Amy, age 36
I checked out of the hospital at noon the next day.
Before leaving, people from their physical therapy department came by to make sure that I knew how to use the crutches. I was nervous about taking that first step onto the floor…but it was fine. Actually, the whole time after surgery is a bit of a fog. I asked for and received Demerol every four hours.
Tuesday, the day I came home, is also a blur. They had given me Vicodin, which I took. By Wednesday, I was sitting up and feeling pretty good. I stopped taking the pain killer. My knee was also on this motion machine* for four hours a day.
I didn’t even take a shower until Thursday. In part, I wasn’t up to it before then. And in part, I didn’t want to disturb this great icing machine they had me hooked up to.
Naturally, at first, it was hard getting around. This put more of a burden on Jeff. he had to do most of the housework and take care of our son. Fortunately, he knew what he was getting into. We had talked beforehand about how to get everything done while I was laid up. He took the first few days off from work. We also hired help to come in on the weekend.
A couple of days after the surgery, I got a very bad headache. It was intense. I called the surgeon, who said that it was probably from the epidural. He had the anesthesiologist call me. According to the anesthesiologist, a small amount of spinal fluid was probably leaking which can cause a disequilibrium and a bad headache. He said there was a procedure they could perform, but he suggested that I lie flat and still for a few days and see if this didn’t take care of it. After a few days, the headache did pass.
*A CPM or continuous passive motion machine is a small padded machine that the leg rests on, keeping it in gentle but continuous motion.