so here's the run down before surgery ... Landed 10/3 in the afternoon, went to my arbnb room and tried to get some rest, the next day in the morning I saw Dr. Downey, had a pre-op consult and X-rays to make sure my legs were ready for removal, and they were, clinic was walking distance from my airbnb and the hospital is like 1 minute walking distance from the clinic, Sevilla is pretty nice.
Day 0: Wed 10/6
Day of surgery! I wasn’t nervous at all for this one, I was confident I’d be fine and was more anxious to just get it over and done.
I walked over to the hospital (15 min walk from my airbnb) and arrived at about 8:30, they took a bit of time to check me in for surgery as I am about the only foreigner and private payer scheduled for surgery that morning, was shown to a room where I’d be staying the night and at around 9:45 I was told to dress up, more like undress and get on the open back gown because I was about to get wheeled into surgery room. The surgery room looked very decent, lots of new machinery and technology, clean room, met the anesthesiologist then and there and he told me what would be done but I didn’t quite understand their terminology in the Spaniard accent Spanish they have, the doctors are nice and funny, I was given a dose of happy juice where I felt in cloud 9 for a few minutes , last thing I remember is the doctor feeling on my spine, had the surgery done around 10-10:30 am here, Dr. Downey and his team got the job done. I woke up around 2:30 PM, I believe and felt my legs heavy as others before me have mentioned, the incision sites felt sore and painful, my pain scaled up to I’d say 6/10 so I called the nurses for some pain relief and they quickly brought me some pain sedatives through the IV and it was much better after that. At around 8:30 pm they brought me dinner and I continued watching YouTube vids/ reading the forums through the night until falling a sleep. Pain level 1-2/10 after pain killers, manageable.
Day 1: Thurs 10/7
The day after surgery was a long one as my laptop and phone died from the usage of the day before and I didn’t bring my chargers. I tried to sleep as much as I could to let time pass and the time, Dr. Downey checked up on me around 2:30-3PM and said I could be discharged whenever I was ready. At around 5 PM I felt like I wanted to go already, the nurses were nice, though they don’t check up on you often, you have to buzz them through a walkie talkie like deceive connected to your hospital bed by a coiled wire for them to answer and see what you need to bring it to you, anyway they bathed me as best they could, and help me get dressed and wheel me to the front door, they assisted me to called a taxi since my phone was dead and off I was to my airbnb about a 5 minute drive from the Hospital, not bad or painful at all really compared to initial surgery. I got to my airbnb , walked and waddled as best as I could to my room, (I made sure I got an airbnb without stairs) finally used my phone/laptop to my heart’s content and slept ( I was happy to see that I can sleep facing down, as that’s my preferred way of sleeping).
Day 2: Fri 10/8
I continue to see improvements, walk is a little less painful, a little faster and I feel more balanced, though still feel tight from my hips and sore, ordered Domino’s pizza and was able to walk up to the front door no issues, was able to bend my knees past 90 degrees today finally, and overall just in better condition that the day before, hoping the trend continues.
Day 3: Sat 10/9
As expected continued improvement, less pain in my incision by my knees when bending the legs, also hip area when moving around, walking with a bit of a waddle still but it’s decreasing daily.
Day 4: Sun 10/10
Surprise surprise, more improvement, I was able to walk a bit more than half a mile total this way in the evening, fatigue did set in towards the end of that, I was walking more waddley than how I started, pain is minor, don’t need Tylenols/Ibuprofens anymore. also can bend my knees fully now, heel touching but while laying down no problem.
Day 5: Mon 10/11
Today was great, finally I felt like my gait is starting to look normal with a bit of effort and slight pain, I went out for a walk in the streets of Sevilla, Andalusia to get something to eat and it was good, about a half mile walk in total maybe slightly more, I like Europe, shops and stuff are walking distance, unlike LA, have to drive for almost everything. I came back to my AirBnb with a smile on my face , I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for this whole ordeal, and that I would be fine for tomorrow’s long travel back to LA (24 hr total of traveling due to a big over lay, couldn’t find a better flight without spending a lot more money) which had me worried that maybe I was going to suffer on my way back, happy that’s not the case.
Day 6: Tue 10/12
Just like that my time in Sevilla was over and I had to make my way to the airport and start my journey back home, I walked a lot this day, It was slightly uncomfortable, but no pain when I’m sitting or laying down on the floor(yes I laid down on the floor to sleep a bit through my layover) overall my gait is good after a few warm up steps because I feel stiff after staying in one position long, but after walking for some minutes, pushing my heavy carry on with my camera and gadgets, the legs start getting a bit tired and waddle slightly. But overall good improvement, not much pain while traveling, couldn’t wait to get home to my bed and finally Sleep good for once in two weeks
Author
Topic: Movie - Femurs with Dr. Mahboubian 9/01/2019 (Read 81177 times)