Here's me one day after surgery. I wasn't going to post this but why not; it's instructive. You can see the CPM machine in the foreground, moving my leg up and down. The orange "trapeze" over my head was invaluable in moving around, especially when both of my legs were numb. I won't go into detail on the icky stuff but it's all there (drains, IV, epidural, ice packs, etc.)
This was my own room but as you can see, it's not spacious. The door to the bathroom is in the background, not that I got to use that until the final days. The view out the window, which I'm gazing toward, was of a smokestack on an older part of the hospital, but if I turned around and stretched I could see trees and Puget Sound. Guests had a great view in that direction. I saw a couple of beautiful sunsets out the window, perhaps made more spectacular by the oxycodone and other drugs.
In any case, this is what a person looks like one day post PAO. Basically just glad the hard part is over and wondering when I can have a shower!
3 comments:
Hello!
Glad to see you're doing well! What is the CPM Machine? Seems like it moves your leg for you - maybe to prevent atrophy?
I look forward to reading more!
Jen
CPM = Continuous Passive Motion. It moves my leg up and down to keep scar tissue from forming and so I won't lose too much range of motion, since I'm not allowed to actively raise my leg to the front.
The reason for this prohibition is that the hip flexor muscles were cut/moved/disturbed during surgery and need a chance to heal fully before I'll be allowed to use them actively. I'll keep the CPM machine at home until I can easily work my leg to 90 degrees without pain. I started at 40 and I'm currently at 70.
That's great! I didn't know that machine existed and I have not heard of anyone else who had a PAO using them. I guess I will ask my doc, I am about a month away from my RPAO. Thanks and be well!
Jen
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