I don't think I'm going to do daily posts anymore after this one. There's really not much more that will happen until next week when I start Physical Therapy.
I haven't took a Vicodin since yesterday evening. So I'm going on about 18 hours with nothing. I feel fine. The crutches are annoying. I can walk without them, I know that the doc wants me to use them for another week, so I will (most of the time) but they're just slowing me down. I don't limp that badly without them. My range of motion is improving, but what I struggle with most is control over the muscles that are in the top of my leg. I can lift my leg up better than I can control it when moving down. For example, when lifting my leg to get into the van seat, it doesn't hurt to lift my leg up, but I can't always do it under my own power. I usually have to use my arm to help bring my leg up. Now, trying to take my leg out of the van, it would kind of just fall due to gravity, and hurt a bit in the process. I can't really use my strength to control the moving down movement. That will be my number one concern addressed in physical therapy. I'm sure most of this is because I had difficulty with those movements prior to surgery. I had gotten so good at accommodating for my pain, that I was weakening my muscles in the process. Rotating my leg left and right is coming along slowly. Recall the first couple of days I could only move my leg an inch left/right. Now it's probably up to 6-8 inches sideways. That's the movement that is allowing me to sleep on the couch and/or on my bed.
I did take a test drive around the block this morning. I can drive just fine. My leg moves enough to use the pedals properly, without any concerns on my part. Believe me, I wouldn't try to drive my kids around unless I knew I'd be driving safely. The only difficult part about driving was getting into the drivers seat. That normally requires you to put your right leg in first. So I have to adapt, and I figured out my best way to adapt. Then we're good to go!
The kids are all at the Museum of Science And Industry today with summer camp. I can't wait to hear all about it when they get home. I'm sure they're going to have such a great time.
Until then, my goals are to put laundry away, maybe do another load of laundry, continue working on Bridget's scrapbook, take care of the dishes, and rest.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Hip Surgery: Day 6
I'm almost back to "normal". I mean, I'll be limping for probably another week, but there's very little remaining that I can't do.
So today is Sunday. Bridget had a softball game at 9 am, so everyone was up early and out of the house by 8:20. Including me. It was so nice to be outside, the morning air was cool. Bridget played well, but the team lost. They didn't even score a run.
After the game, we took the kids to one of our neighborhood parks. This particular park had been closed for the past several weeks while it was being remodeled. We had noticed that it was open, so we wanted to check it out. It has a big playground area, a toddler playground area, a new monkey bar area, and some updated swings. It was fun watching them explore. Though there was more than a few times where I wanted to be near them as they climbed higher on the monkey bars, just in case they fell. Everyone did well, and there were no injuries.
Next up, lunch. Shawn has been doing a fantastic job holding down the fort and doing just about everything, so I can't complain that I haven't had a non-take-out meal since before surgery. That's just "dad's way of cooking." The kids certainly don't mind visiting all the local restaurants. Today we went to Smiley's, a hot dog stand near Plainfield Central High School. The kids must have been starving, because Megan and Holly each ate 3 big chicken strips and fries, AND they finished a good portion of my gyro meat. Bridget ate over half of a gyro and fries, and Liam also ate 2 chicken fingers and fries. We're going to go broke trying to feed them when they hit their teenage years!
After filling our bellies, we decided to do some shopping at Kohl's. Why not?!? I was hanging in there, and my leg was not hurting at all. Of course things never go according to plans. Shawn went in looking for some clothes, and ended up only buying two packages of socks. Bridget got some new PJs, Liam and Holly got new shoes, all of the triplets picked out new underpants, the little girls got new pj dresses with matching doll dress, Liam got pjs, a soccer outfit, an Angry Birds t-shirt, and I think that was it. It was just really nice being out as a family again. It was funny when Shawn would accidentally leave me with the basket. "Oh yah, you can't push that, can you?" I also laughed when Holly had her hands full with her new shoes and underpants in her arms. She looked up at me and asked, "Mom? Can you....? Forget it!" Megan was my little sweetie. She walked next to me and held my hand at times. So stinking sweet!
So after our big Kohl's shopping spree, it was time to go home. I guess it must have been too much family time, because once in the house, it was like everyone put themselves into time-out. Shawn rested in his room. I rested on the recliner, the triplets went downstairs to play, and Bridget to her room. After a bit, it went back to normal, and all the usual activities resumed. Holly and I put together her Lego Friends pool, Bridget, Megan and Liam watched a movie with Shawn.
