Wednesday Dec.26 was pretty good. Still a little swelling and pain, but more tolerable. I only took one dose of Vicodin and ibuprofen to supplement.
Thursday Dec. 27 was busy. I woke up at 6am in quite a bit of pain. I think I may have slept wrong or something. I took a Vicodin and slept until 8am. Today was the first day I had no choice but to get moving. Christmas at my house. With the help of my daughter, we cooked and cleaned for family to arrive at 2pm. I did okay until 5ish with only taking 800mg. Of ibuprofen, then I put my arm up and took a little nap. Company left about 8pm. Pain isn't too bad, but I'm exhausted. Tomorrow is my dr. Appointment for my surgery follow up to get my stitches out and casted. I am anxious to see my incision. I'll definitely be taking pics. Hopefully all goes well.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Christmas Day - day 5 post surgery
Today has been better. Swelling is down some and I have only taken Vicodin once this morning and 800mg of ibuprofen about lunch time.
Santa came and everyone was pleased with their gifts. Boys got mostly money, Marissa and Bre got their concert tickets to Luke Bryan (Bre was super excited- it was priceless!) and Olivia got her iPod touch.
On a bad note, Olivia was up at 2am with a fever of 102. I gave her some ibuprofen and she was good through the morning, then her temp spiked again. We had to miss Christmas at the Schaefer side, but Aaron brought us food. Lasagna hit the spot! He is bringing gifts for Liv when he comes home. She has been vtalk ing with them. She is sad that she can't be there. Hopefully she will be better for Christmas at our house with my side of the family tomorrow.
I'm about ready to hit the Vicodin ... Pain is different than the swelling kind. It's kind of a sharp pain instead of a throbbing pain. Can't wait until my Friday follow up appointment - stitches out and hopefully my real cast. The road to recovery is on ...
Santa came and everyone was pleased with their gifts. Boys got mostly money, Marissa and Bre got their concert tickets to Luke Bryan (Bre was super excited- it was priceless!) and Olivia got her iPod touch.
On a bad note, Olivia was up at 2am with a fever of 102. I gave her some ibuprofen and she was good through the morning, then her temp spiked again. We had to miss Christmas at the Schaefer side, but Aaron brought us food. Lasagna hit the spot! He is bringing gifts for Liv when he comes home. She has been vtalk ing with them. She is sad that she can't be there. Hopefully she will be better for Christmas at our house with my side of the family tomorrow.
I'm about ready to hit the Vicodin ... Pain is different than the swelling kind. It's kind of a sharp pain instead of a throbbing pain. Can't wait until my Friday follow up appointment - stitches out and hopefully my real cast. The road to recovery is on ...
Monday, December 24, 2012
Christmas Eve ...
Woke up today in a pissy mood. I'm sick of this swelling! I want to be freed from the confines of my recovery area, but I can't do anything without my arm feeling like it is going to explode. That pretty much sums up the day :)
Day 4
My swelling has definitely peaked. I am losing my elbow to the fluid. Hopefully this is a good sign that its disbursing and going away. That's my logic anyway! Everything is throbbing like crazy which I'm sure is due to the swelling and I am itchy under the very tight bandages. All of this is bearable and soon shall pass - especially with the aid of Vicodin.
My family have been supportive and are taking good care of me. My husband decided he needed to buy a new tv for me for our bedroom (aka my recovery room). This is funny, especially if you know me. I actually hate television. I think it's a waste of time and have no need for it. He has been bugging for years to get a new one and he waited until I was at my weakest. It is actually nice, but you won't find me in front of it once I am recovered.
My family have been supportive and are taking good care of me. My husband decided he needed to buy a new tv for me for our bedroom (aka my recovery room). This is funny, especially if you know me. I actually hate television. I think it's a waste of time and have no need for it. He has been bugging for years to get a new one and he waited until I was at my weakest. It is actually nice, but you won't find me in front of it once I am recovered.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Day 3 12/22/12
Today has been uneventful. I feel like my fingers are more swollen and turning black and blue. I'm trying to keep it elevated and iced more. I took my last Vicodin at 7:30am and I'm going to try ibuprofen for the rest of the day. I hate the way the Vicodin makes me feel. So far the pain is bearable with the ibuprofen.
Not takin the Vicodin caught up with me about 7ish. The swelling is now to my elbow. I look like the stay- puff marshmallow man.
Not takin the Vicodin caught up with me about 7ish. The swelling is now to my elbow. I look like the stay- puff marshmallow man.
