Total hip replacement, done and dusted. Five stars. Would highly recommend.
Granted, I'm 24 hours post op and could be speaking prematurely, but for now I will give credit where credit is due. That credit belongs to my care team, consisting of Ryan (even with the adorable deer in headlights look he gets when dealing with medical stuff), the nurses, doctors, PAs, and PTs at Sentara Leigh. They made what one would imagine to be a really rough day seem like a walk in the park. Ok, a really slow walk in the park with the aid of a walker.
Here's the race day - I mean surgery day - recap. Woke up, sent my kids on their merry way to school, selected Missy Elliott radio on Pandora, showered using the antiseptic cleanser I was instructed to use, dried my hair since I wouldn't be showering for days, and hit the road. I arrived about 20 minutes early for my 8:30 check in, and was smacked in the face with freshly brewed coffee in the waiting room. Rude.
There was no hesitation getting me back into a room, stripped down into my ginormous hospital gown, and hooked up to an IV. Then we waited and waited and waited for 11:30 to roll around and get the party started. My favorite part of that wait was every single person who came in to talk to me reminded me of how young I was. My surgeon seemed excited that was a lightweight and was looking forward to a less strenuous procedure for himself. I certainly haven't felt young and thin in quite some time so to hear it over and over was really quite lovely.
The nurse anesthetist came in to get me started with what she described as a light sedative to make the spinal a little less unpleasant. My last experience with a spinal was when my kids were born and I wasn't given a sedative, but just told to hold still while slumped over a huge contracting uterus, so I was excited to be given something to take the edge off before they jabbed a needle in my spine. Except within about 30 seconds of her injecting her magic potion, the room got all wavy-like and I remember nothing else until I woke up in recovery. Ryan claims I was awake when they wheeled me out of that first room, but the lights were on and no one was home.
The recovery room is all a little foggy, but I remember seeing our friend Dawn, who I completely forgot works in radiology at that hospital. Friendly, familiar faces are so good to see when you're at your most vulnerable.
From the recovery room, I was wheeled into another holding pen of sorts...a big room with a few other patients waiting to see PT to get cleared to go home. By this point it was about 3:30pm, and I hadn't eaten since 8pm the night before. They claim you can't eat because of the anesthesia, but I'm pretty sure it's to make you so hungry that hospital food actually tastes good when you finally get to eat. That turkey and cheese sandwich hit the spot.
Once I regained feeling in my legs and feet, they had me up with a walker, making my way across the room to a recliner. I sat with my legs elevated with an ice pack and compression devices on to help prevent blood clots. Dead sexy.
I had a visit from the PT, who had me do some seated exercises before heading to another room to tackle some stairs. It's times like these that I'm so thankful for my athletic training background. You're given so much information about how to care for yourself and how your caretakers can help, and I'm sure Ryan was overwhelmed (see "deer in headlights" reference above). Luckily for us both, the whole "up with the good, down with the bad" mantra regarding navigating staircases has a permanent place in my neural pathways. This knowledge definitely puts me at ease, which I think helps Ryan feel less nervous. Tuition money well spent. Go Bombers.
We also got to see a childhood friend of Ryan's, who's a bigwig in the ortho nursing department. Maybe that's why everyone was so good to me...thanks, Christina!
Once I got the ok from PT (and the nurse who helped me pee), I was ready to go home. I got wheeled out to the car, backed my way into the passenger seat, and we were off. Just like that. It was the easiest day ever.
It felt great to be in the comfort of my own home. While it's still mind blowing that I literally had part of my femur sawed off and replaced with metal and didn't have to stay in the hospital any longer than I did, I can totally see the benefit of getting patients home quickly.
My first night with my new parts went really well. My pain level wasn't all that significant, but I took an oxy before going to bed in hopes of staying ahead of any pain that may be lurking ahead. I don't sleep well on my back, and I think that kept me awake more than the actual pain did. Still, I took another oxy in the middle of the night just in case. By morning, my pain level hadn't increased at all, so I scaled back to the tramadol instead. That seems to be sufficient today, but we'll see how things go.
I've been getting up every hour and using the bathroom (I'm incredibly well hydrated!), and doing a few laps around the first floor of my house while I'm up. After that, I ice for 20 minutes, and a few minutes later it's time to repeat the process all over again. Ryan has been so great, getting me all the things and keeping me company. He got to tag Brynn in this evening so he could take Camryn to the dentist, and I'm so glad (and a little jealous) he was able to get out.
My in-home PT starts tomorrow, so that's our big thing we get to look forward to. Otherwise, I'm just trying to be patient and not over do it. As my surgeon said, there's no prize for doing more than I'm supposed to. I'll have to keep reminding myself of that when I really start feeling good.
A big thank you to everyone who has checked in with me, popped by to visit, and brought or sent goodies our way. My village rocks and I'm incredibly grateful.
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