Sunday, July 17th is day 10 post op and I am unsure as to why there is nothing in my journal at all for Saturday ;-/ Weekends are strange at the Glenrose, I gather that staff expect many residents to "go home" on a pass for the weekend. Of course, one doesnt have to but as part of the rehabilitation process, it is encouraged. I find the weekends rather boring so I try to find things to do to occupy my time when people are not visiting. This sunday however, I was fortunate to have two very dear friends that I have known since high school, drop by. Though they had made arrangements ahead of time, I had momentarily forgotten they were coming. I had been gallavanting around the hospital in my usual quest for something to do and had stopped at the computer in the patient lounge when I realized they had said they were coming so I decided to call one of them and it went something like this:
Friend: "Hello?"
Me: "Hi, where are you? I just realized you had said you were coming here to visit."
Friend: "We have been in your room for an hour and a half, where are YOU?!?
omg! What a funny situation LOL Needless to say, our visit was somewhat short due to my own fault. I hope it doesn't deter them from coming back again {rolls eyes} though I wouldn't blame them if it did LOL Though I did tease them that if they spent that hour and a half, going through my stuff, they would have got a sense of where I am at, after all these years lmao sorry ladies, it's just my black humour and I really wouldn't of minded if you went through my stuff LOL
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful except I spoke with the nurse regarding what pain medications were on my file. She told me Tylenol 650 mg, Naproxen 250 mg {which is an anti-inflammatory and not a pain med}, and something called Flexeril 10 mg {muscle relaxant}. I opted to try the Flexeril for my phantom pain as it's the only pain I have and it's suppose to relax my spasmodic muscles. I felt almost immediate relief without any "fuzzy head" so took it at 6 hour intervals the first day.
I had the best sleep since I have been here; 2 long stretches of 3 hrs or so and one stretch at 5 hours. Could use more though. I hope it's not because of the medication, sigh.
My sweetie didn't come until late or at least it was late for a sunday and I think I fell asleep on him ;-( Last thing I remember is him kissing me goodbye.
Day 11 dawned and I awoke thinking of my sister as it is her 46th birthday today but I also have a private room with a view and what happened when I woke up was so incredible, it has to be mentioned.
It wasn't pain that woke me up this morning at 5:40 or so but rather an orange "glow" that filled my entire room. I immediately looked toward the window which my bed faces directly. Incidentally, I love being woken up by the sunrise but this was soooo different. My whole room glwed orange and outside my window was the most spectacular scene I have ever witnessed personally. I am going to try to describe it. I am facing south south west I believe so the sun was actually rising from behind the building that I am in. As the minutes ticked by I watched a moving piece of artwork that culminated in a most violent shower. It started with 3 very distinct layers; the bottom was a deep vein purple and took up maybe the bottom third of the horizon; then there was a roiling white and I mean white, cloud layer that again took up a third of the sky but basically separated the deep purple on the bottom with the lighter lavender looking cloud cover on the top.
What I am about to describe next happened in approximately 15 minutes. So we have the 3 layers right? and there are lightning bolts streaking straight down from the strip of roiling clouds. The white cloud layer just kept tossing and turning; mixing and churning until it had completely mixed itself into the lavender. Then the moment the last stitch of white cloud had mized itself in, the heavens darkened even further, if that is possible and BANG! It was like the wind gave a powerful blast that literally bent the top third of the trees at a 90 degree angle. Then the rain came down in sheets.
By the time the doctors did rounds at 7 am, it was all over as if it never even happened. The sky was clearing as if it were just another dawn. Even the doctor said "oh look, it's going to be a nice day" and I said, "You wouldn't have thought that 45 minutes ago LOL" Neither he nor the other fellow he was with were aware that such a spectacle has even taken place. The rest of the day was like almost any other Monday except my new routine starts. Monday is doctors rounds. Only the physiatrist actually came, which is too bad in a way because it shows up the other doctors who are nota s dilegent. Anyway, she was again pleased with how my stump looked and said if it still looks this good at the end of the week, she may just keep me and get me fitted for my new prosthesis. This, as I said before, would be well ahead of schedule {Thank you God} and could mean that when I am sent on my merry way, in say another 6 weeks (end of August) it is for good. That would be nice.