Day1 and 2 post surgery
Thursday -Friday 12/20,21/2012
The first day/ night after surgery went well. I did not have any pain at all due to the block lasting the full 12 hours. It finally wore off about 4:30-5 am Friday morning. I was uncomfortable all night due to weight of my dead arm and figuring out how to position it.
After the block wore off the throbbing began. I started taking Vicodin every 4 hours. The pain was not unbearable and the Vicodin took the edge off. I did find it hard to sleep comfortably with my arm properly elevated. I found the best way was to lay flat on my back with a pillow on my chest and my arm on the pillow. I rolled a towel under my wrist area to elevate further. The hardest thing for me at this point is the lack of activity I am doing. The Vicodin makes me woozy and a little dizzy so I am not moving around much.
My clavicle area where they shot me up feels like I was punched repeatedly. I have sticky stuff all over from the monitoring stickers and I needed a shower. I waited for the meds to wear off and attempted a shower. It wasn't too bad. I simply dumped shampoo on my head guessing how much was actually coming out. Conditioning was a little trickier. I put the squeeze tube between my knees and squirt it into my free hand. It was comical I'm sure, but I'll get it mastered. I've yet to figure out how I'm going to shave my pits. One good thing, I'm sure I'm building up my right shoulder muscles with holding my hand up in the air so much.
I'm sick of laying around already!
The first day/ night after surgery went well. I did not have any pain at all due to the block lasting the full 12 hours. It finally wore off about 4:30-5 am Friday morning. I was uncomfortable all night due to weight of my dead arm and figuring out how to position it.
After the block wore off the throbbing began. I started taking Vicodin every 4 hours. The pain was not unbearable and the Vicodin took the edge off. I did find it hard to sleep comfortably with my arm properly elevated. I found the best way was to lay flat on my back with a pillow on my chest and my arm on the pillow. I rolled a towel under my wrist area to elevate further. The hardest thing for me at this point is the lack of activity I am doing. The Vicodin makes me woozy and a little dizzy so I am not moving around much.
My clavicle area where they shot me up feels like I was punched repeatedly. I have sticky stuff all over from the monitoring stickers and I needed a shower. I waited for the meds to wear off and attempted a shower. It wasn't too bad. I simply dumped shampoo on my head guessing how much was actually coming out. Conditioning was a little trickier. I put the squeeze tube between my knees and squirt it into my free hand. It was comical I'm sure, but I'll get it mastered. I've yet to figure out how I'm going to shave my pits. One good thing, I'm sure I'm building up my right shoulder muscles with holding my hand up in the air so much.
I'm sick of laying around already!
The Surgery...
My surgery was scheduled for 12/20/12 @ 4:30pm.
I was instructed to stop eating and drinking at 8am the day of surgery. The eating thing didn't bother me, but not being able to drink my water was torture. I decided I would go to work for half a day to stay busy. It wasn't too bad. I swished my mouth out with water frequently and used scope mouthwash to replace my gum addiction. I had no idea gum faked your stomach in thinking it was eating! No wonder it helps me not eat so much.
I arrived at the ortho hospital at 1:30p as instructed. I still cannot figure out why you have to get there so dang early. Anyhow, once they got me registered and checked in I was shown to the pre- op room. I was asked to change into a lovely hospital gown (only getting to keep my panties on). It was ginormous and could've wrapped around me many times. They also gave me a pair of non- skid socks to wear.
They asked me all the same questions the phone nurse did the day before (annoying). Then came the IV. I have teeny tiny veins especially in my left, non-dominate hand. The nurse found the vein she wanted and proceeded to "make it mad" by smacking the top of my hand. It was thoroughly pissed by the time she was done. It still didn't make it easy for her to get though. Once the IV was in place they started fluids. Then came the long waiting game. I should mention that during this wait it was discovered that the IV would stop if I moved my hand in certain positions, but told it would be fine.
About 4:45p the anesthesiologist came to start my clavicle block (I think that is what he called it -they numbed my right arm from the shoulder down) and kicked my husband and Aunt to the waiting room. They put happy stuff in my IV and that's all I remember until I heard music and talking in the surgery room. I could hear the Dr. Telling his assistant or whoever to look " there's no cartridge" and then I heard sawing, drilling and hammering noises. He also explained to her why he wasn't using the plate they normally do since my wrist is thin. It was surreal! I kept going in and out of sleep. They had placed a warming blanket on me and I was so hot I remember trying to kick it off and the anesthesiologist helping remove it. I also kicked off my non-skid booties. Toward the end I was essentially wide awake and asked if I could see. They eventually took the tent down and he was finishing up the casting and ace wrap. I didn't get to see anything!
