Home!

We got to the hospital at about 6 a.m., and all the paperwork was done. They took me into the EP lab about 8, and the anesthesia started about 8.30. Dr. Levi had asked if I understood the procedure, and I told him vaguely, and that was all I wanted to know!


I woke up in Recovery, with my leg uncomfortable, and that took some wiggling to fix. I dozed off and on, and was returned to the same day surgery area where they fed me ginger ale, crackers, and a turkey sandwich. I ha a little of the meat, and the crackers, and the ginger ale, and woke up completely. I was discharged at 3 p.m., and we were home by 4. I had a little to eat and drink, and headed off for a nap. I barely slept an hour last night, worrying about the ablation. 


So I took a 3 hour nap, was up for a while, and now I'm headed back to bed! I see the ablation physician in six weeks, and I'm to continue the meds til then. I have two small dressings that have to stay til tomorrow. I was happy to find out that they go in thru the veins, not the arteries, so I didn't have to lay flat for 6 hours, only one hour. 


So the two big summer issues were the knee and the ablation, and they're both done! Along with the bonus tooth issue! I can concentrate on continuing to rehab the knee.


There are still family concerns- Mom has the eye surgery for the macular hole next week, and Barbara had a family medical disaster today. Seems like it's always something. 


And so it goes!
Holly

Happiness is normal sinus rhythm!

At 4 pm, my heart went back into sinus, thank goodness! I immediately felt a thousand times better!


I'm still up because I slept half the day. Ralph went to bed early, he'd been up early because he heard an animal knock over our trash can, then later he was worried about me. 


I have to consult my apple tech support guy, AKA Dan, to see how to put pix from my iPhone onto here. I finished a blue and white granny stripe afghan that I've been working on forever. It's huge! 


And I finished Harvest Moon, another of the Virgin River series. I only have 4 more to go to be caught up. 


And now I'm off to bed!
Holly

Monday can't come fast enough!

I woke up at 4 a.m. in afib. The meds keep the rate down, so it wasn't real dramatic, just annoying. I hung in there til noon, then called cardiology. The on call doc said since I'm on the meds, not to do anything, and come in Monday as scheduled. That was a relief, as I sure didn't want to spend the weekend in the hospital. I'm still in hopes that it will break. 


I'm not dizzy or anything, but I've gotten nothing done all day. It's more likely to break if I'm not real active. 


Ralph just said it's thundering off in the distance, so I guess we're getting another storm. 


Angela discharged me from home PT. I can bend the knee more than 100 degrees, which is great. And I'm up to about every 7-8 hours with the tylenol, and the pain med only at bedtime. I'm sleeping better but not great. I used the cane almost all day yesterday, and only switched to the walker late last night. Today I've stuck with the walker- no use tempting fate. 


Cliffie has turned into quite the house cat. She hasn't asked to go out for over a month. She will meow to go out on the porch, and loves to lay out there and look around. She's discovered she likes a little milk from Ralph's cereal, and usually meows at him at dawn to come feed her- which he does not do. 


Steph, Dan and Toast stopped in. Toast had a haircut appt, but the place lost power, and of course did not call them to cancel. It was funny to see Toast without Whiskey. 


I'm still working my way thru the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr.


And the beat goes on!
Holly

Ack- tooth update

After seeing that I have a history of afib, the oral surgeon would not do general anesthesia. He was right, of course, but I wasn't happy. It worked out fine, the novacaine stopped any pain, and I didn't have to deal with anesthesia issues. It took about 15 minutes for remove the shell of the tooth and the roots. I had to come home with gauze in my mouth for almost an hour, but the bleeding was scant. I was able to eat cottage cheese for dinner. I iced my jaw for a couple of hours off and on. It's still sore, but bearable. 


The dentist said anyone with a joint implant has to be premedicated with an antibiotic before any dental procedure, especially cleaning. I never got discharge instructions from ortho at the hospital, since I was being transferred to rehab, but that was never mentioned that either Ralph or I could remember.


I emailed my nephew Joseph, who has a hip replacement as a result of a car crash when he was 21. He said when he got his wisdom teeth removed, the oral surgeon had him premedicate, but he'd never heard of doing it before dental work.


Then I remembered my hospital years. Generally, the ortho's loved ortho, and consulted medicine for everything else. So maybe the ortho's figure the dentists will take care of it. 


I spoke briefly to Heather on her way home. She's got some job changes going on that will let her be off Thanksgiving, Xmas Eve, Xmas, NY Eve, and NY Day! She's very excited, and I'm delighted for her and Ed. Here's a rant- when other professions, like police, work holidays, they make double or even triple time. Nurses only get time and a half, which is not enough to make me want to work any holiday. Hospitals give a lot of lip service to valuing nurses, but they don't put their money where their mouth is. 


