Let's get practical

I know that at the moment, most of my readers are friends and family, or people who 'know' me off various internet forums (hi everyone! *waves* and apologies to those who are disturbed that I have a real name! lol).

But I started this blog mainly with the intention of it being helpful to people planning to have bunion surgery, because a lot of what I knew in advance about the recovery period was gleaned from blogs.

So this post is probably only really of interest if you are going to have bunion surgery, or a friend or relative is. But of course, everyone is welcome to read!

I found that my surgeon and hospital did not give me any information on how the recovery process would go, or what I might need to make it easier. If you go private, or live in a country where you have to go private, you might get a better level of information, but if you are NHS, you may well find this really useful.

So here are the things I think you need to know, or need to get.


THINGS YOU NEED TO GET

* A beany lap tray (or two). These are so useful, for using a laptop in bed, eating meals in bed, writing things in bed, you get the picture. Or even as a kind of table to have next to you on the bed. You definitely need one. I borrowed two.

* A pouffe or high footstool. For elevating your foot when you're able to get out of bed. Get one as high as you can, or add pillows/folded blankets to make it high enough. Your feet should be higher than your hips ideally. This also has the advantage of marking you out as needing special care, and even small children seem to honour that (well, a bit, anyway).

* A wheelchair. Not absolutely vital, but if you'd like to be able to leave the house before you can walk on crutches, or if you'd like to go further than you can walk on crutches, then a wheelchair means you can be pushed places. I used mine to go to the Little Lady's nativity play, which I would otherwise have had to miss. I got mine from the Red Cross.

* A decent pair of ergonomially designed crutches. Another thing that's not absolutely necessary, but they are much more comfortable than the NHS ones. I imagine you can get them from the Red Cross, although I borrowed mine.

* A toilet frame. Another Red Cross item. I've already said in another post how much I have valued this piece of equipment. It has enabled me to go to the toilet by myself, which is vital for dignity. Without it I would have had to have someone lift me on and off the toilet.

* A large pair of soft socks. For keeping your toes warm when/if you go outside. You can buy fleece things on the LimbO website but they are a tenner (!) and of no use afterwards. You could always make a fleece toe cover, but socks are easier. I bought a supersoft thermal pair in a size larger than my usual one (6-11 when I am a 6).

* Lots of pillows. For elevating your feet and propping yourself up. I use three behind me and about four for my feet, plus a rolled-up duvet tied to keep it rolled. Yes, it is a lot!

* Lactulose. We covered this before but both anaesthetics and codeine cause constipation. Lactulose is a gentle way to resolve it. Nuff said.

* Help at home. There is no way you will manage on your own, even if you have batch-cooked and/or live on ready meals or takeaways. You will get tired easily, you have very limited mobility, it is not going to work. Try and organise someone to be with you 24/7 for at least four weeks (ideally more), or for someone to come in to do mealtimes and cleaning if that isn't possible. If all else fails, employ a cleaner and cook. Seriously. Do not try to do it yourself.

* A TV in your bedroom (if you don't have one already). I hooked up an old computer in our bedroom so I can watch catch-up TV. I haven't used it all that much, but I prefer it to watching TV on the laptop, and it's nice to have it available.

* Waterproof cast covers if you want to be able to shower (or you can strip wash at the sink instead). If you do want to shower, I suggest you might also want a waterproof chair to sit on while you do it. Personally, I haven't bothered with showering but am just washing at the sink. My surgeon recommended LimbO covers, but at £15 each, I decided to live without. YMMV.

* Mobility scooter I think I'm going to hire one of these when the hubby goes back to work. I can walk with crutches a little now but as I have the Little Lady, I'm concerned I won't be able to keep up with her or keep her safe. With a mobility scooter, she can sit on my lap while we ride into town or to preschool. I definitely think it will give me more freedom than I would otherwise have, and would enable me to go shopping.


WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

* You will need help washing your hair. If you don't want to be a greaseball for nearly two months, then you will need to get help to wash your hair. The way I have found works best for me is to sit on a chair next to the bath. I sit on the chair sideways with my back facing the bath and then lean back on the edge of the bath, which I pad with a folded-up towel. You will get wet! Get a friend or loved one to wash your hair for you. If you prefer (and I do) they can just wet and rinse it while you do the actual shampooing and conditioning. This does make the back of your neck hurt so sitting up at points throughout is helpful.

* You will have to strip wash. Before I had my casts changed, I sat on a chair at the sink, then washed with a flannel. I am lucky enough to have a tilting wall mirror so I could see my face to wash it, but you could use a standalone mirror, like a shaving mirror. Now I have the smaller casts, I am able to stand at the sink instead of sitting.

