I had hammer toe surgery on Tuesday and all went well. The night before, I did not sleep well at all. You would think after all the surgeries I've had, that I wouldn't be nervous anymore about having them, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Oh well!
Mom and I arrived at the surgery center at 6am. My surgery was at 7:30am. I had to turn off my deep brain stimulation device. When the anesthesiologist came by I told him about the device and said that my neurologist said to keep "electrocutionary" devices away from the implanted battery. He looked at me said, "I think you mean electrocautery devices", to which I laughed and said, "Oh, that makes much more sense!" When the anesthesiologist assistant came by, we started talking and I told him to make sure I woke up after the surgery and he said he doesn't get paid unless the patient wakes up. I told him that should be his slogan! Dr. Gardner came by with a gift for me: an ever-fashionable boot. But, the medium sized boot that he brought was too big, so someone from his office brought over a small boot.
When it was time for the surgery, I remember being wheeled into the operating room and "meeting" another nurse, but after that - nothing. My mom said that the surgery was over an hour long and Dr. Gardner came out and spoke with her and gave her this picture:
After surgery, the post-op nurses were helping me get ready to go home. It took two of them to get the boot on over my bandaged foot:
After Mom left to go get the car, one of the nurses exclaimed that I was awfully giggly. My laughing got her laughing. I have no idea why I was laughing or even what I was laughing at. I guess that's what anesthesia does to me. I could definitely think of worse ways to come out of anesthesia, so I'm thankful I laugh.
Mom and I left the surgery center at 10am. Thankfully, I have wonderful parents who said that I could stay with them while recovering. I really think my mom could have been a nurse. She knows exactly what to do. Dad is great too. He seems to have the morning shift with me here. He'll get me something to eat and my medicine and refill my glass with water. I'm staying in what now has become Genevieve and Hope's (my nieces) bedroom. The room used to be my brothers Stanton and Steven's room. My mom has decorated it in all things girl. It literally is every little girls dream come true. My view is of baby dolls and stuffed animals, a princess castle, a kitchen, a tent, a bookshelf stuffed with books and a baby stroller and baby bed.
In their room is the bunk bed that my parents got me and Stuart when we were little. I had the top, he had the bottom. Then it was Stuart and Stanton and after that it was Stanton and Steven and now it will be Genevieve and Hope.
After coming home from surgery, I slept all day. My foot was completely numb because on top of the anesthesia, Dr. Gardner numbed my entire foot. Tuesday night was not a good night at all. I was in so much pain, even though I took the Percocet as prescribed. It hurt so much, I might have cried. ;) No one saw me though because I was in bed. I woke up every 5 to 10 minutes that night. 3am could not come fast enough - that's when I could take more pain meds! Interestingly enough, the Percocet only helped me for about an hour and I could only take it every 4 hours. It hurt, but not nearly as bad as after brain surgery, so I am very, very thankful for that! I survived the night. The next morning however, I called Dr. Gardner. I told him about the pain and he said he thought I'd be in more pain than his usual patients because of the dystonia. Was he ever right. Tuesday night, my foot started having spasms and I knew that was the dystonia. He prescribed Tramadol on top of the Percocet. That did the trick! I'm still in pain, but nowhere near where I was.
I have to confess, I'm so out of it, that I just took a mini nap. Like right now - laptop in my lap, hands on the keyboard. I just closed my eyes for a few minutes. :) My plan was to work from home today and tomorrow, but since I'm still on heavy duty pain meds, that's a no-go. I've slept most of today. I'm thankful for co-workers who jump right in and make sure everything is taken care of.
As much I didn't want to, I'm using the walker again, but not in the same way. I discovered that if I put my knee (of the side of my foot surgery) on it, I can get around rather well. I have to keep ice on for 6-8 hours a day. I keep forgetting that, so I'm thankful Mom and Dad remind me. I also have to keep my foot propped up so that's it above my heart. The weirdest thing is if I keep my leg straight on the pillow, it hurts like crazy, but if I lay on my side, it doesn't hurt at all. Is that not strange? Whatever works!
And now, I'm going to take another nap! Thanks for reading and following along. I hope there aren't too many grammatical mistakes or any other kind of mistakes in this post. If there are, please excuse them! Always remember, God's Got This.
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