happy healthy hippy
A blog following my Triple Pelvic Osteotomy in January 2016
Oh my days. I have just woken up at 6am after sleeping for 7 hours straight. I genuinely didn't know where the hell I was when I opened my eyes and saw myself in a hospital bed and with bleeping noises. It was like, what I imagine, waking up from a coma feels like. So surreal. I instantly felt a completely different person and it took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on and recall the past few days!! My closest friends will know I love my sleep and always harp on about getting 8 hours, however after 3 nights of barely anything, 7 hours feels AMAZING! It felt like I'd slept for a week!
I feel like I've lost 3 days of my life. I don't think anyone could have prepared me for how bad those days where. Everyone on the groups said how tough it would be and Mr Mcbryde warned me after my op when I was unusually chirpy, that things will get a lot worse before they get better. I thought I was prepared and fully informed but when I didn't sleep for 36 hours after surgery and the epidural started wearing off, things went downhill quickly and the pain was so much worse than I could ever have imagined. I don't want to scare you if you're pre op as everyone has their own story to tell and my blog was to give an honest account of my personal experiences. I also have things to be proud of in those days so il do a little recap! Day 1 post op - I had moved from HDU to a ward late the night before and then didn't sleep a wink because the nurses needed to do obs and sensation checks every hour! I was so exhausted but there were so many things attached to me bleeping I couldn't even drift off for 10 minutes. About 5am, I started getting painful pins and needles in both legs. I was given some morphine but it didn't do anything and shortly after, the hip pain kicked in. At lunch, I sat up to eat and immediately went dizzy and lightheaded. I called the nurse and my blood pressure had plummeted. I felt so nauseous and the pain was getting horrendous. Then spasms started in backs of my legs and buttocks - these were unbelievably painful. I couldn't consciously relax my muscles when they kicked in so just had to grit my teeth and ride them out. I was eventually seen by the anaesthetist who gave me a bolus (like a shot!) of the epidural and turned the continuous flow up to 10ml from 5ml. Then upped my frequency of the morphine to hourly from 4 hourly. Things slowly started getting better pain wise but I wasn't with it at all. I felt completely wiped out but couldn't rest as there were so many disturbances with it being my first day on the ward. Throughout the day, I must have had at least 10 different people visit me. From what I can remember... Consultant and his registrar, bloods, house officer doctor on call, registrar on call, anaesthetist, lots of nurses and health care assistants, "outreach team" from critical care, nurse from HDU, and the physios three times who wanted to sit me out (hell no!). I had no rest whatsoever! Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse. I started to feel I was struggling with my breathing slightly in the evening and a few hours later realised my stomach was going numb. The nurse felt it may be the increase in the epidural which set off alarms in my head and I started to panic. The doctor assured me my observations were stable except my heart rate was racing and so she decreased my epidural to 7mls. I finally started to drift off about 1am (36 hours after surgery!) but was very unsettled. Day 2 post op - Still exhausted. Pain seemed relatively controlled on waking as the epidural was working great. I managed to sit over the edge of the bed with a physio just before lunch YAY! It was difficult as my legs were still very numb, but at least it wasn't too painful, and she gave me a lot of assistance. She also went through some active assisted exercises that Andy could help me with (he looked petrified, bless him). Things seemed under control until my epidural had to be switched off as it was 48 hours after surgery. Within a timeframe of 4 hours, my pain in my right hip went from controlled, to uncomfortable, to moderate, to severe, to agony! I literally felt I could pass out with the pain despite hourly moprhine. I couldn't move an inch! A healthcare assistant came round to change my sheets and I burst into tears at the thought of having to move. I had to wait a few hours for the nurses to escalate my pain control. Andy simply held my hand and we listened to chilled music and focused on relaxed breathing. Finally, a patient controlled analgesia (PCA) was set up with a morphine drip so I could get 1ml of morphine every 5 mins. For the first couple of hours after getting the PCA, I was literally counting down the seconds until I could press the button again. I hardly slept as every time I drifted off I would startle awake in agony! I remember a nurse reassuring me that in her experience with TPOs, the first three days are the worst but at the time it felt there was no end to this pain! Day 3 post op - I was definitely "trigger happy" with the PCA overnight as I was on another planet until the late afternoon. I was nauseous, dizzy, and generally confused and out of it most of the day. Morphine trips are not fun. I had to try to limit myself with my PCA and eventually found a manageable dose pressing it every 30-60 mins. It seemed crazy that earlier I had been pressing it every 5 minutes which equates to 12ml every hour rather than 1 or 2ml. Broken pelvis' are horrendously painful! Finally about 2pm, after a few hours of undisturbed rest, I started returning back to planet earth. I was still completely exhausted but at least I knew where I was haha. The physios came to see me and I managed to stand with a frame and take a few steps to the end of the bed and back! WOW! It was so tough and sore but I felt immensely proud of myself afterwards and relieved. Andy was over the moon too! I'm so thankful for all the nurses on Ward 12. Everyone has been amazing - so understanding of my pain and reassuring. I know things are still going to be tough as I'm going to be asking my body to do more but I pray I am over the worst. Andy has been incredible too - simply by being by my side and supporting me through a horrible few days. I'm sure he's enjoyed the quiet time from me anyway! Andrea X
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