Feb 13 2012
when Morphine introduces you to Morpheus
Sleep.
It’s one of those little pleasures in life that we take for granted until we have a serious lack of it.
My first night after surgery was hell: the back of my leg was throbbing and burning, I had a splitting headache, and my body was sore because I didn’t know which position to assume to rest.
But last night. Last night I was escorted by Morphine and Valium to a well deserved meeting with Morpheus :)
I managed to get 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Woke up with a bit of pain, took another Hydromorphone, fidgeted for a while, and slept again.
My wife decided to sleep in the other room, so she could get some rest as well, and the extra room in the bed helped a lot.
Also, having read the stories of a couple of guys who groggily stumbled with their crutches going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I had asked my wife to pick up one of those portable urinals at the pharmacy while she was getting my prescription. Not having to put the leg down for the entire night helped a lot. Plus you get to pretend you’re an astronaut on the space station :)
So eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we… won’t wake up with additional bruises from a nocturnal nature break stumble!
Hi Michel,
I’m one of those people who took a tumble going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I fell and put pressure on my operated achilles, and it hurt!
About ten days after surgery I started suffering sharp pains on the outer side of my foot. It was really bad at night, to the point that I dreaded bedtime. The doctor told me the pain was caused by nerve damage, common with this surgery, and it would subside over time. He precribed the strongest hydromorphone available, and even that did not knock out the pain, but it made me groggy, and thirsty, which lead to more water and more trips to the bathroom in crutches. After my tumble I got the portable urinal, and problem solved. No more falls…BTW, I’m a woman, much easier for you to handle.
In general, I recommend everybody with this injury spend a few $ and outfit the path from your bed to the bathroom with a nightlight or two. It’s all too easy to stumble, trip over dirty laundry, catch a crutch leg on a table, etc. Even for the first month or so in “two shoes”, I think you’re at much higher risk of hurting yourself in the middle of the night, stumbling barefoot while half asleep. A little low level light is cheap insurance.
I had a splitting headache to top bbva branch near me
called my father this morning and asked him what to do and he said.