Some things I tried to do in the week after surgery … and how well it worked

This post is all about things I attempted to do the week after surgery, and how it went. I hope to provide as concrete a picture of the post-op recovery as I can. 

From what I’ve seen, experiences vary wildly. One poster described not much pain post-op. I had a lot of pain … but it seems to drop off rapidly over the first week. 

Things I tried to do the day of surgery

Before surgery, I was in total denial. I actually got some work done - that worked great.

I eschewed offers of transportation and took the bus to the hospital. That didn’t work well. It was raining, I slipped on slick walkway outside the hospital and landed on my bad leg. I finally got to say 8 when they ask, “on a scale of 1 to 10, how much does it hurt?”. Hopefully, I’ll be more careful after surgery. 

The surgery was on Halloween. I had general anesthesia, most of the day is vague, and I can’t tell you how the surgery went. I’m fairly certain it was an open surgery in the correct leg. I left the hospital 2 hours later than they expected I would … so I think anesthesia recovery did not go well. 

I tried to answer the door for trick or treating. This didn’t go well. I could not manage to get off the couch to open the door. I fell asleep. Drowsiness is a side affect of narcotics.

I sent my kids trick or treating with the grandparents. That worked great … quite the haul.   

Things I tried to do a 1-2 days after the surgery (lots of swelling, on Narcotics)

Time off the couch before swelling and pain were intolerable: 5 minutes, 30 minutes by day 2. 

Pain (1-10) : 7, with oxycodone

Surgery + 1 day: Doing nothing worked well.

Sign a check: Nope, I couldn’t quite figure out how to sign a check. I kept getting the numbers mixed up. 

Dishes: I tried to do dishes on day 2. This did not work well at all, it really really hurt.

Sleeping: Did not work well, there was no comfortable place to put my foot. I moved to the couch so my wife could sleep.  

Things I tried to do 3-4 days after surger (off the narcotics)

Time off the couch before swelling and pain were intolerable: 20 minutes, 45 minutes by day 4. 

Pain (1-10) : 3, with tylenol

Stopped taking narcotic paing killers for Tylenol. That worked great. I have no idea why people take narcotics for fun. Oxycodone was good for the pain, but otherwise, a misery of muddled mentation. It gave me headaches. What kind of pain killer has head-aches as a side effect? 

At surgery + 4 days I took a bus, just to get outside. I actually went to the gym and did a very light upper body workout. After 5 days on the couch, that felt great.  I had to leave my leg up for 30 minutes at a coffee shop before I could get on the bus and go back home.  

At surgery + 4 days, I voted. 51% of the country thinks that went just fine. I had plenty of couch / internet time to research the issues. 

Things I tried to do at 5-6 days (no painkillers)

Time off the couch before swelling and pain were intolerable: 1-3 hours (once a day).  

Pain (1-10) : not much if I keep the leg elevated. 5 after 30 minutes without leg elevation.

I tried to work. I have a desk job, and theoretically don’t need me foot. Working did not work well at all. I was too tired and uncomfortable to be effective. However, I’m out of sick time, so I don’t have much choice. Well, there is always a choice - but I don’t like options such as cancelling my Christmas vacation or unpaid leave. For next week, the best choice appears to be, my life shall be working and sleeping - sleeping enough that I can make it through an 8 hour work day.   

Things I tried to do at 7-8 days

I’m getting close to the level of functionality at had pre-op. I don’t crash in the middle of the day, pain is still much worse than pre-op.  Its the weekend, so I’m not trying to do much. 

I am leaving the house, seeking destinations suitable to my knee walker (lots of smooth walking surfaces).  This works fine, although I need about 10 minutes of leg elevation each hour to keep up the activity.