Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

My left knee surgery has been rescheduled...yet again...to April 30th. I forget how many times this makes it now that it's been rescheduled. In the latest snafu, I was supposed to have had a pre-op appointment today (Friday, Apr.12), after which the surgery would be scheduled, so I guess that would have been the equivalent of a rescheduling on its own. However, the pre-op doctor said I couldn't have a pre-op appointment without surgery scheduled first. Go figure. So, I went and got surgery scheduled for the 30th, then got the pre-op scheduled for the 18th of April. Now I'm finally set in the right order, I guess.

Sheesh.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Here we go, folks. My knee surgery is tomorrow, April 30th. I check in at the ungodly hour of 5:30am CDT. I thought for a brief moment that some right foot pain was going to force the cancellation yet again of my surgery, but no, it turned out to be a simple blister that popped on the bottom of my foot. We've got some silvadene and an island bandage on it now, which should keep it from getting worse.

I'm going to be kept overnight after the surgery is done, so I'll be incommunicado for a little while. Talk to you once I get set up back home.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Well...ahem. My surgery didn't go exactly as planned. It's Saturday, May 4th, and I'm still in the damned hospital, thanks to what they think is a hematoma in my left knee. They got the idea a couple of days ago when my knee popped open and started bleeding during a Physical Therapy walk. Not just a blood drop down my leg, mind you - this formed a puddle beneath my calf. Needless to say, the Physical Therapy walk came to a screeching halt and we motored back to my room, where they re-wrapped my leg (for a second time - it came unwrapped on an earlier walk as well, but didn't bleed).

I've also been having problems with bladder super-urgency. All of a sudden, I get a humongus urge to urinate, then I must go or else. No options.This has happened anywhere between 5 and 9 times since the surgery, day or night, and the nurses are never fast enough. They're bringing in a kidney specialist to help titrate my Bumex.

I don't know when I'll be home - Monday, perhaps, at the earliest. It could be later. I need all the luck in the world right night now.

[mlooney 3,426]

That sucks.  Particularly the bladder issue.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

6 hours ago, mlooney said:

That sucks.  Particularly the bladder issue.

I know. I'm kind of getting it under control today by making doubly damned sure the nurses know what's going on. They're ready for it as a result, and they pass it down from one shift to the next, and a reminder from me at shift change is all that's needed in addition.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Things are moving to resolve my hematoma. I've had an X-ray and an ultrasound to make sure it's not anything else. So, I'm having arthroscopic surgery on it to drain it and clean it plus any other associated gunk Tuesday morning - exactly one week after this whole odyssey began. I just hope it's not the start of another odyssey, unless it's a good one to offset what I (and everyone else) have just been through.

Anyway, I'm NPO after midnight. However, I kind of crashed out around 3:30 PM and didn't wake up until the nurses did their rounds at 7:30 PM, which was 30 minutes after hospital food service closed, so I'm SOL with nothing to eat except for a tiny bit of leftovers unless they'll let me shuffle with the walker down to vending, which is unlikely given my state.

Correction: they had a pre-packaged Turkey & Cheese w/Mayo sandwich and Ruffles and some Vanilla Pudding box at the front desk. All was not lost.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

I had my surgery today. Waiting was hell. I was NPO from midnight until 3:30 PM, when I came out. They finally put me under and worked on me, scraping out the hematoma and other gunk as promised, and installed a drain on the leg to keep it from swelling up again. I'm on the same pain management dose I was on before the surgery, so someone forgot something in the promises department. Urgh. It's being worked on.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

On the two-week anniversary of my first knee surgery, it looks like I'm going to get to go home. I think I've been weaned off of the IV Dilaudid successfully, so now all that's got to happen is the drain that got installed has to get removed. I'm a bit concerned about my legs - they've swollen up again, so I'm going to raise that with the doctor tomorrow. Other than that, we shall see.

[mlooney 3,426]

Good?

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

I did get to go home on the 14th. However, 2 days later, I was right back in the hospital again. The reason? The bandages were leaking, as was the spot where the drain tube went through the skin and into the knee. My home health nurse saw the leaks, reported them to my surgeon, and got told to tell me to go to the Emergency Room ASAFP. The ER admitted me for overnight observation.

The next day, they redid my bandages, pulled out my vacuum drain, wrapped my left leg in ACE bandages, and sent me home. That was Friday the 17th. Last night, my ACE bandages slipped off, and my regular bandages started leaking. Again.

Sigh.

I called the On-Call Nurse with my Home Health service and talked with her. She eventually arranged for a nurse to come out Sunday morning (the 19th, later today) and redo my wrappings and bandages so that I don't leak anymore. We'll see how long this lasts. I give it 3 hours max before the ACE bandages unravel.

[mlooney 3,426]

While ace bandages are good at compression, they don't seem to stay in place very long, at least on me.  You have my sympathy