Update on Me

jsewell · #1 (**permalink**) 05-10-2014, 05:52 AM

My youngest will be here when not working. the problem with her is she needs to get her license before i have surgery or she will not have a way to get to work and back. i will also need her to drive me to my appointments. My son will be around too but he spends tons of time at the computer shop he is learning at. Actually the owner is planning on opening another shop near us and having Tim run it . So he may be very busy. I will probably be mostly on my own as usual. The house will be a dirty disaster as no one around here cleans except me when i can. Oh well, life goes on doesn't it.
It is late and i am tired and hungry so will get a little something and go to bed.
judy

Maria · #2 (**permalink**) 05-10-2014, 06:14 PM

Well that will probably take a back seat to surgery and recovery!!! So will driving most likely no matter which foot is involved so hopefully your dau will get her drivers license before your surgery. What about a rehab hospital for you post surgery?

jsewell · #3 (**permalink**) 05-11-2014, 03:49 AM

I don't see any reason to go to a Rehab place. I doubt my insurance co would pay anyway. I will just need the kids to get me food and take care of the dogs . I know i can't carry anything on crutches. oh how i hate walking with crutches too. Hopefully they will not be for a very long time, but who knows. I don't have any idea what type of cast i will be in, but i know that is part of the plan. I am seeing my surgeon on the 19th so i better start writing down questions I also will bring paper with me to write down what he tells me , because i will not remember much.

This week is going to be a scorcher. I will get my daughters work schedule from her tonight, i hope and then i think if she is not working on Wed , i am definitely heading to the beach. I can't go on Thursday or Tuesday and on Monday i have physical therapy at 12:30 so it would be too late a start with traffic. It is supposed to be 103 here on Wed . !!! I have air now , thankfully, but it will still be really nice at the beach and i need to work on my tan!!
Judy

Maria · #4 (**permalink**) 05-14-2014, 10:51 PM

To the beach today? I went to Seal Beach last evening and it was really great there re perfect weather and just perfect place to be. Walked out on the pier and looking to one side saw the sun setting and to the other side the full moon appearing in sky. So incredibly beautiful!

Went to SB this a.m. to listen to this guy who wrote and published a book on Seal Beach at O'Malley's bar. That was kind of fun and then checked out a few little shops meaning to get to walk to the Pier but my feet were starting to "grumble" at me and I had to go pick up Alaska at the Vet's where I left her before going to hear the guy talk.

There was a fire in the Cerritos Wetlands which is about at PCH and 2nd Street intersection or nearby there and that backed traffic up like crazy getting home. A drive of normally at the most 10 minutes took me about 45 minutes to get home with a cat full of sub q fluids and a/c on in my SUV.

Got home and hung out with a few neighbors for about a half hour under a nice shady tree and then it started to get real hot even in the shade. Watered my succulent plants and it was just burning up in the sun!

I'd go to the beach but since I can't walk barefooted by the water I don't really want to go until it's cool enough to sit out in the shade somewhere which an idea many people have besides me! There were plenty of people at the beach this morning though and it did look really inviting!

mmglobal · #5 (**permalink**) 05-15-2014, 02:16 PM

Rehab hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (SNF) = nursing home. Some are good... some are OK and some are incubators. I had a client in his 80's who had a very successful surgery, but because he had come from out of town for surgery, was sent to a SNF where he acquired an infection. He recovered nicely after many weeks of IV antibiotics/PICC line, etc... but that recovery was very difficult and expensive. He would have been MUCH better off going to a hotel with his wife caring for him. Obviously, there were reasons that that did not seem to be the most attractive option.

Going to a rehab hospital or SNF may be a good option, but part of the decision making process should be a REALISTIC assessment of the risks.

Mark

Maria · #6 (**permalink**) 05-15-2014, 02:32 PM

I beg to differ on rehab hospital =SNF=Nursing Home. A rehab hospital or facility stay is something that a physician and other qualified health care professionals consider for the patient if the patient lives alone or has very little to no help with recovering and the recovery will benefit by the assistance of a rehab staff and stay. Plenty of younger than the very elderly go to rehab hospitals for recoveries especially for orthopedic related surgical recoveries if there is no one to help them thru the early stages of a difficult recovery and if there is insurance that covers the stay. I believe that today there are many SNF units that may be another part of the rehab hospital facility but not because everyone will make the progression from rehab to SNF etc.

I worked in a rehab hospital in Virginia. It may have been some time ago but one thing I noticed when my father was in a 5 star rehab post an emergency stomach surgery back in 2009 was that the services provided were much better, better organized, way more comprehensive and had excellent qualified staff to help with recovery.

It was very difficult for me to deal with myself the first few days post bunion surgery believe it or not but thinking about caring for myself after a major surgery like repair of posterior tibial tendon I believe I would need to stay in a rehab facility at least the first week.

If one can recover at home of course by all means that's the way to go. My question was posed to Judy out of concern re recovery at home if the surgery/recovery warrants it. I didn't mean to insult you Judy if you took it that way.

mmglobal · #7 (**permalink**) 05-15-2014, 03:05 PM

Maria, thanks for the correction. My statements above may be a gross oversimplification. I need a good smack down once in a while.

BTW, I don't think that anyone takes ANYTHING you write as insults... you provide useful information and caring support. Your perspective as a nurse is VERY useful.

I think that your description of rehab hospitals helps us understand what they are supposed to be, and usually are. My point that some rehab hospitals may really be glorified nursing homes, IMHO is still valid. We just need to keep our eyes open and be good consumers. My experience here is colored by ONE example from ONE spine patient that I know. We all know that a sample size of one is of little value, but I'll still use that experience as motivation to ask more questions and not assume that everything is as it should be.

Mark