Dr. Palmer in Stillwater, MN did my BHR on Wednesday morning. I was home again on Friday evening. Things are going well so far. The Percocets keep me sort of groggy and borderline woozy but I'm already backing off of those. They put me on two weeks of Warfarin because the crappy insurance I have (ND CHAND) doesn't pay up front for prescriptions and I didn't have an extra $1500 right now. So, I have to go in and have my blood drawn locally for the INR twice per week.
I stepped a bit hard getting down the steps in my garage and felt a "click" in the BHR. I hope I didn't screw up anything. So, I'm checking with my sister in law (phlebotomist) and seeing if she can perhaps draw my blood at home the next few times.
The assistant for Dr. Palmer was Dr. Ganesh who is on a Fellowship from Alberta. He said he is going to move to Phoenix when he's done in September.
The 5 hour drive went just fine. The first thing we did was find a Culver's and I had a double cheeseburger and fries. The hospital in Stillwater has just horrible hospital food. Some of the worst I've had to endure. Their toast is really special. I call it "steamed toast". Toast slathered with margarine and placed on a warming plate with a lid on it. Yuck!
I have my exercises to do and I'm supposed to get up and walk short and frequent walks. I have a fairly large house so I can make a lap to the front door, down the hallway and back and through the kitchen, dining room and living room and then loop back again. I already had a wheeled walker so that's what I have been using.
They tried to give me a spinal block for the surgery but couldn't get me stuck right. So, they used a general on me instead. Just as soon as I was awake they gave me some pain meds and got me up to stand on the BHR. It wasn't long until I was making regular trips to the bathroom and taking laps around the nurse's station. Slow, but sure.
They only had size XL support hose so I ordered out two pair of XXXL from an Amazon seller right away. Those should be here this week. Otherwise, just a regular cold pack on the incision.
The incision is about 12 inches long and is mostly horizontal. Dr. Palmer doesn't cut the piriformus and gamelus muscles but rather splits them down the length of them and then pushes the femoral head and neck out through them. That is supposed to make it more rapid to heal being the muscles aren't severed at all.
I'm looking forward to doing things again. It's been a long road to finally get to where I could have the surgery and get it paid for with insurance. I think things will be looking up from now on around here.
Neal Martin
