Second Surgery in-hospitl notes Day 1 -12/3/13

12/3/13

Toni and Mariam came- separate cars. With all my stuff
Forgot my glasses -mariam dashed home to get them
Slowish check in, but then straight to pre-op - first just Toni in with me to start

Dressed, got all the vitals, blood drawn etc... Met the anesthesiologist who seemed very spacey, but of course was very good at his job.

After drugs were started, Mariam was allowed to join us. It was good to have my team cheering for me! The hospital kept my bag of clothes to take to my room. 

Wheeled into OR, where they administered the epidural - I remember it this time, but it wasn't  bad. It stung, but went just fine. That's all I remember.

Woke up about 4 pm. 
Much longer surgery and recovery  than first time. Dr., .Smith knew what to expect with the hip dysplasia this time, and had more srulpting to do on the socket/acetabulum, packe the area well with my boe dust, and used three screws instead of 2 this time.
But it my memory of waking up was about the time I could feel my toes, and not long after-  
Up to my ..PRIVATE ROOM !!! 
Toni and Mariam hung out with me for a while . I sent Marian home to sleep.

Jacquie my PT came in and got me on my feet and stepping sideways a bit ! 

then Toni unpacked a few things an then went home. 

Good nurses! Theresa remembered me! She left soon and shift turned over Eventually to Larry- great guy! 

No dilauded used OR morphine!!  (later I heawrd there may have been dilauded the forst bit - not certain now). 

My fingers get numb when I use the phone too long - gets better when I use pt stretches/  on them. (Leter I foudn this was easily remedied by putting the phone downfrequently, and doing my old carpal tunnel tendon glides.

Started with low bp and temp , but slowly rising... In fact it was  99 or so last time/ no big concern .  

I start with breakfast tomorrow(today, wed. Actually!)- not liquid lunch - straight to solid foods!
Probably two norco with breakfast because PT is after that.  Poo.
I need to sleep some . 

Let's DO this!!! :D

And - it's here!

Toni and I are up and ready - amazing how fast you can get ready in the morning when you don't need to eat!
Mariam is on here way from home, bags are packed, just need to grab my buckwheat hull pillow, refrigerated puddings(They help when I take medication to stay nausea) and gluten-free broth to tomorrow liquid lunch.

From my FB status today:
All suited up - that is, no jewelry, hair braided, no makeup... my Business Attire for the morning! (Sorry - no Business Socks - any idea how much trouble socks are when your hips are trashed?? Hmmm - though I don't like 'em I may just have to knit myself a new pair, just because I CAN put 'em on again soon!!! But I digress...) Ready to saddle up and head out, babies! all fresh on about two hours' sleep!!  No big deal - there's a nice nap on the morning's schedule. 
"Dear Shiny Bling - nice to meet ya! Let's get acquainted!"
This Hippie will see you people on the other side of the day, when I can THEN be properly addressed as "bilaterally femoral/acetabularly enhanced".  
Bionics Rule!

Ok - I got to sleep about 1:30-ish. I tried - I really did... a little giddy,  but only partially due to lack of sleep! 

***I did find some excellent guided meditations on Youtube, and then ran through the pre-surgery one I had from surgery #1, I cannot tell you how helpful this is!!! 

OK - off to put on shoes, take my one BP pill with a sip of water, and GET THIS!!!

...

Is it slightly unnatural to be so excited? 

See you on the flip side!!!

Bedtime... one more sleep!

Toni and I had a lovely dinner of Dungeoness crab and cauliflower, and a touch of ice cream and a cookie for dessert. Watched a bit of Sherlock (Ep. 1) for a bit of  relaxing fix - stopped before the stressful bit ( Even though I know the outcome, they are GOOD at suspense, that team!!)
and I'm working on winding down, as I must be awake at 4-4:15 am.
But then again, I get to go back to sleep shortly thereafter...
Had a lively and somewhat odd-amusing IM conversation with a good friend, and lots of hugs and good mojo wishes from many.
Toni finally got to meet Maia - the shy cat - and gave her treats to make friends... a good things so she isn't freaked out by Toni. Electra came out to play days ago.