The rest of the evening was really boring for me. The tv was on, I played too much Candy Crush, Facebooked and Pinterested, and waited for sleep to take over. Unfortunately, that wasn't until about 1 am. Ugh.
So today is Sunday. Bridget had a softball game at 9 am, so everyone was up early and out of the house by 8:20. Including me. It was so nice to be outside, the morning air was cool. Bridget played well, but the team lost. They didn't even score a run.
After the game, we took the kids to one of our neighborhood parks. This particular park had been closed for the past several weeks while it was being remodeled. We had noticed that it was open, so we wanted to check it out. It has a big playground area, a toddler playground area, a new monkey bar area, and some updated swings. It was fun watching them explore. Though there was more than a few times where I wanted to be near them as they climbed higher on the monkey bars, just in case they fell. Everyone did well, and there were no injuries.
Next up, lunch. Shawn has been doing a fantastic job holding down the fort and doing just about everything, so I can't complain that I haven't had a non-take-out meal since before surgery. That's just "dad's way of cooking." The kids certainly don't mind visiting all the local restaurants. Today we went to Smiley's, a hot dog stand near Plainfield Central High School. The kids must have been starving, because Megan and Holly each ate 3 big chicken strips and fries, AND they finished a good portion of my gyro meat. Bridget ate over half of a gyro and fries, and Liam also ate 2 chicken fingers and fries. We're going to go broke trying to feed them when they hit their teenage years!
After filling our bellies, we decided to do some shopping at Kohl's. Why not?!? I was hanging in there, and my leg was not hurting at all. Of course things never go according to plans. Shawn went in looking for some clothes, and ended up only buying two packages of socks. Bridget got some new PJs, Liam and Holly got new shoes, all of the triplets picked out new underpants, the little girls got new pj dresses with matching doll dress, Liam got pjs, a soccer outfit, an Angry Birds t-shirt, and I think that was it. It was just really nice being out as a family again. It was funny when Shawn would accidentally leave me with the basket. "Oh yah, you can't push that, can you?" I also laughed when Holly had her hands full with her new shoes and underpants in her arms. She looked up at me and asked, "Mom? Can you....? Forget it!" Megan was my little sweetie. She walked next to me and held my hand at times. So stinking sweet!
So after our big Kohl's shopping spree, it was time to go home. I guess it must have been too much family time, because once in the house, it was like everyone put themselves into time-out. Shawn rested in his room. I rested on the recliner, the triplets went downstairs to play, and Bridget to her room. After a bit, it went back to normal, and all the usual activities resumed. Holly and I put together her Lego Friends pool, Bridget, Megan and Liam watched a movie with Shawn.
The rest of the evening was really boring for me. The tv was on, I played too much Candy Crush, Facebooked and Pinterested, and waited for sleep to take over. Unfortunately, that wasn't until about 1 am. Ugh.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Hip Surgery: Day 5
1 tablet every 8 hours. I'd like to get off the meds as soon as possible, but I'm not stupid either. It's not worth being in pain just to be off the meds. So that's my appropriate dosage now.
The most amazing thing happened at 1:50 am today. I woke up, achy, since it was time for my next Vicodin. One of my cats, Isaak, was lying on the arm of the recliner. That's nothing special, since Isaak is usually the cat that will lay next to me at bedtime. So I took my meds, then slowly got myself out of the chair so that I could use the bathroom. Isaak hopped down from the chair and started meowing. Nonstop meownig. Meow. Meow. Meow! Then, with each step on my crutches, Isaak moved right along with me. He stayed only an inch or two from my crutch. Meowing the whole time. It was like he was telling me that he was going to stay with me and make sure I made it safely to the bathroom. Either that or he was trying to wake Shawn up so that Shawn could walk with me. It was really weird though, because cats aren't really ones for keeping pace with humans. They like to race you everywhere...race up and down the stairs, race to the living room, etc. But my dear Isaak paced me all the way to the bathroom. I made it just fine, and Isaak hopped up onto the sink and just watched me do my thing, again meowing non-stop. (odd, I know!) When I was done, he hopped off of the sink as I slowly stood up. Then he paced me to the bedroom. I wanted to tell Shawn what was going on, but he was dead to the world. I guess Isaak was happy that I was attempting to talk to Shawn, because he backed off.
"What do you need?" Shawn asked sleepily.
"Nothing. Just walking around a bit. I had to go to the bathroom."
"Ok." and Shawn was out again that quickly.
