Days 4-6 involved relearning an age old lesson that I can not and should not try to do things by myself, without help in times like this. I don't like to ask for help. I don't know if it makes me feel weaker or what but I feel powerless and want to reclaim some control over my life. Every 1-2 hrs I was getting off the couch to walk with a walker. The 1st few steps the surgical leg would not move forward by itself and had to be carefully manually slid forward. I continued with regular use of the incentive spirometer. I continued to try & do quad sets. I was unable to straighten my knee from a slightly bent supported position. I tried a modified shower using the bedside commode straddling the tub with my fiancée and walker. This worked OK until the leg slipped because of water on the floor. I used to think the larger movements would be what would hurt the most. The fast attempts to either protect my limb by trying to keep it from moving or correcting bad positions are the ones that scare me now. At this point I realize that if I relax while the leg is being moved, as long as it is within the restricted ranges, life goes easier.
I used crutches to descend 1 step to talk with a work person. I must have stood there 5-10 minutes with minimal weight on the surgical limb. My thought was that I am limiting weight bearing so it shouldn't matter whether I use crutches or a walker. I still don't know this is a flawed thought pattern but I do know that all of a sudden I needed to sit down quick. This was a long resolving discomfort.
I missed the MD call in the AM as I had the volume on the phone down. He left for a conference after my surgery so I had not talked to him since pre-op. I felt like I wanted to talk to him but wasn't sure what I should or needed to ask other than to validate that there is good reason for my pain and that things would be better.
Tried to go down a step using crutches when I was alone because I thought it would be good to get a change of view...the problem is I didn't wait for help. Hmmm, a recurrent theme?? Oh da pain!!!! It went OK until I started to lose balance then engaged muscles to try & stabilize. That was the only time I "threw a fit" and threw a crutch out into the yard as I experienced frustration, fear, and pain.
At this time I realized that in trying to do more I was having 1 incident/day that produced lingering pain. I needed to back off and let things calm down and heal. This was an amazing return of perspective.
Up until this point I tried taking pain med only in response to pain. Low pain then minimal to no medication, significant pain and I would take a lot of pain medication ( as prescribed ).. By the time my pain was more intense it was too late and I would have to take more pain medicine and I found I was doubling up more often than I thought I should.
Rereading through the literature I came across a section that stated to take pain medicine every 3 hrs religiously for the 1st 7-10 days. I would take the higher dose before going to sleep because this is when the pain was the worse, on a day in day out basis. Keeping on top of the pain is key. I was relearning what they have told me from the beginning. I don't have to do it differently and if I did I would get the results I got.
I got quite angry as I had not seen or heard from any home health and on day 5 post-surgery called to inquire. I let them know that if I didn't see an RN today ( I was supposed to get clotting times since I was on Coumadin ) to start then I would request another agency. The RN was not supposed to come in until 4 PM but she did change that to 1:30PM. Once that had happened PT could now come in. I felt that I shouldn't have to work so hard to get what I considered a basic service. I needed some validation that everything was as it was supposed to be.
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