Day Five. Saturday. Going home!

On Saturday, December 23, 2023 I was cleared to go home! Huzzah!

I had bad dreams and didn't sleep that great last night. My back and butt are also sore from just always being on them.  The giant bandage on my lower back is also bothering me and I want to take it off. 

I have not had a shower - just the weird wipe-downs - and cannot wait to go home and get in the shower. I am still tired and feeling a little weak but I feel better every day. 

I was given pages of instructions on what to do and not do -- and the incredible nursing staff told me to call if I have any issues and the NP from the ICU gave me the direct line to them to call if I needed anything. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve - so the holiday is here. Which means I do not see the surgeon for a follow up until 1/5. 

My husband brought up my "go home bag" and I was able to change back into regular clothes and out of the hospital gown - finally! (I made a post on what to bring to the hospital with you too - find it here!) 

Getting into the house was harder than expected.

My husband pulled into the garage and we walked in the backyard, and up the 7 steps to our back deck and then into the house. By the time I walked to the front of the house and sat in the recliner I was exhausted. 

I sat there for a couple or hours next to my Christmas tree, and was glad to be home.

I had a nice cup of tea and just relaxed.  I am so glad that I put my tree up ahead of time, too, because I enjoyed having it there for the holiday.  Christmas is my favorite time of year.  Honestly, when I put it up I was worried about making it home to see it again. Sitting next to it, I realized I had indeed made it home, and was doing way better than I had expected. It was not as 'hard' as I thought it would be. Again, this is probably also a result of my attitude. I tried to stay positive. 

I made the trek upstairs and it was a little hard, but I took one stair at a time and rested between steps. I was worried about getting into bed. Fortunately we have an adjustable bed -- so I was able to elevate my head or legs if I wanted once I got into bed.

I was always worried about making sure I didn't use my arms to push myself up -- especially from the recliner or out of bed.  I was always so focused on that worry.  One of the NPs at the hospital said "they are pretty sturdy wires holding it together, so you will be ok." But still, I worried. 

My legs were also quite puffy (see right hand photo above) and my feet were puffed up for a few days. they still had me on the diuretic to remove water from my body, so I was also going to the bathroom a lot.

My first shower.

My first shower was pretty good, but you cannot let the water spray from the showerhead hit your incision.  So I had my back to the showerhead and my husband helped me wash my back. The discharge nurse had told me not to lift my hands over my head, but the NP before surgery in the surgeon's office told me that I could lift my arms to wash my hair and even seemed to shrug it off. I got conflicting advice on stuff like that which was irritating.

I was able to remove the big adhesive bandage they had on my lower back all week, and it felt good to get that off, as well as a lot of other bandages and tapes that were still on me. 

I let my husband wash my hair and did the best I could to get the adhesive off my skin from all of the things that had been stuck to me.  If you can, ask for adhesive remover wipes before you leave the hospital. That stuff is incredibly hard to get off. 

I was exhausted by the time I finished my shower.  

Sleep was fitful.

I slept, but had bad dreams again, and my husband said that I shouted out in my sleep a few times. I was taking the oxycodone 5 pills every few hours and my husband gave me one before bed.  

I had to lie flat on my back to sleep, and they warn you not to roll onto your side. Fortunately we have the adjustable bed and with my head raised a bit it was ok.  I woke up around 3:30 in the morning and had to go to the bathroom, which was tiring, My husband had to help me on and off the toilet because it was so low and I just didn't have that much strength.  (See my comments on how to prepare for surgery here. It includes info on low toilets and getting toilet risers BEFORE surgery.)

Preparing for Surgery

Before surgery there a lot of things you have to do. I had to take a shower for the 2 days prior with Hibiclens.

The instructions are on the bottle they give you, and you cannot get it into your eyes, mouth or anywhere in your private areas.

It is a little bit drying, and your skin feels weird afterward. But it leaves something on your skin that protects it from infection.

I had to stop taking some medication a week before the surgery and some two days before, some the day before. I made a chart for the week leading up to surgery with everything I had to do every day to make sure I did it right.

Some things I wish I had done before surgery that you may want to think about:

Get a shower chair.  I did not get one, but it might be helpful. I would have used one if I had one for those first couple of days.  A plastic folding chair in the shower could also work - like the ones you can get at Costco. It was hard to stand there for the whole shower with my back to the shower, not able to lift my arms over my head and my husband having to shampoo my hair and wash my back. A chair would have helped.

Get a toilet riser or booster. This was a big issue for me the first couple of days. We have very low toilets in our upstairs bedrooms. They are whatever the standard toilet is they put in houses. I also had a little knee issue and related strength issues in that leg, but you can't push off the countertop with your arms to stand up. They want you to stand upright without using your arms.  This is much harder to do when the toilet is lower and you are weaker.  Not using your arms is going to be the big thing to remember for the first month or so.

This is the one we ended up ordering and my husband said it was easy to install. 

When we didn't need it anymore it was also easy to remove.

The higher nature of the seat helped me the most. I tried not to use the arms to help myself stand more than I had to. 

Get a shower head wand. We ordered one once I got home, but by the time it arrived from Amazon, I was doing better in the shower and we didn't need it.  You cannot let the shower spray hit your incision, so a shower wand will help you rinse off better. 

Get a handy carrying bag. I kept my spirometer, my chapstick, medicines, cell phone charger and other assorted things in my bag and brought it with me from room to room while I was recovering so I always had it with me. Once I came downstairs for the day, I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. I also carried my hugging bear with me always!