We had to be at the hospital the day before surgery by early afternoon to get a lab the hospital missed. It didn’t take long to register and get the labs done. Then off to the hotel to get checked in. We don’t have a regular hotel here in San Antonio, but I’m brand loyal right now, trying to rack points up for a fantastic vacation later this year. I’ll fill y’all in later on that, but I will say a 14-hour flight and lots of blue water will be involved.
I had a few restaurants for dinner on the shortlist, but Amanda wasn’t too enthused about them. The lab tech was a foodie, so she wanted to know my choices and approved of most of them, highly rated 3. I found a Mediterranean place in the Pearl area at the north end of the Riverwalk. It was a fabulous meal of many courses. Charcoal beets were the star of the night, along with a couple of great dips. Their wood-fired piping-hot sourdough pita was terrific as well.
It was off to bed and up early to make a 5 am hospital arrival time. This is a new hospital for us. I did have a brief stay here with some heart issues of my own a couple years ago. The crowd in the admitting area was the usual for our hospital stays, old! We were the youngest among them by 30-plus years. Joint replacements just aren’t an all too common thing in 30-year-olds.
The surgeon is my doctor as well from years ago. He also performed Amanda’s shoulder surgery about 8 years ago. My mother had her knee done with him also. We’ve known him for a while and really like him. He owns a hunting ranch north of Brackettville that bordered a ranch I lived on as a kid. So we always end up talking about his deer population!
He is a funny guy, always cracking jokes about us. When we first saw him for this problem, he said everything was paid off, and he drove an old truck, so he wouldn’t recommend surgery. But if the new Tesla truck came out, he may want to do surgery then! The last time Amanda saw him, he asked if she told anyone he was her doctor, saying he’d rather no one know with the limp she had! He’s a hoot!
Amanda was the first case; they took her back about 7 am. I took this time to ease back to the hotel only a couple of miles away. With my extended stay in Iowa, ten months, I am top tier with Marriott. That comes with lounge access, so I took advantage and grabbed a good complimentary breakfast. I wasn’t back at the hospital long before my phone rang. The doctor called to say everything went well. It only took an hour or so.
The next call was from the PACU nurse giving me the room number. She told me they’d bring Amanda up when her pain was better. So I grabbed our bags, two trips to the car worth, and got the room ready.
When Amanda arrived, she was nauseous from the ride, with pain creeping up. PT was by not long after to get her up too. I had to keep questioning the nurse about when they would give the morning meds. Amanda needed her anti-rejection meds; they are time-sensitive. I finally had to get mean about it. The nurse just said we have to be the doctor’s approval. I told her they were the drugs that literally keep her alive, I didn’t care, and I would give them to her myself. So nurse Barkley took care of that round of meds!
After the PT visit, the pain increased tremendously. She was in a 10 out of 10 pain, in tears, for a few hours until they finally got it under control. It was a tough time; they would order meds, but the pharmacy had to approve. I guess it’s an opioid thing. Once out of the PACU, they started her on the pain med she was on before the surgery. Pretty sure it hurts more now after the replacement!
They finally got the right combination of meds, and the pain went down to a manageable level. The last round they gave her was a higher dose and probably too much. It has made her pretty groggy. I went out and picked up dinner from a Thai place. She didn’t eat much but never really does right after surgeries.
She seem to feel better; hopefully she can get some rest. I’ll be staying in the room with her, feet hanging off the pitiful hospital chair/bed I’m sure!