First Days Home

So it is now post-op Day 9, and I have slept in my own bed for 3 days.

The realities of these Recovery Days are starting to take shape... what to expect, what to let go of, where the pain begins and ends, how the body is reacting to the recent "event", what the kids think of a mother who suddenly moves like a great-grandmother, whether or not the husband really relishes his role as Head Nurse, whether the hired help actually know how to make tomato soup for the kids the same was I used to... so much "new-ness"! A new kind of honeymoon? Still finding out.

The first day home I tried to be the Good Patient by staying in my bed most of the day, propped up with pillows, watching Crap TV (like I did in the hospital for 6 days straight) and talking on the phone. By the end of the first day, my lower back and booty were on fire -- and not in a good way! A home bed is VERY different from the state-of-the-art fancy hospital bed with buttons that could twist you into any variety of pretzel and a special layer that filled with warm air and wiggled every few minutes to prevent bed sores... Oh, even my fancy king size Temperpedic can't come close to that. I had basically added to my hip pain by not correctly positioning myself and learning how to sit still. Time for the How to Sit in One Place for Several Hours workshop, I guess. Any instructors out there? Now I've transferred down to the main floor for the daytime hours and can get quite comfy in a recliner chair in the TV room without causing new forms of paralyzation!

I'm currently on loads of medications for pain which Jim has lovingly dosed into mini ziplock bags with the dosing time written on them in felt tip pen. Some of these meds I'm familiar with from my past 3 c-sections, but others are definitely the Biggest Guns I've ever been prescribed. The weird thing with narcotics -- if you truly need them for pain, you don't get any "magical buzz" -  such a bummer! So far, I actually can't feel any change after taking them, but I recall that first 24-hour Hell Day after surgery, and appreciate how much they must really be doing for me.

The body is working well in many places, which amazes me. From the waist up, I am fine, and my left leg has virtually full range of motion. My right leg works quite well from the knee down, but between the knee and just above my right pelvic bone we have total Dead Leg. It is numb to the touch, and I have absolutely no control over it. It feels very much like that part of my body has been swapped out with a bloated, swollen, warm and unnaturally heavy water balloon.  It doesn't "hurt" per se, but if I walk or am accidentally body checked by one of kids, there is a aching pins-and-needles reaction that I'm pretty sure would be 10 times worse without medication.

Jim's been a wonderful Head Nurse so far. It's not an easy job, being nudged awake in the middle of the night so that you can get out of bed (after crawling over Nick, who, at age 5, is still  frequent bed-mate for us) and help move the Dead Leg just a foot or so in order for me to make it to the bathroom. Last night we spent at least 1/2 an hour trying to get Dead Leg to shift so that I could actually lay on my left side in the bed. This involved at least 8 pillows of various sizes, and constant re-positioning and shifting by a few inches in various directions. In other words, enormous volumes of patience and laughter. After all that, I still had the strange sensation of the 3" pins used to hold my pelvis back together, rubbing against the inside of my incision -- such a weird feeling! Fortunately, there was a time in his life where Jim had actually seriously considered a medical profession, so he finds things like pins and incisions endlessly fascinating. What a relief!

So today is an exciting day because it will be my first-ever outing since returning home from the hospital -- I am going to get my hair washed at a real hair salon! It may as well be Disney World -- I am so thrilled. This plan was actually suggested to me by my surgeon's office. My single greatest post-discharge complaint was that, due to the position of the incision (lies along along the crease of the pelvis - about 6") showers or baths are on the "Naughty List". OK, so I know you can some critical parts clean with a sponge bath while sitting on the toilet (awkward! But at least I can manage it solo) what's a girl to do about the hair?? Two weeks of unwashed hair? Geeee-ross! You can just never feel truly clean, I know you girls can feel me here. Guys, maybe not as much.... But strategically, there is almost no way to do this in the home without risking getting the incision wet, very dangerous at this stage. All things considered, it looks like being driven 8 blocks to my dear friend Donna over at Fringe Salon is now on the "Ok List"!  And you can bet if this works out I'll be heading to the nail salon by next week for sure! Jim looks a little worried - but at least I have a doctor's permission, right?

Looking forward to a weekend of friend visits and family time, even though the weekday help team has been terrific. I hear lots of complaints about the weather, but so far, that has not been an issue for me!  Jim will get his first stab at 4 kids and no mom -- with one kid who is basically disabled! Keep your fingers crossed for him -- I have a feeling he'll rise to the occasion...