In a recent post, I shared I needed hip replacement surgery. The reason for this was because I suffered a right knee injury while playing basketball a few years back, and the accompanying structural changes gradually affected my left hip. Fun stuff.
Anyway, my surgery was yesterday, and I thought I would give you some updates for a few weeks to let you know how I’m progressing.
DAY #1 – Surgery Day
I woke up at 4 am so I could arrive at the hospital at 5:30 am for my 7:30 surgery time. I was the first case of the day at the University of Cincinnati Hospital in Westchester, so I was hopeful there would be no delays. Everyone during my admission was friendly, supportive, and surprisingly awake. I did the usual pre-op prep routine of IVs, prep washes, and more bloodwork. My name, date of birth, and the name and location of my surgical procedure were checked like 5,000 times (which is a VERY good thing because no one wants to wake up after surgery and discover they’ve mistakenly had part of their brain removed). Around 6:30 to 7 am, I was visited by my anesthetist and surgeon, given pre-op meds, and at 7:30 am, Marty gave me a kiss, told me he loved me, and I was off to the OR.
Once I was in the OR, I only remember two things: 1) I was told they were going to start my spinal anesthetic (not entirely pleasant, but safer than a general), and 2) the male tech who brought the C-Arm X-ray machine into the room had a flawless complexion (weird, I know).
The next thing I knew it was a few hours later, and I was waking up in the recovery room with a nurse telling me my BP was a little low and she needed to give me IV fluids. She also kept telling me to try to squish my butt cheeks together to see if the spinal anesthetic was wearing off. Considering the size of my butt, I had no problem squishing my cheeks together. However, trying to sense feeling in my lower legs and feet was another matter. I tried like heck to move my calves and toes, but nothing, nada. Despite reassurances from the nurse this was all completely normal, I nevertheless had a brief and private panic attack after I convinced myself I was going to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life. Thankfully, after 20 minutes or so, my legs and toes were back to normal and I stopped visualizing myself madly dodging around pedestrians in my motorized chair.
Next, I was taken back to my room on a stretcher where the Martinator was waiting for me, and I was given more post-op meds for pain. I vaguely remember my surgeon coming in and telling us the hip replacement surgery went well but he needed to remove a large bone spur from my hip joint which supposedly was the size of a Ford F-350 (this, no doubt, additionally contributed to the pain I had preoperatively). He then told me that my post-op pain would be tolerable now due to the anesthesia but would be at its worst on Days 2-7. (NOTE TO SELF #1: REREAD THIS STATEMENT OFTEN).
Following my surgeon’s visit, I was served a light lunch, which I really appreciated considering I hadn’t eaten anything for the better part of a day. But how did I show my gratitude? By promptly vomiting the entire meal into the bedside trash can and onto the floor – smooth move. Thankfully, after fifteen minutes and a few more meds to stop the nausea and vomiting, I was right as rain.
This was important because soon after, I was visited by physical therapy who helped me get out of bed – with the use of a walker. Unbelievably, I was able to slowly walk around my room, the hall of the hospital, and – wait for it – I was even able to climb up and down stairs with only minimal pain and stiffness– and this was all within a few hours after surgery. Once again, the nurses and therapists reiterated the sage words of my surgeon, restating, I WOULD NOT feel this way the next day once the anesthetic wore off. NOTE TO SELF #2: REREAD THIS STATEMENT.
Finally, around 3 pm, I was allowed to get dressed and taken by wheelchair to the discharge area where Marty helped me into the car and took me home. That evening, I had a light dinner – compliments of chef Marty and sans the vomit – took some Tylenol and a pain med, fell asleep around 9 pm, and thankful the surgery was behind me. Sleep was a bit restless, but overall, a decent first night.