I have decided that I need gloves. My hands are taking a beating LOL not only from the wheelchair but from washing them so many times.
Physio went pretty good. I like physio because it totally distracts me from pain and I am getting stronger.
My daughter came to visit in the evening to tell me about her adventures in Switzerland. She brought me presents. My sweetie came later as usual. All in all a pretty good day and I have a good feeling about the future ;-D Peace
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Day 8 Post Op - Short but sweet ;-D
I woke up before my alarm again, sigh, about 6:05 am. Finally got some sleep last night after horrible spasms and pain in my non-existent limb. Found out my shower days are wednesdays and saturdays so washed the sweat from my hot flashes away but it's just not the same. Breakfast was ok. I asked for hot cereal. Was told I am scheduled for physio at 9 am.
Physio was all about skills management; stairs, ramps, tensoring, balance, strength building are all included in this class. It caused my calf muscles to cramp in my good leg lol.
Apparently, 11 am is upper body and 2 pm is lower limb. I am going to head up there a little earlier to see if they can adjust my wheelchair.
Holy cow! So much has happened just since this morning. I ended up finally getting on the computer in the patient lounge so was almost late for my 11 am physio LOL but they ended up adjusting my chair leg anyway which saved my OT doing it later.
Physio went well ;-D I guess I have not lost my upper body strength but my showing off will likely be slightly painfull tomorrow. I wonder if people realize that I very seldom make a decision to do something without knowing full well the ramifications and or consequences? Anyway, I never made it to the afternoon leg work as my physiatrist doctor came to see me. she is very nice and is the doctor who decides when I get fitted for my prosthesis. She was completely surprised at the progress of my limb for Day 8 post op and said she had not seen a stump this far healed in so short of time ever!!! She also said that she would see me monday and may just keep me and fit my leg at the end of next week; which would be 6 weeks ahead of time. ;-D
This was a very long day. By the time I got to bed I was beat. No rest for the weary though as I was up all night with worst phantom pain to date. Dozed off about 6 am
Physio was all about skills management; stairs, ramps, tensoring, balance, strength building are all included in this class. It caused my calf muscles to cramp in my good leg lol.
Apparently, 11 am is upper body and 2 pm is lower limb. I am going to head up there a little earlier to see if they can adjust my wheelchair.
Holy cow! So much has happened just since this morning. I ended up finally getting on the computer in the patient lounge so was almost late for my 11 am physio LOL but they ended up adjusting my chair leg anyway which saved my OT doing it later.
Physio went well ;-D I guess I have not lost my upper body strength but my showing off will likely be slightly painfull tomorrow. I wonder if people realize that I very seldom make a decision to do something without knowing full well the ramifications and or consequences? Anyway, I never made it to the afternoon leg work as my physiatrist doctor came to see me. she is very nice and is the doctor who decides when I get fitted for my prosthesis. She was completely surprised at the progress of my limb for Day 8 post op and said she had not seen a stump this far healed in so short of time ever!!! She also said that she would see me monday and may just keep me and fit my leg at the end of next week; which would be 6 weeks ahead of time. ;-D
This was a very long day. By the time I got to bed I was beat. No rest for the weary though as I was up all night with worst phantom pain to date. Dozed off about 6 am
Day 7 Post Op or Is it the night before?
I have to say that my initial impressions of the Glenrose have not come anywhere near to what I was expecting. After getting my belongings organized, I sat mostly gazing out the window from my bed. I spoke to my daughter to let her know my sister-in-law would be dropping off the flowers she didnt know what to do with. I sure hope all the plants are not dead by the time I get home LOL
Just a quick aside here: I was weighed earlier and came in at 165 lbs on the nose. That means the combination of amputation {approx. 12 lbs} and hospitalization {hospital food} has helped me lose 14 lbs WOW!! lmao
"I lost 14 lbs on the new BKA diet and you can too!" roflmao ;-D
Phantom pain getting worse. Took tincture at 7 pm.
