Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Week One Complete!
It's hard to believe that exactly one week ago Dr. Ellis was finishing up the last stitches and staples of my PAO and Femoral Osteotomy! Yes, they ended up chiseling away at my femoral head too! What an amazing week this has been; much to my amazement it has FLOWN by.
The surgery was a success according to Dr. Ellis and everyone who was in the OR with me. Since the surgery I've talked to Stephanie (Dr. Ellis' PA) and Dr. Ellis himself a number of times. I was out of surgery by about 7:30 pm and in a room about an hour later. I spent 4 1/2 days in at OSU East (checked out at 11:00am Monday following a Wednesday afternoon surgery) and am currently rehabing at my parents' house! I am getting pretty darn good with a walker and find myself chanting "Walker, Bad Leg, Good Leg, Walker, Bad Leg, Good Leg..." as I travel from the bedroom to the family room!
I am not terribly comfortably sitting here in my parents desk chair so I will make this short tonight. I will spend some time over the next few weeks catching everyone up on my progress though! I am even going to try and post a picture of the incision (it's vertical and very anterior (to the front of my body, not at the side or on my "hip").
My hospital stay was rather uneventful. Thank goodness my mom stayed with my at night though, as I had one night nurse who just simply did not have a clue! She brought me the wrong medications, pull on my leg to "help" me out of bed and was just an overall dingbat. I had a number of PHENOMENAL nurses though, the good far outweighed the bad (Thank you Jennifer, Lawrence and Barb!). The Patient Care Assistants were great too. Anyone who is willing to wash someone else's feet gets a thumbs up in my book! (Thanks Megan!) The doctors and nurses worked with me to regulate my pain constantly - I am amazed at how little pain I feel. I am fully aware of how bad this could be and am so grateful for the attention from Barb and Dr. Ellis to make sure I was comfortable after I left their care!
TO CHERYL - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me a direct email! I would love to talk to you about Dr. Ellis, the surgery, the hospital, why and how I made the decisions I did, just everything! Best way to reach me is at this address: psmb (at) vzw.blackberry.net and I will reply quickly, I promise!! I am so excited to have a hip sister to share Dr. Ellis with! :D He is THE BEST, hands down! You should hear the staff at the hospital go on and on about him. Everyone, nurses, PCAs, PTs, even doctors took the time to tell me how much they respect and enjoy Dr. Ellis. It's obvious that they think the world of him!
I have a follow up appointment this coming Tuesday with Dr. Ellis (or Stephanie) and will start water therapy after talking with them. Whee!!
The surgery was a success according to Dr. Ellis and everyone who was in the OR with me. Since the surgery I've talked to Stephanie (Dr. Ellis' PA) and Dr. Ellis himself a number of times. I was out of surgery by about 7:30 pm and in a room about an hour later. I spent 4 1/2 days in at OSU East (checked out at 11:00am Monday following a Wednesday afternoon surgery) and am currently rehabing at my parents' house! I am getting pretty darn good with a walker and find myself chanting "Walker, Bad Leg, Good Leg, Walker, Bad Leg, Good Leg..." as I travel from the bedroom to the family room!
I am not terribly comfortably sitting here in my parents desk chair so I will make this short tonight. I will spend some time over the next few weeks catching everyone up on my progress though! I am even going to try and post a picture of the incision (it's vertical and very anterior (to the front of my body, not at the side or on my "hip").
My hospital stay was rather uneventful. Thank goodness my mom stayed with my at night though, as I had one night nurse who just simply did not have a clue! She brought me the wrong medications, pull on my leg to "help" me out of bed and was just an overall dingbat. I had a number of PHENOMENAL nurses though, the good far outweighed the bad (Thank you Jennifer, Lawrence and Barb!). The Patient Care Assistants were great too. Anyone who is willing to wash someone else's feet gets a thumbs up in my book! (Thanks Megan!) The doctors and nurses worked with me to regulate my pain constantly - I am amazed at how little pain I feel. I am fully aware of how bad this could be and am so grateful for the attention from Barb and Dr. Ellis to make sure I was comfortable after I left their care!
