Post Op Day #4: 7am.

So this is what 7am looks like when you haven't been up all night?? I threw Jeff for a loop when I woke up around the same time as his day-shift butt. But that's what happens when you take a Percocet at 10pm and doze off.

Foot's not bad at all, now, just a bit sore in the bunion areas....I think I'll just try Motrin this morning. AFTER some food...Motrin's actually harder on the stomach than Percocet.

What to do today?? Probably laundry....after 4 days in bed, the sheets DEFINITELY need to be washed... Jeff's Honey Do list is to get the ceiling fan installed in the guest bedroom before Mom and Annice arrive tomorrow, to help circulate air in there...it's the dampest room in the house, so the dehumidifier I have set up in there runs almost continuously....and warms the room up almost 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house, even with the A/C running.  We keep the door shut when Bongo is here, as she traditionally considers that bedroom hers, so that adds to the heat....thankfully, the dehumidifier has a timer, and since I'm thinking of it, I'll go now and set it to turn off in 12 hours, so it will cool down in the evenings for them to sleep. 

Not much exciting to report today. Day 4, I'll still be taking it easy, but the foot's feeling pretty good. Itchy, but healing itchy, not pain medication itchy. Intestines, well, they'll recover...only a couple more days of antibiotics. 

One fun point today...learning to use crutches...had to have Jeff adjust them a bit higher after I got on them, tried to go forward, and fell backwards...the arm rests were a good 4 inches below where they needed to be....thankfully I've got lots of padding on my butt, because it cushioned me. I HAD thought Jeff was right behind me, and just missed catching me, so my sarcastic "Nice catch, Jeff!" was a bit misdirected...he wasn't there, so down I went, unhindered. We both learned quickly that until I get used to the crutches,  he needs to stay yearby.

Off to Kroger, and what I have been looking forward to ever since it became apparent I was going to need surgery....driving those electric grocery carts that the handicapped can use.

Of course, NOT ONE handicapped parking spot was available....and I was the most handicapped of any who actually had placards and were parked in those spots...but we parked down the row, and Jeff retrieved the cart for me.

Time for the Kroger 500!! I put the "pedal" to the metal....and Jeff walked away from me. Not too much power in these things. They ARE, however, pretty maneuverable, and I was able to zip in and out around other shoppers without causing anyone injury, so it was fun.

I came out with more fresh fruit and yogurt to replace that which I had eaten since my surgery...Jeff came out with chips and cookies. This is why I seldom take him grocery shopping with me.

Next exciting day: dressing removal day. Ugh...I'm both looking forward to it, and dreading it. Wednesday morning....photos to come.

I plan to post here as long-term effects, and results, become apparent...when I'm allowed to weight bear (with an orthopedic boot on, I expect), how long I need the scooter/crutches around, any affects I note from removal of the neuroma, something I'm told can have some unexpected after-effects, at least, if any of the stories you read on-line are true. 

Post Op Day #3 - SSDD

I'll let you figure out "SSDD", in light of the first topic of yesterdays' entry. Yup; Thank God for Immodium. Gonna have to stock up, I've got 4 more days of antibiotics.

My night owl tendencies haven't changed....after Jeff went to bed last night, I took the broom and rolled around on my knee scooter, sweeping dirt out of corners so my little buddy, Robbie the Robovac
(a Neato robotic vacuum I invested in because I HATE vacuuming, and knew it would get neglected when I had my surgery. I schedule Robbie to run twice a week, and other than the fact that he doesn't get into the corners that well, my house has never been cleaner...and I'm not having to nag Jeff to get the vacuum out. :) ) could do his job. I love Robbie!!

Bongo the cat comes for a visit this afternoon...a friend's cat, in reality she's part-time ours as we cat sit several times a year when they are out of town or, like this week, when their eldest daughter is graduating and all of their family is staying at their house, she needs to be somewhere where she won't get lost track of. Mohka likes the company (that is, Mohka TOLERATES the company!!), and what's one more litter pan??

Speaking of Mohka, she curled up next to ME in bed last night, hurting Jeff's feelings...he's used to her curling up next to him at bedtime, as she's HIS baby...but I know it's just because she knows I'm injured. Animals are good about that....she keeps an eye on me during the day, too, staying beside me while I sleep...once I'm up and around, she gets up and around, too.

How's my foot today?? The incisions for the bunions were pretty sore/sharp pain, and over all the foot throbs/sore, but not excruciating...I was able to get up, use the facilities, get some food and fresh ice, and get back to bed without severe pain, so I'd say that it's improving. 

