Freakish Planning Person

[cjsmith]

Freakish Planning Person is making more lists! Lists containing lists!
[LJ-CUT TEXT="Notes for myself"]

1. Scheduling person at surgeon's office called to say she can tell me for sure tomorrow.

• Boss notified of delay in schedule resolution
• Boss's boss notified of delay in schedule resolution
• ...

WAIT, strike all that. New voice mail message. I'm on for the 4th!!

• Boss notified of the date
• Boss's boss notified of the date
• rfrench will be notified when I see him or when he reads his e-mail or when he reads this
• joedecker, backup driver (thank you! I may still need you!), will be notified when he sees his IM screen or when he reads this notified
• Parents will be notified as soon as they hear their voice mail
• (new 8:30pm) All square dance commitments notified, as soon as group leaders see their e-mail anyway

2. Fears about the outcome: present. Contingency plans for if this doesn't do much for me: made.

3. PREP: Questions to ask at pre-op appointment

• Does the surgery center provide crutches? Funny shoes?
• If I'll have prescription painkillers, can I get the prescription now so I can fill it while I can still drive and walk?
• Food/water restrictions? Starting when?
• Medication restrictions before surgery? After?
• Anything I shouldn't be wearing when I come in? (No more surprises with metal jewelry!)
• When should my ride be prepared to pick me up from surgery?
• Will I wear the funny shoes 24/7? If so, what are they like? If not, what are the dressings like?
• Is there anything I should buy now to prepare for aftercare (eg bandages)?
• When can I stand up? shower? ride a bicycle? drive a car?
• When's the first post-op follow-up appointment?
• Can I get a videotape of the surgery? Still photos?

4. PREP: Chores

• Set up guest bedroom as recovery room, including water, books, pen-and-paper puzzles, Ethernet cable, read-in-bed back pillow, pillow-desk, and lots of pillows to go under feet DONE (hey, why not pamper myself?)
• Also have lined trash can handy in case anaesthesia doesn't agree with me. DONE
• Also put backpack in room. DONE
• Set up couch as first-afternoon crash spot, including water, books, pen-and-paper puzzles, laptop connected to Ethernet and power, pillows for under feet, land line, cell phone, snacks, painkillers.
• Make a bunch of quick-reheat food for the first few days DONE (purchased frozen food)
• Make chocolate chip cookies as promised to schedule-person DONE
• Get bike functional, in case I can ride it before I am allowed to drive
• Take apart an office chair so I have an under-desk-capable stool at work to elevate my feet a bit
• Make foot MRI icon already
• Create waist-pack of Important Stuff: water bottle, painkillers, cell phone, anything else that should always be on me

5. PREP: Errands

• Buy wedge-shaped pillow for laptop use in bed DONE
• Borrow pillow-desk from wonderful friend DONE
• Borrow table from aelfie
• Buy lots of flavored fizzy water DONE
• Buy beverage container with non-leaking lid (eg thermos) for the time on crutches DONE
• Go to medical supply place and check out real shower seat DONE, sort of (plastic stool will do fine in that big shower)
• Find extra-big shoes to wear while swollen NAH, do this as needed later

6. Last minute:

• Wednesday night: laundry
• Wednesday night: buy bag of ice
• Wednesday night: put laptop downstairs, by couch, connected to net
• Bring backpack to surgery
• Wear WIDE-legged shorts and a skirt to surgery

Anyone reading this: if you've had foot surgery, especially both feet at once, what should I be ready for?

Comments

[therobbergirl.livejournal.com]

Are you going under a general? If so, you are likely to appreciate having made a number of foods in advance. Specifically, jello will be your friend. I made up three large boxes. I used some extra unflavored gelatin so that I could cut it into cubes from a cake pan. I was very glad to have finger food -- managing dishes and using flatware was beyond me those first two days.

Sherbet was another buddy starting on the second day.

I had no desire for clear soups. I felt nauseated just thinking about warm or hot things.

Lots and lots of ice water. I filled oodles of bottles and put them in the refrigerator before surgery.

Have an empty trashcan lined securely with a plastic bag. Put it in easy reach.

See if someone will stay with you all day when you come home. I am enormously grateful to palecur for performing this service. He spent most of his time working from home and playing video games in another room, but in earshot. You are so not going to want to get out of bed to get your own jello. You're going to be resentful of the restroom, but take it from me, I tried, but palecur can't go for you.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Lists containing lists!

Meta-lists! :-) They seem pretty comprehensive. If it's a good surgery center, they should have literature with what to expect/need during recovery, too.

I'm on for the 4th!!

Yay! I'm sure that doesn't make the nervousness any better, but I know you wanted it sooner rather than later, too.

I'll be thinking of you on the 4th. *hugs*

Suggestions & opinions

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Wide-legged shorts for the day of surgery, or at least something that won't be awkward to take off over the dressings. A skirt and going commando???

A real shower seat, because the feet will be made to be non-skid in the shower, as well as a non-skid seat.

Fresh sheets, and at least one change of sheets ready for the bed. After a few days mostly in bed, fresh sheets are a blessing.

Most places don't provide crutches or walkers, IME. The coverings for your feet they should be able to do.

Have lots of favorite semi-health food at hand - fruits, etc.