OMG! I had my worst night to date. It started with my sweetie not being able to come see me at all. By the time he finished and errand for one of the girls, it was after 11 pm and he called to cancel ;-( I was upset but I breathed through it, took more tincture and tried to sleep. The first thing that happened once I finally got to sleep was me shouting out "HEY GET OUT!" in my sleep. It was loud and echoed in this big room. Scared the shit outta me. Woke me right up and started the spasms all over again. I no sooner got settled again, when there was a loud clanging at 1 second intervals. I thought it must be some kind of an alarm going off. Then I heard some doors open or close and an "alarm force" type voice but couldn't quite make out the words being said; and the clanging just continued. I then heard fire trucks or sirens; LOTS of sirens; WTF??? The clanging had stopped only to come back on again a couple minutes later. It was like this all friggin night long and in between I was subjected to the worst phantom pain to date {7} The spasms, literally nooo control; feels like electrical jolts, not shocks, JOLTS!! Then the whole leg shakes and moves involuntarily.
So now, it's nearing 6 am and there has been maybe a 30 minute window of calm in the hospital and suddenly, we're treated to the same fire alarm; sigh, like a really bad alarm clock. What were they doing? Testing it NOW??
Today is my mother's 73rd birthday and I wish I could be there.
So, back to the day, I've been rudely awakened and the spasms are starting again, ugh!!
"Would you like something for pain?" a male nurse asks me.
I said, "a hell of a lot pain killers are gonna do for a foot that's not even there, so no thanks." Then he starts rattling off just little bits and pieces of what's going to happen to me now that I am here. Breakfast is a la carte to your room but I am expected to have lunch and dinner in the dining room {wherever THAT is!} and only during specific times which I didn't catch LOL I asked if I could have a shower because, oh yeah, I have hot flashes and soaked the bed again the night before, but he says he'll have to see what day/time I am scheduled??? This totally sucks. My head is reeling and it's not even 7 am. I'm not going to panic though and I keep dozing in and out as I am writing because of the night it was. I am determined to just take things as they come.
So turns out that every Thursday morning is a mandatory amputation education session for an hour at 9 am. Today's topic: Wound and Limb Care.
Breakfast came and went. I got no choice because someone ordered me a tray. ;-( So no hot cereal. Then my nurse for the day said I could shower ;-D so I did that. It was ok but hard to get around on a commode that was too hight for me and had 4 brakes put on LOL Stuck like a rat in a maze though so kind of frustrating waiting for help. Still haven't found out my shower day yet. Wondering if my nurse was just trying to help me feel better lol. She said that I would be popular today being the new kid on the block.
So far physio has been to see me about my wheelchair but havent brought a different one yet; just the board, cushion and pad.
I went to the wound and limb care class on the 2nd floor but had to leave early because the doctor was back up on the unit waiting for me.
Aside: Turns out that one of the GP's assigned to my unit is the son of my old paediatrician. Spitten image but I told him he's better looking lol He said the physiatrist doctor would likely see me today too. I'm going to try to rest before lunch. Wow! good thing I had that little nap before lunch lol because right after I was busy with the doctors, I had my 1st physio assessment. Guess I'm some kind of medical marvel LOL It's day 7 post op and apparently I am a week ahead of schedule in healing. No one can believe the limb is completely healed on the incision and that there is no drainage and hardly any swelling. My shin feels like I banged it hard but the overall condition is really, really good. I think they are thinking about keeping me in for 2 weeks doing weight training and wrapping my stump. Then they want to send me home to recouperate for 6 weeks and return to the hospital to be fitted for my prosthesis.
I did a full lower limb workout today even though I didnt have to. Maybe sore tomorrow but I doubt overly so.
I got to finally say happy birthday to my mother around 10 pm. I was grateful that my daughter and a good friend of ours managed to bring her a nice meal and presents and call me so I could speak to her. She said she was really glad to hear my voice. I was glad to hear hers too. I told her how well I am doing and that I would see her the 1st chance I get.
Well, it's now 11:20 pm and lets hope I have taken enough tincture to battle these phantom pains for a couple of hours.
1:00 AM Worst phantom pain yet. I thought it was suppose to get better now worse ;-( Unwrapped my stump and let it breathe for awhile. Next time I worke up I re-wrapped it.
Just a quick aside here: I was weighed earlier and came in at 165 lbs on the nose. That means the combination of amputation {approx. 12 lbs} and hospitalization {hospital food} has helped me lose 14 lbs WOW!! lmao
"I lost 14 lbs on the new BKA diet and you can too!" roflmao ;-D
Phantom pain getting worse. Took tincture at 7 pm.