And if it weren't for Dr. Richey's admonition to leave the dressings alone, I would be unwrapping and re-wrapping the ace bandage....it's gotten kind of loose. But I'll be a good girl....I may have to tighten up the top part, but I'll leave it alone.

Woosh, you never realize how tiring taking a shower can be until you have to get down and up on one leg (ditto, using the toilet) and have to juggle shampoo and a hand-held shower head, as well as keep one leg outside the shower, dry and protected....time for a nap!

By the end of the day, I went about 9 hours between pain pills, and didn't really need them...sat on the deck for a few hours, enjoying the summer weather, even made potato packets with hamburgers in them to cook on the grill, and enjoyed a couple of cold beers...and aside from the ice on the foot, I didn't really need the pain pills. BUT when the pain catches up to you, watch out...it's like when my bunions are grinding against too narrow a pair of shoes....that's the pain I feel when it kicks in. That and throbbing/sore....Now I'm drowsy. Time to tuck in for the night. 

Post-op Day #2: The Intestines have it.

No-one ever wants to talk about bowels. Well, no-one but nurses....we talk about them daily, with our patients. Indeed, as a labor and delivery nurse, I see much more of the bowel's products than most. So it doesn't bother me. Hang on to your hats, folks, yes, we are going there. If discussing such things grosses you out, you might want to scroll down a bit. 

A little back story....I have irritable bowel syndrome. Anyone who has this can tell you, it either leans one way - constipation - or the other - diarrhea. Also, it can be predictable...you know what will trigger it, stress, medications, certain foods...or unpredictable, if you are in new situations. My IBS leans towards diarrhea, but I can be prone to constipation, too, so just in case, I started taking Colace, a stool softener, right after surgery, knowing that narcotic pain medications and lack of movement can make the bowels sluggish. Also, I wasn't sure how easy it would be to strain when I can't plant my right foot for leverage, and I don't really want to find out. Know your medications, and their possible side effects, to anticipate which you might need.

Now, remember I mentioned some antibiotics can cause diarrhea? It would be nice if the side effects of the narcotics and the side effects of the antibiotics would balance each other out, wouldn't it?? Nope, doesn't work that way...one will win out over the other.

Guess what I woke up to today?? Yup, you got it...one trip to the kitchen to get some food so I could take my pain medication (we'll talk about the pain in a bit), and suddenly what had started last night before I fell asleep (it sounded like gas bubbles were racing the Daytona 500 through my intestines...come on, you KNEW I would get some NASCAR references in there!!) came to fruition. I ended up zipping off to the bathroom as fast as my little scooter's wheels could take me.

Who knew the quinoa I ate 2 nights ago would come through with such a splash...and like corn, it doesn't fully digest. Ugh, TMI, I know. Sorry!!

And this continued for a bit. I took my Immodium...my go-to for when this happens to me...but sometimes these things just have to clear through.

I waited until I ate to take my pain pills (Motrin and Percocet), then until my bowels stopped rumbling and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to have to zip off to the bathroom any time soon before taking my antibiotics. Dr. Ritchie ordered me Omnicef, which had fallen out of favor due to the high incidence of nausea/vomiting/diarrhea in patients, but in this era of superbugs, bacteria that are basically resistant the go-to antibiotics like Penicillin, and some antibiotics being basically useless, it has come back into favor. People just have to live with the side effects.

So check that off...as long as I'm taking that, I won't likely need my Colace....and after a week, judging by how my foot feels today, I won't likely be taking the percocet regularly, so hopefully once the antibiotics are done (7 days), things will go back to normal. Meanwhile, I still hear Harvick doing some burnouts in there...and Carl Edwards' occasional backflips.....o-kay, o-kay, I'll stop. 

FOR THOSE WHO WANTED TO SKIP THE BOWEL DISCUSSION, IT'S OVER!!

Now the pain. I fell asleep around 3 am again last night, about 2 hours after I took my Percocet and Motrin, which I found is about routine...the drowsiness Percocet brings on for me peaks at about 2 hours after I take it. Also the itching had gotten bad enough I took some Benedryl, too, to make that more tolerable. Anyway, I slept solid through to 1pm this afternoon, didn't even hear Jeff get up for work.

