It has now been 10 days since my release from the skilled nursing facility. After 3 days in the hospital and 25 days at the SNF, I have developed a huge appreciation for the "ordinary" things in life. It was a real paradox for me; there's no way I could've recuperated as much (or even at all by myself in my apartment) as I have without the care of good ol' Garden City and their staff. Yet, the days stretched out as my condition caused a great deal of uncertainty on my part. Boredom with the monotony of being stuck in one place, having to move and sleep ever so carefully while the tubes and stitches were still in me and predictable meals created a mood I never care to visit again.
However, my condition did improve, obviously. I just had to learn that the body takes time to recover after any surgery, much less two surgeries in 3 days. And who knows how much longer it would've taken had I not been in the best physical condition of my life beforehand? Times like this call for new perspective and a firm philosophical mind-set on the positive. There was a real wrestling match going on between something close to despair and the knowledge that I was closer to recovery with each passing day. I've never been much of a wrestler but I won that match!
As soon as I was released and said good-bye to the staff and patients, I went home and breathed it all in. My apartment was exactly as I left it, but it felt for just a little while that I had just moved in all over again. It was weird. I just had to lay down on my king sized bed for an hour and how sweet that was. Then, I got in my car and drove for the first time in a month! Where did I go? Straight to Full Force Personal Training, of course. I needed to see my trainers and friends again and be back in the workout environment. That went over well as we shook hands and caught up on things. The next day, after getting up 5 times in 7 hours to go to the bathroom, I showered at my leisure and resumed my pre-surgery eating habits. Real, healthy food is SO tasty! Then I saw my old friends from bowling as I returned to that environment. I'm not ready to bowl yet and may not be for a while, but the point was to get back to it in some way and it was great to do that!
As time passed, I started walking each day. First for 20 minutes. Then I got impatient and started walking 30-40 minutes. It was tiring at first, but I'm finding my strength is increasing the later it gets. Finally, after a week at home, I returned to work. Got back to both my part-time jobs and it was fantastic to be back in action. You never appreciate the privilege of being productive and earning ANY kind of paycheck until it's forced away from you for whatever reason. And now I'm looking forward to my first full week back to work and, with the Good Lord's blessing, a swift track to full recovery.
This is still going to take several months of rebuilding strength, full closing of the wound and losing the swelling and water weight. But my trainer has a plan, my friends are behind me, and my surgeon is monitoring me weekly. The new me is on the horizon, I just need to not rush it and let it happen...
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
My Ordeal
It's been a while since I've posted here. Had my surgery and because of some complications, was hospitalized for 3 days and in a skilled nursing facility for 25 more. Here is the account of what happened up to about a week before my release:
Tuesday, August 14, 2012, I went into the operating room to have the excess abdominal skin resulting from my weight loss removed. One moment I’m being prepped and fully aware of my surroundings. The next moment I’m in the recovery room being roused awake. I don’t even recall becoming drowsy or any sense of drifting off. Just bang, bang! And it was done!
As much as I tried to brace myself for how post-op would feel, there was no way to anticipate the sensation. I was told that 8 lbs. of skin was removed, which is considered a hefty amount. My abdomen and groin were what I considered in an unnatural state of soreness and sensitivity. It felt like if I moved too fast or the wrong way, I’d rip myself apart.
For all this, when the time came, I was able to take some shuffling steps to the bathroom, get wheeled to my ride’s car and go home. From the car I managed to gingerly walk to my stairway, climb 18 steps and enter my apartment under the supervision of my buddy.
Although I was extremely delicate, I felt confident and strong enough to putter around my apartment as needed. My niece’s son came over to spend the night and my best friend went home. I got around pretty well walking from room to room and sitting at my computer.
The next day my grand-nephew went home and I was on my own. Things seemed all right until I went to bed. Then I went through the most frightening night of my life. There are 2 plastic bottles attached to tubes emerging from my lower abdomen called J-P drains. Well, I started noticing that one of the drains would fill up almost as fast as I could empty it. Whenever I got up it would be only a few seconds before I got nauseous, light-headed, my legs started giving out, and I knew I was close to passing out. It was a wonder I could rush back to bed and curl up in the fetal position just to feel close to “normal”.
This continued through about noon the next day. Thank God a great friend of mine who is an experienced registered nurse came over to check on me. She quickly assessed the situation, made the calls to the hospital where I was insured and called 911. Before too long I was being carried downstairs, loaded into the ambulance and on my way back to the OR.
Less than 2 hours after I was admitted, a hematoma was removed and I was given a transfusion of 2 units of blood. This time it was certainly NOT an out-patient procedure. I was hospitalized for 3 days, carefully monitored and well taken care of. Although this was an experience totally foreign to me, I certainly had no objections! I got stronger, did some standing and walking without any feeling of possibly passing out or worse. This was a huge relief and an ENORMOUSLY positive sign of improvement for me!
Finally, it was time to be discharged. Fortunately, it was taken into consideration that being home alone was not really an option just yet. I was sent to a skilled nursing facility for treatment, evaluation, and rehab until it could be determined that I truly can go home and take care of myself.
Obviously, there’s no way I could’ve anticipated the ordeal I would go through. Truth be told, this was a rather uncommon complication to deal with. It was the kind of misfortune that would’ve been very tough to brace myself for prior to the surgery.
As much as I tried to brace myself for how post-op would feel, there was no way to anticipate the sensation. I was told that 8 lbs. of skin was removed, which is considered a hefty amount. My abdomen and groin were what I considered in an unnatural state of soreness and sensitivity. It felt like if I moved too fast or the wrong way, I’d rip myself apart.
For all this, when the time came, I was able to take some shuffling steps to the bathroom, get wheeled to my ride’s car and go home. From the car I managed to gingerly walk to my stairway, climb 18 steps and enter my apartment under the supervision of my buddy.
