[normhead]

Indeed, it is.

I'm back home. Well, what's left of me is.
It's going to be a long, tough recovery.
I've got lots of meds, all of them necessary, but not quite adequate, it's been a week now since I've been able to sleep more than 45 minutes at a time without at least an hour of being awake in between.
It will be at least 3 months before I can bear any weight on the leg.

I'm not sure I can do this.

Netflix is a wonderful thing.....
When I came home from my operation I was on 12 Percocets a day, 2 every three hours. But that was a short term arrangement, and lasted a couple weeks. I hope you can get the sleep thing figured out, lack of sleep is more debilitating than most drug addictions. This is when you find out how completely dark ages our medical system is when it comes to pain management. I was quite honestly shocked at how little has been done developing effective anti-pain protocols. My doctor didn't have any advice on how to get enough sleep, or suggest an anti-pain regimen. He just wrote me prescriptions and expected me to figure it out.

If you can find a pain clinic it might be worth your while. I have seen pain management seminars given by the local health unit, but of course, they don't do them very often. I missed the one right before my operation, and there hasn't been another one since.

The biggest issue for me was, anti-pain drugs are either addictive, or you can't take enough of them to keep you even minimally comfortable.

Hang in there. It will get better.

---

Last edited by normhead; 01-23-2017 at 06:39 AM.

[Rupert]

I'm not sure I can do this.

Oh hell yes you can do this! I was told twice that "you may not walk again" and once that they needed to amputate my right foot due to the certainty of imminent gangrene. You make it, you just do it...one day at a time. Where you are right now is the toughest stage, but it will pass and you will tough it out.

Don't want to hear that from you again! Don't make me come up there and sit with you, telling you never ending Rupert Stories.......I can and I will if I hear that kind of talk again!

Regards!

[ccc_]

Indeed, it is.

I'm back home. Well, what's left of me is.
It's going to be a long, tough recovery.
I've got lots of meds, all of them necessary, but not quite adequate, it's been a week now since I've been able to sleep more than 45 minutes at a time without at least an hour of being awake in between.
It will be at least 3 months before I can bear any weight on the leg.

I'm not sure I can do this.

you can do it

after awhile the pain is just there
it will make you grumpy
it takes some of the shine off your day
but it keeps you from hurting yourself worse

the weird thing is
when this is over it will actually take time to adjust to the lower levels of pain
you will have developed a series of compensations that need to be retired

I could never decide if it was courage or stubbornness that gets a person through these things
either way they do and at the end of it, it will be ok

i'm sure you've gotten the lectures
just be patient and careful
you will do just fine

[eddie1960]

Indeed, it is.

I'm back home. Well, what's left of me is.
It's going to be a long, tough recovery.
I've got lots of meds, all of them necessary, but not quite adequate, it's been a week now since I've been able to sleep more than 45 minutes at a time without at least an hour of being awake in between.
It will be at least 3 months before I can bear any weight on the leg.

I'm not sure I can do this.

You can do this Jim, Pain meds can be an issue for some but not all there are other factors in how addiction works, so i would deal with the pain because that is more difficult. easing off the meds is the hardest part but your doc should have a program where the strength declines as the need decreases . Lack of sleep is a horrible thing a little bit at a time just makes it worse hope that starts to resolve soon.
As Norm said Netflix is a great way to while away time. I've power watched may things when out sick now and again. a day will get you through most of a season , so a series you've not seen with 5 seasons may get you through a week . I don't know your taste in movies so a suggestion is hard to make
By summer you will be outside taking a few shots and rebuilding the strength (when i broke my leg it was a spiral fracture all the way down the tibula from theknee and the fibula broke in three places. 4 months in a cast after the surgery to set it it was a long winter spring,

[Parallax]

Thak you, all, for the supprt.
I just need to vent once in a while and this is a great place to do it.

[bertwert]

You can do it, you've now got a perfectly good excuse to sit on PentaxForums all day and not be taking photos outside!

You Tube

You Tube

[normhead]

Thak you, all, for the supprt.
I just need to vent once in a while and this is a great place to do it.

The crazy thing is, 7 months later my surgery, memories of getting up in the two or three times every night to take pain meds, being in pain all the time, etc. doesn't seem real. I know it happened, but I can't really even imagine what it was like. But for 3 months before my new hip I was pretty much immobile. Any movement at all hurt. It seemed long at the time, and part of that was I really questioned if the surgery was really going to help. But, I walked 5 km (3 miles) in the bush, post holing every so often into 14 inches of snow under the crust. I was damn sore, but I wasn't hurting.

I had a six month wait after I got desperate enough to ask for the operation before I got my new hip. The time passes slowly, but it passes.

[Rupert]

Netflix is a wonderful thing.....

Otis recommends Foamy Squirrel for genuine squirrel porn and filth of the finest quality....
::iLL WiLL PreSS:: HOME OF NEUROTICALLY YOURS, 4Y-RECORDS & MORE.

Bless his little heart, he does mean well.....I think?

Regards!

[eddie1960]

You can do it, you've now got a perfectly good excuse to sit on PentaxForums all day and not be taking photos outside!

Monty Python - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - YouTube

it always has seemed to me like Jim was on the forum all day long good song choice

[Rupert]

Just talked with Jim......he's gonna be fine. Tough road ahead but he can handle it. We are here for him, and aren't going anywhere....at least you guys aren't. I could be banned at any minute, but out of concern for Jim, Otis has promised to stop hitting the complaint button on me until Jim is healed. We'll see??

Regards!

[monochrome]

Indeed, it is.

I'm back home. Well, what's left of me is.
It's going to be a long, tough recovery.
I've got lots of meds, all of them necessary, but not quite adequate, it's been a week now since I've been able to sleep more than 45 minutes at a time without at least an hour of being awake in between.
It will be at least 3 months before I can bear any weight on the leg.

I'm not sure I can do this.

Jim: You have many friends who have overcome hardships. They/we cannot tell you what is right for you to do, but we can tell you our stories - and what we've done - and suggest what worked for us might work for you.

In my life, there is always more to appreciate than to regret. Always.

[Rupert]

I kept that Civil War letter on my desk and read it often to remind myself what "it could be worse" was really like. No relief, no comfort, and no hope....yet his letter was hopeful for the future of his wife and kids and the future of the nation. Each time I read it I felt pretty damn lucky!

Still...in the midst of the pain and suffering it is hard to find relief or comfort in the hope or struggles of others. We are not programmed that way when the pain is almost unbearable. It is a time you must rely on your inner strength and just suck it up and go forward. We do it.

Regards!

[Parallax]

Jim: You have many friends who have overcome hardships. They/we cannot tell you what is right for you to do, but we can tell you our stories - and what we've done - and suggest what worked for us might work for you.

In my life, there is always more to appreciate than to regret. Always.

Thanks, Paul.
Hearing others' experiences, and how they handled them always helps.
I too have more to appreciate than regret, but suspect that the trip to Rapid City is going to top the regret list for a while. It was just a routine day trip.

"....a three hour tour. A three hour tour..........

[Rupert]

I too have more to appreciate than regret, but suspect that the trip to Rapid City is going to top the regret list for a while. It was just a routine day trip.

Yep, you don't know how many times I have regretted being on my roof with squirrels all around me....and Otis continually repeating....."I've got your back!" Yep, he sure as hell did!

Regards!

[eddie1960]

Yep, you don't know how many times I have regretted being on my roof with squirrels all around me....and Otis continually repeating....."I've got your back!" Yep, he sure as hell did!

Regards!

he never mentioned he was pushing you then ?
his Canadian cousins have broken into my walls lat night yet again, I have to stop making fun of him i guess