I thought about attempting to sleep an hour or two in our bed but recalling the last two attempts, thought that wouldn't be wise. Our bed sits very high up, and it's hard to swing my leg that high up, as well as it being terribly difficult to twist my hips to any degree. So I just sat for a minute to rest. When I got back up, Isaak came out from under the bed, and walked me right back to my recliner. Meowing the whole time. Once I got myself all tucked in, he hopped back onto the arm of the chair and drifted off to sleep along side of me.
So it's Saturday, and Bridget has a softball game. Not too many of them left. I would like to go see her play, but I fear being terribly uncomfortable sitting on the bleachers for a long period of time, and it's not like I can drive myself home if that happens. So I'm going to stay home.
I took a nice nap on the couch---yeay! Change of scenery in terms of my sleeping spots. I was able to sleep both on my stomach and on my left side. That's good too. My neck has been getting terribly stiff from sleeping in the recliner for all these days. So I'm pretty excited about being able to sleep on the couch.
The rest of the family came home in the late afternoon. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We watched television. The kids played out in the yard a bit. We had dinner. The usual. Liam and I made some key lime cupcakes. That was my excitement for the day.
The most amazing thing happened at 1:50 am today. I woke up, achy, since it was time for my next Vicodin. One of my cats, Isaak, was lying on the arm of the recliner. That's nothing special, since Isaak is usually the cat that will lay next to me at bedtime. So I took my meds, then slowly got myself out of the chair so that I could use the bathroom. Isaak hopped down from the chair and started meowing. Nonstop meownig. Meow. Meow. Meow! Then, with each step on my crutches, Isaak moved right along with me. He stayed only an inch or two from my crutch. Meowing the whole time. It was like he was telling me that he was going to stay with me and make sure I made it safely to the bathroom. Either that or he was trying to wake Shawn up so that Shawn could walk with me. It was really weird though, because cats aren't really ones for keeping pace with humans. They like to race you everywhere...race up and down the stairs, race to the living room, etc. But my dear Isaak paced me all the way to the bathroom. I made it just fine, and Isaak hopped up onto the sink and just watched me do my thing, again meowing non-stop. (odd, I know!) When I was done, he hopped off of the sink as I slowly stood up. Then he paced me to the bedroom. I wanted to tell Shawn what was going on, but he was dead to the world. I guess Isaak was happy that I was attempting to talk to Shawn, because he backed off.
"What do you need?" Shawn asked sleepily.
"Nothing. Just walking around a bit. I had to go to the bathroom."
"Ok." and Shawn was out again that quickly.
I thought about attempting to sleep an hour or two in our bed but recalling the last two attempts, thought that wouldn't be wise. Our bed sits very high up, and it's hard to swing my leg that high up, as well as it being terribly difficult to twist my hips to any degree. So I just sat for a minute to rest. When I got back up, Isaak came out from under the bed, and walked me right back to my recliner. Meowing the whole time. Once I got myself all tucked in, he hopped back onto the arm of the chair and drifted off to sleep along side of me.
So it's Saturday, and Bridget has a softball game. Not too many of them left. I would like to go see her play, but I fear being terribly uncomfortable sitting on the bleachers for a long period of time, and it's not like I can drive myself home if that happens. So I'm going to stay home.
I took a nice nap on the couch---yeay! Change of scenery in terms of my sleeping spots. I was able to sleep both on my stomach and on my left side. That's good too. My neck has been getting terribly stiff from sleeping in the recliner for all these days. So I'm pretty excited about being able to sleep on the couch.
The rest of the family came home in the late afternoon. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We watched television. The kids played out in the yard a bit. We had dinner. The usual. Liam and I made some key lime cupcakes. That was my excitement for the day.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Hip Surgery: Day 4
At 6:30 am I woke up, got out of my recliner unassisted (another minor victory), and washed my hair in the sink. Today is my big day out! We got the kids to camp at 9 am, then journeyed to Silver Cross for my 9:30 appointment with Dr. Dworsky.
