Day 3 - Discharge Day
My final day in the hospital started out nicely. I slept very well through the night and was able to pee into the urinals with no issue at all. Later in the evening on Day 2, my nurse had taken me off the Morphine and now had me taking Norco, since this was the pain management I would be using at home. The Norco seemed to do a fine job at regulating my pain, especially when not moving my legs. Honestly, my pain level was at a 1-3 maximum while in a resting state. After a pretty chill morning, the friendly nurses came in and offered me a big breakfast; actually she hooked me up with two breakfasts because I was starving. Dr. Mahboubian came in to check on me; which was pretty awesome, considering that it was Saturday. All in all, our chat was great as he reinforced that all looked good in the legs, very little swelling. I raised the question about my left leg pain and the Doctor felt pretty confidence that I should see improvement over the next week or two. Doctor emphasized the importance of keeping the weaker leg, especially, stretched as to ensure that range of motion did not take a hit during this first week. That was that. I was pretty much coasting until now and was set to discharge at 3:00pm. I did, however at about 11:30am, have a PT session. It went pretty good. I learned more vital stretches and was able to get up on the walker. Again, unfortunately, the left leg soreness prevented me from doing to much damage to the floor while on the walker...lol. I took about 4 to 6 mummy like steps and was put back into the bed. The PT's said it was very normal to have difficulty walking or doing much activity on your legs immediately after surgery. The strength and flexibly will come back quickly with physical therapy. I knew this and was satisfied with the answer. At about 3:00pm my transport van came and picked me up and took me back home to my apartment. Fortunately, I live only about 50 minutes from the Doctors offices so it really does feel like a simple outpatient kind of procedure for me. I chose a wheelchair van transport since absolute safety was the only option i would accept for myself; especially in the post - operative state, I was in. I arrived home to my brother and sister who were waiting for me. I rolled in through the front door; greeted with love and smiles. It was a bit rough at first since I was not able to weight bare at all... They had to carefully transfer me to my wheel chair and eventually to my bed. I think it must have taken about 30 minutes per transfer. It really is just a brand new thing that takes a bit of getting used to. Having said all this, the discharge day was great and I was glad to be back at home. My Sister and Brother switch off on the AM and PM duties of caring for me for the first few weeks; or until I can safely get around without a wheel chair. My sleeping on this night was just okay. I didn't sleep much; primarily because I was thinking about so many things...mind was racing! With this in mind, I managed to get some good sleep eventually and experienced very little pain throughout the night.
Day 4 - My first full day at home
Ah, yes...the wonderful feeling of waking up in your own bed..... only difference this time is that I can't move. LOL! All in all, a decent day. I was transferred out of bed by my brother into a wheel chair and it was a bit painful. Since I'm not able to put any weight on my left leg yet; there isn't much of an ability to support myself while getting up into the walker. You can't push off at all; so I'm sure you can imagine this. It's still very early; so my bro did most of the work. Once in the wheelchair, I did all the normal things people do on the weekend... watched some TV, ate good food, caught up on some work stuff and spent a bit of time on my balcony. Pain was minimal when not moving my legs. We're talking pain levels at 2 or 3 at maximum. I'm getting pretty good at moving around in my wheelchair too! I can maneuver my entire place with no issue. I cannot wait to graduate to the walker in a week or two, however. One scare did occur later in the night... My legs started to swell a bit; and I panicked i believe, since up until now; i had barely any swelling. I actually called the doctors office to leave him a message; and wow.... at 10:00pm at night; the staff actually connect him through. I can't say enough about that... my Doctor taking a call that late is pretty rare and very appreciated. Dr. Mahboubian suggested some additional ice packs and that would likely help and to just reach him if the swelling didn't come under control. I applied Ice and within minutes swelling was down. Went to bed soundly moments later.
Day 5 - Subtle improvement in Left Leg and meeting with a home care aide
The left leg has become a growing theme so far as I am really counting on it to get better right now so that I can begin using a walker. I'm happy to report some slight improvement after my first PT session. The PT specialist went light and focused on range of motion and strengthening. By later in the day; I felt less pain in the movement of the leg. Later this day, I also met with a home care representative. I wanted to make sure I had a backup plan in place in case a friend or family member was not available to assist me throughout any days in the coming few weeks. It is vital that someone be home with you for the first few weeks. Very rarely is one able to support themselves all alone, immediately after this surgery. The rest of my day was filled with the normal stuff, working, spending time with siblings and taking it easy. I had 2 PT sessions on this day (Counting my sister stretching me) and plan on stretching 3 times per day 7 days a week until I'm back to tip top shape.