Home

The first night at home wasn’t too bad. We made a pillow barrier, think pillow fort, so the dogs would not bump into Amanda’s leg while we slept. Even with a king bed, it was pretty tight for the dogs and me on one side. Yes, we still let them sleep with us; they’re our babies! Amanda’s pain was creeping up but not terrible overnight. By morning, the swelling was significantly worse and increased as the day went on. Less mobility and pain came with the increased swelling. Amanda wanted a shower before we went to the doctor, but I told her it was a bad idea with her pain creeping up. She fought the idea but begrudgingly agreed.

Our wait for the doctor wasn’t too bad, but Amanda did have a fever of 100.3 when checked, so that was a little concerning. On our last visit, it was high there, too, but lower when they checked before we left. The doctor instinctively wanted to put Amanda on NSAIDs, but she can’t have any since they interact with her rejection meds. He did recommend some cream pain reliever with NSAIDs in it to help. He also recommends taking Tylenol with each pain medication dose, saying it may not feel like it helps, but it makes the pain med work better and last longer. We had them check her temp one more time before leaving but it was still high. Once home and checking it ourselves it was already back to normal.

Amanda has been much more independent this round, mainly because she has more mobility. She didn’t need any help getting in or out of the shower or getting ready. Even with the increased swelling, she’s still able to get around fairly well. Of course, she’s still using the walker, but she’ll step away from it when getting ready in the mornings; she wouldn’t have dreamt of that last time. 

Friday morning, we had PT in Del Rio. Her range of motion was pretty limited with the bad swelling. The therapist said she thought the swelling might be worse than before. She was still impressed with Amanda’s mobility, though. Being her first session, she didn’t work Amanda too hard but seemed to think she’d be off the walker and cane pretty soon. This is the therapist that Amanda has become friends with; I even text her a few times during Amanda’s stay at the hospital. I’m pretty sure she came in just to do the session with Amanda on her day off; she is a sweetheart. 

We needed do make a few stops around town before leaving also to kill a little time before we could get a bogo deal at Starbucks! So we grabbed some groceries, man we eat a lot, got the car washed, and picked up some salsa from a restaurant we like. Then we made our way home. 

Amanda was pretty wasted after PT and the trip itself, so she napped in the afternoon. I had some things to do outside, so I worked on that a bit. Our takeout supplies were depleted, so I was up for feeding us dinner. Since then, we’ve just been recluses! This is our typical return from a hospital stay mode of operation: we lay low and hibernate. I haven’t wanted to “people” so much that I didn’t even make a post! So, just TV and food are pretty much what we’ve done, not even leaving the house for the last few days.

Amanda’s put the work in with her home PT exercises and I think the swelling has come down a bit. I’d like to see her walk a little more, but I have to live with her, so I can only crack the whip so hard. The swelling was bad and had not gotten much better until today. Sometimes, it was so tight and painful it almost brought her to tears. Without the help of NSAIDs, it’s elevation and icing. She is still keeping up with her exercises even through the pain, so hopefully, we’ll keep seeing the swelling dissipate. Last time, it took quite a while for it to go down, too. 

Tomorrow is the second PT session, followed by another on Wednesday and Friday. We also need to make a grocery run to restock since I’ve been cooking a lot. This has left us with an ample supply of leftovers, which is good since I’ll be going back to work soon. I plan on taking one more trip off and then getting back to the grind. I’ll feel more comfortable once she has another round or two of PT in.