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Revision THR Complex surgery with revisions, infection, sepsis, and more…

HELLO MY DEAR FRIENDS!!!
Well, for starters....since I've been home I get tired easily! Like Jamie said once....I can only do one thing a day! As eager as I am to jump back into my old life I seem to need to take a lot of naps in the process, lol! They did a blood draw last Monday to see how my infection is doing and decided to up the dosage a bit for the 2nd week. I asked what I can do to help it along and they said it wasn't that big a deal right now but to be sure and drink plenty of water.

I have been quite busy seeing my PCP, the infusion people and yesterday I saw my ortho....the one I've had a love/hate relationship for the entire 2022. Lol.
He saw me limping bad but I assured him my hip is great, it's the opposite knee that is now trashed. He then asked if I'd like him to drain it and give me a cortisone shot, which is what I was getting to help me till I retired. Oh heck yeah, drain away! The amount of fluid that came out of me knee was unbelievable! It looks like a knee again and feels so much better. Rest assured, I'm still gonna take it easy.

After barely being able to drag myself around for an entire year and then spending almost a month in the hospital I have to build my stamina back up again. But mentally I am so ready to live again! I stocked up on some kefir, yogurt and trying to understand the whole business of probiotics and finding the best way to rebuild my microbiome and strengthen my immune system.

Right now my dilemma is getting back into BoneSmart with my laptop, lol.
Please cross your fingers that when they draw blood next week my levels are good and I can get off the IV and start oral antibiotics.

Oh yeah....they were giving me so many different blood pressure meds in rehab trying to bring in down and I kept saying LET ME GO HOME, THAT'LL DO IT!! I was home a few days my Pcp took it again. It was near perfect. :yes!:
 
Hi, @danelady ! Good to have you back among us. No need to apologize for fatigue and laptop problems. Just rest and get strong again.

I had the same thing happen with my blood pressure. It shot sky high when I was bedfast with level 9-10 pain for three months. They wanted to put me on bp meds, and I said, "Let's get this bad hip out and stop the preop pain first." The bad hip is yanked out, I go home, rest, ice and elevate, and my BP goes back down to its healthy level almost immediately.

Resting at home: miracle cure. Glad you're home and feeling better! :loveshwr:
 
Thanks for updating, danelady. I am happy that you're taking the time to get the restorative rest you need to heal properly and get back to life. We're here when you need us and it was nice to hear from you!
@danelady
 
@danelady so happy that you're back home and you're resting and taking it slow and easy. Nap all you need to, we do our best healing when we're sleeping, plus it helps get our stamina back up. Please keep us posted, we're all here cheering you on. Giant cyber hugs! :friends:
 
@danelady .... I'm glad to hear you are working on restoring balance to your gut bacteria. Using antibiotics of any kind, but especially the stronger, wide spectrum ones, can wreak havoc on your good bacteria as well as the bad ones. There is also a capsule that is very good....it's called Florajen and it must be refrigerated to keep the little critters alive. I have used it when I took antibiotics and think it did help with my digestion.

I really like your new outlook on life. You're so correct that you will have to rebuild your stamina. A good guide is to expect it to take 10 days for every 1 day you were down and out. It takes so much longer to restore it than it does to lose it! Be kind to yourself.....you've been through a lot!
 
@Jamie Thank you for mentioning Florajen, there are so many probiotics out there it's overwhelming! I just did a search and found only 1 Walgreens that has it in stock and it's pretty close to where I go for my blood draw on Monday so I might try there. I see Amazon has it but I'm a little concerned since it has to be kept refridgerated and I know how quickly things can happen in trucks, lol.

You were also right (you are right about everything, lol) that just the act of driving to my appointments is exhausting....it's a 75 to 100 mile trip. Shew!.

Thank you ALL! I am ecstatic because I am in the process of once again becoming the strong, independent woman I once was.

The other day my baby faced surgeon told me I am 'one tough broad'. I said 'thank you....and don't ever mistake gray hair and a woman's age as an indication of how much strength she has and how hard she is willing to fight to regain her independence. :yahoo:
 
How are you handling that drive, danelady? It's obviously over an hour each way, then walking from your parking spot into the office and back out again. I can only imagine how exhausting it must be.

I really struggled for the first several months in the cramped confines of my vehicle with the inability to stretch much and experiencing the posterior approach I was uncomfortable with even the slightest contact of the seat belt buckle near my incision. I started placing a frozen gel pack under the belt buckle which helped, if only to serve as a distraction. But 35-40 minutes was my limit, after that I felt like a caged animal and had to get out! Don't know how you're doing it?

Hopefully your Walgreens has a drive-thru like my local store does. If it does, consider calling ahead of time to order, tell them you're currently recovering from a hip surgery and see if you can pick it up at the drive through.
I hope today is a good one!
@danelady
 
@Layla Oh yeah, I love the drive up window on my local Walgreens....well, it's not local, it's the closest, lol. The line inside the store is always so long, I could never stand that long!

As for the ride in, my last few surgeries haven't been that complicated, the last 2 were for just trying to clean out the infection (which almost killed me, lol.) I'm so glad I have a full size pickup, after driving the 18wheeler for so long there was no way I could safely drive a little car, lol. In the pickup I can move around from side to side, it's pretty comfortable, yes, it's a gas hog but when this is all said and done I ain't goin' no where except down by the river to see the birds, lol.
 
Layla's suggestion about ordering the probiotic ahead of time was a good one. Just sitting in the car in a Walgreen's drive through beats standing in line any day.

danelady said:
The other day my baby faced surgeon told me I am 'one tough broad'. I said 'thank you....and don't ever mistake gray hair and a woman's age as an indication of how much strength she has and how hard she is willing to fight to regain her independence.
Click to expand...
I loved this story!!! I think that "one tough broad" statement was a wonderful compliment from your younger doctor. However.....your BoneSmart family is going to be here to help you make wise decisions about when to be tough and when to lighten up a bit and rest or allow someone to help you. Sorry, it's in our DNA!!

You can do this, @danelady .... you just have to keep the newly discovered patience you've found. Hang in there!!!
 
@Jamie You guys got me now and I'll be minding my Ps and Qs because I know that you and everyone else will certainly let me know when I'm overstepping my abilities!

When I was coming out of heavy sedation in the ICU after my allergic reaction, my mind convinced me that I had died. Believe me, I NEVER, EVER want to feel that lost and confused again. I'm not afraid of dying but that feeling of being caught in alternate universe with Rod Serling's voice in the background saying 'You have now entered the Twilight Zone' scares me! Lol.
I'll be good, Jamie, cross my heart and hope to...
Well, you know what I mean. :heehee:
 
As my recovery from this hip infection is winding down (hopefully) I just want to show you how my morning went. They were only supposed to draw blood and change the dressing on my PICC but they couldn't get blood to come out. I always set several alarms throughout the day so I wouldn't miss flushing the lines and stuff always went in easy but this morning nothing was coming out, so they decided they wanted to run the Cathflow.

I couldn't watch as they did it but 30 minutes later everything cleared up.
As I was sitting there I asked when they were going to break out a bottle of Pinot and hook it into my line too, lol.

Something wonderful has happened. I could always feel rain coming days before it got here....but I feel absolutely FANTASTIC! No arthritis, no stiffness....I just feel great. Could it be the probiotics, getting my knee drained.....or did the vanco have something to do with it?
I dunno but I feel a few years younger today, lol!
 

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So glad the cashflow worked. It would have been a drag to have to have the PICC replaced. How much longer do you have to have it in?
 
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