Shawn got the pleasure of meeting Dr. Dworsky's hillbilly male nurse, who is quite the character and VERY out of place in a medical office. We both thought the question, "Do you have any joint pain?" was laughable. After the initial check-in by Cowboy Jack, the x-ray technician came in to bring me to the x-ray room. There I had to take two x-rays. One straight on from the top, and one side view. Now this lady was not very sympathetic. She's trying to tell me to roll onto my right hip...the hip that I just had surgery on. I told her that I couldn't quite do that. She didn't seem to care and rolled me onto it as I bit down on my lip. All the pressure must have been on one of those puncture wounds because it felt like a jolt of electricity surging down my entire leg. After the x-ray was taken, she yells to me, "Now don't move, I have to check this to make sure it turned out." Yah, right...I've got shooting pains going down the side of my leg, and I'll be damned if you're going to make me stay like this while you check your x-ray. I was angry! So I moved myself to a more comfortable position. The nurse came back, didn't say anything, but moved the machine around and indicated that I could get back up off the table. Remember, I'm moving slowly, and I can't really bend that right leg much. My right shoe had slipped off in the process, and she's like, "Oh your shoe came off." "I know. I'll just carry it back to the room. I can't put it on myself." "Can't you just slip it on?" the nurse asked. "Uh...no...my foot is all swollen, and I can't bend this leg. I just had surgery." I responded. "oh...ok. Let me see if I can help you." Gee, thanks!
I made it back to the room, and Shawn could tell I was angry. After briefly relaying the story of the x-ray room to him and laughing it off, the physical therapist came in. She's a young girl, who many months ago put me through the wringer by measuring all my range of motions at the time. She got the unpleasant job of ripping off the bandages. For the most part, it actually tickled, except for one really sticky part. I got my first look at the wounds. Boy are they ugly! There's no bruising around them, but basically, I've got three puncture wounds, sewn up with some really thick black sutures. It kind of looks like three farfalle (bowtie) pastas on my hip! The PT replaced the big, huge, gauzy bandages with three regular sized band-aids and gave me a refill of the Vicodin. "Better to be safe than sorry." I totally agree! She also mentioned that I'll probably feel pretty good these next two weeks, then the aches and pains may set in again. That's good to know.
Dr. then arrived, and showed me some blurry images from the surgery. Whatever, dude. They make no sense to me, but you obviously think it's really cool to be able to show me them, so I'll nod and and "oooh" and "ahh" at your photos. I think even Shawn rolled his eyes at this. But at least my doctor is passionate about his job and he's thorough in his explanations, so that's why I like him. He even went to find the model of the hip so he could point to the model, but unfortunately, the model had "walked off."
Doc said I need to rest and do my own physical therapy for the next two weeks. Doing as much as I can within comfort. He wants me to try to extend my range of motion but not to overdo it. I was surprised when he said I wouldn't be starting PT for another two weeks. He said it'd be a waste of my time to go there now just to work on range of motion when I will naturally be doing that as I figure out life post-op. So in two weeks, he'll send me over to PT with a pretty aggressive plan. Great! Can't wait!
I scheduled my appointment to get the stitches removed, and Shawn and I headed to brunch. IHOP was terribly slow and I think I reached my limit for being out and about and sitting upright in chairs. Two to three hours on my first big day out isn't bad, and it will only get better from here.
My goal for today was to take a shower. That's all I wanted to accomplish. When I got home, I rested a bit then took that shower. I was so proud of myself. I attached a small tote bag to my crutch so that I could carry items with me. I mastered the staircase: both up and down the stairs. I was able to get dressed all by myself, which might not seem like much, but was a HUGE task since I can still only bend my right leg a little bit. After my shower, Shawn asked if I needed anything else. My response was, "About the only thing I can't do right now is carry a full cup of water while using my crutches." Shawn went to work, while I went to my little "home" in the living room. On my way up the stairs the response I gave Shawn about what I couldn't do was bothering me. Why CAN'T I do that?!?! The doctor said I could use just one crutch when I felt up to it. He did also say that I could hobble 10-15 feet if I needed to...just not to do it all the time. Challenge accepted. Upstairs I decided enough was enough. I'm bored. It's time to start doing things. So I unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it, which gave me NO PAIN. I'm gonna carry a full cup of water with my crutch....so I filled my cup, and walked with one crutch back to my easy chair. Don't tell me I can't do something, self, because I just might do it! I'm feeling rather invincible right about now.
I've decreased my Vicodin to one tablet every 6 hours. I can probably space it out to 8 hours, but I don't want to be too eager. But then again, I feel like I should have a little bit of aches and pains only 4 days out of surgery.
The remainder of the evening was uneventful. It took the kids forever to clean up their toys from the floor, then they went to bed. Shawn and I turned in not too long after the kids. Ahh, Friday nights in the Morris house!
