Hospital Duty -- Again!
Back in October I wrote a series of four posts chronicling the saga of my sister’s hospitalizations. After she was
discharged to home in September, she seemed to live in limbo for the next
several months. I would visit once a month and watch the wounds get worse. Things
looked pretty hopeless. She saw another wound doctor, who refused to do
anything until she had the vascular surgery. But no one would touch her.
Then in March she got a referral to a vascular surgeon in
Sacramento who was willing to attempt the surgery. In fact, she seemed pretty
confident. Sis was admitted on March 27 and thus began round two of my hospital
duty. The surgery was March 30, and it was successful! She was discharged April
4. I spent the whole 10 days with her at the hospital, all day, every day. She
was discharged to a nursing home and I drove home, arriving a full two hours
before my kids arrived for Easter.
We had a wonderful five days together. I cooked Easter
dinner for 12 (with lots of help from my guests). Meanwhile, Sis’s hubby
checked her out of the nursing home and took her home. He felt he could provide
better care and I think he was right.
When the kids left, I had three days to finalize prep for a
training conference I was doing on Saturday. In my exhausted condition, that
one about did me in. I kept telling my body that it just had to make it through
Saturday evening. It did – barely. I hurt all over. Sunday I slept.
Then the other shoe dropped. Sunday evening, about 9:00 pm,
Mom called. She had fallen and thought she had broken her hip. Why she called
me rather than pressing her lifeline button I don’t know. But she did. I told
her to press her button and wait for the paramedics. I called the hospital an
hour later and sure enough – broken hip. I repacked my suitcase and was on the
road again Monday morning.
Mom had surgery Monday night. All went well. I stayed with
her through Friday, when I drove home for my Saturday class. Mom was discharged
on Thursday and moved to rehab. I went to my all-day class Saturday, slept
Sunday, and headed back on Monday. Spent the week with her at the rehab
facility. Drove home Thursday to celebrate our anniversary on Saturday. I think
I'm home for awhile…
So, for the next several posts, I'm going to share what I've
learned about hospital duty. And I've learned a lot.
Photo Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons/Boliston
Labels: hip replacement, hospital
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Contemplating Hip Replacement
This article in US News and World Report caught my attention today as I’m sitting here in pain rather than gardening. I have osteoarthritis and have been a candidate for a hip replacement for over a year. I keep putting it off, praying for an alternative—like healing. The idea of a doctor cutting off my leg bone and replacing it with a metal prosthesis just doesn’t set well with me. I don’t like pain and I’m not good at taking time to exercise. I also build muscle very slowly, which means that I don’t see a lot of progress when I do exercise. And when I read all of the movements you can’t do after replacement, the rebel in me says, “No way!” So I keep stalling. Guess I have some of my mom’s syndrome—“wishing will make it so…”In addition to just NOT wanting the surgery and the long recovery time, there’s the question of which procedure to use (assuming I do it, of course). Two surgeons have been recommended by just about everyone in my area. One is a traditional surgeon who uses the prosthesis that grows into your bone. Recovery time: 4-8 months! The other uses a minimally invasive technique that promises faster recovery and less pain. Recovery time: 2-4 months. But this procedure uses an adhesive to set the prosthesis. I’ve heard of people having problems with this, either with breakdown or allergic reactions.
Since I’ve recently returned to school, the recovery time is very significant for me. I put off making an appointment in the spring, and now can’t get in to see either surgeon until August. That means if I do the surgery, I’ll miss a quarter at school. But I’m not sure I can wait another year. Last year I wanted to try to get stronger and lose weight before doing the surgery. I didn’t do either. So now I’m in a real mess.
I think another part of my problem is that I still think of myself as 35. Far too young for such a surgery! The reality is that I’m 60 and my body parts are wearing out, largely due to my lack of care for them in the past 30 years. Yes, there are consequences to poor health choices in middle age. And I’m reaping them now.
Labels: aging, health, hip replacement