Discharged and Thankful

Yesterday, I got the thumbs up and was released from the hospital.  Over the previous two days, I was able to get out of bed more frequently and make more trips around the floor.  It definitely helped with the edema, but I'm still very swollen; more swollen than I had been in my previous surgeries.  I haven't been nearly as active this time either, but looking forward to that changing over the course of the next week.  I'm still limited in sitting down with the wound and penrose drain in the buttock:  My hips are starting to complain as they are getting worked more than they have in the past as well.  I have been able to sit on the toilet, albeit a little shakely and start getting the hang of the ostomy bag again.  Can't say it's like riding a bike, but the tricks I had before are slowly coming back to me.

Infectious Disease was happy with the cell counts as they continue move in the right direction.  They also noted that, had I been a little older, I would not have survived this little adventure.  Looking back, and speaking with other friends in the medical profession, that night after surgery was a lucky night.  Not many people survive having blood pressures that low, especially while being septic.  They also noted that's why I couldn't get any pain management, as they were concerned about giving me anything that would drop my pressure any lower than it already was.  My wife and I were completely unaware of how bad the situation really was, although it may have been for the better.  I think my wife would have liked to have stuck around knowing if I was in that bad of shape, but since it's all worked out, we got lucky.  Not sure if I cheated before, but I squeaked by this time, and I'm very thankful for it.

We had to work with case management to get on a PO version of the antibiotic so that I did not have to have a picc line installed.  Thankfully, my insurance covers a decent portion of the zyvox pills.  Having to deal with a picc line isn't the worst, but another possible source of infection seems to be a little against what we're trying to accomplish here.

I'm still left with the penrose drain in the left buttock where the infection site was.  The bag they had placed over it to catch the drainage, which is also subsiding, has been removed.  Now, we merely have to dress it daily to keep it clean.  Unfortunately, with the MRSA infection, anything that comes from that area is "diseased" (that's how my wife looks at it) and has to been given a little bit of care.  We've always washed our hands before and have been good with hygiene, but for now we'll have to be a little more diligent and aware.

The trip home was quite uncomfortable, but safe.  I had to lay the passenger seat all the way down and lay on my side again.  Hurtling down the highway, unbelted, after going through what I just went through, all I could hope for was to arrive home safely:  If something were to happen on the way home, that'd be too ironic to make even me to chuckle.  Once home, I was too exhausted to even watch game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, which were tied at the time.  At the base of the stairs, the top seemed like one of the harder climbs I had done, to which my wife chuckled "Good luck with that!"  Yeah, and needed it.  Stairs are good exercise and we'll try to exert those as necessary in the upcoming days:  They are a leg/core killer and I don't have that much strength yet.  Getting into / out of bed has been tough, as it's much higher than a hospital bed, but we're trying all kinds of positions, pillows, wedges to make sleeping at least possible.  Benedryl worked wonders last night, but gives me the oddest of dreams, some of which keep me awake.  I've been able to manage the pain via pill form which has been good:  Let's hope my activity at home doesn't put me through the roof.

There is nothing like being in your own bed, no matter what it takes to get there.  My wife even moved to another room to give me the whole bed!  (although I think that's more so we don't keep each other up at night.)  I love being home and I love being alive.  Here's to each day getting healthier than the one before it.