Well, the measurements turned up. Seems that, instead of handing the chart in to the pharmacist as I asked her to, the nurse just handed them to the surgery receptionist, who, not knowing what should have been done with it, just filed it away in my notes! I shall be pursuing this.
I also thought I'd post a synopsis of my recovery as there were some things I think I missed out. So here goes:
Jan 7: had no less than three blocks!
- a spinal which was a bit testing as the doctor couldn't get in and kept calling for a longer needle! Once she got it, she was in and done very quickly.
- a femoral block
- a popliteal block (they called it something else but I've forgotten what!) which consisted of injecting a quantity of lidocaine (or something) in and around th4 back of the joint
The surgery went fine, I was very comfortable after with the blocks though my blood sugar took a nose dive to 5.4 in recovery. The nurse went and asked the anaesthetist about it but he said it was okay. By the time she came back I was feeling decidedly unwell. I explained to her that 5.4 was very low for me and I was having a hypo. She got me some disgusting glucose gel and squirted it in my mouth. It was effective but when she asked me if I felt better, I told her I'd much sooner have had a Mars bar!
Jan 8: was okay, comfortable. Given oxycontin and oromoprh. Didn't like them, made me feel :rolleyes:
Jan 9: physio came and check my
ROM which was about 90. Then she got me up to walk but fem block still working a bit so had to be careful to take the weight on the walker instead of the leg. Of course there had to be a moment when I forgot and ended up almost on the floor! I think the shock must have been too much as when I got back to bed, I was horribly sick over everywhere!
Jan 9: was supposed to go home but owing to my living on my own, was kept in an extra night.
Jan 10: went home, slept on recliner settee as planned. Neighbour was unexpectedly helpful which was nice.
Jan 11: carer came and saw me up the stairs where I had an absolutely wonderful shower in my new walk-in shower! Worth every penny!
Jan 13: nurse came and change the dressing
Week 2
Jan 15: NOT a happy bunny. Leg was as hard as a rock and I ached from the hip right down to mid-calf. GP came to visit and declared I have cellulitis. Actually in two sites, one at the side of the knee and another at the ankle. So was back on antibiotics and feeling grotty again! GP ordered some custom made compression stockings as the ones I had worn in the hospital were no longer big enough!
Jan 17: dispensed with the carers as I can manage stairs and shower on my own
Jan 21: staples out. I was relieved to find that the nurse
really knew how to remove them and I had not one nip or pinch while she did!
Jan 27: had two nurses come and do a Doppler test for the compression stockings but they wouldn't measure me for them.
Jan 29: Had to go to hospital for a 'review'. My first outing and I drove! My neighbour came with me, bless her. The person doing the review turned out to be a a nurse practitioner I knew quite well but that didn't stop her complaining that I wasn't wearing my TED stockings!
Week 4
Feb 5: a nurse turned up unannounced to measure me for stockings. But she had no form and didn't really know what it was all about. Luckily I did have a form but I had to explain to her how she used it and then that she needed to hand it in to the surgery pharmacist as he had the prescription and was waiting for the measurements.
Feb 6: been having a lot of pain up and down the back of my leg so made a trip to dear old Greg, my chiropractor. He worked wonders on those muscles as they were really, really tight. Arranged to go back again next Friday. Approved of my 'no exercise' plan!
Week 6
Feb 18, 19th, 20th: bought a new settee, had hair done and saw chiro again!
Am now taking no pain killers and
ROM is about 120!
Feb 27: have a horrible burning on the outer side of my scar. Saw my GP who immediately declared it to be nerve pain and put me on gabapentin. We also discussed the slight possibility of infection so I decided to phone the hospital and see if I could get seen ASAP. As it happened, I spoke with a secretary who told my my surgeon was on leave but his colleague who was then in theatre, had a clinic that afternoon and she would speak to him and see if her would squeeze me in! She called back a couple of hours later and said could I be there by 2pm - giving me about 15 minutes to get dressed and drive to the hospital! As it happened, I was seen by my surgeon's registrar which was fine by me but he affirmed there was no infection.
March 3: had to start taking pain meds again but infrequently as my knee is aching and doesn't like doing stairs sequentially. Obviously I've been pushing it a bit! But it has to be said,
I now have a ROM of 125/0 and this with doing absolutely NO exercising at all! I kid you not - not a single heel slide or anything else. I think I shall write a paper!
March 10: saw GP because the neuropathy appears not to be being held by the 100mg gabapentin and he increased it to 300mgs twice daily which worked very well. Also appears I have a low grade thrombophlebitis in my left ankle which is causing a sensitive area around the leg. Apparently no treatment required but the compression stocking.
Coincidentally, I had to call in to the pharmacy for something and was told that they are still waiting for the measurements that were taken on Feb 5th. Turned out she hadn't given them to the pharmacy as requested but given them to the surgery receptionist who simply filed it in my notes! Took me another week of telephone calls and inquiries to discover this.
March 20: maybe now might be a time to start titrating off the gabapentin so asked GP for some 100mg ones so I can play around with the doses. Dunno - it's still a bit sensitive but worth a try.
Have an appointment with surgeon on 31st and start back to work on April 1st. Only working one day that week so that's okay. So far so good!
United Kingdom
NOOOOOO! Not that this hasn't been rolling around in the back of my brain but being told it is a whole other thing! However, he also said I was on a very small dose of gabapentin and it should be increased weekly until it took effect. He also said I should consider going to a pain clinic as well. Hmmm knowing our pain clinics, you can wait 3-4 months for an appointment! But I shall hold it in consideration. This is the third time I've used this website (once to speak to a vet!) and have always had excellent advice and information.
- so maybe that took my mind off things a bit. I just know that when I got home, I unloaded the car, put the stuff away and had a bit of lunch and that's when it hit me. Usually that's when the fatigue hit me but this time it didn't! I was very bright and still had energy to spare. Can you believe it? Yesterday I was like bleah and today I can take on the world!
