Surgery...

... is the easy part. I arrived at the hospital at a relaxed 7:15 AM, thankful to have not been assigned an earlier time. After checking in with the front desk, I was escorted to a pre-surgical room for required preparations: verification of health history, checking vital signs, disrobing and re-robing in a new-fangled hospital gown that can be inflated with heated air, installation of IV, and then a long wait. At some point, my husband, Craig, left to run a few errands in town.

Surgery was scheduled for 9:15, but I wasn't wheeled into the operating room until around 9:30. After brief introduction to the OR staff, it was lights out. I awoke to a splinted, bandaged hand and the good news that the surgery had been uneventful and was over. Ice chips never taste more delicious than after surgery!

By noon we had conferred with the surgeon, dressed, received discharge instructions, and I was on my way home. I knew from personal experience with past surgeries how important it is to have that second pair of ears carefully listening to discharge instructions. Even though I felt alert, pain-free, and "with it," there was a good chance that my memory of these conversations would be fuzzy. Written post-op instructions are valuable, too.

Craig drove me home and I lounged about for the rest of the day, feeling pretty good while the heavy duty pain meds were still coursing through my system. I also finished some laundry and household tasks and, more importantly, wrote down a schedule for taking the pain and anti-inflammatory medications and a stool softener. It's very important to stay on top of the pain meds, and its easy to mix things up, especially when you're hurting. From past experience, I knew that the next few days were likely to be among the hardest. My velcro ice packs worked marvelously. A discharge nurse had explained how to apply a cold pack to the inside of the elbow, since there is too much padding around the thumb for cold to penetrate directly.

We decided that I would sleep in our guest bedroom for a couple of nights. I planned to set my alarm for 1:30 AM for the nighttime dose of hydrocodone. Also, I wanted to flop about out in bed, my arm elevated on a pillow in either direction, without fear of bumping or being bumped. With these preparations, I had a very good sleep and so did my husband!