SKIN AND BONE 2

 

IMG000008My foot surgeon, in his scrubs and high tops, came to fetch me exactly at 10:30 when my surgery was scheduled, impatient with transport, and anxious I not be bumped again. I was all too happy to go with him stumbling briefly while he got a good hold of me remembering my hips were waiting for my two good feet. “I’ll make sure you get a matched set,” he said holding them up and comparing them after getting me on the stretcher, having reconstructed my left foot in similar foot bone fusion surgery last January.

The anesthesiologists  flipped me on my stomach, and used ultrasound to locate a nerve in the back of my leg.  It may not be a commonplace practice yet, as someone learning the process was guided  through the steps until the nerve block was completed. Then over on  my back and a short trip o n the stretcher to the operating theatre where as usual (this being my 8th surgery in my 57 years) the last thing I remember is the mask over my nose and mouth with instructions to breathe deeply, though nobody asked me to count back from a 100.

The surgery, I was told, expected to last two hours, lasted three; but that being quite a lot less than the five hours needed to make my left foot right a la Mike Holmes, last year.  The surgeon came and told me what he had done and all was well, but I don’t remember any of what he told me.

I do remember severe pain management issues on regaining consciousness, and not because of my foot because the nerve block was doing a marvelous job in blocking any foot pain. The pain was in my lower back and my hips. I had taken my regular osteo paid meds at 8:30 but because of the longer surgery, they were all done when I came to. Eventually they found the meds I brought and my wife, and in the usual hour it takes for the meds to take hold  she stood by her man a la Tammy Wynette.

I may have been the youngest in recovery, but I was happy not be dealing with some of the other ailments being treated around me.  It was a rough night, and I need to drink a lot of water because of all of my other meds, which meant figuring out how to pee in a urinal in bed. I thought maybe at home the large empty plastic Pace Salsa bottle would serve. Reveille was at 5:00 a.m.

I was ready and waiting at 5:30 a.m.in my own Otto Bock wheelchair, as they needed the beds to prep the next lot of day IMG000007surgeries. I was happy to get home and bum scoot up to bed. My wife prepared a lovely bagel bacon and egg breakfast for brunch, despite her ongoing bronchial siege, before going to work. The nerve block did fade, as did my early morning bravado, but all things pass, and I slept well. This morning I approved the Rhubarb proofs, and the Canada Council application is winging its way to Ottawa. I’m off work until March 18th, and my reading chair waits, next to my bed.

 

 

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3 Comments

  1. Bob and Verna Wiebe
    Posted March 3, 2013 at 2:33 am | Permalink

    Glad to hear the surgery went well. I hope you will enjoy walking again soon.

    Bob

  2. Lindsay Butt
    Posted March 3, 2013 at 3:07 pm | Permalink

    What an ordeal! But it is all going to be worth it. Thanks for sharing this information, it is good to know how you are doing.

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