I had surgery on October 28th. I was to stay in the hospital around 15 days because of how extensive the surgery was. It was originally estimated that the surgery would last 12+ hours. This was because it was really two surgeries with two sets of surgeons--the orthopedic surgeon docs and the plastic surgeon docs.
The orthopedic docs were going to be the first in to take out the anti-biotic encased nail out of the inner shaft of my tibia. Set my tibia and bolt it together with four screws and a brand new non-infected rod (unlike my original). The warned me that they might have to re-break both my tibia and possibly my fibula to make things straight. Lucky for me the were in and out in a little over two hours and I didn't need to have anything broken--again.
The next phase of the surgery was to move/flap muscle from the side of my leg to the top of my leg. That was the easy surgery that would take around 8 hours--if I was lucky. If I wasn't lucky I would have muscle from my back removed and then attached at the lower part of my right leg's artery and flapped on top of my tibia at the worst of the break sites. Again luck was on my side and the docs were able to do the easier of the two surgeries and I was out of the OR in less than 10 hours. So, my Peroneus muscle is no longer on the lateral side/outside of my right leg but instead on top of my tibia. To my family's relief the surgery was a lot shorter than everyone expected and yet still the longest of all my 11 surgeries. Sadly I lost a lot of blood in the process of it all. I lost enough blood to warrant another transfusion of 2 units of blood.
Since Harbourview is a teaching hospital I had a lot of teams of students coming around to check on me. I did not complain nor mind about the nice eye candy that were always checking in on me either! The infectious disease team were the actual ones who found that I had a heart murmur. As if I did not have enough to worry about! I was reassured my heart murmur was all do to the loss of blood and quieted down once I received the transfusion. Just to be on the safe side I did have a Echo Cardiogram. It was really interesting to see and hear my heart pumping away on a computer monitor!
I am truly blessed to have such awesome friends and family members that came out of the woodwork to come visit me! Thank you to all that did visit me while I was in Seattle--you know who you are. You are truly stellar people to put up w/the ickiness of the hospital with all my tubing, blood and guts! When you were there my pain was minimized and time went by more quickly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Even though I had awesome care from exceptional doctors I was not impressed with the nursing staff at Harbourview! Thank goodness I had two exceptional nurses when I was in the worst of pain! My favorite nurse was a huge Samoan gentleman w/the nickname of "Mother." He got the nickname for mothering his patients and being quite the "Mother F...er" if anyone messed w/his patients. Not only did he provide excellent care he kept my spirits up and was a hoot and a half! There was also a sweet little nurse that always checked in on me those first really painful days. Sadly her name escapes my memory.
Tragically beyond those two angels the nursing staff at Harbourview left a lot to be desired! It got to be kinda game/sad joke between my family and I about how long it would take someone to come and answer my call for assistance. We would make bets as to the time and I would time them w/my handy-dandy timer watch. If my two angels were not on it took a minimum of 11 minutes to get someone to help me. This is not very comforting if you think about needing help to get to the bathroom and have to wait a LONG time with a very little bladder! Now I am completely sympathetic to busy nurses! The crux of it was that I had a direct line of sight into the nurses station and saw a lot more socialization than willingness much less any sort of rushing to help a patient. The nurses in Mexico who were afraid of me and did not speak English nor understood my sad Spanish were 1000 times more attentive than those at in the big city hospital! It boggles my mind even today! I am going to make a point of going back to St. Joes and thank the nurses that cared for me there! Needless to say I was anxious to get out of there! So much so that I begged the docs to let me go home early. After only 8 days in the hospital and a lot of begging on my part I was on my way home to good ole' Bellingham. I have never been so glad to see my own bed!
So, a lot of rest is on my list of activities--and not like I have a lot of energy for much of anything else either. Six weeks and the stitches will be out and I might even be walking on my own two feet.
Since Harbourview is a teaching hospital I had a lot of teams of students coming around to check on me. I did not complain nor mind about the nice eye candy that were always checking in on me either! The infectious disease team were the actual ones who found that I had a heart murmur. As if I did not have enough to worry about! I was reassured my heart murmur was all do to the loss of blood and quieted down once I received the transfusion. Just to be on the safe side I did have a Echo Cardiogram. It was really interesting to see and hear my heart pumping away on a computer monitor!
I am truly blessed to have such awesome friends and family members that came out of the woodwork to come visit me! Thank you to all that did visit me while I was in Seattle--you know who you are. You are truly stellar people to put up w/the ickiness of the hospital with all my tubing, blood and guts! When you were there my pain was minimized and time went by more quickly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Even though I had awesome care from exceptional doctors I was not impressed with the nursing staff at Harbourview! Thank goodness I had two exceptional nurses when I was in the worst of pain! My favorite nurse was a huge Samoan gentleman w/the nickname of "Mother." He got the nickname for mothering his patients and being quite the "Mother F...er" if anyone messed w/his patients. Not only did he provide excellent care he kept my spirits up and was a hoot and a half! There was also a sweet little nurse that always checked in on me those first really painful days. Sadly her name escapes my memory.
Tragically beyond those two angels the nursing staff at Harbourview left a lot to be desired! It got to be kinda game/sad joke between my family and I about how long it would take someone to come and answer my call for assistance. We would make bets as to the time and I would time them w/my handy-dandy timer watch. If my two angels were not on it took a minimum of 11 minutes to get someone to help me. This is not very comforting if you think about needing help to get to the bathroom and have to wait a LONG time with a very little bladder! Now I am completely sympathetic to busy nurses! The crux of it was that I had a direct line of sight into the nurses station and saw a lot more socialization than willingness much less any sort of rushing to help a patient. The nurses in Mexico who were afraid of me and did not speak English nor understood my sad Spanish were 1000 times more attentive than those at in the big city hospital! It boggles my mind even today! I am going to make a point of going back to St. Joes and thank the nurses that cared for me there! Needless to say I was anxious to get out of there! So much so that I begged the docs to let me go home early. After only 8 days in the hospital and a lot of begging on my part I was on my way home to good ole' Bellingham. I have never been so glad to see my own bed!
So, a lot of rest is on my list of activities--and not like I have a lot of energy for much of anything else either. Six weeks and the stitches will be out and I might even be walking on my own two feet.
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