There is a feeling of hope in my itty bit insulated world right now. Yesterday I went for a walk around the block. Literally just around the block, but it was marvelous. It's fascinating how normal being drugged is starting to feel inside, sitting down and walking the few steps around inside my little home. I don't feel entirely sober, but only ( Read more... )

In honor of being fully one month post-op (labral refixation and some shaving off of bony abnormality) I present photos. Some might be a little gross if you have issues with sutures and bruising.

http://Here there be sutures!Well, not right away. Because first there were a couple hours of waiting in the prep area. The hospital socks were ( Read more... )

Discharged from the hospital a week ago today, and tomorrow will be exactly a month since my very first every surgery! Celebrated the milestone today with PT, picking up a new post-dated scrip in case I run out of meds on Sunday, and raking some leaves. Seriously, just raking the leaves off my front pathway, then mom shoveled them into the ( Read more... )

I've been feeling like being a medical patient is my full time job since before the hip surgery. Every day off was scheduled full of doctors appointments, physical therapy, and other complimentary appointments like massage, acupuncuture, and chiropractic. Yoga and pilates have been off the table for many months due to how the labral tear was ( Read more... )

The pain got ahead of me yesterday. Had first round of PT since since the abdominal sugery late yesterday afternoon after a long and delightful nap. Didn't time the meds very well and realized as I sat up after PT with agonizing stabs of pain that it had been more than 4 hours. About 4 hrs and 36 minutes, in fact. Spent the rest of the evening ( Read more... )

...are very very strange. Visceral, vivid, terrifying, non sensical. Last night I was going to a party at a coworker, being driven by another coworker (who owes me a trade payback that I've been unable to get her to repay for years now)through underground tunnels marred with a random enormous boulder that we drove over in spite of there being a ( Read more... )

Today I feel like a single enormous bruise with patches of variegation. Both hands are bruised from IV's (failed on the left, sucessful on the right). Same for elbows and forearms, there were so many IV's in my right arm that I have a solid bruise from the joint of thumb down the inside of wrist solid to elbow. Left shoulder has a gorgeous ( Read more... )

Last night sleeping in my own bed was *much* more restful than the previous night in the hospital. Set an alarm for every 4 hours (figuring that each painkiller dose should be at east 3 hrs but no more than 4 hrs apart) and always woke inside that span for a snack, pills, water, toilet, back to sleep. Had ice machine and heating pad plugged in ( Read more... )

Making progress in the pain management department but it is just so much more difficult with this visceral pain than with the post-hip-scope pain. Limped through the night on 4 mg oral dilaudid every 3 hrs plus oral tylenol every 6 hrs and IV toradol evry 6 hrs. It's working: I can stand up, sit down, walk a few steps without feeling like I'm ( Read more... )

right now I am very, very glad that I did the hip scope/surgery first. Had this liver surgery been first I would have significantly more apprehensive. First week post-scope wasn't the most wonderful week of my life, but was like a skip through a balmy autumn day with the just the slightest touch of crispness compared to getting ahead of the pain ( Read more... )