Well, I'm home and doing well. I got to the hospital at 7am, 30 minutes early, and they took me straight back. They had me sign my life away and then took my vitals. At that time I warned the nurse that I freak out with needles. I think I scared her into thinking that they were going to have to hold me down to do the IV. I just told her I have a phobia and can come close to passing out. So they come back to get ready for the IV. First they tried my left hand, and it was a no go. She was digging around and it HURT. Then she had the other nurse that was in the room give it a go, and she tried my left arm elbow crease. That time they had it in and taped up, but then it came out. At that point, I was getting a little mad. I told them several times that they normally use my right arm when they draw blood, but they kept trying with my left arm. So they went and got a THIRD nurse who was no nonsense. Within 3 minutes she had the IV in my right arm and was taping it up. So that was the most pain I had at the hospital. After that I talked to the anesthesiologist about my nerve block and then Dr. Scheid about the surgery and stuff. Then bam, they were wheeling me back to do the nerve block and get started. That's when I said bye to my mom and dad, and my husband. I almost cried, but hung in there. When I got back with Dr. Trout (very funny guy) they gave me a sedative that made me feel really good and then did two nerve blocks to completely numb my leg. Then I hung around in that room for 45 minutes to let the block set. I kept poking my leg and I could feel NOTHING. It was cool. Then it was time to go to the operating room. It was FREEZING in there and they were playing Guns 'n' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle", so strange (is this a Dr. Scheid thing?). Then the last thing I remember was them putting a mask over me and sending stuff into my IV. When I woke up in recovery, it was just like waking up from a nap. I remember asking the nurse "is surgery over?" I was awake in recovery for about 45 minutes to an hour. They gave me two doses of morphine and checked my drain (which I was hardly draining at all). After the first dose of morphine I dozed off a bit until I heard the nurses talking about an order for me for Lovenox. I woke straight up and told them I did not want it and the doctor did not say anything about it before hand. So they kept trying to reach him and by the time I got to post op and made it to the restroom, the dr said I didn't have to do the Lovenox-I could just do aspirin. That was the best news all day. I hung out in post op a little while longer just so they could keep an eye on my drain and was discharged at 2pm. LONG DAY.
So as for recovery, I'm just laying around today since I can't feel my leg. But then starting tomorrow I have to bend my leg every hour and do straight leg raises every two hours while I'm awake. I can do 50% weight bearing tomorrow, but I have to wear a brace while I'm up walking. I can't get the dressing wet, so I don't know how showering is going to work. I'll be going for a follow up appointment probably next week to take the stitches out and get more instructions. I'm just so happy it is over, but now the hard part is going to begin.
No comments:
Post a Comment