Making Time for the Pain

It's six days after surgery - hard to believe on so many fronts. Despite my reports of gimp-sprints in the driveway and impressing the physical therapist with my crutch work, I have to say I'm not doing as well as I'd hoped to be doing at this point. In pure point of fact, I'm miserable.

I probably haven't written as much about pain as I should have. Heading into this experience, it was really the thing I feared least. I have plenty of pain experience, not just with a bad hip, but with some pretty awful stuff several years ago. So the pain-part didn't really frighten me going in... and that's probably why I haven't said more about it in this blog.

This thing hurts - a lot - and always. More than I would have expected it to still be hurting at this point. I have meds, for sure, and I take them almost on schedule - but narcotics have their own downside, like GI problems, so it's not a first-class ticket to pain relief by any means.

I doubt anyone goes into something like this not expecting it to hurt. But I'm not sure if I really had my mind around how much it would hurt - and what a downright hassle it would be trying to hold the pain at bay.

Last night was not as good as the night before and I was a little grumpy this morning. I tried lots of ice packs last night, mostly on the operative leg where there's still plenty of swelling. I got a good deal of sleep, considering, but I was up and down many times, changing ice packs, going to the bathroom, trying to get comfortable.

The message I'd want to convey is this: Don't kid yourself. Even with the contemporary surgical techniques and low-impact anesthesia, this is a really big deal. I watched the videos of the happy patients several months post-op and I read the few blogs I could find, but those were only a line or two every few days. I may have not fully been prepared for just how much this would hurt - how much it would upset all my body systems. An hour ago I was freezing cold, yet dripping sweat. Now I'm warm and toasty. Go figure. And the pain marches on.

No regrets, but a big bite of the reality sandwich. Maybe it's a few days overdue!