TO CHERYL - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me a direct email! I would love to talk to you about Dr. Ellis, the surgery, the hospital, why and how I made the decisions I did, just everything! Best way to reach me is at this address: psmb (at) vzw.blackberry.net and I will reply quickly, I promise!! I am so excited to have a hip sister to share Dr. Ellis with! :D He is THE BEST, hands down! You should hear the staff at the hospital go on and on about him. Everyone, nurses, PCAs, PTs, even doctors took the time to tell me how much they respect and enjoy Dr. Ellis. It's obvious that they think the world of him!
I have a follow up appointment this coming Tuesday with Dr. Ellis (or Stephanie) and will start water therapy after talking with them. Whee!!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
12 Hours to go!!
Well,here I am just 12 hours away from leaving for the hospital. I have decided that I am completely ready for this! Thanks to the hip group I know what to exepect afterwards, I am ready for the pain, the hard work and the therapy. I am ready for this!!! I hope I really mean it and that I am not just saying it over and over again hoping to believe it! :-)
My family seems to be ready and they all know their jobs while I'm gone. The kids have to keep fighting with each other, John has to keep them from fighting with each other, and Mom & Dad have the house ready for me to come home! I guess everyone is doing their part now I just need to do mine!
Thanks toa ll for the for the love, thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes!! I'll check in as soon as I can!
In the meantime I will keep track of how many people say to me, "Perioste-what?"
My family seems to be ready and they all know their jobs while I'm gone. The kids have to keep fighting with each other, John has to keep them from fighting with each other, and Mom & Dad have the house ready for me to come home! I guess everyone is doing their part now I just need to do mine!
Thanks toa ll for the for the love, thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes!! I'll check in as soon as I can!
In the meantime I will keep track of how many people say to me, "Perioste-what?"
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Almost There...
Well, just about 60 hours away from my surgery and I am fairly calm. I think I have everything in order at this point! EVERYONE just keeps asking me if I'm nervous. I wasn't... until everyone started asking me if I was nervous!!
My fancy Millenial Crutches arrived this past week. I was hoping to get red, but instead they are dark gray. Oh well... They are assembled and ready to go to the hospital on Wednesday. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I tried them out a little bit. I was pleased to discover that they were the "Pro" edition with ergonomically correct handles, making them right and left specific. In light of this I thought it best for me to mark one somehow. My right crutch now has a pretty green ribbon adorning the handle!
I have my bag packed, but am not sure how much in that bag I really need. I am sure that twizzlers aren't on the list of suggested items to take for surgery! I just know that I'll have lots of company, and I want to make sure that I have something for the kids when the come. Yeah, anyone out there reading this who knows me realizes at this point that I'm full of shit. The twizzlers are for me. But the chocolate chip cookies are for the kids, I promise!! I also packed a new nightgown and robe, the Sudoku book that the kids got me for my birthday and plenty of sharpened pencils. My iPod is loaded with music and my noice reducing headphones are packed.
Friday was my last day at work and I believe that I have everything settled with backup resources for all of my responsibilities. I'm sure they will survive without me! Everyone knows who is doing what and if they get to a point where they don't know what to do, they will figure it out!
So my plans for the next few days are to do nothing, just take it easy and chill out. I've got lots of hard work ahead of me so I'm planning to have a few easy laid back days before!
My fancy Millenial Crutches arrived this past week. I was hoping to get red, but instead they are dark gray. Oh well... They are assembled and ready to go to the hospital on Wednesday. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I tried them out a little bit. I was pleased to discover that they were the "Pro" edition with ergonomically correct handles, making them right and left specific. In light of this I thought it best for me to mark one somehow. My right crutch now has a pretty green ribbon adorning the handle!
I have my bag packed, but am not sure how much in that bag I really need. I am sure that twizzlers aren't on the list of suggested items to take for surgery! I just know that I'll have lots of company, and I want to make sure that I have something for the kids when the come. Yeah, anyone out there reading this who knows me realizes at this point that I'm full of shit. The twizzlers are for me. But the chocolate chip cookies are for the kids, I promise!! I also packed a new nightgown and robe, the Sudoku book that the kids got me for my birthday and plenty of sharpened pencils. My iPod is loaded with music and my noice reducing headphones are packed.
Friday was my last day at work and I believe that I have everything settled with backup resources for all of my responsibilities. I'm sure they will survive without me! Everyone knows who is doing what and if they get to a point where they don't know what to do, they will figure it out!
So my plans for the next few days are to do nothing, just take it easy and chill out. I've got lots of hard work ahead of me so I'm planning to have a few easy laid back days before!
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