Sick People in My Office -- 1 week pre-op.

[nekko]

Good Luck, Kate. Hoping to have good news soon....

[katekosar]

Thank you, everyone, for the wonderful well-wishes.

The surgery went off without a hitch.  Everything was completely uneventful.  There were no rough patches whatsoever.  Everyone at the Cleveland Clinic from the anaesthesiologist to the houskeeper has been very attentive and focused on listening to my needs. 

Initial impressions:

~~ I was surprised in recovery to see that my heart rate was 46 and that my teeth were chattering cold.  They put on a fabulous hot-air blanket with a cutout for the head to warm me up.  Within a few minutes, I was toasty-warm.

~~ They were playing Billy Joel in the O.R., I think.  I *came to* with these lines in my head:  "You may be wrong.  I may be crazy.  But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for."  Henceforth, this shall forevermore be my mantra.   :D

~~ They give you this bright blue thing that looks like a leash for an invisible dog to pull your leg up to your chest.  No restrictions on range of motion.

~~ I am lying here with two thingies gently squeezing my legs and an ace bandage wrapped tightly from my toes to my butt.  It's comforting, like being hugged by a very precise mother. 

~~ Dr. Brooks is my personal hero.  And Phil's running a close second. 


~~ There is no pain.  There is no pain.  There is no pain.  Gracious God, after all this time, there is no pain. 

Thanks again, everyone, for the warm thoughts.

Take care, talk when I'm more lucid.
Kate

[phillwad]

Great to hear

I could never find a way to use the blue nylon foot helper thing without pulling my foot towards my hip - that hurt so I stopped using it

Cheers

[FlbrkMike]

Great news Kate, and congratulations.

This part almost brought tears to my eyes, I think a lot of us can relate:

~~ There is no pain.  There is no pain.  There is no pain.  Gracious God, after all this time, there is no pain. 

[halfdone]

Kongratulations Krazy Kate!  ;D

Enjoy the woozy meds and the squeezy boots and let us know when things are really on the mend - that first post-op BM!  ;)

Best, HD

[jjmclain]

Congrats Kate!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy for you! Welcome to the Club!!! ;D

[bothdone]

Hi Kate

Great to hear your news.   Like Mike, I enjoyed reading your repetition of "no pain".    Good, isn't it!     ;D ;D ;D ;D

Best wishes for your recovery

Ed

[newdog]

Kate,

You are done! You made it through the pre-op gauntlet of "slimy green germs" and are through to the happy side. Enjoy the ride, it's so much better now. I'm really happy for you!

Steve    :) ;D

[ScubaDuck]

Kate-

Well, as they say, "this is the first day of the rest of your life."  Or maybe they say "You've only just begun."  Congratulations!

Thanks for the description too.  I am looking forward to my procedure in August.

Dan

[hernanu]

Awesome, Kate! I remember the squeezy things on the legs were the best thing. It's great that things went well and you have no pain. All good from now on.

[Lori Cee]

Congratulations Kate.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Look forward to hearing about your progress!

Take care :)

[maxi]

yeah  .. no pain .. how good is that ...  ;D ;D ;D ;D :D

biggest congrats kate

Paul

[nekko]

You did it, Kate ! Best wishes for a prompt recovery.

[lori.36]

Kate, this sounds so warm and sweet.  I am so happy for you.  I love billy Joel also, my favorite song and mantra is "My Life", i have been singing it since I was 5.  :)

Thanks I am going to read this post everyday prior to surgery.

[katekosar]

Some thoughts on immediate post-op:

They took out my urinary catheter this morning.  I am afraid that I won't be able to hobble over to the bathroom in time.  I told them about my fear.  They said oh don't worry about it, you'll do fine.  OK then, if I pee all over the bed, it's their fault.   :D

I had a meltdown.  It was a grand and glorious meltdown complete with full-fledged hyperventilation.  My hip muscles decided they wanted to hurt as I was sitting back on the bed.  Really hurt.  Tears just sprang to my eyes.  It lasted maybe five minutes max.  I suspect that I needed to release all that pent-up stuff in any event.  I am okay now.  I realize that you have to stay on top of the pain meds, particularly before Brunhilde comes lumbering over for therapy.  (Brunhilde is about five foot nothing, 98 pounds soaking wet).  How could she possibly hold me up if I went down like the Lusitania?

I am grateful to all of the kind people that are tending to my care.  I'm not at all sure that I will be able to move again, but I will try.  This much I know ... you sure as hell can't go  back.  The only way out of this is forward, one small step at a time  ::)

Talk later,
Kate

[jjmclain]

Hang in there Kate! Each day gets better...remember that all of the small steps forward in progress will make a difference. You will look back on this and like childbirth, forget all of the bad stuff...unless you wrote it down! ::)

[bothdone]

Very best wishes with your recovery, Kate.   As someone said - the longest journey starts with a single step.   You've made lots of steps to get to this point.  Onwards.....

