My Hip Replacement #2

My last post covered the time through the afternoon of the day after my surgery. After that nap I asked for help moving to my chair so that I could get in a little movement. Things were better than they had been before for the rest of my body. Yes, I still had aches and pains, but now that I’d been able to move a lot more during the day it was was much better.
I had dinner, kaluha pig, cabbage, poi, salad, and for a treat, some vanilla pudding. The fresh fruit bowl would have been a better choice, but hey, a fellow deserves a little something after being wounded.
After that another friend dropped by, one I really didn’t expect to see and that was great. We didn’t just talk about my surgery, she filled me in on her life too. Here’s a hint for folks visiting someone in the hospital, at least folks like me, we might prefer to talk about anything else. We’ve just been through it and reliving over and over is, well, at best dull. Mind you, this is me, other’s may feel completely different and want to chat about themselves all evening.
After that I moved back to bed and settled in for the night. Once again I wasn’t given pain medication and as it turns out, that was fine. I slept until I was woken before midnight for some test, blood pressure and the like. Then I went back to sleep.
I did wake up a couple of times during the night, mostly to pee. They want you to be very hydrated so if you can prove you’ve been drinking a lot of water they won’t hook you up to a drip.
Then I slept till about four in the morning. I generally start waking up about then as I’m at work before six so this didn’t surprise me. I was able to get back to sleep though, at least off and on till about seven-thirty when things picked up at the hospital.
I had breakfast and a final meeting with my PT person. We went up and down the halls, tried some steps, then did the halls again until I’d worked up a good sweat. I decided I’d stay till after lunch as the friend picking me up was engaged in some good works that morning and I didn’t want to pull her away. In retrospect she might have preferred that I did.
By two in the afternoon I was out of the hospital with my prescriptions, I have five pill bottles with directions to take some together, some when needed but not more than so many times a day, and some other basic basic instructions. Since I’m not sure what I was given last I’m starting tomorrow. Though I may have a pain pill before bed. I haven’t had one since eight in the morning and I am a bit achey. On the other hand, I won’t move much during the night and truly I don’t care for the stuff. It works, but there’s a price in mental acuity.
After exiting the hospital grounds I asked to be taken out for coffee. I really wanted something besides hospital coffee and my driver was glad to agree. We headed for a nearby Starbucks and chatted for thirty minutes over our drinks. Then it was home.
To be honest, my home is kind of mess. In this case it works out for me as I’ve got handholds pretty much everywhere. Yeah! So far I’ve been in and out of bed twice with no trouble, less in fact than before the surgery. I’m beat and ready to head back for a good night’s sleep. I’m looking forward to seeing if I’m a lot better tomorrow. I was this morning compared to the day before so I’m hoping to have improvement again. I’m going to try walking around the block tomorrow so if you are in Makiki and see a ‘big guy down,’ why not stop and ask if I need help. I’ll say no, but don’t believe me.
Till laterz!