beth's post op. diary

[borymms]

hi laura,

so may i ask you a question?  is this your first ttt?  you had said that you had peeked at the incision earlier than you were told to,  so i take it you have had one before and something had to be redone.  i have been good and haven't taken the immobilizer off yet but my instructions say that i am to report any excessive drainage coming out of my incision but it also states that i am not to remove the incision bandages.  unless it is my meds confusing me - which is very possible-  how does that make sense?  i am not to take  of the bandages and from what the nurse said to me, not the immobilizer either and  i am not supposed to  have excessive draining.    so i haven't seen the incision to know if it is abnormally draining or not.   were you told that you were not allowed to look at it either?  so to me, that means that untill the 12th of feb. i don't change the dressings either and won't the dressing stick to the incision?

  well,  i will follow the doctor's orders because i don't want anything to go wrong   sorry to ask so many questions again.  they just start pouring out and i can't seem to stop them

beth

[austinknee]

Hi Beth,  I had a lateral release in Nov 06.  I did not have a TTT.  My surgery was supposed to be a quick fix, in and out...running in 6 weeks.  The guy was over cut happy and over released my LR and now I have medail subluxations. My patella flops all over the place (the jerk doctor!).....I have some scar tissue from the LR site down to the fat pad (they think)...I have some nerve pain into my calf (they think from the scar tissue)...and I have a VMO that is on vacation.....  So, it is just a bunch of bad luck and a poor doctor choice.  I have a NEW different doctor that is going to put me back together........so, a lot of this unknown is because they wont know until they get in there and take a look.     

So, the unusual drainage...how will you know.  Well....my excessive bleedng/ drainage soaked all the way through ALL my layers....thru the gauze, the wraps, the bigger wraps.....and all the way out to the Ice Machine wrap...it was evident.   So...when we unwrapped my leg...there was blood oozing out the bottom lateral port hole.  This was on post op day 3.....(go figure, that is where I scarred down eventually)  Talk about a creapy site....my leg was yellow (from the betadine...huge swollen....and totally numb still at that site...and blood running down it...it was like a scarey movie..ha ha...)  Im a nurse...blood doesnt bother me...but, it was excessive for sure.  I called the on call doctor..he said to change the wraps....wrap it up tighter....stop any Advil  and elevate it really high.  I did that and it all stopped.

So, unless you see something soaking through all your bandages I would leave them put.

Don't feel crazy for not knowing. It is the worst part after a surgery...not having a CLUE what is "normal".

:-)

[borymms]

hi austinknee,

i enjoyed reading what you wrote me.  blood doesn't bother me either but i will listen and not take anything apart till the doctor tells me too.  i am alittle scared that in not changing the bandages the incision could be drying to the wrap material and that would hurt pulling that apart.  i think i am just tiried and a little messed up with meds so i appoligize  but i am suddenly really hungery.   I think i am going to go and look and see if the kids left any of the good snacks there yet or if they ate them all.

beth

[arkitect06]

My incision didn't bleed much, so once the bandages were removed, nothing stuck at all.  So don't worry.  The steri strips helped the bandages not stick as well.  You will be fine once you can take them off.

Farrah

[fettucine1990]

Hey Beth,
Just wondering how you are doing?  Hope you are taking it easy.  Did you peek yet?
Good healing wished from Connecticut!

[borymms]

hello everyone,

 sorry i didn't get back to anyone sooner  but yesturday was a really bad day.  i don't know what happened.  it started out ok,   my mom came over at 8 and then around  12 maybe one,  i started getting a big headache and from there i started getting sick.  the hospital didn't say anything about useing a stool softener so i didn't.  so i not only was sick but i couldn't go to the bathroom.(  i could have been getting sick from that too)  anyway,  we had to call the os after hours and he called in prescriptions - one to stop throwing up.   it was terrible.

 so i am doing better today.  i am gradually  holding down drinks and fruids so it is getting a little better today.  i kinda stopped taking the perkeset (pain meds)   for some reason my adopted mom thinks that i am getting sick from the perkeset.  she said i used to get real sick from vicoden so i thought i'd try tylenol for a while to see how that helps.

i am by myself right now so i am trying not to do anything.  one of our friends is coming over around 1pm so i hope i will be ok till then.  i can always call my husband from work.  if i have to .

so how is everyone doing?  sorry i don't have much energy right now so i will try to write back a little later on today.


thanks beth

[austinknee]

Hi Beth...Im sorry you are so sick.  Some people do have that side effect after anesthesia of nausea and vomiting. NOTHING WORSE>..yikes.  I have that response to pain meds too..they make me very dizzy.  I had to take some antivert medicine one time to stop that swirling feeling. I usually try to get off my pain meds right away b/c it makes me feel so bad. Keep that ice machine going it will help quite a bit with the pain.

