Home Sweet Home

The Great Escape

I was so ready to get out on the third morning. I wanted to be home with my critters and partner. I wanted some (not a lot) real food. I wanted to be out of the hospital bed.

There are lots of bits of paper to be collated. That folder that you brought in with you comes in handy. Descriptions of your drugs, your wound dressings, your exercise program, and more are provided and you do want to keep them handy.

Fill your prescriptions on the way home if you can, or have your support person fill them for you. This may require you to send them out with your ID and a note. I double checked what would be needed before I left the hospital as there was no public pharmacy on site. In BC, the person who fills the prescription must have the CareCard of the person for whom the prescription is written. I clarified this at the hospital before leaving and it worked out just fine.

I was accompanied to the car by an Occupational Therapist who was there to coach me on getting in safely. The ride home was bumpy, even though I know my dear driver had checked out the smoothest route between hospital and home.

Homecoming

While my driver checked out the smoothest streets for the trip home, it was still one bumpy ride. I kept doing my deep breathing and just held on. It took a few minutes once we had come to a halt behind the house for me to be ready to disembark. Speaking of barking, I could see both dog noses under the back gate as I was approaching. They seemed as happy to see me as I was to see them.
It was an adventure using my crutches to come into the back yard and, slowly, up the back stairs. Really glad I had practised before going into the hospital. I was also happy to lie down on the couch when I am inside.

Pain Management - I

I never really noticed the post-surgical  convenience of having a nurse come by every few hours and say “Take these pills, now.” Serious luxury! Now that I am home, I can see that you need a virtual nurse when you get home to do these reminders.

When I got home, I let my pain control slip a couple of times. When the pain gets high it is hard to climb out of that well and get back on top of the big exercise ball that is your pain control program. A short consultation before I left the hospital would have been useful to even out the bumps.

I need a Meds App! Every 2 hours during the day, the app asks: What level of pain are you at, currently. Given you current pain medication it may offer a med to take, tell you that you have had meds recently, suggest that you wait another hour before trying again. I went looking but didn’t find anything quite like this. It wouldn’t have mattered, really, as I don’t have a cellphone, much less a smart one.

What I actually have is a spreadsheet that allows me to set up my meds for a day and then I fill up a 7 segment pill box that is labelled with the times that I need to take them. This is now working well.

Constipation

Let’s talk about this because it is real. All those lovely painkillers have the side effect of bunging up the digestive system. I normally eat a fibre rich diet anyway, but I now need more. The balance seems to be 1 dried fig (which I love) for every constipating pill. Taken with lots of water. This is on top of my normal diet. It is a relief to be regular! (Never thought I would be saying this.)

Incontinence

One of the other side effects of the anesthetic has been decreased bladder control. Sigh  Not the most fun I've ever had. However, it is controllable with frequent visits to the washroom and that requires more walking, which is a good thing for my recovery. I am using a heavy flow menstrual pad for overnight. The good news is that control is returning.

Rugs

We removed all the small throw rugs during the pre-surgery prep to avoid tripping hazards. However, the large area rugs also proved to be impediments to the walker. Rolled up and tucked under various pieces of furniture now. Glad that there isn't any wall to wall carpet in the house.

Hip Precautions

The preliminary documentation talked about "90 degree precautions" i.e., the operated hip must not go beyond 90 degrees. I found out quickly from the physiotherapy team on day one that this was actually "70 degree precautions" for the first month. Keeping that leg as straight as possible at the hip is a tricky piece of business as all of my reflexes have it bent. With help from others, "Watch your hip!" I am getting the hang of it and keeping positioned so as not to dislocate my new hip joint. 

Wouldn't want to go back into surgery any time soon or have to explain it to my doctors.

New Routines

Everything takes a lot longer. Double or triple the time that you would normally spend on a task and you might be in the ballpark.

Putting on a sock is a 3-4 minute sequence now rather than 20 seconds. I need help if the ‘sock aid’ doesn’t release. I am thinking about cutting it down for my smaller than average feet; should be able to do this with scissors quite easily.

Getting dressed is good to help (re-)build skills and feel like you are ready to take on the world. I am still wearing my sheepskin slippers most of the time, though, and they are so cosy.

Sleep

As much as possible! Cat naps and catlike behaviours abound. Sleep, stretch, snack, walk around, back for another nap. I could become a cat quite easily.

End of Week One

I am exhausted! I do a gentle round of exercises every day and it wipes me out!

That said, I can see miniscule improvement every day.

I can use the crutches for a limited time each day and am moving longer distances each time. Of course, longer, in this case, means a few more metre increments, not even up to a block at a time yet. That will be next week, I hope!

I will try doing my exercise round once in the morning and once in the afternoon.