My foot wasn't hurting too bad when I first woke up, just a little sore, but once I started moving around and the blood started flowing more, the throbbing started. Not horrible, just there. And I started feeling my incisions more, including that 4th toe, which I thought maybe would be a bit numb after removal of the neuroma, but nope, it's still there.

Now I know Motrin and Percocet can both be hard on the stomach, so after my above-mentioned bathroom issues, I got some fruit, yogurt, etc from the kitchen, and then took my pain pills. I know better than to just take them on an empty stomach, to do so can bring on other unwanted symptoms...stomach ache, etc.

The Motrin works well for aches and muscle pain, and Percocet, of course, is intended for more severe, sharper pain, like my incisions. Doctors will often prescribe both together, as they work well together. As Motrin is hard on your kidneys if you take too much, it's important to follow the directions on the label as exactly as possible...if you regularly take more Motrin an hour before it's due, you will end up taking more than is good for your kidneys each day. And kidney damage is irreversible, so it's really good to avoid that....

Anyway, once the pain meds kick in, the most irritating thing is the itching. Itching under the bandages, itching where the incisions are starting to heal, itching sometimes related to the Percocet, as that is one of the most common side-effects of narcotics. I resist taking Benedryl for the itching as much as possible, because Benedryl also makes me drowsy, and I'd rather not spend any more of my days sleeping.

Another irritant....my shin bone is starting to feel bruised. My knee was already bruised from the horseback riding before my surgery (Reba seemed to find it amusing to try to run me into trees and try to knock me off, until she realized I wasn't going to be that easy to knock off).  I had thought ahead and bought extra sheepskin padding for over the top of the padded leg support on the knee scooter, but apparently it still takes time for the knee/shin to toughen up, as I don't routinely bear my weight on my knee/shin. I guess I need to use the crutches sometimes, too. 

Now blood clots are also a risk after any bone surgery, or indeed any surgery that can limit your mobility. Also, the doctor splinted my foot to keep it in it's regular, right-angle position, because when numb, a foot will relax and point down more....and with limited mobility, that can result in tendons and muscles stretching out and getting used to that position, so that when time comes to start walking on the foot again, the muscles and tendons aren't used to it. So I'm constantly flexing my foot back upwards, as it tends to relax down against the splint, and moving both legs as much as possible when not on my scooter/crutches, to keep the blood flowing (preventing clots) and the muscles in shape. 

It's looking pretty shaded out on the deck right now...I think maybe I'll scoot on out there, read a book for a while. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ahh, a little time reading on the deck, got the plants watered (this is the longest we've gone without rain since last year...the first dry spell, it hasn't rained since last week..up until then, it seemed like every 3 days, it rained for 3 days.). A nice grilled cheese panini for supper, and a banana, and a Percocet...now sitting back, watching Avengers in bed with my honey, testing out that padded headboard we slaved to assemble and mount to the wall last weekend:
 

Mainly, my foot is just sore, parts are a bit numb, feeling like they are going to sleep, not numb like the block made them. The pinky toe incision seems to be the most painful, but nothing is excruciating; the percocet is doing good.

I just tried crutches again...I guess I need some practice with those. My shin is going to need some relief from the knee scooter...or more padding, one or the other.

2 hours after my percocet...time for a nap. Can't keep my eyes open. And can't ignore the itching anymore. Benedryl time.

Post Operative Day #1. Here comes the pain.

And that leads me to how POD 1 started....after finally falling asleep around 3am, I woke up at 9am. Still no pain, but starting to be able to wiggle my toes...IT'S ALIVE!!...



WTG Dr. Pittman, more than 24 hours pain relief, can't ask for much more than that, with modern medicine. Again, if you ever have foot surgery, or any appendage surgery that they can do a nerve block for, ask for it...it's well worth it, even if there is a disconcerting period of "will I ever feel it again?". Now I can better understand my patients who get a really numb leg from their epidurals and why they sometimes can panic a little bit. 

I had thought ahead, and had a cooler ready with ice packs in the freezer, and a list for my honey to put into the cooler before going to work each day. I'm very independent, and after taking a few hours off the previous afternoon to tend to me, I sent him to work as usual the next day...several friends in calling distance, plus his work wasn't that far away, so I felt I could handle it on my own. I set up a snack basket on my bedside stand, and he packed me a cooler beside my bed full of cold goodies...juices and gingerale (in case of nausea), yogurt, hummus, veggies and dip...I'm determined that this sedentary time is NOT going to add to my middle-aged spread!!

