Hurray!!!!! I'm home from the hospital. What I thought was going to be a four day stay turned into seven, but I am home now!!!!
Like I said earlier, the surgery went well and my knee is responding well to therapy:tup:. I have had some problems with the medications though. They are causing havoc on my bladder, more specific, my bladder control. I pretty much have none.:( I've been running a low grade fever and they checked for infection, and came to the conclusion it is the pain meds messing with me. So, the quicker I get off them the better!!!!! It has been very....um....humiliating, embarrassing, uncomfortable.:oops::sick::shy: The nurses are so gracious and act like it is nothing new to them (I'm sure it isn't) to deal with. It is however new to me, and to be frank...I DON'T LIKE IT!!!!! In the Therapy Ward I am probably the youngest person in there, and probably the one who rings the nurse the most to say I have to go potty, and then....not make it!!!!:wideeyed: UHG.... The doctor says my system is in some kind of shock and with Fibromyalgia I'm already susceptible to bladder issues and this surgery and the meds sent it over the edge and triggered this. He says it will most likely calm down as I get better and begin getting off the pain meds. Didn't foresee this problem, but am adjusting and dealing with it.
My blood pressure is a constant battle to keep from being too high. Well, this sent it through the roof again, so back on blood pressure meds.:arghh; I have to accept it is the best thing for now, but as I get my knee better and become more active again I will revisit that battle.
We have been blessed with the loan of a walker and a bathtub seat to get me through the recovery process. I was pretty stressed about having to purchase those items (insurance would not cover them) and expressed that to my PT. She gave me information on a place that loans out medical equipment for three months at no cost!! S called them and did all the leg work and paper work to get them and we are so thankful for that!!!!!
Physical therapy was/is rough. It involves a lot of intentional pain to stretch the knee to be able to bend and flex. I am very swollen up and down my whole leg, more than double its normal size. That makes the bending and flexing very uncomfortable, but I also notice how much it helps to keep it moving and everything flowing. I am determined to get 100% bend and flex!!
The doctor promised me a very colorful leg with a red, blue, green, black theme for Christmas! He was right on...lots of colors up and down my leg. Foot, ankle, calf, knee, and thigh are all showing a lot of color! It really is not very pretty :O_o:
The transition home has been pretty hard. As prepared as we thought we were, we just didn't know for sure what I could or could not do. The biggest challenge is sitting. Everything is too low and I can't get up. Poor S, he has been so wonderful!!! What do I do the first thing when we get home??? I get stuck on the toilet:mad:. I could not get up off of it to save my life. After much trial and error, we have worked it out so I can now pull my self up and off the toilet. Chairs and couches are too low (and soft) to get a grip on anything solid to pull myself out of them. We have again, with trial and error, got my recliner higher and more solid so I can get out of it. The bed....too high. Put down low step and I am managing that now too. Phew...it has been exhausting and very painful.
We could find no pharmacy to fill my pain medication prescription because it is considered a controlled substance. So this morning we ended up driving back over to the hospital and they filled it for us.
Nothing comes easy, but we keep on keeping on and eventually, it does work out. Now though, I am concentrating on healing, resting, PT, and a quiet Merry Christmas. I wish the same to anyone who reads this!