* You will have almost no concentration. Before I had the operation I thought I could spend my recovery time knitting, writing and generally catching up on things. But I have found that I can't concentrate on things for too long, so have spent most of my time surfing the net, reading magazines (even books are beyond me!) and doing only things that I can spend small amounts of time on. This is not the time to decide to write that novel, IMO.

There are probably more, and I'll edit and add to this post as they occur to me or as I encounter them. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Shake me and I'll rattle

In my last post, I mentioned the amount of painkillers I'm on. Some of you might be wondering why I'm on so many different drugs, and why I'm taking them all at once.

The short answer is: the nurses told me to.

But anyone who knows me, knows I don't take anything the medical profession says to me at face value, and I always ask questions.

So yes, I did ask why I was taking three painkillers.

Specifically, I asked why everyone on the ward was being given paracetamol, as in my experience, paracetamol does absolutely nothing to manage pain at all, not even the slightest headache.

I almost think of it as a placebo, so useless have I found it.

But the nurse explained that it works WITH the other tablets, increasing their effectiveness.

I did try to find some kind of study or article explaining this but was defeated by not really knowing the best keywords to Google. I ended up reading a slightly shocking chatroom discussion on how best to get from various legal drugs, and a few illegal ones, which was illuminating in a number of ways but shed no light on the drugs synergy issue.

Anyway.

I already knew that ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory, and so it helps to prevent and bring down swelling.

And of course, codeine is a strong painkiller. As well as being, for some people, a bit of a high. Sadly, I'm not opne of those people. There's no buzz for me when I take it, more's the pity, although if I were constantly high at the moment my Christmas cards wouldn't be getting written, so I guess I should be grateful.

And on a serious note, codeine is known to be highly addictive, which I'm assuming is because of that high so many people get from it, so I'm glad that I will be spared the possibility of becoming hooked on it, especially as I have 100 - count 'em! - tablets of it in my bedside table drawer right now.

Apart from the painkillers, I'm also taking heparin, which I inject daily, to thin my blood and prevent DVT, which I am more prone to anyway because of my Factor V Leiden, but which anyone who is bedridden and immobile is at risk of.

In hospital, we injected it around 10pm, but at home I've been finding that a really bad time of day for finding the mental strength to stab myself in the tummy and inject a liquid that stings, so on Saturday I skipped my evening pincushion session and instead injected the next morning, about 45 minutes after taking my meds.

That worked much better. I felt mentally more prepared, and I also seemed to feel the pain a bit less because I wasn't tired like I am at the end of the day.

I don't think I put myself at too much risk by postponing the dose 13 hours, but if they had set the injections at a decent time when I was in hospital, by giving it to me in recovery as I expected rather than late at night when I finally demanded I have it, then I wouldn't have had to do it anyway.

In addition, I'm also taking Pregnacare, which is a vitamin supplement designed to get your body ready for, and keep you healthy during, prenancy, as well as supplement your diet during breastfeeding.

I'm taking it because the Hubby and I plan to TTC (Try To Conceive) soon, and it's recommended that you take it for three months before conception. With our history of miscarriages, even though they are caused by the Factor V Leiden, I'm not taking any chances, so I'm popping a Pregnacare pill each evening to ensure my body is as healthy as possible.

The other medicine I'm taking - I think drug is too strong a word - I began taking yesterday, but if you are going to have this or any other surgery that will mean you having a general anaesthetic, and/or you are going to be on codeine for more than a couple of days, it is one you should get ready in your medicine cupboard.

It is Lactulose.

Look away now if you are squeamish or don't have any desire to know about my bowel habits, because here's the thing - Lactulose is great for constipation.

General anaesthetics give you constipation, and so does codeine.

If you're going to have this surgery, or even any surgery requiring painkillers afterwards, you need to know about this stuff. The hospital weren't very bothered about my constipation because it's not like people die of it, but when it's you, it is very uncomfortable and makes you feel yuck, so my recommendation is to get some Lactulose in.

I recommend Lactulose rather than senna, because Lactulose is much more gentle in the way it acts on the body, and yet is very effective. Considering how much medication I'm putting into my system, I want to try and be as gentle as possible.

This link explains what's different about them and how they each work.

I'll be doing a post soon on what I think you need to get ready in advance of having your bunions done, which will include medicines but also will cover lots of other things you might not have thought of and which your hospital is unlikely to tell you about.


*Your Mileage May Vary, or, your experience may be different to mine.