Ed

[hernanu]

Don't worry about the catheter or lack of it. If anything, I had trouble going at all, which, while I didn't have a catheter, they definitely used it as a big stick to prompt me... as in "if you don't go soon, we may put a catheter in..."

I don't think anyone's recovery is linear, we all hit our plateaus and temporary setbacks. It's why it's a good thing to keep in mind the progress you've already made. Keep it up, you are going in the right direction.

[Lori Cee]

Kate,  even before surgery I understood exactly where you were coming from as the thoughts that you posted were very much in sync with where I was pre-op.  It seems post-op we've been through a very similar thought process as well.  No one talks about what happens when the catheter comes out other than the 'she'll be right mate' platitudes that don't really help reassure. (that's the Aussie version :)) but I was freaking out as I'd already had two days when I couldn't weight bear (negative of two at once) and didn't think I'd make it at all let alone in time.  I'm a few weeks past that and I can happily report that I did manage to make it each time and it has gotten progressively easier to get myself there.  I am still working on getting back into bed and need assistance with that, but by that time the period of possible accidents has past and I can wait for assistance.  

I think that the meltdowns are part and parcel with the process.  I don't have the pain to explain mine either.  Once you get the meds under control, I hope that is all you need to get on top of things.  Don't be too hard on yourself though if you find yourself having mini-meltdowns every now and then as you are working through the recovery process.  I do wonder if the process is more difficult for fiercely independent people (I'd be more likely to say having slight control freak tendencies if I just referring to myself and since I don't know you well enough, I won't use this description) as at this point in time we are reliant on other people to help us do simple things like get to the bathroom in time or in my case get my damned feet back into bed.  

I got told that some of my meltdowns in the first week were assisted along to the weakness/exhaustion that I felt due to low haemoglobin and a couple of units of blood helped perk me up a little bit.  Even if you don't need blood, you've been through a massive surgery and don't discount the effect that this has had on your body.  How your body feels can absolutely affect your mood.  Everyone is different and takes time to bounce back to their 'normal' selves.  I didn't want to see anybody except for my husband in the first week.  I was all over the place and didn't want anyone to see me so disabled.  I did feel like I'd made a mistake that I couldn't take back and for a while I didn't really know what would happen to me if I couldn't do what I needed to do.  I did have the spirit that I would try even when I thought I couldn't do something, I'd give it a go.  Sometimes I'd try two or three times over the space of a couple of days before I'd get there.  You've said you'd try and that's all you can do.  When I think I'm going nowhere, I come back and read other people's posts about where they are now.  The other people in the rehab ward are also inspiring.  We are all here for different things and though I don't really talk to them about about any negative thoughts I might have, seeing progress in them and us all cheering each other on helps - far more than from the physios or nurses (who might be telling the truth - but unless you've done rehab, subconsciously I think I must figure that your opinion doesn't have as much impact)  

I'm slowly getting back to normal and the things that upset and frustrate me now are more proportionate to the catalyst that has set them off.  I'd say I'm a slow case emotionally (maybe because I am too hard headed to take things as they come and have placed too high expectations on myself), and I'm getting there so I figure you'll make it too :)

Take care Kate.  I hope that the positive moments start to outweigh the negative ones soon and you begin to see progress that helps inspire your recovery along faster and further.

[Lori Cee]

It sounds like the hospital leaves some room for improvement so don't take it all on yourself as that is a downward spiral that's too easy to fall into and not easy to pull yourself out of.  It's ok if you are slow at rehab.  It is so NOT ok for the PT to make you feel like that by commenting like that.  Health professionals are supposed to realize that a patient's positivity aids recovery and shouldn't put you down like that.  I got upset first at being told a negative from a PT but then I got mad.  I got my back up with a I'll show you attitude (which might have been her point but it seriously wasn't the right way to make it).

Are there any social work or occupational therapy services available to you while in hospital?  I know I benefited from talking through the emotions and also by working out ways around some of the things that were big issues for me with the OT (stepping over shower ledge - didn't think about sideways did I?) just getting one thing sorted out helps to be more positive and other things follow.  Don't focus on the if only, maybe try focus on one good thing even if it is unrelated and work from there. 

And stairs - still working on it - the lifting is screwing me up - you should be ok with this bit and I'd guess yours is the pain and balance and maybe quads?  These shouldn't be too far away for you - keep on the bed exercises - just the ones you can - they all make a difference.  You'll see small improvements and will slowly be able to more of the others.  The connections are still all there, it just takes a little time to wake them up and work them again. 

Things suck at the moment but do you remember why you did this?  It's a little way away but dream about that.  Remind yourself each day what you are working through this for.  You will get there.  It's hard and you might not think you can make it but you need to think about something good again, something to remind you why this will be worth it soon.