Need to take one more photo of the surgery site for a "before" ... we'll finish Very Last items for packing in the morning - a few food items, and Toni will bring my evening main meal (to avoid the gluten-free, low protein/high sugar and starch debacle of the first time round)

My Facebook status just now...
Wow. It's still somewhat surreal, even though I've done this once and have been counting down - six hours from now we head to the hospital (I know , I know - I have always been a late night girl... off to bed soon, but at least I get to go right back to sleep!! ;D ) and then eight and a half hours from now, I have a date with a handsome and extremely talented Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Smith, a few blocks up the street! 
Mariam Helalian will post inm y surgery Angels page and leave a note here on my main page too, I believe... And before you know it, I'll be back - fully repaired :)   It should be done by about 10:30, and sometime around 1-2 I should be awake and  out of the recovery room heading for my room - and home by Friday afternoon. (yes, really!) 
And I'll be just as glad as you these countdowns are over. Afraid you'll have to bear or ignore the progress reports afterward for a while - but after all, when the heck else do I have to talk about right now?! ! :D 

Galaxies of love and thanks to all of you for holdin' me up - literally and figuratively - for so long.  I take you all into the High-Tech Robot Operating Room with me tomorrow. Dr. Smith doesn't mind crowds, but please keep your hands off the fancy gadgets. :) <3 <3 <3

So soon... and in a blink, it will all be behind me and I will walk  - and run and dance and occasionally skip - the world again. The wonder of such a normal act - is a little overwhelming, in all the very best ways.

Afternoon... final countdown

I've had one of three of today's prescribed Hibiclens showers... Toni is home from her traels, and we are getting on famously - we were both stressed, and now all is great.

We took a run to the store to get new cat food (Electra, one of my two cats, has been getting bit thin, and I think it's the inexpensive cat food I should have switched from long ago), our last errand out and about...

We're working on packing and getting final things done so we can just relax and urn in early...
"early" is not my strong suite, but our "c;;"(theatre lingo) is 5:30 AM. and we intend to get there at 5:00 am with my friend Mariam.

Encouragement and cheering coming from all points mostly via the good folks at Facebook, and several more friends have signed up for mealbaby.com to bring meals a few nights a week. The generosity of friends is a very touching thing - I will never lose gratitude for this amazing time.

Still hard to believe it's HERE. And absolutely wonderful.

Probably one or two more posts this evening before I turn in, and then -
I'll see you on the flip side!

And here we go... One Day More

My facebook status this morning:

Working on striking a balance today between being super-chill and getting a few last needed things done - it's hard to believe that by this time tomorrow by second hip replacement will be done and I'll be heading for recovery... and by the end of tomorrow, I'll have either sat up or gotten up on my feet.  Wrapping my head around the end of deformed and dissolved hips and all that they have entailed - TOMORROW.  
Cool, huh?

A Last Hurrah in the Pre-hip Replacement Phase... and Christmastime thought...

I'm finding it hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day before the real, final phase of healing begins... that in FIVE DAYS I will be back home, all repaired! The time when I will be in seriously reduced pain, very soon to be pain free - let me repeat that -
PAIN. FREE.

I'm not counting the small aches and pains in my arthritic thumb joints (I do stretches and many things I can do to alleviate this much-smaller pain) or shoulder (Probably brought on largely by using a walker), stiff neck and daily things that are *not* disabling. These wee things are *nothing* compared to the intensity of the ground, crumbled hips I have experienced the last 6 or so years. Psh. Like a gnat, those things.

So, today, I decided to get some things done and have a bit of fun to have a bit of Christmas, when the usual Christmas festivities I celebrate will be out, while I'm at home healing. I have small hopes to attend an annual tea - but it's less than 2 weeks post-surgery. Who knows? But probably not. Toni and I will probably do something on Christmas - maybe go to my brother's - but aside from the small wreath we ut on the door an da length of cedar garland on the fireplace screen, not much. My best Christmas gift will be that shiny internal bling that allows me to walk again.
I had a kind friend, Jack, come and help me do final kitchen-stocking grocery shopping.
I went to the Rite-Aid and picked up my blood pressure prescription, which *should* mean that we can come straight home from the Hospital on Friday - no pharmacy stop (unless there's some new drug, but there should be no reason for it.) I also picked up a few little Christmas touches - small red glass ornaments and an extension cord for the lights for the garland.

