Dr. Michael Anderson St. John of God hospital Perth, Western Australia – My Hospital Experience

My hospital experience. pt 1

I went in at 3pm the night before and my first impression of
the
grounds was it looked more like a luxury resort, waterfalls,
lakes,
lush gardens and manicured lawns. I was taken up to my 3rd
floor
single room with views of the city, a staff member told me
later that
single rooms were $900 per night, glad I got private health
cover! I
was told I would not pay for anything apart from an $800
anesthetist
bill part of) and I could stay 10 days which included 3
hydrotherapy
pool sessions. My anesthetist was very thorough and he
suggested I
have an epidural with a light general. He said spinals are
generally
the best but there is a 10% chance of recurring headaches
with younger
patients. I had a beautiful meal of baked Red Emperor with
creamy
lemon sauce and vegetables and after 2 sleeping pills
settled in for a
restless night. I was first on the list at 1pm and had to be
fasting
from 6am.

my hospital experience. pt 2

I woke at 5am and had vegemite on toast as my last meal
before
surgery, (vegemite has amazing powers!). My leg was marked
with a big
cross in permanent pen and my fuzz on the thigh and butt
shorn off. At
12 I was given a pre-med to relax me, but it just made me
talk to
anyone who would listen, the theatre nurse (about the
Batchelor of all
things!) the BHR rep who was in to watch, I didn’t shut up
until they
put the mask over my face, and it was still 2 hrs till
surgery! just
kidding) The op theatre wasn’t what I imagined, it was very
big and
very stark looking, cold of course, I had to wait a bit as
someone
slipped in front of me with a quick knee surgery next door.
The
anesthetist came out and gave me a local in the back and then
inserted
the epidural which felt a bit strange but didn’t hurt. I saw
my
surgeons face grinning fiendishly down at me then the mask
went on and
I tried counting but don’t think I said anything before I was
asleep.
Woke up feeling great, no pain, talking, knew exactly where
I was and
what just happened, had tubes sticking out everywhere but
didn’t feel
them either. Wheeled me back to my room thinking how easy
was that!
Threw up unexpectedly later when I started pressing my PCA
button
which mixed with the morphine left over from the epidural.
They could
have given me a bowl! The rubbish bag next to my be didn’t
quite work.
The drug I was self administering was called Tramadol and I
didn’t like
it from the start. The machine has a 10min lockout on it so
you
supposedly cant have too much, I was told not to let the
pain get on
top of you so I had no idea when I should be pressing the
button and
at night you are drowsy and don’t know whets going on. So
sometime the
next morning when my 3rd vial of this drug was connected up
the nurse
told me I had used one third more of the drug than is safe
in 24 hrs!

 

my hospital experience. pt 3

As well as consuming far too much narcotic I could not for
the life
of me wee into a bag with a catheter inserted. I was
spinning out on
this nauseating drug and although the IV fluid was going in
nothing
was coming out. It didn’t seem right to wee in bed lying on
my back,
I didn’t think you had a choice with a catheter but for some
reason I
was having trouble so I was given a diuretic injection
which almost immediately filled my bladder to bursting
point, I was
freaking out! Eventually after pushing on my bladder the
flow
started and from then on I drank and weeed an ocean. Tried
to eat a
bit and sit up for a while and the nurses stood me up day 2
and
tried to walk me but I blacked out, maybe thru pain or too
much of
that awful painkiller, which didn’t seem to work that well
anyway, I
was probably immune to it by now.

Had all the tubes out later in the day, the worst one being
the
drain in the hip which felt like it was 3 feet long. The
catheter
was a breeze, just stings a little when you wee normally a
few times
after.

Slept ok that night with sleep pills and pain tablets, had a
shower
in the morning which is nice but I only just got there and
back to
the bed where they had to give me oxygen again. The thigh
and butt
pain is intense, or am I just a wuss? Used heat packs to
good effect
for the muscle pain and iced the incision frequently, had no

bruising or swelling and the incision looks very good. Got
up later
and sat up and ate dinner, given a bowel mover to chew on
before
bed.
my hospital experience. pt 4
Had about 5 hrs sleep which is pretty good considering the
horrible
plastic covered mattress which sticks to your incision. My
wife
brought in 2 underlays for the bed later and they helped, a
nice
thick sheepskin one would be perfect.

