Marsupial on the Mend

BRWombat · Post by **BRWombat** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:32 pm

It's alive! It's alive!

This is my first time back online since the surgery Monday. It went as well as could be expected for such an involved procedure, and I was under the knife for between 3-1/2 and 4 hours (which completely flew by for me, of course :) .) There was a delay in the start of the surgery, so they weren't done with me until a little after 7:30 on Monday evening.

Recovery seems to be going per schedule -- meaning rough and painful, but not intolerably so. Because of the later end to the surgery and some other issues, I was able to stay at the hospital for an additional night, which was a blessing. The first night and the first half of the second night were pretty uncomfortable, but at the same time I was off of the morphine within 12 hours of the end of the surgery and chose not to take any sleeping pills. After midnight on the second night I slept fairly well.

I got home right at noon yesterday (Wednesday). I have a "knee caddy," which looks like a 4-wheel scooter, with handlebars and all, but instead of standing on it there are pads right at knee height. I park my right knee on it, so my cast hangs off the rear, and I'm good to go, pushing myself along with my left leg. My biggest challenges are still 'transfers' -- getting myself from bed or couch to the scooter or vice versa. Once I'm sitting or rolling either one, I'm good to go.

My right leg is in a cast from just below the knees to the toes. I have a 'pain pump' with an anesthetic line running into the back of my right leg which partially numbs my foot, though the pump should run out today or tomorrow. I get the cast and stitches off on October 7, though I still won't be able to put weight on the foot for a couple of months. Zazu has thoughtfully sent me his old restricted movement boot, and I'll wear it and use the knee caddy until I'm fully healed. And then comes the fun of learning to walk again, since my ankle and foot have been completely rebuilt to correct a birth defect that I've been used to all my life.

Oh, and I'm told that I'm a walking (well, not yet) pile of titanium on my right side. I've got plates, screws and rods on both sides of my ankle, and 2 rods and 2 pins in my heel. I guess I get to join both my parents and my father in law in the "getting wanded at the airport" routine.

So, that's it. It'll be a while before I'm back to normal -- or whatever passed for normal for me -- but I'm on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, while I'm laid up at home I don't have easy access to the desktop computer where I worked on the Virtual WDW, plus the pain meds make me feel 'fuzzy' enough that I'm not sure I could focus enough on it at the moment. (I'm typing on an old laptop while perched on my bed.) I probably will only be scanning SGT for a while, so I might miss a few posts here and there.

Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers, and please keep them up!

Whazzup · Post by **Whazzup** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:47 pm

THE WOMBAT IS BACK!! :break: :bubble:

So glad to hear the surgery was evidently successful. You don't sound a bit "fuzzy" - you sound pretty darn as normal as a wombat can.

Godspeed on your recovery. May all your pins, clamps, screws, plates and other metallic appurtenances help you heal successfully.

We will be thinking about you while you recuperate and hope to see you checking in occasionally to keep us updated on the status of your mending.

:crutch:

techie-13 · Post by **techie-13** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:59 pm

Glad to hear everything is okay. (Or at least as okay as can be.) Take the time to heal and don't push it. Once you are no longer fuzzy or groggy, you'll probably be spending lots of time on here waiting for the next Zazu story like the rest of us. ;)

DisneyMom · Post by **DisneyMom** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:59 pm

Glad to hear you are thru surgery and on the mend! :)
Get well Soon, and keep us updated on your progress!
(for some reason, when you were telling us about all of your titanium, it reminded me of that scene in the Airport Metal Detector in Spinal Tap, hehe.....)

drcorey · Post by **drcorey** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:17 pm

if he was a horse, they could have shot him...

hobie16 · Post by **hobie16** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:10 pm

It all sounds good.

Get off the opiates ASAP. They'll make you stupid. And, after two weeks, you'll start to like them. If you can, taper off them. If you go cold turkey be ready to feel like crap for 24 hours including multiple trips to the porcelain alter and calling out to your Irish friend. Oh yeah, take a stool softener too. I'll let the nurses on the board explain why in medical terms. My reason may be too graphic for a family web site.

If it's part of the recovery process make good use of physical therapy. You may not like it but ask for the biggest, meanest therapist they've got. It'll pay off in the long run.

ktulu · Post by **ktulu** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:53 pm

Hope all goes well my friends, let me know if you need anything!

joanna71985 · Post by **joanna71985** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:17 pm

Glad to hear the surgery went well, and I hope everything continues to go well. :)

Zazu · Post by **Zazu** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:43 pm

hobie16 wrote:If it's part of the recovery process make good use of physical therapy. You may not like it but ask for the biggest, meanest therapist they've got. It'll pay off in the long run.

I'd like to second that recommendation. I was expected to be off work for a year following my surgery, but by actually *doing* the PT every day, I was back on the trains in 8 months. It was still a year to get back to full strength, but again, I kept up with the PT daily until I felt like my old self again.

And yeah, getting a trainer who's a part-time sadist is part of the program.

DisneyMom · Post by **DisneyMom** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:22 pm

hobie16 wrote:It all sounds good.

Get off the opiates ASAP. They'll make you stupid. And, after two weeks, you'll start to like them. If you can, taper off them. If you go cold turkey be ready to feel like crap for 24 hours including multiple trips to the porcelain alter and calling out to your Irish friend. Oh yeah, take a stool softener too. I'll let the nurses on the board explain why in medical terms. My reason may be too graphic for a family web site.

If it's part of the recovery process make good use of physical therapy. You may not like it but ask for the biggest, meanest therapist they've got. It'll pay off in the long run.

Umm, Medical terms like ROCKS in your colon?

Hobie is absolutely right on the stool softener. (Lots of fluids/fiber is good ,too) The Medical community does encourage you to take the pain meds for your pain, which I imagine is substantial, but to not take more than you need....For example, if Tylenol will cover the pain, no need to take Vicodin. You are a big guy, so the amount of pain med you take will hopefully account for that fact. You will also need pain medication prior to Physical Therapy sessions.
Hobie is correct,also: Narcotics will make you forget a lot of things, and not in a good way. Someone will come up to you months from now, and say, do you remember this or that right after your surgery, and you'll go, "Huh?"

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