More from Day Three

Wow, such a whirl wind today! The morning was busy as I guessed it would be and I can't quite remember the order that things happened, so this may come across as a bit scatter-brained. My OS checked in on me this morning (with part of his team - let's just say it was a bit crowded). I asked him a few questions about dysplasia because I'm still confused about what causes it. Apparently, there are a lot of factors involved, though there is a rather strong genetic component to it. I also learned that my new hip is actually *pink*! (it's ceramic . . . and metal, I think) Yes, I actually asked because I read some posts from other women with THR comment about the color of their bionic hip (for those of you who don't know me, my "big girl's" favorite color is pink - how do you explain this one to a 3 1/2 year old?). I also gave my surgeon a piece of paper where I had written out the hip chicks link as well as my email address. Hopefully, this will get other women like me connected to a great online support system as they deal with their hip issues.

I got up with the help of my PT assistant and practiced doing stairs. Thankfully, they had a set of fake stairs sitting in the hallway for the sole purpose of showing us how to go up and down stairs at home. Makes total sense now, but before seeing them, I pictured us going into the hospital stairwell and practicing (can you tell I'm a very visual person?). Sometime after my morning PT, they removed my drain, and my nerve block thing (sorry, I'm not one to catch the specific names of things). I found it funny how these special pieces of equipment are removed by simply pulling out this or that tube. We all (nurses, PT, etc.) agreed it made sense to keep the nerve block in as I did my morning PT, but have it out for my afternoon PT so I could better understand what to expect at home. Once the nerve block was out I had more feeling (mostly in a good way because my oral pain meds had increased) and a little more control of my right leg in general. My husband followed along with us during my afternoon PT so he would know how to help me at home - I'm so glad he was there!

After that last PT, things moved right along for my discharge. A few things I've observed though: when you're doing well in the hospital, you are sometimes easily forgotten - this has been true for me in maternity floors as well; over time, I have learned to be assertive with the call button to be sure I'm getting the help I need. And second, at discharge you are often told what medicines to take and how much time to allow between doses, but rarely do they write a note regarding what time your last hospital administered dose was given. Soon after getting home, I called the nurses' station to find out the time my last pain pills were given to me. Before you leave the hospital, make sure you have a phone number for someone on the floor from which you are being discharged. Without it, you may become so tired or frustrated trying to get a hold of someone who can help you, that you might give up trying to get an answer and possibly compromise your health or recovery.