Day Nine Update: Adios, Staples!

The home health care nurse came and removed those nasty staples just before noon today. I am a happy camper! I think it's probably a sign of progress that they were bothering me so much. Certainly for the first several days after the surgery, staples were the last thing on my mind. I hope that makes sense.

Shortly after that visit, the Physical Therapist came by for session #3. We did the various exercises, again reviewed the range of motion restrictions, and practiced getting in and out of the car for upcoming doctor visits or lab tests. Unfortunately, the practice was getting in and out of the passenger seat. I think it'll be a while before I'm driving again!

This is a great place to introduce another of those things to think about heading into any surgery like this: Paperwork. There's been a ton of it. I was able to manage all the paperwork, forms, and pre-op testing, etc., required before surgery - but since then I've needed help. And by "help" I mean "someone else to do it." I would suggest anyone facing this procedure plan that same way... manage your paperwork yourself before the operation, but have a paperwork buddy lined up for afterward. Between follow-up blood tests (to adjust meds to prevent clotting), physical therapy, insurance co-pays, prescription refills, home nurse visits, discharge paperwork, and other things I'm sure I'm leaving out, you really need someone to act as your case manager for a few weeks beginning immediately after surgery. Fortunately, Hettie is super-organized. Because she's a school teacher and we scheduled my procedure for the beginning of summer vacation, she's also very available. And she's good at this stuff. Between my pain, the pain medicine, and just my overall ability to make much sense of anything these days, there's no way I could keep everything straight. I'm sure I'm making syntax errors in this blog. Spell check and find some things, but I'm sure some mistakes are slipping through. That's OK for a narrative online - not OK for managing your anti-clotting medication.

Write down everything... even what time you take your medicine, take your temperature, have a physical therapy appointment, whatever. When someone calls with a lab result and instructions for adjusting your meds, write it down immediately - even before they get off the phone. This isn't stuff you want to get wrong. At best, it can cost you money; at worst, it can cost your well-being.

Who's going to be your case-manager? Trust me, you'll need one!

Day Nine: I Hate These Staples

(Can you make out the rainbow in this picture? I snapped it from my hospital room the evening after my surgery, using my cell phone camera).

Thursday morning, June 19, 2008. I came home from the hospital one week ago today. Everything wrong in the world can be traced to the staples in my surgery incision. I hate them. When did we go from stitches to staples? Why wasn't I told? But I'm getting ahead of myself...

I think yesterday was the day my overall well-being took a turn in the right direction. My hip area still hurts a bunch, but overall I'm feeling more like myself. Most of the day was fever-free and my insides no longer feel like a churning cauldron. I did start to fever-up last night around 10:00 - about the same time the pain really cranked up a couple of notches - but most of the day I was able to dial back the ice and Tylenol. I think (and hope) that represents a turning point.

I needed ice and one of the biggest doses of oral pain meds yet to get comfortable enough to sleep... but on the heels of a pretty decent day, I think that's a fair price to pay. Sleeping on my back is a challenge - I never sleep on my back - but right now it's the only option. I believe the fact that I can gripe about such a thing is probably a good sign. I'm no longer feeling like I'm in some kind of tug-of-war with a constant state of fever and yuck... so I can find time to complain about things like my sleep posture. And the staples.

I'm scheduled to have them removed Monday, but I don't think I can last that long. It feels as if my muscle and skin tissue have become impaled on these metal barbs and once they're removed my entire left leg can let out a big sigh of relief. I want that to happen. Soon. We'll see. I really can't imagine waiting until Monday. If I can make it through 'til tomorrow, maybe I'll look into taking them out or having them removed.

So, take all that as a good report. I am complaining about something small. This time last week I was still in the hospital, trying to charm the nurse into removing my I.V. Now I'm home, able to pet my dogs, eat home cooking, use a remote control that actually works. Big-picture, things are looking up. It's been a miserable, awful week, but I believe I'm entering the next phase - and I can't wait.

Oh, on the list of things I wasn't prepared for: My left knee (same side as the hip) has been hurting like crazy since I got home. It's been hurting even more than the hip did before surgery, if that makes sense. I started to wonder if it got damaged during surgery - which does include a lot of pretty intense mechanical forces - or if I somehow hurt it getting in and out of bed. Last night, the knee pain reached an all-time high. I had been sleeping with a pillow under my knees, trying to keep some pressure off my hip. I don't know if that was a good idea or not - it certainly seemed to help in the early hours after the procedure. But I took the pillow away last night, trying to alleviate the knee pain, and I do think it helped. This morning the knee is just achy - a big improvement.