ah, home sweet home. Felt like I was getting a cold this morning but don't feel that way now--allergic to the rehab facility??? Feeling very achy all over--have been up and walking a bit more and all my muscles, ligaments, tendons are readjusting I think. Although it's sweet to be home, I'm not finding either the couch or the rental chair to be the perfect place to lounge. Couch is a bit soft, chair is firmer but my feet dangle and there's a prominent lumbar support. Might just be that I'm tired and cranky and a bit achy and all will be better in the a.m. A friend is coming by soon with some food. I'll eat a bit, and crawl into bed early.
But I'm not going to complain about any of this because I'm home! Cat doesn't know what to do. She jumped up and I protected my op leg--still lots of places for her to curl up but she wanted that leg!
So here's a quick synopsis of events so far:
10/26 evening--went to hospital to check in--was there for the evening as a "hotel" guest. Took my anti bacterial shower, got into bed, and read. Couldn't fall asleep knowing I'd be wakened at midnight, when I became a patient, for IV placement, etc. Anxious but keeping it under control.
10/27--Midnight IV placement--had a hard time getting things placed in my apparently small veins. In general lots of in and out and things being done for a couple of hours. Got a few hours sleep before being wakened at 5:30. Hurry up and wait for transport to pre-op area at around 7:30. Anxiety really spiking at that point and feeling chilled. Warm blankets, heat hat both helped. Chatty nurse tried to engage me in conversation--appreciated the effort but had a hard time responding (try to think of a favorite book under those circumstances!). Arrogant anesthetist not really listening to my concerns about general anesthesia (mostly the fact that I have TMJ and they insert a breathing tube). OS signed the leg and briefly chatted. Gave me some Versed which worked its charms, inserted an epidural for pain control later, into the OR, scoot onto the table and out. Direct Superior approach done--took about 1.5 hours. Closed with glue, have a waterproof dressing on. No TEDs.
I hate the feeling of coming out of general anesthesia--the recovery room experience has a sort of nightmarish feel in retrospect even though everyone was kind but I was just so out of it.
Taken back to my room, 2 friends waiting, which was nice even though I could barely acknowledge them. They didn't linger. The rest of 10/27 is a blur.
10/28-10/30--in the hospital feeling markedly better each day in spite of needing bladder ultrasounds every time I peed for the first couple of days to see if I'd emptied my bladder--had not emptied sufficiently so got catheterized for about 12 hours (epidurals shut down the bladder I guess). Had a couple of mini meltdowns b/c I was so frustrated at not being able to move around on my own (can understand the thinking but man it's trying to have to ring for help every time you want to go pee or move from the chair back to the bed). Had dilaudid 2 mg for pain control once the epidural was removed--took it a few times but pain was relatively minimal. Stayed to Sunday to satisfy the Medicare 3 night requirement for rehab but really felt ready to leave on Saturday.
10/30-11/2--in a rehab place near where I live. I was not a patient rehab resident. Not sure it was really indicated but as Krista said earlier, better to go and think I didn't need it than to not go and struggle. Lots of notes in previous posts about my rehab experience.
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