So after a little caffeine (I also had him add one Monster zero calerie drink to the cooler, my cold caffeine beverage of choice, because I had a feeling I may not be up to making coffee, and cold caffeine might sit better than hot, post-operatively), I got myself onto my knee scooter, decided I'd better take advantage of the lack of pain to perform some basic hygiene....I got to my shower (my other purchase, a basic shower stool, $26 from Walmart). I have a tub shower with a hand-held shower head with an on/off switch right on it....I plunked myself down, stuck my foot on my scooter seat outside the shower, covered that part of my leg with the shower curtain to keep it dry, and showered away. I had enough energy to brush my teeth and dry my hair before retreating to bed, feeling much better.

The rest of the day was basically a blur of napping and installing our new AT&T modem...of course, came home from surgery and our wireless cable/internet decided to die on us within a few hours of getting home (it all runs wirelessly off one modem). This has happened before, about 6 months ago, and one call to AT&T, some troubleshooting later and they sent out another modem overnight...so that occupied some time for me. And as before, in the meantime it finally started working again, so I at least had cable and internet for the night, but past experience with this has been if a modem goes out once, it will go out again in the near future, so I installed the new one when it got to me.

Received a lovely surprise, a gift basket from a nurse friend the west coast...lots of chocolate yum!! And other friends called and texted, throughout the day...it's good to be loved!!

My foot? Well I know there's an incision over the main bunion, another over the pinky bunion, both are stinging and sore, and if I wiggle those joints, they're sore... the arch of my foot feels bruised, likely as a result of the removal of that nerve tumor, and my broken hammertoe? Pretty much numb at this time, mainly because the nerve tumor involved the nerves of that toe....will the numbness go away? Possibly partly, as the body has ways to bypass things and get what needs to be done done, and some other nerves may pick up the job of innervating my 3rd and 4th toes, but for now, I'll take numb. The pain is not bad right now....trying to alternately stay ahead of it, but also, since the percocet tends to knock me out AND make me itch mildly, trying to stretch out the times between doses a bit.

By the end of the day, the pins and needles are gone, the pain is increasing, and I'm going to have to break down and take another percocet...the arch of my foot feels swollen, and that 4th toe? It's coming to life...yup, not totally numb.

Time for my antibiotic...very important to take all of the antibiotics prescribed. Infection can make a mess of things, and if you stop early, you can simply cause a bacteria to get resistant to the antibiotic, instead of completely wiping the bacteria out. This is how superbugs, bugs resistant to a lot of antibiotics, like MRSA, VRE, to come to be, and these are life-threatening. So take your antibiotics.

And move a lot....legs, feet, getting up the bathroom, whatever....keeps the blood circulating and prevents blood clots.

Oh, and don't think that those thick dressings around your feet make applying ice to the foot useless...they should give you an icepack that will tie around the foot. Keep it filled with ice and on there...the cool through all of those dressings feels good.

Sorry, once a nurse, always a nurse...using my experiences to help others. Or bore them to sleep, whichever.

Soon, Post Op Day 2. I wonder how long before I start climbing the walls?? Thankfully, I have lots of projects lined up for when the pain isn't that bad any more. And Mom's coming this weekend...just in time for Mother's Day!

Off to percocet lala land........

Fixing "Nurse's Feet" - Journal of a nurse going through bunion and hammertoe repair and removal of a neuroma of the foot foot.

Now for a departure from my previous NASCAR-related blogs. Something that has always cut into my enjoyment of attending a NASCAR race. Foot pain.

Passing the time, rain delay at Bristol Motor Speedway. Foot problems slow me down, but by the time I'm back here in August, I hope to be MUCH better.

My whole life I've had foot pain. Genetics gave me large feet with bunions, hammer toes, and 20 years as a nurse have exacerbated that pain. I had always been envious of people who could run in bare feet over gravel...I could barely even walk on it. About a year ago, I had noticed increased swelling in the ball of my foot, the second and third toe started "going their own way", separating when I walk, and throbbing/burning pain in the ball of my foot extending to my 3rd and fourth (hammer toe) toes. Enough so that after a long shift with lots of walking, aside from my bunion pain (which is much less than that pain, because at work I wear New Balance walking shoes with a thick, firmer, less flexible footbed than runners, and a good arch support, the Dr. Scholl's ones that you stand on the machine at Walmart and it tells you which insole is right for you. I will be getting orthotics soon, but I kept putting that off, as the arch supports I had worked fine for arch pain.

