HOME

There's no place like home........but it comes with a whole new set of challenges. 

The day I was discharged from the Rehab Hospital I had to go to see Dr Place down at the Anheuser Busch Institute off Grand Ave. And we had to stop at Mercy to drop off my scripts for narcs that we would have to go back and pick up after my Dr appt. The car is tough, getting in and positioned correctly with a brace is tough and the minute I leaned back to be buckled in I knew it would be a tough trip. The brace is worse when leaning back and it presses against my incision line and hardware so even though you'd think reclining would help it only makes it worse.

We made it and I got into the building with just my walker. The place was packed and we had long wait between waiting rooms, new X-rays and finally seeing first the resident, the Dr and then finally standing without my brace for the 15 minutes or so that it took the nurse to take all those sutures out. Without the brace and having been split all the way down my back I have zero muscle tone and my back/abs quiver and shake until it starts to spasm. SO as much as I cuss this brace it truly is keeping me upright now while I heel.

We stopped on the way home and picked up some of my favorite pizza and I got home and snuggled my fur babies for a long time. Goodness I think they really did think I was dead because they do not leave my side at all. 

Going to bed the first night was hard. We have an incredible memory foam mattress but your body sinks into it to conform to you........not good when you have to log roll and reposition yourself every hour or so. I am slowly figuring it out but it was a huge disappointment after longing for my own bed for so long.

Yesterday morning Erica was home with me until around 9:30 and then I was completely alone until after 3:30 pm when Ed got home. I was feeling good and dressed myself, unpacked my bags (with the reacher and lots of work). I realized quickly that I could get around the house a lot better without the walker. I found I was lifting it to get over the throw rugs, turning it sideways to get to certain pieces of furniture, etc. I can see my nurse friends cringing as they read this. But I really felt safe just touching walls and furniture for continued balance. I spent the majority of my day either sitting on the couch with my brace on or taking it off and side lying on it. I probably got up and ambulated around the house every 30-45 minutes. I miss having my wide open handicapped spaces to walk as much as I want at the Rehab Hospital. I wanted Ed to take me for a walk when he got home but was informed that it was 95 degrees out and I probably would have had to turn around quickly. We had dinner then he helped me figure out the shower. Went back to the couch and noticed my Right hip was really starting to give me fits when I would stand or sit. The rehab Dr told me its the nerves between T 12 and L 1 that are causing that pain. My spine is so angry at me!! We've been curvy friends for 53 years and it is not happy about being forced into this new straighter position. Anyway long story short I started feeling nauseated and couldn't get up off the couch alone. Ed managed to get me to bed only to have to deal with a sobbing mess. It's the first time I have fell apart for at least a week. I understand from all that I was one hot mess in the hospital that cried all the time.

I finally cried myself to sleep. Pitiful, right? After a couple of hours of sleep I made my first trip to the bathroom and felt a lot better. I think I way overdid things yesterday and it just completely overwhelmed me at the end of the day. 

Last night was not as bad and although I am still very wakeful and have to get up a couple of times I feel like I got more rest. I was shocked when I woke up at 6:30 and we both had slept that late. 

Hubby set me up with coffee and computer before he left for the day.

I am taking it really slow today. Still in my jammies and I have already had a 30 minute nap in bed. I stayed out of bed yesterday for the entire day and it was obviously too much. My plan is to hang out in my bedroom more today. Sit in the recliner and take breaks in bed. Everything is a time and energy  sucking task as the brace has to be put on every time I am upright and out of bed. It takes some work to get this thing on and off by myself so I can't do anything in a hurry.

So here I am day 17 post op. I feel like I am making progress, I am thrilled to be home.

I am going to treat myself a bit easier and hoping we can go to the Antique mall by our house tomorrow so I can do some walking. I'd too scared to go to a mall and get plowed down by a teenager so the antique mall it will be.

I hope I will be up to visitors in the next week or so as I am anxious to see people.

Happy Friday Everyone!!!