Yesterday, I took a shower for the first time since my operation. I know that sounds pretty gross, and it would to me, too, if my interpretation of life was anything like it was before this happened. Now, the fact that I spend 99% of my day sitting or laying in bed because I can't do anything else makes the fact that I haven't showered far less significant than the fact that I have no where to go, couldn't get there if I wanted to, and don't really have anyone to talk to about it (except you fine folk and my immediate family) or to even notice if I did shower. So, while I desperately needed a shower, I had no idea how it was going to go, and I certainly wasn't looking forward to it.
When I saw the doctor on Friday he said give it a couple of more days before I got my surgery sight wet. I still did everything I could to keep the wounds from getting wet, but it didn't quite work out as I had expected. I left the bandages on and wrapped them in plastic wrap, but I didn't tape it, and it didn't hold. So my bandages got wet, but because I was sitting on the bench in the shower, my knee didn't really get that wet anyway, and the wounds didn't even get damp.
 |
| I can't wait until taking a shower is no big deal again! |
It was a pretty quick process, but I did need my husband's help. If I hadn't dropped the soap on my knee, I think things would have been pretty uneventful. So that hurt a little bit, but it's fine now. Getting in and out is always scary because everything is slick. I highly recommend using the bench that sticks out of the shower because you can just sit down and slide all the way over and there's no climbing over anything.
Another first for yesterday was sleeping on my side. I hate sleeping on my back, but I have been trying to do it because I think it's the best way to ensure I don't bend my knee all the way up. Last night, I slept on my side with a pillow between my legs and my left leg on a different pillow. I had the ice machine pad wedged in there as well. I think this worked pretty well. My knee was possibly even straighter that way than it has been when I've been on my back. I also put some pillows behind my back so I could flip over a little onto my back if I needed to. So, in this position, I actually slept for about six hours, which is the longest I've slept since before the surgery. This meant that I slept through my pain medicine though, so when I did wake up, my knee was starting to hurt. Once you get behind, in my experience, it takes a while to catch up, and so I've been in pain most of the day, though it's been tolerable. It's been at about a three or four all day, maybe getting up to a six for a little while.
It's getting a little worse now because I don't have any ice on it, and we are within the two hour window of when I need to take my medicine again. The reason I am out of ice is because of today's first--first day at home by myself. My husband went to work for the first time since the surgery today, so there isn't anyone to refill the ice machine. I'll be okay for the next couple of hours until he gets home, but it does show just how much this $200 investment has paid off.
Being at home by myself today has been a little different than I thought. I expected to sleep most of the day, but I really haven't much. I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be more productive! Either I'll sleep or write the next great American novel... or catch up on the shows on the DVR.
This is where I'm at almost a week after my surgery. Let me know if anyone has any questions!
No comments:
Post a Comment