My arm felt like it weighed 100lbs. It's the strangest thing ... Felt like I was touching someone else's hand - not mine.
Here is a good link that explains the surgery ...
http://www.pncl.co.uk/~belcher/information/Wrist%20fusion.pdf
I was instructed to stop eating and drinking at 8am the day of surgery. The eating thing didn't bother me, but not being able to drink my water was torture. I decided I would go to work for half a day to stay busy. It wasn't too bad. I swished my mouth out with water frequently and used scope mouthwash to replace my gum addiction. I had no idea gum faked your stomach in thinking it was eating! No wonder it helps me not eat so much.
I arrived at the ortho hospital at 1:30p as instructed. I still cannot figure out why you have to get there so dang early. Anyhow, once they got me registered and checked in I was shown to the pre- op room. I was asked to change into a lovely hospital gown (only getting to keep my panties on). It was ginormous and could've wrapped around me many times. They also gave me a pair of non- skid socks to wear.
They asked me all the same questions the phone nurse did the day before (annoying). Then came the IV. I have teeny tiny veins especially in my left, non-dominate hand. The nurse found the vein she wanted and proceeded to "make it mad" by smacking the top of my hand. It was thoroughly pissed by the time she was done. It still didn't make it easy for her to get though. Once the IV was in place they started fluids. Then came the long waiting game. I should mention that during this wait it was discovered that the IV would stop if I moved my hand in certain positions, but told it would be fine.
About 4:45p the anesthesiologist came to start my clavicle block (I think that is what he called it -they numbed my right arm from the shoulder down) and kicked my husband and Aunt to the waiting room. They put happy stuff in my IV and that's all I remember until I heard music and talking in the surgery room. I could hear the Dr. Telling his assistant or whoever to look " there's no cartridge" and then I heard sawing, drilling and hammering noises. He also explained to her why he wasn't using the plate they normally do since my wrist is thin. It was surreal! I kept going in and out of sleep. They had placed a warming blanket on me and I was so hot I remember trying to kick it off and the anesthesiologist helping remove it. I also kicked off my non-skid booties. Toward the end I was essentially wide awake and asked if I could see. They eventually took the tent down and he was finishing up the casting and ace wrap. I didn't get to see anything!
My arm felt like it weighed 100lbs. It's the strangest thing ... Felt like I was touching someone else's hand - not mine.
Here is a good link that explains the surgery ...
http://www.pncl.co.uk/~belcher/information/Wrist%20fusion.pdf
History...
I decided to document my experience with SLAC wrist and my wrist fusion surgery to hopefully help others. When googling information for myself - there is very little "real-life" information. So, here I go...
As far back as I can remember I have had right hand pain. In 2008-09 I finally decided there may be something going on when I could barely twist the combination lock on a safe deposit vault without wanting to cry from the pain. Thinking it was carpel tunnel I made an appointment with an ortho dr.
The initial appointment consisted of an array of questions, X-rays and such. I was diagnosed with arthritis at the base of my thumb. This started my 2 years of cortisone shots. If you have ever had one, you know how pleasurable this is. The shots helped a little, taking the edge off the pain.
At an appointment (2 years after my initial appt)I was speaking with the PA and he decided it would be a good idea to get a current X-ray and see how things were progressing.
About 15 minutes after the X-ray, the PA and Dr. came into the room. The Dr. started questioning me about the original X-ray, where it was taken, who the dr. was, blah blah blah. He was freaking me out! His office did the X-rays and diagnosed me. Long story short, he informed me that I had SLAC wrist and would need a total wrist fusion. That was about 2 years ago.
I continued to get cortisone shots with this Dr. He did the injections himself and asked me every appt if I was ready for surgery. After close to 2 years of this and family bugging, I got a second opinion.
The diagnosis was the same. Total wrist fusion was the best option. However, this ortho Dr. gave better explanations, and surgery options.
Being a runner, I had no interest in them taking bone from my hip for the fusion. This Dr. said there was a synthetic called inFuse that works great. Also, since I have really small wrists the metal plate they use would have to be removed in a second surgery - this Dr. used or repositioned my bones so he did not have to use a plate. I liked his ideas ... So, here I sit typing with my left hand, 3 days out of surgery.
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