first week after surgery
Posted by duke on September 25, 2011
I spent the first day after my surgery with my leg up with the ice wrap running continuously. I used several doses of pain medications to keep the surgical site quiet. I was keenly aware of my incision and had some soreness in my tendon whenever I was upright for more than 10 seconds or so. My wife took care of me, getting me what I needed and helping to make sure I was getting around safely. A neighbor brought us extra ice (as our icemaker wasn’t doing well keeping up with the sudden heavy demand). It started to sink in about just how different things are going to be over the next several months.
As all of you know, that first week is one full of adjustments. The fact that you can’t just hop up to get what you need when the mood strikes you. The pain/discomfort when the leg is down. Getting accustomed to maneuvering with crutches. A lot of sports radio, DVR, books from the library and hulu as I passed the time.
A great deal of the time feeling good, optimistic about recovery and thinking philosophically about my situation relative to others. At others, feeling trapped by my splint, struggling to find a position of comfort and wondering if I ever fully recover. I spent a lot of time scanning through blogs on this site, reading stories of people who made it through just what I am going through. This gave me a lot of comfort knowing that others were sharing a similar experience.
I don’t know the attribution, but I do believe that with these kinds of situations— shared pain is half the pain, and shared glory is double the victory.