Tuesday, December 16, 2008

One Week Post-Op

I'd like to be able to say that I can't believe that a whole week has gone by already but the truth is, it feels like my surgery was at least 10 or 12 days ago. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

For me, the biggest difference between this surgery and the last is my mobility. Dr. Buly only wants me going down and up the stairs one time a day. I'm finding it harder to use crutches at this point - I can't swing through like I could the last time. I'm not stable enough for them and my hips are really, really swollen, and so I use the walker about 95% of the time. I'm able to put more weight on my arms with it. The upside that because I'm not holding up my left leg up all the time to swing on crutches, my circulation on that side is better (from toe touching) and my calf on that side doesn't feel like it's about to explode.

The other big thing for me this go around, is that I'm taking Dilaudid instead of Vicodin for the pain. I take 4 mg at bedtime and no more. I do have more vivid dreams on it, but none of the Steven King-like nightmares that the Vicodins gave me. I'm going to try to stop taking them next Monday or Tuesday. I also take 1,000 mg of Tylenol every six hours. I don't need a watch - come 5 to 5.5 hours after a dose, my hip lets me know loud and clear that it's time for more.

Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish over the next week:
  • Be able to put a sock on my right foot
  • Be able to get in and out of the tub without help from Doug
  • Be better at crutching
  • Be less swollen
  • Ditch the Dilaudid

I think these are reasonable goals - stay tuned!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am happy your surgery is behind you, and you sound like your happy, upbeat self! Loved your blog updates!
McGuire