Get a beginning crochet book, a hook, and some yarn. I taught gremlin44 pretty much over IM, I can teach you, too :-)

Any idea how long you'll be down for?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Cold water bottles, EXCELLENT idea. Extra ice to apply to feet, too.

I'm going under something that they call "more than local but not full general". Sadly. I recover GREAT from general -- last time, or maybe time before last, I was out doing yard work the same afternoon -- so I'm not sure what this new concept in anaesthesia will do to me. I'll stock up on anti-nausea foods just in case.

Yeah, if palecur can't go for you I'm pretty sure that from across the bay he can't go for me. Darn!

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

I wonder if one of those pillow desks they make for students would work for the laptop? I bet they are cheap now that school supplies are out in all the stores.

Re: Suggestions & opinions

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of my button-all-the-way-down-the-front dress, until I realized I wouldn't get undressed for this surgery! OK, wide-legged shorts as "undies" under a skirt: that I can do. Excellent thought. Thank you.

I'm not *expecting* to be in bed more than an afternoon, but as I told amywithani above, I'm not sure what this kind of anaesthesia will do to me. I am usually insanely lucky with general.

They say I'll be on crutches for a week. They say I can walk, with the crutches taking a fair amount of my weight, immediately. Then they said take a week off work. What the...? So I'm thinking Thursday off work and Friday depends on how I feel and if I'm still out by Monday I'll be stunned.

OK: possible errand to medical supply place for crutches and real shower seat. Gotcha. Thanks.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oo yeah! Good idea. I was thinking the wedge would go behind my torso, so a pillow-desk on my lap would be good. (Or maybe my legs will be up way high so they'll make a desk of their own!)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I am sooooooo happy it's this early.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! Duh!

Don't forget laptops get kind of hot. With a pillow desk at least you have a barrier between the laptop and your legs.

[tryslora]

No foot surgery, but broke one of them last year. Got funny shoe and crutches from ER, and the orthopoedics provided replacements when needed.

Get three bags of frozen peas (per foot). These are the PERFECT ice packs. Mark them DO NOT EAT. Having three per foot lets you rotate them in and out of the freezer, and they are maleable, far more than regular ice packs. The not eating them part is important, tho. *grins*

Echo the have somebody around for the first day at minimum. Working on crutches is WORK. Real work. Exhausting work. I was at a hotel after breaking my foot and just getting from elevator to the breakfast tired me out.

My friend Janice (after her foot surgery) had new shoes. After the time for the special shoe was gone, she still couldn't fit into her old shoes for a few months, so she went out and bought sneakers one size too large. Gave them to Goodwill afterwards.

An upside down trash barrel under the desk works well too.

Have frozen peas ready at work as well for when you get the aches after you go back.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I am comfy with my laptop on my actual lap, but most people don't like heat as much as I do. :-)

[tryslora]

Oh, and watch out for the laptop overheating (speaks she who has done just that by leaving it on the cushions of the couch).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I tried the frozen peas thing once with frozen berries. Guess what: when a bag full of frozen berries springs a leak you don't want to be anywhere near it! PEAS, CJ, get *peas*. I also have about eight million ice packs, some of which really do stay flexible when frozen. That's a legacy of having had foot pain for more than a year and a half now.

I've never been on crutches. I am probably more agile in a wheelchair (I have one of those, and that was a learning curve!) than on crutches. I bet my antics will be very funny the first few days. :-)

Ooooo, big (or resizable) shoes, excellent tip, thanks.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They do pour out the heat, don't they? Yeesh.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Crazy Californian ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hee hee! :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the anesthesia is similar to the type I had for my vas. I was conscious but extremely loopy, and I never felt a thing during the surgery. :-)

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Great idea - I use one all the time and I'd totally forgotten to suggest it :)

[oddhack.livejournal.com]

You will probably get sore armpits/sides on crutches. Don't overdo it at first and maybe look for something padded on top, not just the rubberized handles.

Re: Suggestions & opinions

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Hon, if they say take a week off work then take a week off work.

Yes, you'll be able to walk. But your feet and your body need time to heal, and that means rest. Do you want to risk having surgery fix things and end up doing damage because you didn't give it enough time to heal??

And as was pointed out to you elsethread, walking on crutches is work!

*waves finger in the air*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I really really don't want to be conscious. But I need this surgery, so I'll do what I have to do. :-/

Re: Suggestions & opinions

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I heal sooooooo fast, though. When I had abdominal surgery I was square dancing two days later. (OK, not ENERGETICALLY, but I did it.) I'll certainly take time off if I'm fatigued, a sure sign that my body is soaking up resources with healing, and my boss and grandboss are perfectly content with me taking whatever time I need to heal. So that much is good.

I think the "time off work = 1 week" is for people who move around a lot at work. The scheduling-person was mollified when she heard I was a computer programmer and not, say, a nurse or a waitress.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I've already been warned to get rid of the little molding-marks on the sides of the squishy rubber things that go in the armpit, as they chafe.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

A bonus point is I've wanted to try one of those for years. This gives me a good excuse to get a round tuit and go GET one!

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I should also point out that I don't remember a thing from during the surgery, and that was the case right after, too, so it's not just time passing. I have images in my head from lying on the table, but that's about it. It was fine. Toni says I was pretty amusing the way I was trying to talk - lots of nonsense. I remember the nurse answering me, but I have no idea what either of us said or what I was even trying to say.