Well, the past week has seen some serious changes in my life. And I'd have to say, at Day 8 post-surgery, I've made some significant progress, passed some high hurdles, and still deal with some major obstacles.
Looking back, I was very apprehensive the day of surgery. I didn't miss a workout (of some sort) for quite some time, and the prospect of being in pain, on drugs, tethered to my house, and unable to exercise had me very apprehensive.
The surgical prep and holding area is now a blur to me (probably for the best). I arrived with a bit of a cold, which had the surgical team more than a little concerned. But after a check-up (minor fever and sniffles) I was cleared to go (secretly I was hoping they would send me home).
I don't remember how I got from the prep area to the surgery room, but it had some nice rock-n-roll in the background, a nasty smell, and was a buzz of activity. My lower back was shaved for the spinal block, I was given a sedative to "relax". I was asked to roll on my side, and... found myself waking up in the recovery room.
The first hours were deceptively mild -- spinal block will do that -- but I was lashed to the abductor pillow (an evil device), catheter installed (glad I slept through that), and wound-drain, well... draining. I recall the doctor in the recovery room telling me I looked "pretty good" and jokingly I told him, "Sorry buddy, I'm married."
I was wheeled into my hospital room, where I was surrounded by extensive care, crappy television options, and a wonderful device to push for pain relief. I didn't eat that much that day, some fruit, lots of water and soda. All in all, I was too drugged to really appreciate my situation.
The next day, however, started to really drill into me what had just been done to my body. The catheter was removed, the pain meds were now pills -- and no longer "on demand", and my inherent desire to "get moving" was simply not going to happen. At one point, I couldn't wait for more pills, so was given a low dose of pain medication, which seriously messed with me. I was made to walk from the bed to my chair -- I really couldn’t believe how much that hurt and how hard it was to accomplish, but there you go.
I spent much of the rest of the day in 'the chair'. My PSP game system was just too cumbersome to deal with, so I watched the Weather Channel and Cartoon Network.
Post-op day 2 started to get a little brighter. The wound-drain was removed and I got clean dressing (finally saw the 24 staples -- ick). I went to physical therapy for the first time, and managed to get around on two crutches... did the stairs, and had some limited mobility.
Day 3 post-op (my "go home" day) was even a little easier, and I was anxious to get back to my own bed. PT had me try one crutch (a much nicer option). The wheelchair ride to the car was not too bad, and I made it home in good order.
Fast forward... it's now Day 8. I started the morning with a short walk down the block (one crutch), though had a rough night... my muscles were arguing with me, but I didn't take anything other than Tylenol PM (probably a mistake). I'm going to switch from Percocet to Vicodin to sleep tonight, and I'm taking some Advil for pain during the day (not much 2, 400 mg doses).
I'll be logging in to my office's email shortly to do a little work, and it'll be my first quite day at home alone.
