Relief

Here’s the latest: I’m home!

Our best laid plans included Sara blogging regularly during my stay in hospital, but due to many reasons, it only resulted in the one post you’ve read today. Still, you have seen my lovely wound now.

I am extremely relieved to be home. I felt well enough to come home yesterday but Tuesday was the day my surgeon had said was home day, so today it was. As you’ve read, the surgery went very well. My post-surgery recovery also seems to be progressing extremely well.

Let me tell you that this last week has been one of the hardest in my life. The prospect of surgery was bad enough, although the reality wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. As planned (!) I remember nothing from having the first anaesthetic until waking in recovery four hours later, for which I’m very grateful. The anaesthetist had given me an epidural, so I could feel nothing below the waist. I was very glad about that as I was anticipating huge pain when stuff started to wear off. The epidural stayed in for a couple of days, although I did have it turned right down almost to it’s lowest hourly dose. This was so that the feeling would return to my bladder and associated regions so that I would be able to “go” without having to have a catheter inserted you-know-where. Unfortunatly it didn’t work and the doctor had to be called to relieve my distress (and believe me I was distressed by that point!). It was awful, but at least I didn’t need to worry about needing a bottle every verse end.

After a couple of days, the epidural was taken out. “Removing it won’t hurt”, quoth the anaesthetist before the op. “Good” said I. She lied – it hurt rather badly. They came at 0540 to do it “so it has time to wear off before the physios get you up”. Thanks. Luckily, the pain afterwards really wasn’t that bad at all and has been bearable ever since. I’m on oral painkillers, of course, but I think the pain is less than the pain I had before I was diagnosed, so that’s a bonus. It’s more of a strange feeling than pain I suppose.

When I walk my leg feels like the surgeon has actually filled my leg with about 2 tons of lead rather than a titanium, steel and plastic prosthesis. Xray images of the leg post-op will appear here ina few days time, with any luck. I’ve already seen them and they’re quite amazing. The surgeon also promised to take lots of photos during the op, so for those with the stomach to view them I’ll post them on a separate gallery, once the disc arrives. Should be interesting.

Meantime, we’re trying to get hold of a wheelchair for me so that I can do stuff like go shopping, haha, but also because it’s the Race for Life on Sunday and I need to be there for that and it’s too far to walk from the car park. So if anyone knows where we can get a standard wheelchair (don’t really want to be seen dead in one of those with four stupidly small wheels) with a right-hand leg suport attachment, please let me know, even if we can only use it for one day. We have some other people on the case, but we’ll take any help. Thanks peeps.