Post-op Update

I am lying on my futon downstairs with my right foot elevated "above my nose." I've been lying like this for what seems like weeks, but it's really only been since the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 25th which was the day I officially parted ways with Rafael.

I went in for surgery at 6:30 Friday morning for prep. The surgery was scheduled for 7:30 but they checked my vitals, started an IV and then gave me a nerve block for the lower part of my right leg. I didn't yet know the value of the nerve block which I discovered much later, so as I had a needle the size of a garden hose piercing the back side of my knee, I wished that I could reconsider the whole deal. The cramping, which is a much less severe word than the feeling I experienced, encompassed the whole lower half of my leg and caused my muscles to twitch and shake uncontrollably. The anesthesiologist confirmed this was "normal" which is hardly the word I'd use to describe it. Luckily, I already had an IV administering fluids so I fell asleep after the 3rd or 4th poke and don't remember much more of anything until I awoke in the recovery room much later.

My first thought when I awoke was to check my foot and to wiggle my toes. The nurse told me my first words were, "Is it appropriate to wiggle my toes?" A legitimate question given that I'd just spent 2.5 hours , unbeknownst to me, in an operation where they broke bones, reshaped them, shaved portions of bones and reconnected them with screws that will be with me for life. And then they shaved off more bone on the offending bunion area; that's where Rafael was excommunicated from my life; and then made some incisions so that my toes could straighten. According to the Doc, the surgery went well. I got to see an "after" x-ray and it was shocking to see the transformation when compared to the "before" x-ray. I hope to talk Dr. Hanson out of a set of those pics.

Yesterday, the day after the surgery, the nerve block wore off. And then the pain hit. I didn't understand, until then, why I'd been prescribed such a hearty cocktail of Oxycontin, Percocet and ibuprofin. The nerve block had effectively kept me without pain for a good 24 hours; a blessing I can't even begin to count. And even with the star line-up of prescribed drug cocktails, I am still feeling pain on a regular basis. Last night, hopefully, was the worst of it; even caused me to lose appetite for homemade lasagna, garlic toast and brownies brought to us by a friend who usually knows the way to my heart. I was reticent, at first, to rely so much on addictive pain meds for pain relief. But now that I know the level of pain I'll endure if I continue my hesitation to relieve the pain with conventional meds that are intended for this purpose, I think I'll opt for the meds.

I have my first post-op appointment in a week. I'm already having dreams about the Doc unwrapping my foot and letting me see the horror underneath. The blood I can see seeping through the bandages (again, a "normal" part of recovery) has been feeding my imagination and manifesting into horror movie dreams. Last night, Hubs appeared in my dream as a head-to-toe bandaged, drag-foot zombie that followed me around. When he linked his bandage accidentally around a doorknob and it was removed, he looked like a mangled foot underneath.