A little pre-op fun, horseback riding at Douglas Lake Stables: 

Surgery Day: Fixing what God messed up on. Well, what he has tested me with, that is.

Anyway, yesterday, I underwent an Austin Bunionectomy (fixing the bunion at the joint of my big toe), Tailor Bunionectomy (fixing the bunion that developed at the joint at the base of my pinky toe), straightening and pinning of the 4th toe (hammertoe, pin to be removed in a month...basically, he broke the toe, and reset it into a more natural angle, not the crooked, sideways toe I've had most of my life), and, if it is found to be the cause of the ball of the foot and toe pain I've been having, removal of the Morton's Neuroma that had been tentatively diagnosed (will be confirmed with surgery) in my right foot, by my podiatrist, Dr. Kendall Ritchey.

It had reached the point where I either had to bite the bullet and have surgery to fix the problems, or find another line of work.  Staff nurses, we spend the better part of our shift walking...up and down halls, in and out of patient rooms, to the cafeteria, etc.  In emergencies, we run. People who have never had foot pain, or who just get sore feet after a long day on their feet, can not comprehend, not really, the pain people like me, with bunions and hammertoes, live with every day. Foot pain as just part of life, until it starts to get to the point where you can't just live with it anymore...I had always walked harder on that foot; back in the day, as a teen, when I used to wear the cute little slip-on thin-soled shoes that were in style then, I wore through the sole of the ball of that foot quickest, walking with a twisting motion, so it didn't really surprise me that that foot started giving me more problems more quickly.

The problematic appendage:

Here is my journal about what my surgery and recovery. I hope by posting this, I can help others faced with foot surgery know a little bit of what to expect.

I had a pre-op testing appointment about 2 weeks prior to surgery, where they did an EKG, chest X-ray, routine lab work, just to make sure I was basically healthy. Anesthesia talked to me then, too.

I arrived at the hospital (MY hospital, where I work, of course!) at 6am, 2 hours prior to my scheduled surgery time, which is standard. They use that time to get my vital signs, start an IV (often tricky, as they don't let you eat or drink anything after midnight the night before, to prevent you vomiting while under general anesthesia and possibly inhaling it, leading to the risk of pneumonia...but this dehydration also makes veins collapse a bit, so it takes talent to start IVs on a dehydrated person), and get urine for a pregnancy test (as they do for all women within child-bearing years who have not had a hysterectomy, even if you use contraception. They don't want to take the risk of harming a baby with the medications they give during surgery).

My honey and I checked in at the Surgical waiting area desk, where they gave him info on the number to call to get an update on me (he planned to go to work after I went back for surgery, because it was that or wear out the waiting area carpet for the 4-6 hours I was expected to be there. Yes, this procedure is a same day procedure, I would go home later that afternoon) and got his contact information in order to be able to call him if needed. They will not give out information over the telephone to anyone who does not have that patient's PIN number, which the patient makes up and they record on the chart.

Like a restaurant, they gave us one of those little flashy disk-shaped pagers, and when it went off 5-10 minutes later, we turned it in and were escorted to a room by our nurse. Now, I'm horrible with names, so I won't likely remember them all, but I believe Wanda was our nurse, and she was great. She was a nurse at Parkwest for more than 30 years, so I knew I was in good hands, and she started my IV like the pro she was.

Of course, as anyone who has had surgery knows, even if it's just on a foot, they make you strip down to nothing and put on one of those gowns that flashes your backside to everyone you pass...unless you choose to wear it backwards, in which case the nurses will be talking about you for a long time to come. ;) But those gowns, for the most part, make it difficult to maintain your dignity. And I still don't know why I couldn't leave my undies on...they weren't operating ANYWHERE near there!!

Anyway, after the IV start, and verifying that I'm NOT pregnant (Thank GOD!! I'm 46, aside the risks of having a baby at that age, I don't want to be putting one through college and trying to retire at the same time!!), it was pretty much routine, answering all of  the same questions they asked 2 weeks prior, updating my home medications list, etc.

Part of the pleasure of having surgery where you work is that you see a lot of familiar faces. Dr. McIlrath came for anesthesia, then they rolled me back to the holding area (passing Dr. O'Kelley in the hallway; used to seeing me in the Birth center, not on a stretcher, rolling towards the OR, he did a bit of a double-take....). There Judy, a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist--I don't know her last name, she hasn't worked the birth center while I've been here) went through the plan with me. Dr. Baird checked in, the anesthesiologist assigned to my case, and told me he had to start another case, but Dr. Pittman would come do my Popliteal block (a injection of local anesthetic into the nerve behind the knee that affects the entire foot...I HIGHLY recommend having one of these!! No pain for the first 12-24 hours...me, I didn't need to take anything for pain until about 28 hours after surgery. The numbness was disconcerting, not being able to move any part of my foot, but it drastically improves comfort after surgery!!)

