Surgery - Third times the charm!

I had surgery last week Wednesday, April 18, to remove the dead bone in my right tibia and the surrounding, infected tissue. Here, I present you with my surgery in pictures ('cause I'm to tired to write about the whole thing).

 I woke up at quarter to five to get to the hospital by seven am. I use the term woke up loosely because I don't think i got more than twenty minutes of sleep. My mom and I got to the hospital around 6:30 and went to admitting. from there we were sent to the same-day/short stay ward for pre-op which is on the fifth floor.  Below is a picture os me in my over sized hospital gown. Since I was being admitted overnight, I didn't get to stay in this room. Everyone was really nice. My mom and i couldn't stop laughing and making jokes, and for some reason we found the nurses really funny. Every time they came in they had to check my hospital bracelet to make sure I was the right person. My only complaint was the the IV bleed quit a lot when it was put in.

I look so tired, but couldn't sleep at all, although I was able to lie down for a bit. 

I was taken to the pre-op waiting room (on the third floor) about 8:15. I had to go to the bathroom so many times (thanks to the IV antibiotics I was already receiving -I got Ancef), and as a pre-op nurse said, got to waltz with my IV pole. Everyone having surgery had to wear funny blue hairnets. That waiting room is an interesting experience. I was the second patient there, so I got to people watch as the room filled up... at least 15 people having surgery at one time! WOW! Since I was able to walk to the surgery waiting room I got to sit in a comfy chair, and had a nice conversation with a man having surgery to fix a hernia. He too got to join the dark side with it's funky blue hats.

Here is my lovely (oh so not fashionable) hair net!

I was so cold. The nurse and porter who brought me down kept giving me warm blankets. The porter was joking that I would be as warm as a pop tart!

My surgeon's lovely signature on my leg (don't want to operate on the wrong leg!)

The anesthesiologist talked with my mom and I about a nerve block and something else since I had so much pain after the previous surgery (an unmitigated disaster), but in the end we decided against it. We figured that, although the risk would be small, we wouldn't rick sticking a needle in my spine... I already have one stubborn infection to deal with. Before I new it, it was time to go the the OR. There were at least 7 people in there -nurses, assistants, med students, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon himself. I told them to enjoy themselves, and the next thing I know, I was in the PACU.

After surgery I was brought to recovery (PACU - Post Anesthetic Care Unit) just after 11:30am. I was told most people don't remember much of this, but I remember everything. My pain was mostly a 5 on a 1 to 10 scale, maxing at a 6, so it wasn't to bad  (I know, it was, but I have really high pain tolerance). I was given morphine, which I have had lots of before, and dilaudid for the first time (amazing stuff!). I was allowed to have ice chips at this point, but that was a big mistake as I threw up almost immediately when I arrived in my room on the orthopedic ward. I was in recovery for about two hours. It would have been less, but I had to wait for the portable x ray people, and they were really, really slow.

Here I am just after arriving on the sixth floor in the orthopedic ward. There are a lot of people on that ward, way more than I expected. In the hospital in my region, there isn't an orthopedic ward at all! I was briefly texting my best friend that everything went well. She kindly posted an update on my face book wall because I don't use the internet on my phone.

My blood pressure was really low most of Wednesday. I don't know exaclty what it was at its lowest, but I know at one point it was about 90 over 60, and I felt like I was going to faint. I was really dizzy and drowsy, and dozed most of the day. I know my grandfather has low blood pressure issues, and I think that I might, so I will speak to one of my doctors about that soon.

This was my IV Wednesday evening, just when the saline and Ancef had finished and before I got hooked up to new stuff. Blood had gotten into it, which continued to happen every time I needed the IV bag to be changed.

This is Winks. I got him on my 18th birthday to prove how "not a child" I am. I sat him on the end of my bed until i was discharged.

Still on a liquid diet in the evening. Dinner was severed at 5:30 I think, but I didn't really eat until 7ish. You can't really tell here, but I was really pale. The nurse and my mom kept commenting  about it.

Go jello go! I didn't even touch the applesauce, soup, and tea, and I drank the ginger ale the next day.

By 8pm pain was at about a four, so I was given some stuff for it. I was allowed to choose between morphine and Tylenol extra strength. I took the latter. I was in a room with three other patients - Two women and one man.  The woman across from me had been in a car accident and suffered a badly broken right leg. Her other leg was also pretty bruised, to the point she could not stand on it to get up. She gave some encouraging smiles when my PICC line was being placed. The woman beside me was really old, and I think a bit demented. She had fallen and broken her shoulder and collar bone and couldn't even stand up. Her arms were covered in bruises from attempted IVs. I think the nurses gave up after a while. She was constantly yelling. At one point in the afternoon she kept calling out "Help! Help! I am trapped under a computer!" I don't know anything about the man in the corner, as he was discharged while I was dozing and dealing with the low blood pressure. Another man was brought in around 10:30pm, and he wasn't in good shape at all. I threw up once more just before my mom left at 8:00pm, which is when visiting hours end. It was all bile and tasted really bad. It is really good I only had the jello for dinner!