And my friends David and Keith called to see if I'd like to use their extra ticket for "It's a Wonderful Life" at Sacramento Theatre Company. It is full of dear friends, and I had hoped to see it - so I was happy to accept!
I thought I might maybe also make it to hear my friend Zack play some swing near home, but that was a bit ambitious. :)
The musical was lovely, and my friends told the story beautifully - I was crying like  baby at the end... because it is a touching story, of course -
but also - because I found myself watching the last scene, where all of George Bailey's friends show up to bring him piles and baskets and hats full of money to save the Savings and Loan - giving up their vacations, moving, other needs to help their dear friend George out - and I swear  -I could see all of the beautiful, kind and selfless people who have been coming to my side to help in a million ways in the last several months, and in some cases, years.
Kind people, family and friends, most of the theatre folk, who gave me their time, braun, spent money, made wonderful meals, lifted that walker in and out of the hatch of my Rav, rolled me down the sidewalk for an adventure and laughs (That one will stick - "Oops" - as I tipped slow-motion, gently to the ground backwards... and it was HILARIOUS! no harm done, and a lifetime of laughs to come remembering it!) , and who made me laugh and gave me hope, advice, and, in every single instance -
Love. So much love it makes my head spin to know how incredibly fortunate I am to belong to this incredible community of kind people.
I got to hug them all after the show and tell them how much I appreciated their performance - I love when I get to see my Theatre Friends.
We went for a burger with Gary, a friend in the cast, and heard rehearsal stories, and shared stories and laughter... a good big day to tide me over...

Honestly, it is a true, true thing:

It's a Wonderful Life.

A wonderful life, indeed.

As I told the Faceboook gang... countdown posts

Catching up a bit - sometimes the Facebook statuses say it best:

11/26/13

Today, I had a great pre-op consult with my very cool and skilled (and yes - cute!  ) surgeon. He was pretty excited about it too, and that was really neat! Thanks for going with me, Mariam! It was great - I was practically giddy when it was done. Green light, my sister Toni arriving tomorrow to hang out with me for the duration... T-Day with the brother and his fam, including the wee grand niece 

Next Tuesday is Go Day, and then it's nothin' but better. As much as I've said it, It begins to actually sink in that I will be *repaired*. So many years of deteriorating hip joints, and a lifetime of walking on deformed hips, without even knowing it...
Talk about your Thanksgiving!!  — feeling giddy and excited.

11/28/2013 - Thanksgiving

Here we go - my yearly Thanksgiving tradition - I love this song, and this year, as much down as there has been, there has been an astounding amount of Up, and that's what leads me forward with very intense Gratitude. And right now, my sister Toni is here, we're making last touches before heading out the door with the home made gf rolls and cranberry sauce (and bakery coconut cream pie :) ), after which she is so kindly staying with me , tag-teaming with my dear friend Mariam- through my second hip replacement AKA - Freedom: Phase II :) Kight Sisters rule December!
All the astonishing friends who have come to kind call through this year - I am overwhelmed to the bone.
I can barely imagine what more there could be to be grateful and thankful for.. . I wish you all joy and fellowship today and through the upcoming year of promise. ♥
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dBXL1ueAlY

"Grateful" by John Bucchino

11/30/2013

A good day - Toni ( non-fb sister  ) did tons of house- cleaning/tidying/organizing - feel a lot better for both of us ( believe it or not, my own housework is another thing I look forward to being Able to do after all of this is behind me!) and she's off for a weekend trip to see old friends until Monday and a final day of relaxation and chill before Tuesday and the Big Surgery Day!
Having a few chuckles with lively FB pals... a massage this afternoon. and possibly (Playing it by ear) theatre tonight.
 The countdown to Tomorrow is going very nicely.

12/1/2013

T minus one more day and counting! Today I got the last of the kitchen stocking done - thank you SO much Jack Apfel-McDowell for being such a fun shopping companion, and not minding when I almost back over people in the co-op. (*I *did* warn them!) Off to pick up a last prescription and see "It's a Wonderful Life" at STC with Keith Riedell and David Fulk (Thanks, guys!) and MAYBE - if it's not too much in one day - to the Hideway for a bit to see Zack Sapunor slap dat BASS with the Afterlife!
Tomorrow is a couple of errands and *chill* time. A lot of smiling is on the schedule. :)