Monday is the ablation for my afib. I have my instructions as to meds, but I've been too distracted with everything else to think about it much. Good thing, because it's a scary procedure. I'll be glad when it's over. 


PT comes today, and it will probably be my last in home session. I start outpatient PT next Thursday. I only did a few of my exercises today, with the trips to the dentist and oral surgeon. I did go up and down the steps twice, in and out of the car, and some walking, so it wasn't a lost day altogether. 


We had a thunderstorm, and I slept thru most of it. I woke up needing pain meds, for my knee and jaw. It should take effect soon, so back to bed!


Holly

Postop Day 29

I had a crown on the bottom left molar, since 1999. My jaw was feeling a little funny, and when I touched the crown, it felt spongy- not a good thing. I called the dentist, who was closed yesterday, and went in this morning. The crown was so loose that they were able to lift it off. The tooth underneath was in terrible shape, and needs to be extracted. Some things I don't do awake, so I'm going to see the oral surgeon this afternoon for extraction. Because of my new knee, I need to be premedicated before dental work. 


Tuesday I had a doctor's appt, and we went to Olive Garden afterward for a late lunch. I filled up on salad, and brought the pasta home and had it for lunch yesterday. 


I'm supposed to be walking laps with the cane to build up endurance. Yesterday I did two laps and had to stop. Angela was due to come today, and I had to cancel her due to dentist appointments. I'm pretty good about doing my exercises. I might not do them all at once, but I do them. She'll be here tomorrow morning. 


I'm starting to sleep a little better. I slept last night from 11 til 2, was up til 3, and slept til 6. My foot is still swollen enough to be annoying. 


I'm able to put my leg up on the ottoman in the sewing room, and keep it up longer and longer. It needs to be stretched out often. And the last two times I've gotten in the car, I haven't used the leg lifter! So I'm definately making progress! 


And so it goes!
Holly

Postop Day 26

Angela the PT was here today. We went outside and worked on going down the steps with the cane. She wanted me to go down left foot first, and I couldn't do it. I can do it if I'm holding on to the rail with both hands, but not while holding with one hand. I could barely go down right (new knee) first. 


Then she had me lay with my legs hanging off the bed from the knees down, and she bent the new knee. It did OK, and when she let the legs hang, I could feel the pull. I also made an appointment to start outpatient PT next week. 


Angela said that no matter how many exercises I do, and no matter how much walking inside I do, I'll improve faster when I'm out and about. So we went to Applebee's for dinner! Of course I had to ice the knee and elevate it when I got home! But I was able to get the new knee leg into the car without using the leg lifter! Progress is definitely being made, slow and steady!


One of my internet friends told me to keep reminding myself that I had major surgery less than four weeks ago. I emailed today's knee picture to Amanda, who was amazed that it looked so good. It's just a scar now, now bruising, no staple marks, no scabs. 


We skyped with Manda, Ben and Kitten. Ben napped thru a lot of the conversation, and Kitten kept trying to cuddle with him. Cliffie also had a lot to say during the conversation. 


Tomorrow Sharon comes to clean, and I see the cardiologist in the afternoon. Next Monday, July 30, is the cardiac ablation for the afib. I think I'm missing the summer! 


I've been reading the latest Virgin River books on the Nook. I'm at least 6 books behind. I finally caught up on all the TV shows from the regular season that I had on the DVR. I watched the season finale of NCIS last night- what a cliffhanger! Now I'll start watching the summer series that I've DVR'd. 


And now I'm off to bed!
Holly

Postop Day 25

I went on an outing today! It was the surprise bridal shower for Juliette, my nephew David's fiancee. I decided to take the walker since it was at a restaurant and I wasn't sure how much walking was involved. I was glad I did- it was a bit of a walk. I did a little walking with the cane before Steph picked me up..


Steph pushed the front passenger seat as far back as it would go, and I got in and out with no problem. There was about 20 women at the shower. Juliette showed up dressed up- she said she'd been planning to get dressed up no matter where she thought she was going, until a shower happened. Good plan- she looked really cute. David stayed long enough to hug everyone, then he bailed. 


We were at Brio Restaurant. We had a choice of soup or salad, and four entrees. And of course cake! She got a lot of nice gifts.


We left here at 11, and got home about 3.30. My right foot is still swollen- it just won't quit. So I came home, elevated, iced, and napped. I did some of my exercises first thing this morning, and I'll do some tonight. 


Tomorrow Angela comes at noon. Her plan is to have me lay down on my stomach, and bend the knee from that position. Sounds like pre-medication is in order! I finally am able to sleep on my stomach, so the knee gets some stretching that way. 


And so it goes!
Holly