Lobo Rose: November 29, 2014 After the hip replacement.....

I'm 10 days post-op and I'll have to say, I think this hip replacement was a LOT worse than I'd imagined. I've finally reached a point where my hip pain is taking a back seat to my back pain. I have taken Celebrex for years because of having Degenerative Disk Disease, and had to stop taking it a week before surgery. I was already getting in pretty bad shape by the time I had the surgery. My pain level had already multiplied several times over. But maybe that's a good thing. I didn't get nervous as surgery was approaching, which I though was amazing considering how spooked I was after pre-op testing...... lol
I took my twisted sense of humor with me, I guess, and had several people laughing at me as they readied me for surgery. I guess the first one to get a taste was a chaplain. I saw him at the nurses's station as they took me back to a room to get me ready. Within a minute or so, he came in the room to see me and I immediately asked him "Are you here to read me my last rites?" Obviously, that wasn't what he was expecting me to say and he had to gather his wits for a moment before he answered me.....
Then a couple of nurses came in, one carrying a tray with all of her tools of the trade to get the IV started. I told her I don't like IV's and I had a horror story to share with her about an IV I had done in Danville, IL. It took 9 tries to ever get that IV started. This nurse assured me that she was good at it and she nearly always got it on the first try About that time, she said here comes a big stick. Geez! I think they must use a stick of firewood or something! I told her I was glad she was good at it because I'd hate to have to pop her in the chin......... she said "Oh, no, it blew out" She decided on the next try, she was going to stick it in my hand instead of up in my arm. I'm grateful to say the second time worked.

DOES EVERYONE REMEMBER GOLDIE, the little feral kitten we took in last year? What a cat! She is quite the buddy and thinks she HAS to be on my shoulders several times a day. She jumps from my printer onto my shoulders and "fixes my hair", "washes my face" and just hangs out there.....

Did I say she's my beautician??? You wouldn't believe how relaxing it is to have a cat fix your hair! In fact, she can just about put me to sleep!

But, while I can honestly say, she doesn't try to scratch me, my shoulders tend to have scratches most of the time, simply from her hopping over from the printer.

Well, anyway, back to the hip replacement.......

The next person to come in was the anesthesiologist and he was quite a character. I liked him immediately. His sense of humor was as warped as mine! I asked him if I really had to be awake to get the spinal block and he assured me that I would be asleep when he did that part. I told him that I had told Mom the night before surgery that I figured they were going to be laughing at me while I was asleep in surgery. He asked why and I said because of all the scratches I had on my shoulders. I said I didn't want everyone to make fun of the scratches when it was all thanks to my puddy cat... He just laughed. I told him that I figured he might need to know that I'd been told after previous surgeries that I am really difficult to put to sleep. He winked and told me not to worry, he would give me "the big one".

Next, my doctor came in and chatted for a few minutes. He drew on my right hip and marked it YEAH and then marked an X on my left hip and wrote NAY! I really like the fact that they check and then double check before they cut!

It wasn't long before they wheeled me back to the OR and moved me over from the bed to the operating table. The anesthesiologist stepped over by me and said "Do you remember I said I was going to give you 'the big one'? Well, here it comes"..... The next thing I knew, I was waking up in my room and the surgery was all over.

I had surgery on Wednesday, November 19, and they told me I would probably be in there until Saturday. Thursday, they had me up and walking early. I took a heavy robe with me because every hospital I've been in tried to freeze me. I made it 25' the first time and was soaked in sweat. I DID NOT NEED THAT ROBE! That afternoon, I walked 60' and actually was going to walk further but the therapist said I'd walked far enough and not to over-do it. Friday morning, I walked 120' easily and then was told that if I wanted to, I could go home that afternoon, provided I was able to climb the stairs. I climbed the stairs with and without the walker and they told me I was doing great. Different nurses were amazed at the strength I had in my arms and upper body.... I told them they would not be so surprised if they knew the work I'd had to finish before the surgery took place.

I'll have to admit, there is still a lot of work left to do to get these beds finished next spring, but when I think of everything that we've already finished, I think it's pretty good considering Mom is 84 and I've been trying to work with a bum hip. We even finished all of the mulching! We've come a long way in the last year. I'm hoping that this winter is milder than last winter and that we can get an earlier start next spring. But at least I shouldn't be battling a bad hip next spring! If I could just get started on a little bit of the rock borders, it would help a lot.

I guess I will have to entertain myself indoors for a while. This will give me time to update the webpage, and hopefully get Plantstep brought up to date. And I have yard ornaments needing repainted. And when I need a plant fix, the Christmas cactus are blooming and Mom's Amaryllis bulbs are starting to bloom. Here are some pictures taken over the last couple a weeks......