First post-op day I found myself in a very quiet, comfortable room filled with state of the art equipment, fully equipped with all of the amenities that a VIP would expect, however, I wasn’t a VIP. It has interactive TV which provides my personally assigned education videos, relaxation videos, cable, movies, games, internet access. The view out the window was amazing where I could see the snow capped mountains, palms and even the fall colors of the trees. My view overlooked the entrance of the hospital displaying beautifully chiseled fountains in a zen like healing garden, a life sized metal tree and overflowing elevated ponds. At night it was beautifully illuminated. Most important was the exceptional care that I received from every member of the staff...doctors, nurses, CNA’s, laboratory personnel, dietary, PT, OT and the housekeeping staff. Everyone represented their profession in the best way possible.
After breakfast I I went with physical and occupational therapy to get cleared using crutches on the stairs, toilet, shower and such. It was a good time to do this before the block wore off. I was feeling great and wanted my surgeon to release me to home, however, she was much wiser than myself and said she couldn't discharge me with my leg still draining at 180 cc and they couldn't send me home with the drain due to the high rate of infection. I checked on the PVNS is Pants site and others where saying that they stayed at least three days when they had this procedure. The phrase that caught my attention was "wait until the block wears off." I reevaluated my status and decided to stay thank God because at about the 36 hour mark I was in excruciating pain.
I was taking Tylenol, 10 mg Oxycontin ER every 12 hrs, Oxycodone 5 mg for break thorough pain, and injectable morphine every half hour and I was still crying like a baby. My knee throbbed and burned and I would have given anything for just one minute to be pain free.
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