OK I have been given clearance. Here is day 1 of Libbys blog about taking care of me after rotator cuff surgery. I laughed so hard I think I hurt myself...................... In an effort to keep from killing a certain someone sitting in the recliner in my living room......Let me give you all a peak into my life: Day 1....up at 4:45 and off to Surgi Center at 6 Left the patient at 8 am after he received his block and they were ready to push him into surgery Met with MD at 10 to discuss sx.....Got a lot of info and recommendations re: recovery. Got a call at 11:20 that he was awake so I could go into recovery. Was given all discharge orders/plans/recommendations/warnings.....RN put his compression socks on. At 12, RN asked the patient if he was ready to get dressed and go home.....Big surprise.....patient responded I think Im still too weak.....She must have seen me roll my eyes because she told him he was about as good as he was going to get.....I assured him that they would wheel him to the car....finally started dressing him .... 12:25....finally on the road to home....with patient saying (a minimum of 5 times) that I had to get his meds filled because he needed to get in front of the pain. 1:40....arrived home. Said patient tried to let himself out of the car before I cut the engine. First stern words spoken (dont try to do it yourself....Ill help you out of the car and to the back door and into the house) 1:45....patient says are you going to get my medications filled? ( # 6) 1:46....I grab his d/c orders, pull out his 5 RXs and, low and behold, all were made out to a different patient. 1:48....Called MD on his cell. advised him what happened....and headed back to Peabody to exchange the worthless scripts for the ones with Martys name on them....(have no idea what Mr. K of Lynn might have done with Martys scripts (which I assumed he left with) Left patient with a yogurt and a spoon in case of hunger. 1:55 MD called me on my cell, was horrified but stated the inevitable...I would need to return to the Surgi Center....Told him I was already on my way. 2:40 arrived back at Surgi Center.....Saw MD in hallway.....he owes me big time. 2:45....patient calls me on my cell noting that he had to go the our dining room on his knees to get his phone.....(hair is now starting to fall out). I told him I was in the middle of trying to swap out his scripts, told him I was sorry that in my haste to get his RXs and assure he stayed ahead of his pain, I neglected to provide him with a phone before I left. 3:45.....stopped at Butcher Boy on my way home to pick up fruit for patient (all nicely cut up)....and a rather nice bottle of Chardonnay for myself. 4:00....dropped RX off at pharmacy...was told they would be ready at 5. 4:15....returned home....was met by an extreme look of disappointment when I did not walk in with the meds. Put the unopened yogurt in the fridge, put the spoon away and attempted to sit. Patient asks where the yogurt is....he wants to eat it but couldnt open it himself. 5:00.....returned to pharmacy....of course not all was ready so I waited for 15 min.....Patient calling me to ask where I was. 5:20 ....returned home, gave the patient his first dose of Oxycodone and discovered that he had popped 2 Dulcolax while I was out. 5:30.....heated up the homemade chicken soup I had made the day before, gave him some crackers, filled up his water glass and poured myself a very healthy glass of that Chardonnay. 6:15....cleared his dishes, emptied the dishwasher, loaded the dishwasher, sat on the couch 6: 40...fell dead asleep 7:00.....woke to the patient asking me to explain to him what each medicine did and how I was going to track distribution. Got a pad of paper and explained this to him. 8:00.....dare I hope patient might be sleeping? False alarm....just a brief doze....hes back up asking about his medications again....remained yacking until his big med dose at 10 pm... 10 pm....gave him his Oxycontin, Oxycodone (2 of these because, as we all know, patient must stay ahead of the pain), Gabapentin, Zofran.....Patient insisted he needed a baby aspirin. I explained that he was to start this the following day. Patient also insists on another Dulcolax ....That didnt happen. Didnt even want to imagine if all kicked in at the same time 10:30....helped him put his robe on (although he refused to put his left arm into the sleeve), set my alarm for 2 am and tried to fall asleep. Patient was very chatty and couldnt sleep....He finally took pity on me at 12 and shut up. 2: am....beep beep beep....2 Oxycodone 3 am.....started to doze back asleep....but patient still chatty..... 4 am....finally told him that he may not be sleepy but I sure as hell was 6 am....beep beep beep. less than a minute after alarm goes off patient is telling me what he needs....and there is a list. Give him his 1 Oxycodone, baby aspirin and, you guessed it, another Dulcolax. Patient tells me he wants to put his arm in his shirtsleeve....I ask him to give me a minute....Go to retrieve the list of items he requested, returned to patient who was just finishing removing his own sling and was standing with his arm straight by his side. I think I had a mini stroke. 6:15...after threatening to send him to a nursing home, I got his arm into his shirt, put the sling back on, resisted putting a pillow over his face, took dictation re: all the questions he was going to ask the RN that would call him that day and, started working. 6:45....Now hes hungry...but instead of that pre cut fruit that I bought him at his request, hes in the mood for an orange and an apple....which I peeled and served him. If you think Im making this up....I swear.....I couldnt make this stuff up. I may entertain you with day 2....7 am Wed. to 6 am this am...later....if you are up for a laugh or two.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 14:38:58 +0000