KEEPING UP WITH YOURSELF

The diamonds are coming at a somewhat 'normal' basis, though the miners are straining a bit to bring them into the light. My surgeon stressed to me to not strain or push during a bowel movement for the first few weeks. Hence, the regular doses of stool softener and a mild laxative. Don't go overboard, though, because there is absolutely no way you'll beat the miners to the surface if you wake up in the middle of the night and the canary is singing. Get my point?!

I was proven right about one of my previous posts (It's All Uphill) about pain meds. As noted, I've been trying to get a higher narcotic dosage of the pain med without increasing the acetaminophan dosage. I would have to physically show up at the doctors office to get a written prescription to turn in to the pharmacy. They cannot just call in another prescription. Something that is nearly impossible right now as any long distance car travel is not only restricted by the rules of the surgeon, but quite painful. We only know that this is no doubt due to the over-prescribing of these types of meds to folks who really don't need them. I was even willing to meet them at the pharmacy and give back the meds I still had left. Something else I learned is that once you buy the meds they're yours. The nurse said I could take one and a half pills of what I had here. Yes, that does technically increase the narcotic dosage, but subsequently increases the acetaminophan dosage, something I'm much more worried about. She stated that it was safe to do as long as I did not take more than 12 pills in a twenty-four hour period. It seems the medical community no longer can see us as individuals when it comes to these types of narcotic pain killers. We are all lumped into the category labeled 'suspicious'. If I were truly a pill popper or pill shopper would I still have thirty pills from the original prescription of eighty left over from last years surgery sitting in my cabinet? They wanted no explanation...we're all suspects. Guilty until proven guilty.

As someone who is used to getting up at 6:00 a.m. and beginning my day, you can imagine how hard it is to linger in bed until 8 or 8:30. I will read a bit in the morning, then get up and have a protein drink and small breakfast. As I am the one who handles the money in this household, I had a few bills that needed to be paid and posted this morning. You can see the feline ac'cat'ount help I had. This is the third leg in the triumvirate, BeBop. I felt really good and decided to take the 'long' walk, a one-half mile square down by the lake on a little travelled road. Even though you may feel great and strong, I urge you to bring your caregiver, whomever that may be, with you. Period!!! No, a cell phone will not catch you when you are in mid-fall. No, a cell phone cannot call an ambulance on it's own when you are lying in the middle of the road unconscious. It's that simple, walk with a partner. My husband is trained, for lack of a better word, to notice all the little dips and rises in the road and warn me about them. Those will SO throw you off balance after this surgery and they have the potential to 'shift' the implant if you step on them awkwardly enough. You will be walking with your head down for quite a while as you assess each and every step you take in order to avoid any misstep that could lead to very painful and irreversible damage. Remember, you are being held together with screws and rods. The cushioning disc is gone. Yes, there is an implant, but there is no bone growing as of yet. And even though it may feel like a solid juncture it's everything but. 

I've been asked how long the incisions are, as it is hard to judge from the photos. They are a little over 4" long. I fully expect them to heal properly and 'disappear' by this time next year. They are no longer oozing and the swelling around them went down quite a bit from last night to this morning. I was quite surprised, because I was having a hard time positioning myself in bed last night due to the half-golf-ball-sized swelling at the top of the incision on my left. Well, it's time for the evening walk...now, just where is my husband.