OMG! I had my worst night to date. It started with my sweetie not being able to come see me at all. By the time he finished and errand for one of the girls, it was after 11 pm and he called to cancel ;-( I was upset but I breathed through it, took more tincture and tried to sleep. The first thing that happened once I finally got to sleep was me shouting out "HEY GET OUT!" in my sleep. It was loud and echoed in this big room. Scared the shit outta me. Woke me right up and started the spasms all over again. I no sooner got settled again, when there was a loud clanging at 1 second intervals. I thought it must be some kind of an alarm going off. Then I heard some doors open or close and an "alarm force" type voice but couldn't quite make out the words being said; and the clanging just continued. I then heard fire trucks or sirens; LOTS of sirens; WTF??? The clanging had stopped only to come back on again a couple minutes later. It was like this all friggin night long and in between I was subjected to the worst phantom pain to date {7} The spasms, literally nooo control; feels like electrical jolts, not shocks, JOLTS!! Then the whole leg shakes and moves involuntarily.
So now, it's nearing 6 am and there has been maybe a 30 minute window of calm in the hospital and suddenly, we're treated to the same fire alarm; sigh, like a really bad alarm clock. What were they doing? Testing it NOW??
Today is my mother's 73rd birthday and I wish I could be there.
So, back to the day, I've been rudely awakened and the spasms are starting again, ugh!!
"Would you like something for pain?" a male nurse asks me.
I said, "a hell of a lot pain killers are gonna do for a foot that's not even there, so no thanks." Then he starts rattling off just little bits and pieces of what's going to happen to me now that I am here. Breakfast is a la carte to your room but I am expected to have lunch and dinner in the dining room {wherever THAT is!} and only during specific times which I didn't catch LOL I asked if I could have a shower because, oh yeah, I have hot flashes and soaked the bed again the night before, but he says he'll have to see what day/time I am scheduled??? This totally sucks. My head is reeling and it's not even 7 am. I'm not going to panic though and I keep dozing in and out as I am writing because of the night it was. I am determined to just take things as they come.
So turns out that every Thursday morning is a mandatory amputation education session for an hour at 9 am. Today's topic: Wound and Limb Care.
Breakfast came and went. I got no choice because someone ordered me a tray. ;-( So no hot cereal. Then my nurse for the day said I could shower ;-D so I did that. It was ok but hard to get around on a commode that was too hight for me and had 4 brakes put on LOL Stuck like a rat in a maze though so kind of frustrating waiting for help. Still haven't found out my shower day yet. Wondering if my nurse was just trying to help me feel better lol. She said that I would be popular today being the new kid on the block.
So far physio has been to see me about my wheelchair but havent brought a different one yet; just the board, cushion and pad.
I went to the wound and limb care class on the 2nd floor but had to leave early because the doctor was back up on the unit waiting for me.
Aside: Turns out that one of the GP's assigned to my unit is the son of my old paediatrician. Spitten image but I told him he's better looking lol He said the physiatrist doctor would likely see me today too. I'm going to try to rest before lunch. Wow! good thing I had that little nap before lunch lol because right after I was busy with the doctors, I had my 1st physio assessment. Guess I'm some kind of medical marvel LOL It's day 7 post op and apparently I am a week ahead of schedule in healing. No one can believe the limb is completely healed on the incision and that there is no drainage and hardly any swelling. My shin feels like I banged it hard but the overall condition is really, really good. I think they are thinking about keeping me in for 2 weeks doing weight training and wrapping my stump. Then they want to send me home to recouperate for 6 weeks and return to the hospital to be fitted for my prosthesis.
I did a full lower limb workout today even though I didnt have to. Maybe sore tomorrow but I doubt overly so.
I got to finally say happy birthday to my mother around 10 pm. I was grateful that my daughter and a good friend of ours managed to bring her a nice meal and presents and call me so I could speak to her. She said she was really glad to hear my voice. I was glad to hear hers too. I told her how well I am doing and that I would see her the 1st chance I get.
Well, it's now 11:20 pm and lets hope I have taken enough tincture to battle these phantom pains for a couple of hours.
1:00 AM Worst phantom pain yet. I thought it was suppose to get better now worse ;-( Unwrapped my stump and let it breathe for awhile. Next time I worke up I re-wrapped it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)