Week 1 Post Op

So I woke up in hospital ward on Friday morning after a fairly rough night’s sleep - Damo had the TV on until about 2am. The interim had suggested i might like some sleeping tablets which I turned down, now I know why. I was fasting so I had to pass on breakfast thankfully. The nurses said I should be called for surgery around 9.30am. I was still there at 12.30 waiting (and fasting) and getting very worried that i was going to be missed and left in over the weekend. Anyway, at around 1pm, the porter came to get me with a trolley, I had to strip off and put on a hospital gown - a lovely blue papery type garment. I also had to sign my iPad, phone and wallet into the safe - not that I didn't trust any of my fellow wardies.

Off he wheels me down to the operating theatres and into the holding area. This is my third operation in two years so I know the score at this stage. They leave you in the waiting area while the nurse does all the checks - makes sure you’re the right person, that they've marked the correct leg (as shown below) no allergies, no crowns etc. Then when they are ready for you to bring you into a small room next to the operating theatre where the anaesthetist does his work - they stick on a few monitors on your chest and then stick a catheter into your vain on the top of your wrist and he checks your name, date of birth etc. and then it’s the cool bit. He asks you to count to ten. 1, 2, 3, 4......

Next thing you know you’re waking up in the recovery room - there is a nurse beside you asking are you OK. Normally, you’re not as you can expect a dry throat, to be hungry and to be in pain. This time I was each of them multiplied by 5 - throat was killing me (they stick a tube down your throat during the op to ventilate you), your starving cause you haven't drank or ate since the previous evening and as the general anaesthetic wears off you start to feel the pain of the op. That's why the nurse is there, to help you manage the pain. I tell her the pain is a 9 (they always ask you for an out of 10 scale where 10 is the worst pain you've ever felt and 1 is an itch). She gives me 3 or 4 doses of morphine and waits a few minutes then she waits a few minutes. Pain still a 7 so a couple more doses, still a 7 so a couple of more doses. Finally, the pain drops at the back of my leg but I still have a severe cramp across the ball of my foot. The nurse goes to try and find the orthopod to see if he can have a look. I can see that its approx. 3pm so I was in about 90 mins.  I wait for an hour until he comes out and had a look opens up the boot and refastens it more loosely - this does the trick. 20 mins later the orthopod and his offsider come by and ask how I'm feeling. The specialist tells me to come back to his clinic in two weeks, to keep it in the boot and to start to bear weight as soon as the pain subsides.

It takes me another hour to get back to the ward and of course I've missed dinner. The nurses say that they'll get me something so they get some very dry sandwiches, a yogurt and an apple - not exactly the feast I was looking forward to after 20 hours.

Anyway, the nurses keep me topped up with pain killers that night which is just as well as I watched on as the entertainment for the evening unfold. Damo's brother comes to visit and was caught in the toilet with no shirt on - then there was a huge scene with the nurses and security until finally Damo's brother was turfed out. Thank god for the morphine.

Next morning I felt pretty sore but was able to get up and move around on crutches. My leg got very sore if it wasn't elevated. My sister collected me around 4pm and I travelled home lying across the back of the car with my feed up against the window. Kids and Steph were excited with me coming back so once I got rid of all the hospital clothes etc. I settled down on the couch for the foreseeable future.

For the first three days I was pretty much lying down all the time and only getting up when necessary. I stayed on the strong painkillers (Oxynorm) until Monday then just onto Panadol which I'm only taking in the evening but stopped taking yesterday. If I'm upright for more than 30 mins then I can feel my leg start to throb so I've been pretty much moving from couch to bed this week. I'm getting lots of reading done and I've downloaded the first 3 series of Game of Thrones and I'm hooked. I did manage to do a short weights session on Tuesday using a resistance band and a stool and some floor exercises and repeated that again yesterday. I also managed a short hobble outside yesterday - because I have to wear the boot in bed I don't want to be walking around outside with that one. As it happened, I got one boot when I went into A&E first and then they put on a separate one after the op. I brought both of them home from the hospital so I have an inside boot and outside boot. Still it’s a bit of a pain having to change boots every time I go outside.

Before: Note the scientific pinpointing of surgery site

The new Boot

Tea and Toast (the toaster was broken apparently)