Day 6 (Saturday)
Awake at 3:30 am. Drat. This is completely normal under normal conditions, but when I actually need the sleep, it’s very inconvenient.
My blood pressure has been 140+ / 70-90 the last 3 days & I’m not happy about it. The hospital doesn’t consider it to be something where they need to intervene until it exceeds 162. I’d be happier back on my BP meds. Having a hard time juggling pain meds to get a consistent result, but I have a high tolerance for pain (I’m told) and we’ll figure it out in 24 hours, I’m sure.
Walking unaided. No Walker today. Yippee! Climbed 1 flight of stairs with ease and am getting around just fine without the walker – like a normal person (more-or-less…). I’m feeling pretty good today. Generally, I feel like “Stick a fork in me. I’m done.”
Today I get my first shower and I’ll tell you, there is not much that’s as refreshing and invigorating as a shower. I always take my time in the shower at home, as I’ve found the jets of water on my scalp produce an almost euphoric effect. Take advantage of these moments when you can. Be aware of them and take in these special moments.
Figuring out how to clean your entire body with the limitations imposed after scoliosis surgery takes a bit of time, but it’s pretty manageable overall.
After my first shower I’m feeling pretty good, so we have several visitors over the course of the day, walk around a bit, head over to the ICU waiting room to hang out for awhile & then back. Around 5 pm, after being “up” and “on” all day in my brace, I just start to fade. Energy is gone, enthusiasm gone. So as a hint to everyone on board, I slowly cover my bed in pillows & curl up in a fetal position for a 1.5 hr nap.
At 6:30 pm I’m awake, but now what I’d call “perky”. Still feel like I’m suffering from a Vampire attack in my sleep. I work on this blog a bit, then we reheat some local Chinese & I can barely eat 1/3rd of it.
Definitely overdid it.
Nurses remove everything but my Central Line! Yay.
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