Ehlers-Danlos mama trying not to twist things up *too* much!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Feeling Foggy

The past 10 days have been a blur. This is probably a good thing.

As far as I know, surgery went well. My post-op appointment with John, the Physician's Assistant at my ortho's office, was largely spent discussing my pain and the cellulitis I'd developed near my surgical site. I have the misfortune of having very sensitive skin, one of my sensitivities being to medical tape, including Tegaderm. As a result, several large blisters formed under the dressing covering the incision on my hip. (I shall save you any more gory details. Long story short—this led to an unpleasant infection.) I left the appointment with a prescription for antibiotics, a stronger dose of the Fentanyl patch I've been using and for muscle relaxants. Since my surgery, I've had awful spasms in both limbs. My leg is worst at night and seems to encourage my left, currently uninjured leg to join the fun. At one point last week I was shaking so badly I was concerned I might be seizing, but my mostly intact mental functions seemed to rule this out.

The cellulitis has improved significantly since starting the antibiotic, so I am less worried about readmission to the hospital. Since the increase in Fentanyl, my pain is quite manageable, as long as I don't overexert myself. This is easier in theory than practice, although Cam has been a rockstar as far as caring for the children is concerned.

(She's so fast! By the time I've managed to hobble down the stairs each morning, she's medicated Puggles, dressed 1 or 2 of the boys, started coffee and breakfast...I just don't know how anyone can move so quickly in the morning.)

But back to the blur...a few times this past week, people have brought up pieces of conversation that they allegedly had with me while I was hospitalized. (This is usually after I've asked some question that I should already know the answer to or repeated a story or that sort of thing.) An OT from the home care agency came to my house and had apparently met with me while I was inpatient—I really didn't remember her at all.

Well, it occurred to me a few days ago that I'd had possession of the laptop while hospitalized and that the hospital had free wi-fi. Yikes. I frantically checked my Facebook account for any incriminating information posted while I was slightly incapacitated—thankfully not much there. I did notice that I wrote a blog entry, which was not too shoddy given the altered state I was in.

I'd like to think that my mind is in a better place this week, but I'm struggling to find words that usually flow freely—hopefully a temporary condition and part of adjusting to a higher dose of pain medication, not a sign that my brain is turning to mush.

Cam discovered my blog, which I hadn't told her about, given its humble beginnings. She was so sweet and has proudly boasted of it to our friends and family. I've forbade her sharing the link until I've written a little more—great incentive to get my brain working again.

And on that note, time to sleep. I hope you're all having as gorgeous of weather as we are this weekend.

2 comments:

  1. Glad you're starting to turn the corner. As if you don't have enough going on with trying to recover with all the fun that EDS has to offer, you also got hit with cellulitis.Yuck! I'm sure you came up with some pretty funny things in your pain-killer, recovery induced state.

    And...your children are B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.

    Sending the juju and positive thoughts your way. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.

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  2. Thank you!! My children definitely motivate me to get up and strive to be a better person each day, no matter what. I once had a goldfish that swam backwards. Sometimes I feel like him. Eh. Such is life.

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