The Hell Week

As anyone who has ever had surgery can tell you, the first week post operatively is by far the worst you will experience.

The first two days after the surgery passed in a hazy mess of pain and discomfort. With this particular surgery there is a mass amount of swelling in the foot, so you have to keep your foot elevated above heart level. Keeping the foot above heart level and sitting up far enough to eat foods that don't require a straw is far easier said than done. In that first week keeping the swelling under control is paramount, so sitting up higher than the foot is a big no-no, thus eating can be a messy process. As I learned the hard way, don't be afraid to use a napkin when eating!

Now keeping the swelling down and trying to emerge from the anesthesia and drug induced haze is challenging enough, however that is not the only obstacle of the week from hell. The most difficult event of the week is getting up to use the bathroom. Now some of you may think that getting up to use the bathroom is easy, particularly when it is only a few feet away, however this is not the case in that first week. The movement of the foot from elevated pillow to sitting position causes an instant rush of blood and inevitably pain, followed by the lack of stability from taking narcotics for said pain. Anyone who has ever had to rely on crutches can tell you that they are not the most stable form of transportation and are prone to catching on the smallest of things. By the end of the fourth day post operatively things were beginning to look up for me and I tried reducing my pain medication somewhat successfully.

Now for all the things that my doctors office handled in great fashion pre operatively, I have to say, I have been entirely disappointed with the post op treatment. As my surgery was on a Wednesday, the doctor gave me a prescription for pain medication that contained enough to last five days, which brought me to Sunday evening. They had not thought to give me enough medication to last past the weekend. At this point the pain was manageable while on medication, so the idea of stopping it suddenly was a rather terrifying concept, so bright and early Monday morning I put in the call to get a refill. After two voicemails and some phone tag with the rude medical assistant, I finally received a refill prescription and my nerves were settled. My mom picked up the prescription and by 2pm I was back on pain meds. Understandably the doctor had changed the prescription to a lesser narcotic as he thought I was far enough out from surgery that my pain should be improving, and it was, however the medication that was substituted has the side effect of nausea. Suffice it to say, within 30 minutes of taking the new pills, I was curled up in stomach pain and suffering from some of the worst nausea I had felt in years...To be precise, three years, since that was the time I had previously taken that same drug after having my wisdom teeth removed. Of course I stopped the medication and was forced to resort to tylenol for the next twenty four hours. Nauseous and in pain is not a good combination, I can assure you.

The next day the office was called, and after 4 voicemails and some tears, my dad and I finally got through to a living person who gave me a very hard time about needing to return to my previous medication, scolded both me and my father for our frantic messages (which I assure you only happened after the first two messages went unanswered) and eventually relented to giving us the proper prescription. Two days later I was back to normal, the pain becoming much more manageable  and the narcotics becoming thankfully unnecessary. My first week ended and I could start to see a faint source of light at the end of this long tunnel.

The lesson learned here is to ask questions folks, lots and lots of questions, even if you feel like the office should know your information or if you feel like it is a stupid question. Chances are, the folks at the doctors office won't read your chart and will go with what they do for every other patient unless you are your own advocate. This is an issue that so many people dealing with medical professionals do not understand or are not willing to do. With a mother in the medical field, I have been lucky to have some guidance, however I have found myself several times in a bad place because I was not clear with my needs or worries, including the latest mishap with medications.  Had I simply stated, I cannot have this particular medication, the whole mess could have easily been avoided. Be your own advocate. Be brave, strong, and most importantly, aware of your own limitations and needs.