Openbah / Journal of a Marine Officer Candidate

Tag: pain

  • 6-weeks post-FVFG

    Aside from not being about to walk, things are pretty much back to normal. The hip is tender and still has some swelling, but the lower leg is back to normal. The range of motion in my foot is still limited, but that will get better over time.

    I take Motrin 3 times a day, and that seems to be enough to manage the pain. I still can’t get comfortable, and sleeping is a challenge, but that’s nothing new.

    I see my surgeon in NYC in 3 weeks. I’m assuming he’ll at least change my weight bearing status from non weight bearing to touch down weight bearing, which means I’ll at least be able to rest my foot on the ground instead of holding it in the air all the time. Considering how conservative he is, I highly doubt he’ll up things any more than that.

  • More details on my surgery

    I arrived at Columbia Presbyterian at 7AM on March 14th. After being admitted I was told to wait to be brought to x-ray. Eventually someone came, led me to x-ray, films were taken, and I was brought to the pre-op area. A couple nurses and doctors came in and thoroughly went through my medical history, making sure no surprises were waiting for them in the OR.

    I was then moved to another holding area closer to the OR. I met the anesthesiology team who asked me lots of questions about how I react to anesthesia, and how my family reacts to it. Afterwards, my surgeon and his team came in, he put his initials on my bad leg (NY state law), and walked us through the surgery one last time.

    At 8:45AM my parents were asked to leave. A doctor inserted an IV, and I was told I’d be waiting until the they were ready for me. About 45 minutes later, I was finally wheeled into the huge OR. It was the most impressive OR I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few. I was given oxygen, and they began positioning me on the table. Apparently, my height caused some logistical issues, but eventually they worked things out. I was told that they were ready to go and that was the last thing I remember.

    The first hour of being unconscious was spent padding, positioning, and preparing the leg for surgery. Next, the lower leg was opened up, muscles were disconnected, and using a saw, an 8″ section of fibula was removed. It was thinned down and prepared to be inserted into the hip.
    (more…)

  • Surgery went well

    Sorry it has taken me a few days to update you all on my surgery. I’ve been a bit out of it.

    I was in the OR for 11.5 hours, I know, really long time. The docs said things went very well.

    They cut out about 8″ of fibula, thinned it down a little, cleared the dead bone and arthritis from the hip, drilled a hole in the hip, inserted the fibula, and connected the blood vessels microvascularly. Yea, pretty intense.

    The immediate recovery of the surgery was a little rough, I was in tons of pain, but thankfully don’t remember much. Since getting moved to a room, the pain has been manageable, except for yesterday afternoon. I’m still on a lot of morphine.

    I ran a fever all yesterday, but since this morning its been a-okay. I’ve had a little bad luck with roommates, but I moved this afternoon and this new one seems good.

    I’m taking my time with physical therapy and with getting off the morphine. I’m trying not to rush thing like I did the first time. I stood up out of bed for the first time this afternoon.

    I’ll update you all again soon. Thanks for the emails and phone calls!

  • Giving up on sleep

    A couple months ago I was feeling like crap every day and realized that I wasn’t sleeping very well. I was constantly being woken up by the pain in my hip. So I started taking 2 Percocets every night in an attempt to sleep better.

    For a while things improved and I was able to get a solid couple hours of sleep per night, up until a couple weeks ago. I guess my body has gotten used to the Percocet and doesn’t react the same way anymore. Things have gone back to how they used to be. At this point I can’t even tell the difference between when I take the drugs and when I don’t.

    So I’m giving up on trying to get a good night’s sleep.

    Someone asked me the other day how it makes me feel knowing that I may never run again. I told him I’d be okay with it. All I really care about is being pain-free the rest of my life.

  • Surgery three, one month away

    In one month I will at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NYC. I’m more excited than I am nervous.

    Two weeks ago something happened and my leg got a whole lot worse. It began hurting all the time again. I can’t go a day without taking some Motrin, and I can’t sleep much at all without taking some Percocet. I’m glad the surgery has been scheduled and that theoretically in a few months after this next surgery I could be relatively pain free.

    At the same time I’m nervous.

    Not nervous about the surgery itself, but nervous that I’ll find out in a year that the surgery didn’t work and that I’ll need to have a total hip replacement. I don’t mind surgery. I don’t mind the pain and sleepless nights that goes along with them. What I do mind is how, for those huge chunks of time, my life is at a stand-still again, and I am unable to move forward and continue living.

    But the only thing I can do now is hope. Hope that this will be the last surgery, hope that I’ll be pain-free the rest of my life, and hope that I can return to doing the things I love one day.

    Hope that I’ll be happy.