Almost 1:00 am and the old shoulder lady started screaming. After trying to calm her down for a while, the nurses gave her something to drink, and I think they had put some sort of sedative in there... thankfully. Almost 7am the next day a nurse woke me to take vitals and go the the bathroom (Holy ****, the IV makes you need to pee a lot!). Breakfast was at 8am, and I was really impressed. When I had my last surgery at another hospital, breakfast was served at 7:30 and the food tray taken away by 8. Here, you were allowed to keep the tray/food until the next meal in case you were not up to eating when it was served.

Here I am at 7:00am. I texted this picture to my best friend, Beth, with the message "Good morning sunshine!"

Yay! for a liquid breakfast again. I actually really wasn't hungry, so I didn't mind the lack of solid food at all.

PT came in the morning to get me out of bed (thank god! I could use the real bathroom). They got me up with a walker, but when I told them I was getting a PICC line, they decided to come back later to see me perform (like a circus!) on the stairs with my trusty companions the crutches. The surgeons assistant came to see me, and asked if infectious disease had seen me yet, but they hadn't. Around 10:00am the nurse was helping me up so that I could wash up in the bathroom (that self given sponge bath felt so good =>), when the orthopedic surgeon came in. The nurse kindly held my hospital gown closed a the back. He was surprised that I remembered seeing him in the recovery room. I remember him saying that everything went well, that not as much bone had to be taken out as expected, and that he was going to see my mom. Like I said, washing up felt really good, and brushing my teeth. And when I got back to bed, al, the sheets had been changed! Apparently, the nurses have to give everyone clean sheets once a day... and they felt so nice.

By noon I still wasn't really hungry, but was disappointed when I had to wait for lunch. The PICC like people had arrived. Did you know they can do anywhere between 10 to 35 PICC lines a week? I'm amazed I have never meet anyone with one before, lol The whole sterile procedure and use of the ultrasound machine was really cool, but it hurt when the guide wire went in. that was done before the skin was numbed, and I screamed. the lidocaine burned like hell, and I screamed again, but it was worth it when things were done. The whole procedure went really well and really fast. Hardly any bleeding at all.

After the PICC was placed, I had a chest x ray (in my hospital bed, with the portable machine. how cool is that?).  Right afterwards, PT came again to get me to demonstrate my awesome crutching skills. The car accident woman across from me kept asking to use crutches instead of a walker, even though she could hardly get up. This women, in her late 50's I think, said she had tried them before, but wasn't very good. The nurses had to explain that they usually only recommend crutches to young people who have used them before. Older people are more likely to fall using them as crutches are not as stable as walkers. I felt a small bit of pride in how impressed PT was with me, and they taught my how to go up and down stairs properly.

Lunch was tasty, finally something solid, although I wasn't really hungry, just a bit nibbly-ish. The ham sandwiches were nice, but i prefer them without butter.

Here is my leg early in the afternoon, just before I was allowed to put my pajama pants on.

Afterward the surgeon's assistant came back to ask if infectious disease had seen me yet, but they hadn't, and then the lady in charge of home care came to see me. She explained a lot of things to me and answered man of my questions. Thankfully my mom arrived just before she left, as I would not have been able to remember most of the stuff the the woman said, and relayed it correctly to my mom.

My awesome mom brought me some magazines to look at, and then we sat, waiting, and waiting, and then waiting some more. Around 4:00pm, infectious disease finally got to me. My regularly ID specialist works at another hospital which works with the one I was in, but she couldn't see me, so her college did. She took a lot of time to speak with me an my mom, and answered some of out most important questions. I was a bit disappointed because we originally were told 6 weeks of IV antibiotics, and that being only one injection into the PICC a day. But instead I am doing 12 week, with three infusions of two hours each a day. I am connected to my pump 24/7.

The plan was to hopefully get my home that night (Thursday), but it would depend on if home care could be set up in time and if i could get my first dose of IV medication before it was to late. My mom told the nurse that if I wasn't discharged by 7:45pm I would have to stay the night. The IV supplies would be dropped off at my house at 9:00pm, so we needed time to get home, about an hours drive. By 4:30pm I was finally getting a bit hungry, so my mom went to get me some snacks (I told you my mom is awesome!). She came back to my room and we chilled out for a bit, until dinner came just just after 5:30pm. We were starting to get skeptical about going home that night, so my mom went to the hospital restaurant to get something to eat. Just as she got back, almost 6:30pm, the nurse walked in with my IV meds - Tazocin. This antibiotic has to go through a pump, which thankfully finished infusing just after 7:00. By 7:30 I was discharged, and by 7:45 I was outside waiting outside for my mom to get the car.

This was my hospital bed just as I was leaving to go home.

While sitting outside, waiting for mom, I thought about all the people who had come to see me in one day. I don't really remember the order in which people saw me today, but here is a list:

- Physical therapy (twice)
- PICC line team
- X-ray people
- Surgeon's assistant (twice)
- Surgeon himself
- Home care
- Infectious Disease Specialist

I don't know how they organize it all, but i was very impressed!

And that was surgery. I was home quarter to nine, ready for the home care company to drop of my first set of supplies, and thankful to be in my own bed! One more milestone passed, and one fewer (albeit I don't know how many more) to go.

It had taken my a good part of the day to write this, on and off, so I am going to bed know. Home nurse comes bright and early - as they (who?) say, "The early bird catches the worm."