Breakfast arrived at 7am. I ate breakfast sitting up in my recliner chair. The nurse removed the last remaining item attached to my body--the IV tubing on my arm. Removing this also pulled hair from my arm. I thought privately that the next time I end up in the hospital that I will shave my arm where they typically attach the IV.
The nurse also gave me the Lovenix medication. I carefully inserted the needle into the soft area near my belly button and injected the medication. The needle went in easily and hardly hurt, but as the medication entered my skin, there was a burning sensation. I thought to myself, only 11 more doses of this (one a day) until December 22. Then these shots will be behind me too.
After breakfast I proceeded to the bathroom and took a good long shower knowing that showering at home would be more challenging. I also knew it would be several days at home before I would muster up the confidence to try a shower at home. At home, I would have to stand up in the shower without the convenience of a chair like at the hospital. Once done with the shower, I got dressed in civilian clothes and sat in the recliner with my iPad reading e-Mail and browsed the Internet.
At 10am, the PT attendant visited and asked me to show her how I "walked" with the walker. I walked down the hall, and she was satisfied. I then asked her if she had something that would simulate getting into a car--that I was a little anxious about how best to get into a vehicle without hurting my surgical leg. Using a wheel chair, she took me to a PT room where they had a model of a car. I then practiced getting into the front seat of the car and getting out. This was pretty easy, but I had to use my arm strength to move my behind on top of the center console while the PT attendant lifted my leg into the car. This worked fine.
I then called Margaret and asked when she was picking me up from the hospital. She said she would be there between 11 and 12, and she would pick up my prescriptions from St Joe's Hospital too.
Lunch soon arrived: chicken sandwich, soup, and apple pie. The hospital food, by the way, was satisfactory, but not great. Margaret also arrived with lunch, and she ate the apple pie that I did not want.
It was time to leave. I signed the discharge papers. I asked the nurse if they might have a spare urinal to take home with me. I saw the advantage of having one of these at home as I would not have to get up from bed during the night to go to the bathroom. The nurse happily gave me a urinal for home.
Margaret went out to retrieve the car. The nurse moved me in a wheel chair through the hospital corridors towards the exit (patient pickup). Margaret and the nurse helped me into our Ford Escape. I sat in the front seat while Margaret drove us home.
At home, Kirk and Michelle were waiting to help me into the house. Chad and Eric had already prepared the driveway by shoveling snow and salting the walkway that I would have to traverse. Using my walker, I made my way from the driveway to the front porch. Kirk then handed me my crutches which I used to step up onto the porch and into the house. I proceeded to a chair that had a stool to rest my leg near the fireplace.
Margaret, Kirk, Michelle, and Eric sat near me, and we talked and shared amusing stories about the surgery. Kirk took a picture of my incision that included a measuring tape to show the 6 inch length of the incision.
I was happy to be home. The real work now was in front of me--the rehabilitation. A rehabiliation that I would embrace enthusiatically.
From here, I will provide weekly updates of my rehabilitation.
No comments:
Post a Comment