Well, I did it. That night (October 17th) my mom arrived to stay with us. She was going to be there while I was in the hospital to take care of my family and run my life. Everyone needs a mom like that. After a restless night my husband and I headed to the hospital at 6:00 in the morning. I was so glad it was early and I could just go get it over with and not freak out about it any more. I have had years of that. I checked in, got IV’s, and did all of the tests and talked to nurse after nurse, and finally the Dr. and Anesthesiologist came in. They briefed Dan and I on everything and things were getting close. It was a tough morning. I have always felt like in life it is easier to do than to plan. I was fighting back tears all morning, and just so worried about how all of this was going to turn out. I couldn’t even look at Dan without tearing up. All I wanted to do that morning was lay down on the operating table and close my eyes and go to sleep and deal with what ever might come after that.
Before the surgery they hooked me up to an antibiotic. They were running a bit behind so they opened it wide up and pumped it into my vein fast! All of the sudden my face started to burn and my head started to itch. I looked at Dan and said go get a nurse I am having an allergic reaction to the drug. I am allergic to EVERYTHING under the sun from foods, to nature, to drugs, to lotions, and aromas. It is annoying and ridiculous. I was not surprised I was sensitive to the antibiotic. It was actually a pretty common reaction, they call it red man’s syndrome and it is specifically caused by infusing the drug too quickly. After they slowed it down all went well. Before long I was wearing my open back gown chitchatting with the anesthesiologist on the long cold walk to the operating room.
I laid down on the narrow cold table. I got comfortable and covered with warm blankets, and met my nurse Jolene. It was a strange moment for me. It was like life stood still for a moment in time. I had really only allowed myself to get that far in my mind. There were so many unknowns for me with this surgery. They condition and deformities in my knee along with the uncommon aspect of my age really put so many things up in the air. So, I decided to only go so far in my mind. Just get to the operating room, be brave, and do it. I felt like I really had taken a deep breath, jumped, and now I was just falling. Not really knowing where I would land.
I woke up well. Better than any other surgery I had ever been in. They did not give me general anesthesia and it was such a good experience that way. I felt pretty good, and was not in a lot of pain. In fact, a groom that I had shot pictures of was a nurse and I had a good conversation and was able to catch up a little while I was in recovering coming out of the surgery. It’s a small world…
It was a good feeling to be back with Dan. To see his face this time was not hard at all, no more tearing up. I was so glad to hold his hand and have him near me and be awake and to have it all done. He was such an amazing care giver while I was in the hospital. He jumped to help me at any little moment. They gave me a common combination of pain killers to help with my pain and as you could guess with my sensitive system they did not set too well. I looked at Dan suddenly to warn him I was going to throw up, and before he could even react I had passed out and was throwing up and things were a bit scary. He yelled for help, and was able to turn my head to keep me from ingesting everything. That really set the tone for the next 4 days. I struggled with passing out, I was in a lot of pain because they had to modify pain treatment, and it was all very challenging. The first and second days were the worst, but things seemed to get better from there. On top of everything else I was also pumping milk to try to keep my milk supply up for Olive. I froze hundreds (literally) of ounces of breast milk in preparation for the surgery, so that she would not skip a beat while I was out. But, non the less with the toll that the drugs, the surgery, and everything else had on my body it was hard to pump and keep things going. If you have ever stayed in the hospital over night you know it is not the best sleep of your life. Every couple of hours the nurses were in to change ice packs, and take vitals, and bring pain pills, and then I added 20 minutes of pumping and I was really feeling beyond exhausted.
My mom brought my babies in every day to see me. That was by far the highlight of my days. I needed that. It was good to talk to my older two, and stay in touch with them, and it was so wonderful to hold Olive and see her smile and just be with her. I could only handle a brief visit, but those are what kept me going those days in the hospital. A few minutes of face time every evening to tell the kids good night completed what seemed like endless days in the hospital.
I was so excited to finally be going home. I was getting around slowly with a walker, and spending the rest of my time in the CPM machine that constantly moved my knee. If I was not in that I was doing physical therapy. It was a LOT of down time. My mom was keeping my house and my life in perfect order. My kids did not skip a beat with her there, and everything was going as planned and running smooth. It was great! I thought to myself, a couple of weeks of this and I will be golden. I thought for sure I would be moving slowly, but that I would soon be back to the old me and be up cooking dinner and doing what I could.
That weekend, my mom headed home and my older sister Shellee came up from Lehi to relieve her and help me out. I was glad my mom could leave and get a rest, and it was so fun to have Shell there. Not only did she take excellent care of me, but she is just one of those people that is just fun to be around. She is so happy and easy to talk to and laugh with, and in that moment that is exactly what I needed. Even though I was flat on my back, and in a lot of pain, I had a great time having her there.
My knee was sore, but all of that was expected. That poor joint had been through a lot!
I was only home for a few days and it just felt like I was just not getting better. I still felt so so so sick. Saturday night we all went to bed, and by 3am I was up in pain and a fever of 104.8. I looked at Dan and said we have to go to the emergency room. Something is not right…
by Kellee
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