My Surgeon's Office Callled - The Date is Set
My second fusion will be done very early on the morning of August 28th, a Monday.
*****
A few days before I made the call to my surgeon, I wanted to just stop taking my pain meds altogether for 24 hours, just to see what kind of condition I was really in. I wanted to be sure in my head that I needed more surgery. By 3 PM I was so hurting that I finally took a Percocet and an anti-inflammatory, laid down to take a nap and waited for the meds to kick in, which they mercifully did. I had to play catch-up for the rest of the next twenty four hours with the meds to feel somewhat okay. I won't be doing that again. I hate taking pain meds and look forward to the day when I don't have to anymore (will that day come?) but I am eternally grateful to the scientists who found these substances and discovered medical ways to make it a bit easier on folks with this kind of pain.
*****
I know what to expect now, so I'm not half as squirrely as I was before my first surgery. I'm not ready to run away, like I was then. I'm generally not a runner, but I was the first time. I almost cancelled, which would have done me no good in the end.
I know the sights and sounds of a big university hospital. I know what the corridors look like and the patient rooms. I know what going through PAT and that very early morning ride to the hospital will be like. I know how it will feel, I know how the hospital stay will be - day after day of pain dulled by morphine with nothing better to do or to occupy my time than to think about the whole deal. I'm getting a cheap MP2 player, and I'm going to load a bunch of my favorite music on it to take with me - the Mc Garrigle sisters, Gillian Welsh, Linda Ronstadt's new Cajun album with Anne Savoy, some old Cat Stevens, maybe some vintage Rolling Stones. They'll get me up and groovin' :-) I even thought about looking for a used DVD player I can take with me, something that's good enough to watch some interesting movies on or to catch up on some TV series I never had the chance to see from the start. Thank goodness for Netflix!
In other news, my last visit with my regular pain management doctor will be on Thursday. I'll have one from the hospital post-op, just like last time.
*****
A few days before I made the call to my surgeon, I wanted to just stop taking my pain meds altogether for 24 hours, just to see what kind of condition I was really in. I wanted to be sure in my head that I needed more surgery. By 3 PM I was so hurting that I finally took a Percocet and an anti-inflammatory, laid down to take a nap and waited for the meds to kick in, which they mercifully did. I had to play catch-up for the rest of the next twenty four hours with the meds to feel somewhat okay. I won't be doing that again. I hate taking pain meds and look forward to the day when I don't have to anymore (will that day come?) but I am eternally grateful to the scientists who found these substances and discovered medical ways to make it a bit easier on folks with this kind of pain.
*****
I know what to expect now, so I'm not half as squirrely as I was before my first surgery. I'm not ready to run away, like I was then. I'm generally not a runner, but I was the first time. I almost cancelled, which would have done me no good in the end.
I know the sights and sounds of a big university hospital. I know what the corridors look like and the patient rooms. I know what going through PAT and that very early morning ride to the hospital will be like. I know how it will feel, I know how the hospital stay will be - day after day of pain dulled by morphine with nothing better to do or to occupy my time than to think about the whole deal. I'm getting a cheap MP2 player, and I'm going to load a bunch of my favorite music on it to take with me - the Mc Garrigle sisters, Gillian Welsh, Linda Ronstadt's new Cajun album with Anne Savoy, some old Cat Stevens, maybe some vintage Rolling Stones. They'll get me up and groovin' :-) I even thought about looking for a used DVD player I can take with me, something that's good enough to watch some interesting movies on or to catch up on some TV series I never had the chance to see from the start. Thank goodness for Netflix!
In other news, my last visit with my regular pain management doctor will be on Thursday. I'll have one from the hospital post-op, just like last time.
posted by Karen | 1:15 PM
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