The Where in the World is Bill Column Part 2 0f 3

Kitt, I only got about 5 hours of sleep. I ended up eating chocolate, drinking coffee and mellow yellow soda to stay awake. Tonight I'll be up with tummy troubles. Can't win it's a vicious cycle.   I was down at the hospital/clinic from 3:15 to 5pm. I just wanted to get out of there. The Pain doc that is treating my tailbone refused to do the injection tomorrow as it can impede the healing of my hand and introduce infection to my weakened system. So I'll have it done on the 29th instead. And then I go see the other doc on the 30th for my post op appointment. Man these are sure racking up the miles on my 15 year old car with all those trips down to the hospital. The pain doc is sending me to PT for my back pain. He wants me to have ultra sound to calm things back down. I told him it would have to be before or after work hours and would have to be in my town not down there. He agreed and said he was sure they could work something out. I'll go to the gym again tonight and work out in the pool with my back exercises and sit in the hot tub. I won't be able to do that for 2 weeks after surgery. The pain doc wants to do a complete work up on my back to see if he can help me in any way. He said for the deteriorateing disk they can do some sort of shot if that is what is causing all the pain or some of it any way. Between the 2 docs down there they will have me good as new. Lol.

Bill, I sure hope you get some relief from those ribs. Ahhh I remember sleeping in the recliner. I've done that alot over the years. I might try that for my back tonight. Maybe I'll go get some movies to watch becasue I know I'll be up all night. I was assured today that they would find something to give me tomorrow and that my hand would be numb. I don't know why I'm still worried about it. It sounds much worse now than when the doctor explained it last month to me. Oh well I've been through worse, I think any way. I can't believe they took out the monkeys. They are the funniest to watch. Well I better go make some dinner. I wanted to eat a bit later tonight since I won't be eating until early tomorrow afternoon. I'll be checking in later. Barb

Thanks Denise, I sure hope you are right. I will be glad to get it over and done with.  I have to get all the nail polish off my nails tonight. I think I'll do that before I go to the gym. I'm going to just try to relax and enjoy the water. It always seems to help my back and the hot tub also helps my hands and any thing else that happens to be hurting at the moment. I am not looking forward to the night ahead. That's the worse part the waiting. Maybe I'll pass out in my chair from sheer exhaustion. That would be a blessing. Other wise I'll try to keep myself occupied with other things. I still need to clear off the bed in the spare room because I need to keep my hand elevated and our bed is too small to even put pillows between us to put my hand on. I think I will just wear my capri PJs since it is sleeveless and will be easy to put the splint through. They told me a head of time to make sure I wear something easy to put the splint through. I'll check in through out the night. Maybe Bill will stay up and keep me company. Barb

Yeah I'm wide awake. I doubt I'll sleep at all. I had a nice swim and the gym followed by a soak in the hottub and then a hot shower and dried my hair and combed it out while I sat in the sauna. It was nice and relaxing. I'm glad I went when I did because a bunch of young adults came and making all sorts of noise and splashing around. It gets really loud in there by the pool. I could hear them from the shower room. Well at least my back feels better tonight. I'll have to call or stop by to make some appointments for the therapy for it.

Sorry about the tummy troubles your having. Mine is really bloated tonight as I ate chocolate today, coffee and soda. None of which helps my gastritis. How very stupid of me but I had to stay awake some how. My eyes were going shut on the drive down to the hospital. I have enough problems with out having another accident. Barb

Thanks PAlady, I wish mine was early like the other one was. Last time I had to be there at 5:45am. This time I have to be there at 9am and surgery at 11am. I'm trying to keep busy so I can keep my mind off of it. I might try to lay down for a little while. My hubby can't sleep either. He hates when I have surgery. I'm getting all my laundry done as there won't be any one to bring it up from the basement for me. I think I will also get the dishwasher running too. I already have dinner going in the crock pot so I won't have to worry about what we are going to eat later today. I think after I take care of the next load of clothes I have in I will try to lay down for a while. I'm already dressed since I'm wearing my sleevless PJ's so it's easy after to put my arm with the splint through so all I have to do it climb out of bed and be on my way as soon as our daughter comes to pick us up. Barb

Hi Guys,

 Hope every 1 is well.

Bea

lol yeah I see only hour difference. im watching barney with my grandbaby so I said aww shucks im sick of him let me go on healing well.

 

Hey Bill,
Sorry to hear your stomach is bothering you. Those of us on this thread have been there...are there in many cases! I'm 4 months post op, and am really happy with my recovery, but there are days. Sometimes my wrap still gets irritated, I have a very reactive stomach, etc. My GI tract is really interesting...I have a potpourri of consistencies...you never know what's coming out next! All in all, though, things are great. No complaints here.