Judy chatted with me and gave me some Versed (a medication to relax me and with an amnesic quality if a certain amount is given, it is commonly give pre-op....you are still able to follow orders, but you're very relaxed, and given enough, you don't really remember anything) and Dr. Pittman did the nerve block...he propped my lower leg up high on about 4 folded up bath blankets to get my leg up to access the back of my knee from the side and negate the need to flip me on my tummy to inject the nerves (thankful for that...the broad view of my pasty white Canadian butt through aforementioned open-back gown if flipped over would make me blush forever when I see him at work!!).

He first injected some local anesthetic into the spot where he was going to put the needle for the injection of the nerve, which is deep behind the knee. Using an ultrasound machine placed behind my knee, he located the nerve bundle and advanced the needle from the side of my knee until he was able to inject the entire area...a nurse assisted in the injections, injecting more fluid as he commanded...it was amazing how much medication they injected, about 20 ml, but the Versed made me mildly curious, not freaked out at the thought of all of that fluid going into the back of my knee. Good stuff, Versed.

After 15-20 minutes my foot was completely numb, at which point Judy injected some more Versed into my IV, and we rolled down the hall towards the OR...and that was the last I remembered until I woke up in recovery. Oh, the nurse in me knows that we rolled into the OR, and I helped as much as possible move over to the OR table (I sort of remember that, because I remember Dr. Baird or someone male telling me to move my shoulders over a little bit more, to be centered on the OR table but that's it....Versed is a wonderful drug!!)

In the recovery room, I slowly woke up, and looked around....the nurse assessed me (that danged Blood Pressure cuff that goes off automatically and squeezes TIGHT....just relax your arm and let it do it's thing, it will keep squeezing until it does anyway) and gave me some ice chips and I dozed on and off. No nausea, no pain...the leg below the knee was numb. The foot was splinted, too keep it in a normal position, padded and wrapped securely with ace bandages that I had been warned by Dr. Ritchey (obviously used to nurses and their penchance for changing dressings) NOT to touch until I returned to see him in one week. Wow, one week, that's gonna be one funky smelling foot by then!! But o-kay......

I was moved back to a room in same day surgery, and had some crackers and liquids. Dr. Ritchey called Jeff to let him know everything went o-kay, but I didn't see Dr. Ritchey myself again until dressing removal day a week later.

When Jeff got off work to come pick me up, they took my IV out, and fitted me for my crutches. I had gotten my prescriptions ahead of time and gotten them filled already, and had bought a knee scooter, recommended by my podiatrist and another friend who had broken her foot and used one, so all we had to do was head for home. Her advice: Get one with a basket on it. It sounds silly, but she found it very handy. And I opted to buy, found one on Amazon.com for $175...the cheapest I found to rent was $75/month, and I will need it on and off over 3 months for sure...and if the results of this surgery are as I hope, I'll likely get my bunions on my left foot done in the next year or 2....so it's a worth-while investment, to me. Plus, it's tax deductible.

Other things to think of...things I tell my patients. Pain medications + decreased movement = constipation!! Get yourself some Colace (stool softener) and take it twice a day until you get moving around better. If you don't, beware. I've warned you. (unless you are one of the lucky souls who get diarrhea from your antibiotic...then probiotics and immodium!) Taking colace ahead of time will prevent the need for much straining, or laxatives.

They wheeled me out to the car. I went home and napped a bit, then later that night I watched TV. No pain....blocks are a wonderful thing. BUT I had trouble sleeping that night, because I had slept so much in the day AND the numbness actually became disconcerting enough that I couldn't get to sleep. Not to mention that I'm a night shift nurse, and after midnight is prime time for me!!

Sorry, timed out there...ironically, writing this at the end of post op day 1 (POD1); the nerve block has worn off, and I just found out that 1 Percocet 10 on a stomach that hasn't had that much more than yogurt and popcorn and a few snacks in it all day means nap time.....who knew?? My C-Section patients at work pop 2 Percocet 5s and continue on like they're Tylenol!! I'm a light-weight, I guess.