My stomach was gurgling loudly after breakfast and I had the
nurse
on hand for the toilet/shower routine which went well so I
sat in a
chair while the nurse went to help someone else.
Unfortunately my
bowels were not quite rid of that crunchy gunk I ate last
night and
I had to go again, sorry for the graphic description but its
part of
the story!

I got up to clean myself and had to sit in the shower chair
as I was
feeling a bit light headed again!) I put my hands on the
walker and
rested my head hoping to pull out of the spin…..I crashed,
head
first into the walking frame and onto the floor. When I came
to I
saw the knee of my operated leg way to close to my face, and
I was
lying on top of it, I was too scared to move, it was at
about 140
degrees, way past 90 anyway. I yelled for help and the alarms
started
going off and 5 or 6 staff came to my aid, I still had my
pants down
and was a bit tangled up in the walker, a 45 year old man

impersonating a 90 year old with dementia! Luckily apart
from a cut
to the eye and severely dented pride I had no other injuries
and my
hip held firm!
my hospital experience. pt 5

I was now a bit worried about getting out of bed and going
anywhere
but I knew I had to for the sake of my hip and circulation.
Like
getting back on a horse I guess, I got up and went to the
toilet after
lunch, and started to feel ok again. The nurse looking after
me was
called Girly Gomez! I had to ask her if it was her real name
and she
nearly died of embarrassment, the other nurses call her Gail
she hates
it so much.

Started to walk a bit further with the frame and made it
outside to
the balcony for some fresh air. Spoke to the lady next door
to me who
had a THR same day as me. She had a horrible reaction to the
spinal A
with all sorts of creepy hallucinations affecting her whole
body, glad
I had the epidural after talking to her.

Day 5 and I had the worst night of sleep since I’ve been
here, maybe
3hrs.I just hate wearing TEDS! I had to take them off in the
night and
that is not easy. Also found out that sneezing and major
surgery are
not a good combination! Got a new dressing for the wound and
a free
half bum wax thrown in! Onto 2 crutches today and I like
them much
better than the frame. My wife gave my leg muscles and
nothing else!) a
massage today and if I could endorse one treatment to speed
recovery
massage would be it, as Mr. Mellencamp once said, “hurts so
good”.

my hospital experience. pt 6

Had a painkiller last night called Endone, the lady next
door says it
knocks her out and it is only administered by 2 nurses. It
did nothing
for me, 3 hrs again. I got up to see her and how she slept
and as I
was standing at the doorway felt a bit light headed and had
to sit on
the end of her bed. Before you know it I’m in la la land
again and
luckily the woman caught me by the t-shirt before I crashed
to the
floor in a heap. Unfortunately for her I was pulling her
down with me
with both of us going past the 90 degrees, the nurses and a
Dr were
nearby and straightened us up, kicking her out of her bed
and lying me
down in it! Her husband, a retired dr. came and saw me later
and
accused me of trying to get into his wife’s bed! Now I’ve got
a
reputation not only as a fainter but a womanizer as well!
The incision site is sore today, and every muscle in my
right leg, ice
I find is the best pain reliever for it and hot packs for
the muscles.
Massage, ice and heat and you could probably do away with
drugs, I’m
sick of taking them.

I was feeling a bit bored in the afternoon so I rang the
nurses bell
and told the nurse when she arrived that my pencil was
blunt. The look
I got was priceless! Before she had a chance to kill me I
asked for a
new ice pack!

The surgeon, Dr Anderson came in late and put my light
headedness down
to low HB levels, he said I was close to needing a
transfusion but
because I was young and fit he held off, which I’m thankful
for as I
don’t really want someone else’s blood unless absolutely
necessary.
I held up the x-ray of my new hip to the doc and said “how
good does
that look” really meaning ,isn’t that much better than a
thru).
He
replied ,” that’s the same x-ray we give everyone!”
Touché Doc.
I was supposed to go to therapy pool today but they “forgot”
to come
and get me. I think the nurse who answered my blunt pencil
call
scrubbed my name off the board!

My dressing came off and a spray on plastic skin put over it
to keep
it water-proof. I went in the pool at home today and did
some leg
lifts, how good does the water feel? Staples come out
tomorrow, yippee.
Well, that’s my story so far, I’m so happy I went through with
this even
with all the ups and downs, literally, I’m feeling great at
day 9 and I
know the first 2 weeks are not the easiest, the only way is
up, I’m
full of song lyrics today. Hope I have been of assistance to
those
going in the coming weeks, it was certainly an experience I
wont
forget in a hurry.