ER Tomorrow Morning

[Mikem]

Glad to hear you are doing okay and hope you have a speedy recovery.

 

[Timbo]

Hope the healing goes well mate, sorry to hear about the slack staff.

 

[RSteve]

I'm at home today. While my daughter did everything she could do to make me comfortable, three days were all I could take at her home. I've had some surprising after effects of the surgery. I broke out in cold sores on my lips and canker sores on my gums. I have the unpleasant feeling that at least one of the tubes that were in my mouth during the surgery hadn't been properly sterilized. Every couple of hours, I rinse my mouth with salt water and am applying Abreva to the cold sores. When I was released my body temperature had dropped to 96.3. My normal is 97.6. Under 96, they said I wouldn't be released. Early hypothermia is 95.
My BP was 123/68, which somewhat surprised me. My intake BP was 142/82.
My brain is still pretty scrambled from the anesthesia. I'd been told that it would take several days before "full clarity" would be restored. I don't recall this occurring in the past, but then being this old is a new experience.
I'm expecting, hopefully, to get some sleep, now that I'm home. At my daughter's house, the bed was uncomfortable, so I tried sleeping in a recliner. She also keeps the house quite cool and I couldn't get warm, even with several blankets piled on me.
Technically, I'm still at my daughter's house. The surgeon had told me that he wouldn't write a release order unless he knew I'd be in a situation where I wasn't alone. My older daughter was here for a few hours earlier, and my younger daughter will drop by after she's done at work.

 

[Brunello]

Good to hear you are home but not so good about all the problems after release. Back in the 1972 I did a speech at my high school about what the future would hold forth and I never imagined we would be so far behind on our medical practices in 2021. I just saddens me to hear that you have to deal with these kinds of problems. Anyway, best luck and speedy recovery to get back to normal!

 

[Brewdude]

Tough to read Steve. Hope you can get some relief.


Cheers,

RR

 

[RSteve]

The funny thing is I'm so happy to be alive and healing that all the issues that transpired with the hospitalization seem to be petty bitching. When I first went to the ER, the pain was so intense that I required a dilaudid drip just to get through the MRI. Now, the residual pain is just a reminder that it could be much worse.

 

[ftrplt]

Hang in there, Bro!!!!!! Better days ahead! FTRPLT

 

[Ranger107]

Yep, surgery of any kind at our age is no fun. Hope it all gets better soon. I had a bud who had problems with mouth sores. Said he gargled with 101 proof rum. I thought it would burn like hell but he swore it made him feel better. Maybe he drank it instead of gargling, lol. Best wishes and prayers that you heal up soon.

 

[Timbo]

I hope you have a speedy recovery Steve.

 

[RSteve]

I had a bud who had problems with mouth sores. Said he gargled with 101 proof rum.

I spoke with my older brother who had surgery about 6 weeks ago. He said he also had mouth sores and inquired with his physician. The physician's short answer was that some patients react to the ventilator with mouth sores. Modern anesthesia apparently requires a ventilator.

 

[RSteve]

The doctor examined my incision today and said all looks well for two weeks past surgery. He thought he cracked a joke as we spoke. I'd mentioned that it must be somewhat nerve racking operating on "older" people 'cause you wonder if they'll make it through the surgery. He said, "I never worry about anyone stopping breathing, because they're all on a ventilator."

 

[Blackhorse]

Many MD’s have a very poor sense of humor. Also, they are often so “worshipped” by patients and staff that they think they’re funny when they’re not and that any kind of behavior they exhibit is fine...when it’s not. Also, there is a certain very dark sense of humor that medical staff often share during times of high stress...but never, never in front of patients, etc. It’s a coping kind of thing when they repeatedly have to deal with high stress, death & dying.

 

[Ranger107]

Stevie, hope you're doing well. Back tomorrow for 3rd follow up after rotator surgery.

 

[RSteve]

Every day that I don't have real pain feels like a miracle. As I'm sitting, typing on my laptop, I'm not feeling pain. It's the first time I've been totally without pain for at least a year. It's almost indescribable. I know that there's a spacer and metal screws in my spine, but, so far, they're doing a great job. Over the years, I've had herniated discs from the C4 to the C7. Without modern surgery to correct the problems, I can't imagine even trying to normally function.

 

[RSteve]

Stevie, hope you're doing well. Back tomorrow for 3rd follow up after rotator surgery.

Hopefully, your healing is progressing. On November 3, 2013, I tripped in my garage and went flying forward, crashing my right shoulder into a steel shelf. I shattered the cap of the humerus and ripped apart the shoulder ligaments. it took two full years before I could fully lift my arm horizontally. Within six months, I could lift straight up. There's a lot cooking in shoulders. I was told that if my break (which also included a lengthy lineal break in the arm) had been 20% more extensive, I could have had a very unfavorable outcome. My surgeon, Dr. Alicia Harrison, was spectacular. I have full movement and only an occasional ache.