Recovery - Day 2

Day 2 started out innocently enough.  I was transferred from ICU to a private room and managed to get four straight hours of sleep. Yahoo!!

I woke up around 3:30 am, started reading a book, my head was clear and it was going to be a great day.  Except with getting so much sleep, everything seized up.  The back incision had tightened up and my right leg wasn't wanting to move, but with a bit of coercion, I got things going again.  It's gonna be a great day.

Well, my day turned into two things.  The adventures of walking and the adventures of peeing.  I have become two years old again :)


Walking
Did I mention the physio ladies?  They were back and back with a vengeance.  The tough old Scottish lady wasn't going to let one of her patients get away without moving today!  Did I mention she decided we were going to walk today?  Right now I can only weight bear one my left leg, so you can imagine my joy at the thought of that!  Yeah, I wasn't going to win that battle.

So off we go.... Me leaning on the queen sized walker trying to convince my right foot to find the floor while trying to convince my brain that the right foot was actually on the floor and that I should lift my left foot (think prancing horses).  Add to the picture the tough old Scottish lady supporting my right side, her assistant wheeling behind with a wheelchair  and holding my gown closed at the back, and my dear man leading the pack pushing my IV stand.  Unfortunately all hands were occupied and we didn't get it on video.... But I'm sure tomorrow won't disappoint.

Making the Pee
And the adventures of peeing. Apparently surgery can cause havoc with the ordinarily uneventful task of peeing.  Especially when there is swelling in the bladder area.  Especially if you develop a lazy bladder because of  catheters left in, especially if you aren't moving around.  Wow, can we hit any other risk factor?  Maybe being on an IV but still drinking lots of water because the rooms are hot!

Combine all of that with 40 years of conditioning that you don't pee the bed, and bed pans become impossible.  So tonight's adventure was the commode.  Three people helping me out of bed properly (yeah, painful) and onto a commode - one of those chairs with a hole where they can fit in a bed pan, or wheel you over a toilet.  Half an hour, just sitting.  I should have brought a book, or my cell phone.  Me and your average two year old trying to pee before bed time.

I am safely back in bed, recovering get from the trauma of getting up and being unsuccessful on the commode (and way too many catheters), taken my final doses of pharmaceuticals and am calling it a night.  Wondering what tomorrow's new adventure will be. Or not.