Waking up from surgery is always a weird thing for me. I always seem to have very vivid dreams under anesthesia and this time in my dreaming I was working at writing a progress note for a (fictional) stroke victim and it seemed very real. So when Eric was talking to me, I am not sure what I was saying to him at first, but being a surgical recovery nurse, I am sure he gets all kinds of crazy conversation. He was super nice and we chatted quite a bit. Only thing I remember physically is how wonderfully warm I felt under the heated blankets, but it felt like I had a knife jabbed and stuck deep in my right medial malleoli, commonly known as the right inside ankle bone. As coherent as I was, the reality of my brand new ankle was still drowned out by the grogginess of the anesthesia.
As Eric and I chatted, I was watching the screen with my vitals and listening to all the other voices I could hear, taking in all that was going on around me. I heard my doctors voice in the distance and lifted my head a bit. Eric noticed and smiled saying "Yep that's your doctor. He'll be over to see you in a minute." Soon he was, and he asked how I felt, then told me everything went really well, and with excitement asked if I wanted to see pictures of my new ankle. He pulled the x-rays out of his back pack and showed me one in dorsiflexion and one in plantar flexion and said with even more enthusiasm "Look at all that ROM!" Then he told me he would be leaving for LA in the morning to teach a course, but would be back on Sunday and his PA's would be around to check on me until then. He left and I drifted in and out of sleepiness until it was time for me to move to my hospital room.
The ride to my room didn't seem like it took very long at all and as I rounded the last corner I could see Donavan and my folks sitting in chairs waiting for me. The nurses got me all settled in the room and then my family came in to see me. They were happy I was doing so well and that the surgery was a success. They had a long 2-4 hour ride home and it was dark out, so they gave me their love and headed home.
After they left I thought I would drift off to sleep, but I wasn't even tired, however I was extremely hungry and thirsty. The nurse came in and I asked when I would get to eat and she told me only liquids tonight and if I do okay, then regular diet tomorrow morning. She gave me a menu with all liquids, but the large selection of broth just did not sound good, so I went with a diet lemon-lime soda and some Cherry Italian Ice. Also by my bed was a glass of ice water and that was probably the best water I have had in years. My phone and tablet were close by, so I got on them to update the rest of the circle of my family and friends on how well it all went.
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