Day 3- look at meeeee
So today is Friday, day 3 or day 4 post op depending on how you count it. I feel like its day 3 because Day 0 was surgery day- I wasn't even brought to the ward til 6 pm. Not that it really matters as long as it makes sense to people reading it.
Woke up this morning feeling great. Leg a little stiff but not really painful. Back NOT painful which is still almost a miracle to me.
Got dressed, had breakfast. Physio came to see me walking with the stick. She said it looked good, and we went down the corridor to a set of stairs they use for physio/rehab. Going up and down the stairs was actually pretty easy, I thought it would be harder. "up with the good, down with the bad". Makes sense when you actually do it. She showed me some exercises I can do each day, basicallly shallow knee bends (holding onto something), aduction/abduction of the operated leg, and shallow kick backs of the operated leg. I'll do these for a week or so before upgrading to anything harder.
Physio was happy for me to go home today!
So...the rest of today was me walking with my stick around the corridors, and the nurses getting my discharge paperwork etc sorted. They organised a prescription for Lyrica for me, which is great because it's really nothing to do with the hip. I consider it a bonus. The nurse changed my dressing and I was amazed by how neat and good my incision looks. No drainage, no redness, no even any staples- just steri strips. He does it right in the fold so there's no pulling on the skin (also will be hard to see the scar- which is funny when you think how many scars I have, but still good!).
At 3 pm, I was handed a bag of drugs, and signed out! I called my friend K who has basically been my slave all week and told her I was ready to be picked up. She hurried over and helped me with all the stuff (suitcase plus shower chair- poor K). Of course just as we were about to get into the elevators I got distracted by all the crap she was carrying and trying to talk and walk- and I FELL! Right in front of a nurses' station (thankfully not Ortho). Luckily I kind of went down slowly and didn't twist or bend anything. I got back up and very embarrassed made our way into the lift.
Getting into my car wasn't really any harder than it has been these past few months. K drove me home and that was when it hit me- the world outside the hospital is going to be a LOT harder to navigate than the hospital corridors. Slopes, stairs, slippery surfaces- ugh. I carefully made it into the house (front steps have no handrail so I am glad K was there), flopped on the sofa and resolved never to move again. So I guess I am now at the beginning of a new process- first stage was getting well enough to leave hospital, now I have to get well enough to actually function in the outside world.
Monday I have to make an appointment to see the surgeon.
So that's the end of chapter one. I will try to keep updating every day, to give others something to base expectations on.
Woke up this morning feeling great. Leg a little stiff but not really painful. Back NOT painful which is still almost a miracle to me.
Got dressed, had breakfast. Physio came to see me walking with the stick. She said it looked good, and we went down the corridor to a set of stairs they use for physio/rehab. Going up and down the stairs was actually pretty easy, I thought it would be harder. "up with the good, down with the bad". Makes sense when you actually do it. She showed me some exercises I can do each day, basicallly shallow knee bends (holding onto something), aduction/abduction of the operated leg, and shallow kick backs of the operated leg. I'll do these for a week or so before upgrading to anything harder.
Physio was happy for me to go home today!
So...the rest of today was me walking with my stick around the corridors, and the nurses getting my discharge paperwork etc sorted. They organised a prescription for Lyrica for me, which is great because it's really nothing to do with the hip. I consider it a bonus. The nurse changed my dressing and I was amazed by how neat and good my incision looks. No drainage, no redness, no even any staples- just steri strips. He does it right in the fold so there's no pulling on the skin (also will be hard to see the scar- which is funny when you think how many scars I have, but still good!).
At 3 pm, I was handed a bag of drugs, and signed out! I called my friend K who has basically been my slave all week and told her I was ready to be picked up. She hurried over and helped me with all the stuff (suitcase plus shower chair- poor K). Of course just as we were about to get into the elevators I got distracted by all the crap she was carrying and trying to talk and walk- and I FELL! Right in front of a nurses' station (thankfully not Ortho). Luckily I kind of went down slowly and didn't twist or bend anything. I got back up and very embarrassed made our way into the lift.
Getting into my car wasn't really any harder than it has been these past few months. K drove me home and that was when it hit me- the world outside the hospital is going to be a LOT harder to navigate than the hospital corridors. Slopes, stairs, slippery surfaces- ugh. I carefully made it into the house (front steps have no handrail so I am glad K was there), flopped on the sofa and resolved never to move again. So I guess I am now at the beginning of a new process- first stage was getting well enough to leave hospital, now I have to get well enough to actually function in the outside world.
Monday I have to make an appointment to see the surgeon.
So that's the end of chapter one. I will try to keep updating every day, to give others something to base expectations on.
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