Hip - Hop Hooray - Let's get caught up

 Hi all - Finally I am feeling up to writing. As they say - It is a Marathon - Not a Sprint!!

So let's get caught up!

Last Thursday was "new hip" day! I tried to sleep in at bit as I did not need to be to the hospital until 10AM. I am NOT good about no fluids, etc. but I did as instructed - no chances for me!!

Upon arrival at the hospital I said "so long" to Marc. This was a bit stressful. I am used to having loved ones with me while awaiting surgery - it takes the edge off and distracts. In this COVID world this is not allowed. I tried not to allow this to trouble me but honestly it did. The saving grace??? Once in the surgical unit you have one thing after another taking place. Chemical wipe down to remove bacteria; change to gown - so flattering - mine was purple! IV placed - YAY - hunger taken away slowly! 

BP monitored - me - sky high! I warned the nurse about this. I have a challenge with the automatic cuffs - they feel like they are blowing my arm off; hence, high reading. Anesthesiologist visit to discuss options. We decided on nerve block (injected in to the quad); spinal and twilight. Next, my awesome surgeon, Dr. Sherman came to initial the surgery site. Shortly after this I don't remember much more.

The next thing I hear and remember is the voices of the surgical team asking me to wake up; surgery is over. Off to the recovery room. Odd, again, not having a loved one able to come in to "say hi"! Actually, I was in and out of it so I don't really remember a lot of the happenings during this time. I was happy to get back to my room. I think I got to my room at little after 3PM.

I was able to have lovely saltine crackers and some diet ginger-ale. Yum! Soon, Marc was able to come to visit. At this time in COVID world patients are allowed one visitor per day. The visiting period is from 2 - 6PM. 

It was wonderful to have a private room. It was also very nice to be able to order food that was appealing to me. I was a bit foggy so I wasn't sure of the complete process but with the help of staff we made it through.

No "real PT" on surgery day as I got back to the room later in afternoon. I did meet the therapist who gave me some simple exercises to do in bed. I was on a 2-person assist which made sense. As the evening went on my primary RN felt that she could assist me solo in order for me to not have to wait for "necessary trips".

I had a couple of complications during surgery...excessive bleeding from my femur and very low BP. By the time my surgeon visited me in my room my color must have come back and he reported that we would look at blood work in the morning.

I was connected to a sensor for my heart rate and o2 level. They have the HR alarm activate if the HR drops below 50. ARGH!!!! I was "alarming" all the time! Finally someone adjusted the low limit to 45 and yup, I still had the alarm going off; not quite as often but......

BP checks every hour for the first 4 hours; then every 4 hours. I have never seen my BP so low, especially using the automatic type. They all assured me I was "just fine"!! 

Now...just try to sleep!!!! HR alarms, bathroom trips, light from Nursing Station blinding me, noise, other call bells...Lord help me! Finally I asked if the curtain could be closed and the response was "we can close the door". WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?! Why did you not tell me this long before 1:30AM??? Do you know the last time I was up at 1:30AM??? I don't!!!!

AAAAHHHH...finally....sleep...for a minute! Who does lab work at 3AM??? This hospital, obviously.

I get it....I needed to be monitored; I needed the blood work.... I also needed sleep.

Morning came quickly and even before I could get set up to eat my breakfast PT was there to take a walk. So walk, I did.

Next move, wash up. I needed a nap.

OOOPPSSS,,,no nap....lunch is here. It arrived very close to my schedule time for OT. Not easy getting dressed without bending...or without pulling knee up for socks and shoes. This is going to take practice....lots of practice.

OT gone - PT in again. Walk - no do stairs....OK - no problem....NOT. Challenging; very challenging! But I got it done. Result - Patty, you can go home!!!! YAY!

I insured that I did not have any "real worries" with my low BP and off I went.

Being home is 100X better than being in hospital.

I will say, Upstate at Community General Campus did a great job. There are a few things they can improve but this experience was much better than my hospitalization following my knee replacement 5 years ago.

And......Community General  have the BEST BROWNIES EVER!!!