I had a really good sleep but woke up feeling a little
nauseous. The nurses gave me some more anti-sickness medication through the
cannula so I had a good chance of finishing my breakfast. – Which I did. As
usual, I had my morning chat with my hip twin and it was so good to hear her thoughts
were similar to mine. Without Natalia, I hate to think how different it could
have been. I know that most PAO patients will not have a hip twin to share the ups
and downs with, but if you are lucky enough then you’ll understand when I say that
you’ll benefit immensely for it. We fully intend to remain in touch so we can
continue to be pillars of strength for each other, and because unfortunately, nobody
around us can truly empathise. I’m just so grateful that Natalia was with me
for my first hip procedure and even if I don’t have a hip buddy second time
around, I will imagine she is right there with me again.
After breakfast, I couldn’t wait to see the physios because I
was so determined to get out of bed today. Caroline and Kate were happy to see
more colour in my cheeks and happy to hear that I had been sat up all morning
in preparation for standing. Sure enough I managed to stand on my left leg for
the first time in two days and I was shaking like leaf. With the help of my
sturdy zimmer frame, I managed to “truffle shuffle” (as Andy named it) to my
bedside chair. I didn’t have the strength to move my right leg by itself, but with
the help of my sexy red non-slip socks I could claw my toes into the floor and
pull my foot across the floor. Getting out of bed and sitting upright in the
chair was a massive achievement and when you accomplish something like that,
you really do appreciate the use of your legs. That was one small step in my
recovery, but it gave me the boost I needed after the terrible Tuesday I had.
When the physios pulled the curtain back to unveil the rest of the ward, I saw
Natalia sat in her chair as she had managed the massive milestone with her
physio too.
We were elated not to be lying in bed with our bums going
numb and our foot pumps on. After about 30 minutes though, we both started to
feel the consequences of our actions and our bodies were not happy with us.
Vision went blurry again, hot and cold sweats started and I began heaving into
a sick bucket. This was the day we met our ‘guardian angel’ - head nurse Mark. He
was of Caribbean origin and Romford-born who was an absolute saviour for the
next couple of days. He quickly whacked our nasal oxygen cannulas on and within
5 minutes we were ok again. He explained that today we would be weaned off the
local anaesthetic machine and morphine pump, and have our catheter removed.
Natalia and I were very worried as Banksey, his accomplices and all of the
nurses had forewarned us about this day. Apparently the pain becomes unbearable
and previous patients declared the surgery was a mistake and they wish they’d
never had it done. Knowing how much pain I had gone through previously when the
battery failed, I was dreading not having the anaesthetic. I didn’t mind the
morphine pump because I hadn’t used it for hours due to the side effects. After
lunch, Mark lowered the dose of the anaesthetic by 2ml every hour from 10ml to
2ml and then it was time to remove the catheter from the wound. He reassured me
that I could trust him and he would make it as less painful as possible. Mark
removed the dressing and wiped the wound and dried blood with salt water, and
after counting to three, pulled the tube out. He was correct; it didn’t hurt
too much.
 |
| I took arnica pills (twice daily with food) and have minimal bruising so far. |
Once Mark removed the urinary catheter, I had to have an injection in the thigh to help prevent UTI. This really hurts unless you can fully relax your quadriceps. Once again, the pain was manageable. I should have mentioned that I hate needles and thought that after surgery it would all be over, but this was not the case. On Tuesday I had some blood tests and an injection in the stomach to help prevent DVT. It wasn’t until waking up Wednesday that I was told I was having another stomach injection for the same reason, and this would continue for four weeks… which meant I would have to inject myself post discharge!! Not good news but I saw it as another challenge to overcome. The morphine pump was removed Wednesday evening before bed, after which, I was required to take two alternative types of morphine pills orally. Wednesday evening, Andy, his brother and father (David and Kevin) came to visit which was really nice. Then my dad made a surprise visit too which was amazing.
Due to all the tubes being taken out, I missed out on my second physio session and really wanted to see if I could manage more than a truffle shuffle before bed. Mark encouraged me to give it ago under his supervision and instructed Andy to take a few steps away from me. After being sat down for about 9 hours, I was really stiff and shaky upon standing. After a few minutes I attempted my first baby step and it was feeling quite easy. So I zimmered over to Andy, who was welling up, and he gave me a big hug and kiss when I reached him and everyone in the ward clapped. I will remember and cherish that moment forever.
Overall Wednesday was a great day and I hoped Thursday would be the same…
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