Hubby had shoulder surgery on Thursday morning. This picture was taken Friday morning when we went back to the doctor for his first follow-up appointment. The surgery went fine. The doctor found nothing in there that he wasn't expecting to find, so that was a good thing. He was in and out in less than 90 minutes. I think Hubby spent more time in recovery than he did on the operating table.
He had a nerve block before surgery, so his entire arm (save his pinky and ring fingers) was completely numb until about 9pm Thursday night. This actually turned out to be an excellent thing as I had to take K-dog to the vet unexpectedly and ended up being gone for two hours over dinner time. Hubby was able to help the boys make dinner and do their homework without pain.
After the kids were in bed, the nerve block started wearing off. Before it wore completely off, he took a pain pill (Percocet) and the accompanying anti-nausea pill. And then I got him set up in the spare bedroom (propped up with many pillows), and he went to sleep.
I decided that I should sleep downstairs in case he needed anything. I would never hear him if I was upstairs in our room. So I made a bed up for myself on the sofa downstairs. Thank. God.
I had JUST fallen asleep (around 11:30) when I heard a loud crash. I jumped out of bed and found John lying awkwardly on the bathroom floor. The shower doors (which I assume he fell back against) were broken off their tracks and he was lying weirdly against them with his legs splayed out in front of him on either side of the toilet bowl. I said, "Oh my God. Are you okay?" He looked at me and asked me why he was on the floor in the bathroom and how he had gotten there.
I was worried that he might've hurt himself somewhere else falling, but he seemed to be okay. I think the Percocet was probably a blessing in disguise in that way. He was so out of it that he didn't know to tense up as he fell, which I think is how people hurt themselves in falls like that.
I managed to get him up, but then he promptly crumpled to the ground again. I had no idea how I was going to get him out of the bathroom without hurting him further if he couldn't stand on his own. After a minute, I got him to stand up long enough so that he could sit on the toilet seat. He was talking to me and telling me that he couldn't focus. He was there in the present, but he knew he was fuzzy and he just didn't know how he'd gotten there. He was a mess. We sat there for a good 20 minutes until he felt good enough to make it back to bed. In that time he decided wasn't taking anymore Percoset. Ever. Add that to the list of drugs he refuses to take: Vicodin, Tylenol 3, and now Persoset.
I got him back to bed, and he told me that when I came in at 1, which is when I was going to go in and give him his next pill, that he only wanted Tylenol. So that's what I did. I dozed in and out until 1, not really sleeping because I was worried that he would forget that he promised he would yell if he needed to get up, and then I took him some Tylenol. I did the same at 5:30. He was much better at 1, and pretty much fine by 5:30 as far as mental focus and stability on his feet. He said the Tylenol took away the throbbing and that he could deal with the achey feeling.
So, that was our experience with Percocet. He's taken nothing but Tylenol since that first pill. We went out to dinner last night, and he coached Jack's hockey game this morning. He's achey, but it's nothing unbearable. He slept in two long chunks last night, waking only because I went to ask him if he needed anything at 3:30 when I got up to use the bathroom.
At this point, the sling is optional... he will likely wear it only when we are out and about, more so people don't jostle him or slap him on the shoulder or try to shake his hand than because he needs it medically. His biggest issue last night and today has been muscle twitches in his bicep, which are extremely uncomfortable. He starts PT sometime this week. And he completed dressed himself this morning. I'd say he's further along and doing better than I expected at two days post-surgery.
As for the Percocet... well, it has been relegated to the back of the linen closet with the other drugs that Hubby can't tolerate. :-)
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