Post-op Days 5 and 6

Well, the rehab center has been no picnic for the past few days. I learned the very important way of asking the question “Do you include memory loss patients with the general population”, which yielded the response “We make every attempt to treat our memory loss patients in a cohesive program that includes dedicated space for that population.” I should have asked, “On average, how often do you house a memory loss patient with the general population.” That would have yielded different information.

On Saturday and Sunday night, nobody on my unit got any sleep because the darker it became the more agitated Dorothy became. She is 92 years, completely deaf, and in late stage dementia. She managed to scream and moan 4-8 times per hour all night. Today I told the admissions manager that I was going home tonight if Dorothy was not transferred upstairs. Fortunately that has occurred.

I continue to need heavy pain medications which I take round the clock. I am taking 20 mg of oxycontin at 12 hour intervals, kicked up a notch by 40 mg of percoset every 4 hours. This does not “control” the pain—the pain is always present—but it does help me to manage the stress of it. I have finally learned what that 1-10 pain scale means to me:

10—producing a dead faint
9—nausea/gagging/vomiting
8—uncontrollable sobbing
7---teeth gritting
6—root canal territory
5---bearable but present pain that reminds me that the injury is serious
4-1 I’ll let you know when I experience it

There is no therapy on the weekends, in general, but on Saturday I had my intake assessment. I was given some very awesome tools to help me move around. These included a pole with a loop on the end, to move my most painful foot around; a sock assistant, you put the sock on the assistant then use the ropes to pull it up onto your foot; a “reaching device” to grab for things out of reach.

Yesterday Millard and I broke the rules here and I had an unauthorized shower. It basically involved him scoping out the shower room, helping to gather up the materials, and then helping me to shower. The whole thing took 20 minutes. I had found out that my “shower night” was Saturday and I found this out on Sunday morning. It had to be done.

My incisions still look horrific, but they are healing and my legs are working pretty well. So far, so good. I will probably go home on Friday.