So I had my second left shoulder surgery yesterday…arthroscopic capsular release with limited debridement and manipulation under anesthesia. They called me in the morning and asked me to come in two hours earlier than my scheduled time because the surgeon needed to rearrange the order of his surgeries, so I scrambled to get ready and head up there. I was glad to be going sooner, though. Sitting around and waiting to go is the worst! I had enough anxiety already.
I have no idea how the surgery went. My husband wasn’t allowed in the patient recovery area due to COVID restrictions, and my surgeon never made it out to talk to either one of us. I guess I’ll get the rundown at my post-op appt on Thursday.
When I got home, though, I noticed that my right wrist was really painful. I knew the nurse had placed the IV in the back of my right hand, so I asked my husband to remove whatever dressing was on my hand. When he pushed up my sleeve, we discovered my entire wrist was completely wrapped up repeatedly with an ace bandage and gauze. Once he got it all removed, my wrist was swollen and painful on both sides, and we could see about 8 different needle marks along my wrist bone and hand! Holy cow! I”m guessing that either the IV failed during surgery and they had a hard time securing a new location, or they had trouble drawing blood for my platelet-rich plasma injection that I was getting during surgery. I’m guessing it was the IV. Nurses always struggle to get a good IV on me. I was surprised she got it on the first try, so it wouldn’t surprise me if it failed. It’s happened so many times before. At my last surgery, it was delayed over an hour because it took that long just to get the IV placed.
Everything was going well in terms of pain management. I had a nerve block with an infusion pump that was supposed to last 3 days. I had that before. That’s all I use for pain…just some limited numbing to take the edge off. I am not a fan of narcotic pain meds and refuse to take them. I made it through last time without them and planned to do the same with this surgery. But then today, just 24 hours after surgery, the tubing pulled out of the valve and wouldn’t go back in without leaking. So the numbing medication was just leaking all over me and not going into my neck. The Surgicare center failed to put the anesthesiologist’s information on my discharge papers, so I had no way to reach him. I called the infusion pump company since the papers said to call them with any problems with the pump. They said I shouldn’t re-insert the tube in case of contamination, and that I should shut it off until I could contact the anesthesiologist. They said they had not been provided with his info, either, so they told me to call Surgicare. I called, but they were closed until Monday. Ugh! They specifically told me not to call the surgeon, but he was the only person with contact info on my discharge papers, so I called his after hours service. They tried 3 or 4 times to reach him and left messages, but he wasn’t answering. After a couple of hours, he finally called me back. He apologized that his phone had died and was charging in another room. He told me to try reinserting the tube but said that if it didn’t work and continued leaking, then we should abandon it and remove the catheter. So we tried, but it leaked all over me, so we had to give it up! He said only the anesthesiologist could fix or replace the whole thing, and no one knew how to reach him, so he suggested I abandon it and switch to narcotic pain meds so soon after surgery. I asked him if I could take Aleve. He told me to take 2 and still take the Norco if I needed it. I took two Aleve and decided to try toughing it out with just my ice machine for relief tonight. I figured if I can make it through tonight, it should start to get better. The 2nd night after surgery was the most intense pain last time, so if I can make it to tomorrow, I should be good. It doesn’t hurt nearly as intensely as the previous surgery, so I think I’ll be okay.
What a mess! Tomorrow, we have to remove the surgical dressing, place a fresh dressing, and cover it with waterproof bandaids. After that, I can get help with showering and washing my hair. I’ve just had it braided out of the way since I left for surgery yesterday. It’s so icky to not be able to wash it!
Monday, I will start physical therapy. Tuesday, I get my 2nd Moderna COVID vaccine. Wednesday, I have physical therapy again and have to take my daughter to her pediatrician to be tested for exercise-induced asthma. Thursday, I see my surgeon for my post-op appt. I’ll be in a sling for 2 weeks and will continue therapy for 6 weeks. It’s supposed to be all healed after 6 weeks. We shall see! I really hope this works, because this surgery is costing me another $4,000-$5,000. I had to pay $3,125 yesterday just for the facility fee. Thank goodness for Care Credit! I’ll be able to pay it out over 24 months interest-free. I still had a year left to pay on my 1st surgery, but I paid it off on Thursday so I could have a manageable monthly payment.
Wish me luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment