More Pain, Back Spasms, and Nausea

Joe stayed with me until about 10:30 in the evening.  He reluctantly went back to the hotel to sleep for a while.  I tried to sleep that night but an annoying alarm went off every time I fell asleep because apparently I wasn't breathing deeply enough.  They had a breathing sensor placed in front of my mouth.  And just as I began to sleep restfully, "BEEP - BEEP - BEEP!"  Needless to say it made life miserable.  I wish this had been the only problem I had to deal with my first night.  I don't remember exactly when, but I recall waking up feeling cold.  I asked the nurse for an extra blanket.  Within a few minutes I started shaking uncontrollably. I started to panic when I realized that I had a feeling of numbness spreading throughout my body.  It started in my arms and spread into my neck and face. There was a nurse outside my door that heard me becoming upset.  She came in and offered to call for the doctor. The doctor came in and completed a neurological sensory exam.  He was with me for over an hour checking all my fluids and trying to figure out what was wrong.  The numbness lasted for many hours and eventually faded.  Before moving me to a regular hospital room, they had me sit and stand. I was told by my surgeon prior to surgery that I would be up and moving a day after surgery to promote healing and to wake up my digestive system.  Let me just tell you, it was scary and painful standing so soon after my surgery!

After surviving the night I was moved from CCU to the 17th floor, room 1765.  Later that day and throughout the remainder of the week they began to ween me off the Hydro-Morphone pump.  They wanted me taking oral pain killers as soon as possible saying that it would lead to a speedier recovery.  Plus it would allow me to be more mobile so I could do physical therapy.  As they eased me off the pump my muscle spasms and pain increased quickly.  For the next several days I had long periods of excruciating pain that could only be effectively combated with an IV dose of painkiller and muscle relaxants, as opposed to oral medications.  I remember the dreadful spasms that started in my lower back and wrapped around my waist going up through my chest and entire upper body.  They were horrible.  I got up several times a night and walked the halls to relax my muscles.  For whatever reason my muscle spasms got really bad at night.  The anesthesiologists continued to tweak my medications trying to find the perfect balance of effective pain relief without causing excessive drowsiness.  For awhile there I was so out of it during the day because of all the medications that I couldn't eat and it made doing physical therapy very difficult.  During the first few days I also experienced a great deal of nausea when trying to eat.  Joe put a cold washcloth on my forehead and gave me a steady supply of ice to chew and water to drink.  I was also given anti-nausea medication and a barf bag just in case.  Thankfully I never had to use the barf bag.  

I was either awake and in pain or completely out of it.  Here I am trying to brush my hair and falling asleep in the process.  Finding the right balance of treating my pain effectively and not over drugging me to the point of loopiness was difficult. 

Here I am fighting the pain and holding onto my barf bag!