Stool softeners....NO DOCTORS ever tell people that will happen. My mom just had a foot surgery...they didnt tell her anything....I started naggnig her day two to take fiber and Colace...she finally got better.  That is a terrible side effect of bed rest and narcotics...the bowels slow down.  Hope that is getting all sorted out. If not...you can try a laxative suppository..it might help you out......get lots of fiber in your diet to help it from occcuring again while you are inactive.

Being alone when you are in pain and pathetic is awful!!  Im sorry..hopefully your honey is setting up a fort of food and drinks, etc for you when you are stuck there....

Hang in there!  Oh....also..you could try to cut the Percocet in half...sometimes a smaller dosage with food wont affect you as much.....

hope that helps.
Laura

[sailchic]

Beth-

 So sorry you aren't feeling well.  I had a horrible reaction to my pain meds after knee surgery number 2.  I was on my second night post op and ended up just like you... couldn't stop throwing up for hours.  There's nothing like the feeling of all your muscles contracting in your already sore leg when you throw up.  I had to go completely off the pain meds until we could get ahold of the OS.  Unfortunately it was over the weekend and it took two days. 

He ended up giving me an anti-neasea medication and it worked really really well.  I've taken one along with my pain meds in every surgery since.  You might just want to give a call and ask for some.  Some of them can make you a little loopy but if you're taking pain meds anyway what's a little more loop?

Hope you feel better!

Liz

[fettucine1990]

Hi Beth
Sorry about your crummy day.  Yes the pians meds can do awful things to the stomach...hopefully that will pass quickly.  Take care-glad you have a friend for the afternoon. 
Carol

[borymms]

hi liz,

thanks for writing.  it really helps me feel better to have people understand what i am going through.  yes, i had to stop my pain meds but the os talked to my husband (who was so upset , he was crying) and ordered me some anti nausea meds.  there were twelve in the perscription and it took till the third one before  it would stay down.

i guess i will start back on the perceset tomorrow but i will probably take a half of one first.  i started taking milk of mag and that hopefully will help.  the os said to get suppository but i started going without it so i thought i'd wait and try this first.

do you know what i can do,  i now have a blister on my hand from the crutches?

beth

[cat]

Hey Beth,
I have SO been there done that. (Not the blistered hands but the nausea, vomiting, and contipation. )And yes, it was from the pain meds. I dont' know how in the world one could develop and addiction when there are those nasty side affects to contend with. Anyway, life WILL get better. As for the blisters, perhaps some crutch muffins or cozies would help?



http://www.brokenbeauties.com/fashion-new/crutchcovers-buns.php

http://www.crutchcozies.com/home.php

Happy Healing,
  cat 

[smkelly4kds]

Sorry to hear how sick you were! I too was sick  like that but it was from the  morphine pump I had in the hospital. I also had the terrible issue with the bm stuff.  Thankfully I had had a terible problem when I had gall bladder surgery.  I had to ask at the hospital for stool softeners.  The really didnt help much I ended up using laxative suppositories.  Drink lost of water that helps too.
   I had blisters on my hands inthe beginning too.  I took some old wash cloths and wrapped the hand grips.  It helped alot!  Cheap too!  Just a wah cloth and some duct tape.
 Things will get better!  Its natural to feel wiped out!  just rest and let your honey pamper you when he can!
melissa

[borymms]

hey melissa,

i just took some perkeset, just one.  i have been good all day with feeling good so my knee is really hurting cause of no pain meds. 

 it is a little difficult trying to keep my knee  safe, and protective when i got two dogs.  the puppy today walked on my knee and boy i don't think he'll be doing that again because i screamed so loud and threw him off.  he is only 15 lbs but it was enough weight.  my 100 lbs german shepard is wonderfully protective and is very gentle around my leg  it's just the puppy hasn't learned yet.

so another day is finally done and i can't believe it on friday it will be a week since i had surgery.

today was good though.   i had a friend come over for a couple of hours and she brought supper so that really helped.  thurs. is the only day that no one is bringing a meal but  we will have left overs anyway.

well,  i will write later. i don't know if you can or do but we faithfully watch american idol here so it will be on in 3 minutes .  i wil write later and thanks for talking.

beth

[borymms]

hello cat,

thanks for the info.  i might try to get some of those.  they look alot more comfortable than what i have.

talk later,  american idol is on.

beth

[borymms]

it' me again.

i came up with another question,  does anyone know, after 6 wks of nwb will the os get rid of my immobilizer and crutches and then will i suddenly be allowed to be full weight bearing?  or do they do it gradually?  do they put me in another brace not an immobilizer?

just wondering

beth