I do worry, though...hopefully it'll hold/is holding. I have gotten a few (very few) heartburn moments (probably at most 6 or 7 in the 4 months since the surgery). I know my wrap is loose--could be it's letting some by. I know doctors try to balance the need for a tight wrap to keep the acid down, and a loose wrap to allow the food through. Also, though I could have some swelling...things are still healing. A little swollen section could let some acid through.

Of course, my worry is that I've damaged the hernia repair, and thus caused the wrap to fail. The big evidence that all is well is that my asthma is great...my lungs are continuing to improve. If I was having silent GERD, my lungs would be telling me the story.
I'm hoping that my worries are for naught--that all is well in there! No sense in worrying about it!

Barb,
Good luck today! We're all thinking of you! Hope everything goes well, and your recovery is quick.

PALady,
Good for you, looking into prescription payment options. Let's hope that you get coverage really soon. It is a very disturbing thing to deal with, I'm sure.

Kitt,
As always, thanks for your constant support and encouragement. We'll all do our best to cover the site while you're away! It won't be the same, though! I hope you have a nice break.

Bea,
So glad to hear that you're happy with the additional time off work, and see the bright side of the situation. Of course! What else would we expect from you and your sunny disposition!
Take care, All!
Denise

Hi every one, well that was rather unpleasant. I had to argue with the guy about the versed. He then asked if he could try it or if I would rather he not and try something else and I said I would rather he try something else so he used propynol and fentinal. It helped but I was still awake and kept opening my eyes. I didn't feel any of the cutting but the arm they operated on hurt really bad when they put the turnicut on and then put the medication in and when they took the turnicut off to the point that i was banging my foot on the table because it was so bad. The other hand was equally as bad when they put the medication in to sedate me and every time the BP cuff took my BP. I still would prefer to be knocked out as that was not a pleasant expierience. They had to loosen the ace bandage that is over th splint as is was cutting off the circulation to my fingers. I'll have to keep the splint and dressing on for 2 weeks. I have to move my fingers every hour. It doesn't feel so great, but that is part of the healing process. Keeping it elevated and keeping my pain meds on schedule really helps though. My doctor told my husband that my hand was as bad as they come. He said the tunnel was completely collapsed and my nerve was squished flat so that's why I had so much pain. He said it should make a huge difference since it was so bad. So that was great news! Well it's time to take a nap as I didn't sleep much last night. Barb 

Hmmmm I must have missed something in regards to Bea's job. I wish I didn't have to work either. Barb

Well Barb, you got through it. It doesn't sound like it went as you had hoped, but you're on the other side, and can start healing! You sound like you're doing pretty well! I hope you can keep the surgical pain at bay and get some good rest tonight!
I'll be sending positive and healing vibes your way!
Take care,
Denise

PAlady, I wish it had gone better since I will have to have it done on the right hand. I had myself so stressed out this time about the pain that I had stomach cramps, gas and I went 2x this morning and I thought it was going to turn into diarrhea. At least the pain meds are working as long as I take them every 6 hours. I can definately tell when it's getting close to taking another dose. I am going to have to call tomorrow to ask some questions like how long does it have to be elevated and is it ok to use the hand to open things and pull things down & up like my pants because it really hurts my thumb. I want to make sure I am not doing too much or not enough. I am so tired, but have to wait another hour before bed and taking the carafate. Yeah those pesky schedules for the meds. I'm glad I said something about things being too tight as my fingers were red and very cold and it hurt. They called the doc right away and asked if they could loosen it. It felt alot better after that.

Denise, thank goodness it is over with. I am very hopeful this will make things better. Barb

Barb,
I wouldn't try to do things like opening something until your sutures are removed (if you have them - do you know how they closed the incision? I actually had glue for my lumbar fusion and didn't have to go back to remove anything! LOL). Maybe pulling things like your pants up slowly. I remember doing it inch by inch, switching hands! It amazed me what I learned to do with one hand!

Hope you're doing a little beter by tomorrow and yes, do keep on top of the pain. Sounds like you have more than I did. Elevating it actually felt good to me.

Take care!

PaLady

PAlady, I do have stitches that have to be removed in 2 weeks. I am going to just wear sundresses I think that will be easier. Did they have you stretch your fingers back? They told me to do that to keep from getting stiff. He said it would hurt but would pay off in the long run. Elevating it really helps a lot. If I let it down when the pain med s are wearing off man does that hurt.

Bill, I'll probably have some lovely night mares about all I went through today. Oh well when I wake up ir'll just be a bad dream. Well I am off to bed now. Barb