Although I was extremely delicate, I felt confident and strong enough to putter around my apartment as needed. My niece’s son came over to spend the night and my best friend went home. I got around pretty well walking from room to room and sitting at my computer.
The next day my grand-nephew went home and I was on my own. Things seemed all right until I went to bed. Then I went through the most frightening night of my life. There are 2 plastic bottles attached to tubes emerging from my lower abdomen called J-P drains. Well, I started noticing that one of the drains would fill up almost as fast as I could empty it. Whenever I got up it would be only a few seconds before I got nauseous, light-headed, my legs started giving out, and I knew I was close to passing out. It was a wonder I could rush back to bed and curl up in the fetal position just to feel close to “normal”.
This continued through about noon the next day. Thank God a great friend of mine who is an experienced registered nurse came over to check on me. She quickly assessed the situation, made the calls to the hospital where I was insured and called 911. Before too long I was being carried downstairs, loaded into the ambulance and on my way back to the OR.
Less than 2 hours after I was admitted, a hematoma was removed and I was given a transfusion of 2 units of blood. This time it was certainly NOT an out-patient procedure. I was hospitalized for 3 days, carefully monitored and well taken care of. Although this was an experience totally foreign to me, I certainly had no objections! I got stronger, did some standing and walking without any feeling of possibly passing out or worse. This was a huge relief and an ENORMOUSLY positive sign of improvement for me!
Finally, it was time to be discharged. Fortunately, it was taken into consideration that being home alone was not really an option just yet. I was sent to a skilled nursing facility for treatment, evaluation, and rehab until it could be determined that I truly can go home and take care of myself.
Obviously, there’s no way I could’ve anticipated the ordeal I would go through. Truth be told, this was a rather uncommon complication to deal with. It was the kind of misfortune that would’ve been very tough to brace myself for prior to the surgery.
This has been about as challenging an experience for me as it was when I lost the weight. I can never repay the debt of gratitude to my friends who helped me through my crisis, those who provided transportation, and family and friends who came to visit. Along with the fitness community which I’m proud to be a part of rallying to support me, I feel blessed far more than I am able to comprehend.
It has now been one week since checking into the skilled nursing facility. Ten days since the second surgery. The healing is progressing but not as fast as I’d like. A place like this really produces a conflict of emotions and moods. There’s no way I could get along alone in my apartment which makes me very much appreciate being someplace that can tend to all my needs. However, I’ve never missed anything as much as my king-sized bed. The overnight hours seem to be the toughest part of the day to get through. With the drains and tubing where they are as well as the stitches, I basically have to stay in one position on my back all night with very little room to maneuver. What a number this does to my upper back and tailbone area! I will say, though, that it’s getting somewhat easier to get through the night as I learn to adapt.
Getting up in the morning has become a comparatively delightful experience. At first it was challenging swinging my legs out to get into a sitting position and out of bed. Now I find myself much stronger and doing those things with little discomfort. It still needs to be done carefully, but the transition is smoother. As I think about it, the new morning brings a number of positives to bear. First, I’m one day closer to recovery. Next, I rise up early (often times 6AM or earlier) which feels much, much better than sleeping in most of the time. Then there are things to look forward to like breakfast (such as it is) and physical therapy twice a day Monday through Friday. And now I have my laptop and healthy snack foods to keep myself occupied and eating better.
Getting up in the morning has become a comparatively delightful experience. At first it was challenging swinging my legs out to get into a sitting position and out of bed. Now I find myself much stronger and doing those things with little discomfort. It still needs to be done carefully, but the transition is smoother. As I think about it, the new morning brings a number of positives to bear. First, I’m one day closer to recovery. Next, I rise up early (often times 6AM or earlier) which feels much, much better than sleeping in most of the time. Then there are things to look forward to like breakfast (such as it is) and physical therapy twice a day Monday through Friday. And now I have my laptop and healthy snack foods to keep myself occupied and eating better.
No one “gets used to” being in a place like this. The fortunate ones cope with it and adapt to the situation until things become tolerable at best. The staff here has certainly gone a long way toward helping me get to that point, not to mention my physical improvement. Visits, care packages, prayers and support from the best people anyone can ever have on their side have sustained my mental and emotional well being. There are certainly people here that are going through worse than I am with fewer people to help. While I need to avoid dwelling on the negative, this fact helps me guard against falling into the trap of self-pity. After all, this is leading to an incredibly positive result after the healing period passes, so I need to just keep looking ahead…
And now it is September 5 and I have been here at Garden City for 2 ½ weeks. Today I had my third follow up appointment with my surgeon and a huge step has been taken. At last, one of my drainage tubes has been taken out and WOW...
, what a difference! It was such a relief to get that out of me. Immediately, I was able to walk much more smoothly and with increased pace. To have that much less pressure and discomfort in my groin is a giant leap toward feeling like my old self again.
Next week (Wednesday the 12th) the doctor says the other tube should come out and probably my stitches as well! Just as a safety measure, it was recommended that I stay here at least until Monday so the proper meds and monitoring can be administered while I still have the one drain. Even when the doctor pulled the one tube out of me, I didn’t feel a thing which was a real bonus as I thought there’d be at least some pain. Just gotta tough it out a little bit longer and I’ll soon be back to active status.
There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I can hardly wait to get to it!
Next week (Wednesday the 12th) the doctor says the other tube should come out and probably my stitches as well! Just as a safety measure, it was recommended that I stay here at least until Monday so the proper meds and monitoring can be administered while I still have the one drain. Even when the doctor pulled the one tube out of me, I didn’t feel a thing which was a real bonus as I thought there’d be at least some pain. Just gotta tough it out a little bit longer and I’ll soon be back to active status.
There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I can hardly wait to get to it!
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