15 Days Post-Op

It's been just over two weeks since surgery and I feel like I've lost about 8 days somewhere.  I ended up spending 3 nights in the hospital, starting physical therapy on the second day.  They get you up and going as soon as possible after surgery, though the nerve block in the leg needed to wear off first.  And once that wore off - PAIN!  I should have known the first day/night was too good to be true.

 

On Saturday afternoon, my Dad arrived and teammate Angela picked him up and they came to the hospital to get me and take me home.  I'd set up the downstairs as a sleeping area since I didn't really know how well I'd be able to do the stairs.  One minus of living in a 3-story house!  We got home and within the first 30 minutes of being  home, I proceeded to lose my lunch.  And I still can't eat much and nothing really sounds good anyway.

 

Nurse Dad stayed for 9 days and it was really nice to have him here, though I felt bad about him having to just sit around the house most of the time.  But he had one of his knees replaced a number of years ago, so he knows the score.

The Monday after surgery, home health care started - blood tests on Monday and Thursday (in order to monitor the blood thinner med) and physical therapy Monday through Friday. It's been two weeks of that, so starting next week, PT will drop to 3x/week and I'll be going to my usual therapist Jonathan.

 

Daily schedule for the past couple weeks:  get up; coffee; think about eating, but nothing sounds good; lay on sectional and try to look at Facebook, emails, etc.; physical therapy; take a nap; try to eat lunch; do a couple of hot laps around the living room and kitchen; lay on sectional and rest, usually falling asleep mid-texting or mid-email; do another round of PT with Nurse Dad; try to eat a few bites for dinner; go to bed (usually around 8-9 PM); wake up multiple times during the night.   Repeat.

 

Labor Day Dad flew back to Kansas, so I rode with Kathy to take him to the airport.  My first big outing, so I was wiped out afterwards. Another big outing th next day - staples came out!!!  

 

A few observations:  

* This surgery was quite a bit more involved than I originally thought.

* Just yesterday (2 weeks post-surgery) was the first day that i could focus enough to read a magazine. Thank goodness for reality TV where you don't have to think too much.

* Everything that I thought I might want to eat has not sounded good at all.   Or, something will taste good for a day, then make me nauseous the next day.

* Any physical exertion (even doing easy PT exercises) gives me serious cottonmouth.  Like I can barely talk.

*  There have been many days where I will just fall asleep right in the middle of whatever I was doing.

* When you don't have to go to work, all the days seem to run together.  I need a big calendar and then mark them off each morning so I know what day it is.

* Rehab is ike a job!  And sometimes even the smallest gain is cause for celebration.