Shawn got the pleasure of meeting Dr. Dworsky's hillbilly male nurse, who is quite the character and VERY out of place in a medical office. We both thought the question, "Do you have any joint pain?" was laughable. After the initial check-in by Cowboy Jack, the x-ray technician came in to bring me to the x-ray room. There I had to take two x-rays. One straight on from the top, and one side view. Now this lady was not very sympathetic. She's trying to tell me to roll onto my right hip...the hip that I just had surgery on. I told her that I couldn't quite do that. She didn't seem to care and rolled me onto it as I bit down on my lip. All the pressure must have been on one of those puncture wounds because it felt like a jolt of electricity surging down my entire leg. After the x-ray was taken, she yells to me, "Now don't move, I have to check this to make sure it turned out." Yah, right...I've got shooting pains going down the side of my leg, and I'll be damned if you're going to make me stay like this while you check your x-ray. I was angry! So I moved myself to a more comfortable position. The nurse came back, didn't say anything, but moved the machine around and indicated that I could get back up off the table. Remember, I'm moving slowly, and I can't really bend that right leg much. My right shoe had slipped off in the process, and she's like, "Oh your shoe came off." "I know. I'll just carry it back to the room. I can't put it on myself." "Can't you just slip it on?" the nurse asked. "Uh...no...my foot is all swollen, and I can't bend this leg. I just had surgery." I responded. "oh...ok. Let me see if I can help you." Gee, thanks!
I made it back to the room, and Shawn could tell I was angry. After briefly relaying the story of the x-ray room to him and laughing it off, the physical therapist came in. She's a young girl, who many months ago put me through the wringer by measuring all my range of motions at the time. She got the unpleasant job of ripping off the bandages. For the most part, it actually tickled, except for one really sticky part. I got my first look at the wounds. Boy are they ugly! There's no bruising around them, but basically, I've got three puncture wounds, sewn up with some really thick black sutures. It kind of looks like three farfalle (bowtie) pastas on my hip! The PT replaced the big, huge, gauzy bandages with three regular sized band-aids and gave me a refill of the Vicodin. "Better to be safe than sorry." I totally agree! She also mentioned that I'll probably feel pretty good these next two weeks, then the aches and pains may set in again. That's good to know.
Dr. then arrived, and showed me some blurry images from the surgery. Whatever, dude. They make no sense to me, but you obviously think it's really cool to be able to show me them, so I'll nod and and "oooh" and "ahh" at your photos. I think even Shawn rolled his eyes at this. But at least my doctor is passionate about his job and he's thorough in his explanations, so that's why I like him. He even went to find the model of the hip so he could point to the model, but unfortunately, the model had "walked off."
Doc said I need to rest and do my own physical therapy for the next two weeks. Doing as much as I can within comfort. He wants me to try to extend my range of motion but not to overdo it. I was surprised when he said I wouldn't be starting PT for another two weeks. He said it'd be a waste of my time to go there now just to work on range of motion when I will naturally be doing that as I figure out life post-op. So in two weeks, he'll send me over to PT with a pretty aggressive plan. Great! Can't wait!
I scheduled my appointment to get the stitches removed, and Shawn and I headed to brunch. IHOP was terribly slow and I think I reached my limit for being out and about and sitting upright in chairs. Two to three hours on my first big day out isn't bad, and it will only get better from here.
My goal for today was to take a shower. That's all I wanted to accomplish. When I got home, I rested a bit then took that shower. I was so proud of myself. I attached a small tote bag to my crutch so that I could carry items with me. I mastered the staircase: both up and down the stairs. I was able to get dressed all by myself, which might not seem like much, but was a HUGE task since I can still only bend my right leg a little bit. After my shower, Shawn asked if I needed anything else. My response was, "About the only thing I can't do right now is carry a full cup of water while using my crutches." Shawn went to work, while I went to my little "home" in the living room. On my way up the stairs the response I gave Shawn about what I couldn't do was bothering me. Why CAN'T I do that?!?! The doctor said I could use just one crutch when I felt up to it. He did also say that I could hobble 10-15 feet if I needed to...just not to do it all the time. Challenge accepted. Upstairs I decided enough was enough. I'm bored. It's time to start doing things. So I unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it, which gave me NO PAIN. I'm gonna carry a full cup of water with my crutch....so I filled my cup, and walked with one crutch back to my easy chair. Don't tell me I can't do something, self, because I just might do it! I'm feeling rather invincible right about now.
I've decreased my Vicodin to one tablet every 6 hours. I can probably space it out to 8 hours, but I don't want to be too eager. But then again, I feel like I should have a little bit of aches and pains only 4 days out of surgery.
The remainder of the evening was uneventful. It took the kids forever to clean up their toys from the floor, then they went to bed. Shawn and I turned in not too long after the kids. Ahh, Friday nights in the Morris house!
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