I've had is a couple of hours in the afternoon in the recliner.
My daughter mentioned that opioids and percoset did not play well with her. I went with that, although of course, every one is different. I tried 2.5 mg of oxycodone one day and 5 mg one night. I felt horrible the next day and for me, it didn't dull the pain enough to make it worthwhile. I have tried 12.5 mg of tramadol before. I took one last night and felt icky enough today that I spent a lot of time this morning crying. Fortunately, I started celecoxib two weeks before surgery. It doesn't even start to kick in until the second week but I could take it up to the day of surgery. I started that again yesterday and it has worked well post-op, too. Right now I take that and 1000 mg of tylenol 2x a day. I took the tylenol pre-op too and wasn't convinced it did much, but it does seem to take the edge off post-op. I would do the same combo pre-op if I had it to do over again.
I wish the rest of you the best of luck. I felt like sh*t the first couple of days but just starting to have longer periods of feeling almost human.
This was my first major surgery and I was focused on getting the surgery (are my pre-op results in? did my Covid test come out ok? Chest xray? [needed CAT scan - huh?) EKG "ok but not great" - again, huh?). I didn't actually think much about the surgery itself. It was major -- surprise!!
The surgeon did a great job, my scar is teeny (and glued), the hospital was wonderful - I don't think I could have asked for better. What I was not prepared for: I was in recovery for about two hours longer than expected as I could not move my legs or toes. The anesthesia made me totally incontinent. I would pee, hobble back to bed and lay down, and immediately have to pee again. They tried an external, vacuum catheter which sorta' worked but they had to change the pad under me frequently. Of course, I was not the only patient on the floor and staff could rarely make it to my bed "in time." I was released on Tuesday and my husband brought adult diapers. I find them uncomfortable, but what a life saver.
Shoes: I was concerned about new, unworn out shoes that didn't need tying. We found rubber bands that go across the top of sneaker but not super comfortable and still a pain in the butt (like I need another one?) to get on. I was afraid the curly elastics would not my foot tight enough but would go that direction for the next time.) I ended up wearing the hospital sock (too big, kept sliding down and bugged me) home, including walking in puddles. Tossed them immediately but still better than the discomfort of shoes. (Apparently your leg and feet swell a bit after surgery. I seemed to have missed that part, too.) BTW, have not gone outside and go barefoot inside our condo.
Nausea: A couple of brief spells at home, due to anesthesia. Wish I'd known and had some saltines.
Constipation: I knew this was coming post-op. I started a stool softener on Friday preceding surgery. I've never used one because I ate bran cereal every morning. On Saturday, I switched to a low residue diet. I had very little problem thus far with constipation thus far and had a normal movement yesterday. My current diet is "does it sound appealing" and not very healthy. I will try to get back to a healthier diet tomorrow, but happy that I've been able to eat at "normal" times. I was luck and had spinal not epidural which I think is easier on one's body. However, if I ever have surgery again, I'm doing the Miralax + low residue diet again.
I went to the gym and did what I could until Dec 1. Everything still hurts but I can do all of the at-home PT exercises ONLY because I did similar kinds of things at the gym. I currently walk like an old lady but my walker is too high for me (about 5", according to the PT and big diff in leg length - my upcoming question for post-op side).
Sleep is still elusive. We have a Stressless recliner - great for most things, but wish we had the "old fashioned" push a lever type. Best sleep I've had is a couple of hours in the afternoon in the recliner.
My daughter mentioned that opioids and percoset did not play well with her. I went with that, although of course, every one is different. I tried 2.5 mg of oxycodone one day and 5 mg one night. I felt horrible the next day and for me, it didn't dull the pain enough to make it worthwhile. I have tried 12.5 mg of tramadol before. I took one last night and felt icky enough today that I spent a lot of time this morning crying. Fortunately, I started celecoxib two weeks before surgery. It doesn't even start to kick in until the second week but I could take it up to the day of surgery. I started that again yesterday and it has worked well post-op, too. Right now I take that and 1000 mg of tylenol 2x a day. I took the tylenol pre-op too and wasn't convinced it did much, but it does seem to take the edge off post-op. I would do the same combo pre-op if I had it to do over again.
I wish the rest of you the best of luck. I felt like sh*t the first couple of days but just starting to have longer periods of feeling almost human.