Day 38, Post-OP Day 3... Fred saw Mom this morning and when he walked in he was surprised to see her sitting in a chair. He greeted her and she told him she was, "Pissed off!!" She told him she's starting to feel pain, plus all the tubes and things she's just MAD at the whole situation >:-( ... She told him she feels too weak to get up and move around. WELL Helllloooooo... Mom needs to realize it's been over a week since she's walked and she hasn't eaten anything either!
When I got there this afternoon Mom was sound asleep even though there was a construction crew drilling and jack hammering going on next to her room! =D When she woke she saw me and told me they'd gotten her up and she walked to the Nurses Station desk across from her room, about 20 steps. She said she felt so wobbly, weak and the exertion exhausted her... She said, "Just look at those other patients out there in the hallway... They're almost sprinting!" :-/ I wouldn't call it sprinting but I heard the frustration in her voice, she knew she needed to get strong but didn't know how.... BINGO!! That's when she noticed the Fitness ball I brought with me ;-) I told her if she was willing, I was able and we'd get started on working her leg muscles to strengthen them for the job of supporting her while walking. She said, "Yes. I miss shopping!"
When her Nurse came in to take her vitals everything was great, her temperature was slightly elevated at 99 but her Nurse said, "That means you need to be moving around more and using the Spirometer." The Spirometer is a respiratory device patients use to blow into... She's supposed to this 10 times each hour. I asked her Nurse if it would be okay if I helped Mom exercise her leg muscles, she said, "No problem, that would be great!" ... So we began!
We added on to her ABC exercises, with some Glute squeezes, Knee presses, Leg lifts, Leg extensions and foot rolls with the 2 lb Fit ball. All these exercises we did with her in bed... Baby steps, baby steps... Tomorrow we'll try and see how she does exercising while sitting in her chair. Her color is good and she really does look great. She's experiencing more pain now because as her Nurse explained, "You're moving around and getting up now, the epidural is no longer enough." So they've added a non-narcotic pain injection to her regimen to aid in alleviating the increased pain.
Post-OP Day 3 and signs are that Mom's gastrointestinal tract is 'rebooting' which is a good sign and I know she's curious to see what Post-OP Day 4 is going to bring... We are too! xoxoxo...
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