It has been two weeks since I had my second OP and except for a few scares of the unexpected kind, I seem to be doing fine.
I think I am healing, the twinges here and there are letting up and I did a total of 30 minutes as far as workouts go. There were no problems completing the workout although I am still sticking to gentle routines and that is working just fine. I woke up this morning with a sore left shoulder from the weights I used yesterday even though they were next to nothing but to a body that is recovering from two onslaughts, it was probably too much.
Otherwise, things are going fine and I’m looking forward to a walk in the fields later this week if the weather brightens up and the sun decides to pay a visit here in this part of the world. I have to plan that walk carefully. It is a 7 minute walk downhill to get to the fields. Then it is up and downhill so I have to keep to the forest line where the pathway is almost stone-free and it is smooth walking as apposed to walking uphill and the rock strewn pathway that follows. I have to keep the walk short, a maximum of 10 minutes and make my way back. The problem is the coming back part. It is uphill so that is concerning but I will start out slow and go from there.
What about the scares of the unexpected kind? Well, the OP itself went fine I THINK! It was the planning phase that raised alarm bells and not in a subtle manner either. The time for the OP was 8:30 in the morning. Being punctual, I showed up much earlier. We headed on to the third floor where Station 22 was as it said on my slip of paper. The ladies at the reception desk told me, “Nope, you are not on our schedule!” I said, “Yes, I am.” They checked again and told me to go back downstairs. At the reception downstairs, the ladies insisted that I go back upstairs. You can imagine my frustration at this point. I refused and they looked again. “Oh, go to Station 53.”
“Where is Station 53 and why do I need to go there?”
They smiled and directed me to Station 53. After walking around and not finding Station 53, a doctor showed up and he helped us find the floor where it was. I checked in but was told once again, “You are not on our schedule.” I was more than frustrated at this point and not only that, I was getting ready to call the whole thing off! Ten minutes later, I was told that the OP will take place at 11:30! I had to wait in my room till then.
“I haven’t eaten since 5 yesterday evening. By the time the OP is finished, it will be 18 hours and isn’t that too long?”
One receptionist said nonchalantly, “Nope, it SHOULD be alright.”
By the time I came out of surgery and the coming to from the recovery phase took me to 1:30 in the afternoon and it was 18 hours since my last meal and I had been without water for the same amount of time.
However, two hours after the surgery, I was up and walking but I wasn’t happy. One week into the Post-op, I noticed that the wound was healing but my blood pressure was erratic. I’ve always had low or normal blood pressure so where was this coming from? Then I went to a restaurant with a girlfriend and used the bathroom there. Suddenly, fireworks started going off in my head. I’ve never had such an episode and all my alarm bells started going off. It went on for a minute or more and then it was back to normal.
Since then, I’ve had the blood pressure acting up, sometimes normal and sometimes high. So I decided to ask my best friend, Google, and this is what it said. Going without food for that length of time was dangerous and since the surgery itself would put tremendous stress on the body, the added stress of no food could create vascular problems. It suggested that I talk to the doctor and explain the situation.
Today, I sent off a letter to the chief physician explaining the situation and that I wasn’t happy with the planning mess-up. I’ll see what he says.
In the meantime, I am taking my blood pressure once in the mornings and once in the evenings. I’m hoping that it will right itself out and nothing comes out of this colossal screw-up or was it?
We shall see. When you go into a hospital, you want to come out better than you went in and not have something new added to your health profile. The planning phase should be taken just as seriously and not with a cavalier, dismissive, and or a nonchalant attitude especially when a life is on the line. That’s my viewpoint.
