Story time.
My pre-op was on Wednesday and was much like a pre-op for any surgery. I had to provide a urine sample, four blood samples and the answers to many questions about my medical history. I was also given a special antibiotic soap to wash my body, especially my right hip. To top it all off, in the cute little brown paper bag containing the soap, there was also an enema which I was required to give myself, and did later that night. As it is with most surgeries, I was not permitted to eat after midnight, nor was I allowed to drink water up to four hours prior to surgery.
I reported at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 6. My surgery was scheduled for 8 a.m.. I changed clothes in the exam room. I donned a hospital gown, special "tights" that help prevent blood clots, and hospital socks. Then my parents came into the exam room where we waited for everything to start happening. Nurses, anesthesiologists and the surgeon and his assistant all came in. The anesthesiologist started an IV with a solution similar to an isotonic solution, except that it had extra sodium, potassium and calcium. The nurse put a bear blanket on me. This is a "blanket" that blows up and heats the body when attached to a tube...which is then attached to a machine. I was also given celebrex, lyrica and oxycodon (medication for infection, nerve pain and a narcotic). A little cap was put around my hair, and my right hip was initialed so that the surgeon wouldn't cut into the wrong hip. The anesthesiologist put something else into my IV to help me relax shortly before taking me back into the OR. When he wheeled me away, Mom kissed my cheek and Dad kissed my forehead. They told me they love me. I was already pretty relaxed, thanks to the medication that was already in my system, but that fluid added to my IV worked quickly. It worked so quickly, that when he gave me my epidural, I didn't even feel the needle go into my back.
After that, I was given general anesthetic. Immediately afterwards, they put an oxygen mask on my face. That's the last thing I remember.
I woke up in the recovery room around 11:30 a.m., with relatively acute hip pain. The nurse standing beside my bed told me that everything had gone really well. As I did last time, I cried. I didn't sob like I did last time, but I did cry from relief.
My throat was terribly dry, but the nurse had ice for me to suck on, and that helped. Because of the epidural, I was (and still am) numb from the waist down. I was unable to move either leg at the time, and desperately wanted to move my left leg. So I asked my nurse if he would do me a favor. I asked him to move my leg back and forth at the knee. He looked at me a little funny. He must have been thinking, "Dang, this girl is high". And I was. But he did what I asked and then propped my leg with a pillow, which helped me tremendously. I sat in the recovery room for a while, and eventually headed up to my room. And here's an interesting little something. I have been assigned the exact same room that I had last time. Crazy, right? And awesome. I have a beautiful view, especially at night, because the hospital is on a hill and overlooks the city.
My parents spent about half an hour in my room with me and then left. They told me that they would be here as I wanted them to be, which I greatly appreciate. I asked them to come back around dinner time and they said that they would.
My oxygen levels dropped, so I was put on oxygen, which I am still on. I have a catheter and a PCA, which is pain medication that enters my body through an IV when I push a button. I call it my happy button. Originally, they didn't order one for me, but in the recovery room I asked where it was. They told me that because I struggled with nausea so badly last time they didn't plan to give me one and would be giving me oral medication instead. The nurse asked if I would rather have the PCA. I told her yes. I wanted to be able to control my pain and medication intake. I also told her that I would rather be nauseous and have a PCA than not.
I was in and out of sleep. One of my best friends, Ethan, came to see me. He is from New Mexico, just like I am, and planned on coming to Salt Lake City to see his family sometime over the summer, and so he arranged to come the week of my surgery so that he could keep me company in the hospital. This really means a lot to me. Ethan had been driving all day and was tired, so he didn't stay too long, and thatwas perfectly fine. He'll be here again sometime today.
My parents came around dinner time. We talked for a little bit. I brought them up to speed by telling them that Ethan had come by, and that my surgeon had come by too to tell me that everything went really well. A physical therapist also came in. He helped me sit up a little bit. We worked up to sixty-five degrees. He also put my leg in a CPN. A CPN moves the leg back and forth. Mine is set to move thirty degrees, very slowly. After catching them up, and attempting to eat, my parents and I played a few games of Skip Bo and Farkle. During our last game of Farkle, I started nodding off between each of my turns. So my parents left for the evening to let me get some rest.
My pain level on a 1-10 scale was 8 most of yesterday. This morning (the day after surgery), it's about a four. Hopefully this is maintained all day. I threw up eleven times yesterday. I couldn't even keep water down. I'm doing much better this morning.
Overall, I seem to be doing better with this surgery than the last one. I think it's because I wasn't really nervous this time. I knew what was going to happen. I haven't been as loopy either, for the record, and that's really nice. I feel a little like I'm living in a bubble and can't touch reality, but not nearly as badly as last time.
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