Taking stock - Microdiscectomy +2

I would like to say at this point, massive thanks to everyone who has sent me good luck messages or get well messages, or simply 'liked' my facebook statuses. It did wonders for my morale and continues to do so.

1st day after the operation

I slept so well last night. Despite waking up at 7.30 I felt as if I'd slept much longer. The pain in my back was negligible. I got up at 10.30 and was walking freely. This whole operation malarky is a bit easy.

Ah hubris. You unwelcome guest. For not far behind you is nemesis, ready to cut the unwary down to size.

I over dramatise. I was not complacent but I was happy with how I felt. I kept my ever so fetching surgical stockings on. Little chance of a deep vein thrombosis now but it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

my sexy stockinged leg

Nurse Becky had been unable to find the sheet of post op exercises but as luck would have it the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford has a set of five simple exercises on the web. It said you should start them the day after your op. So after chatting to some friends online I set about the  exercises for the first time.

I didn't force things. Wary of my fresh injury I took it steady. Even so, after completing a set of the exercises I could feel my back was more sore than before. I settled into my chair for an afternoon of tv watching. I probably stayed in that position for too long. The pain increased and I decamped to my bed. Don't get me wrong, the pain  wasn't unbearable  but it was appreciably worse. Had I erred in starting the exercises too soon?

I suspect that actually this is all part of the healing process. Whatever drugs were in my system for the op have now left, and my body is reacting to the trauma. I haven't had to hammer the tramadol which is a good sign. So all in all I'm still happy with things.

Reflections

I continue to reflect on my stay in the hospital,  short as it was. The staff were wonderful,  though I suspect there weren't enough of them. I saw no evidence of truth in Jeremy Hunt's cynical slating of hospital staff, saying they just do the bare minimum. These people were working very hard, providing a fantastic service seemingly without down time. They kept their good humour throughout and I can't speak highly enough of them. The Health Secretary is a fool, and it saddens me that such an ignorant buffon has his hands on our NHS.

Addenbrookes Travelodge?

Each hospital bed station has a touch screen entertainment system installed. I bought a day's bundle, fully intending to watch a movie or two. Instead my stay was so brief I watched football and rugby and that was it. It was a great system though, albeit pricey. Many hotels could learn a lesson or two from it. Speaking of which, the night that I spent in the hospital did make me think that if Travelodge did dorms it would be a lot like that. I've never had a good night's sleep in a Travelodge,  the walls are paper thin so you can hear snoring, and other people keep waking you up throughout the night. On the other hand, in hospital the staff were helpful and the food was good. So not that much like a Travelodge then.

Me looking dozy just after the op, in my fetching surgical gown and the footie on tv.

Plan for Day 3

Tomorrow I intend to start on my boxset marathon. At Jo's recommendation I will start with Utopia, a six part channel 4 series with an interesting premise. I will get to my other boxsets soon enough :) Sopranos, 24 and 30 Rock await along with others.

So at the end of day 2:

• The unmedicated pain is 5.5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most painful). Worse than yesterday but manageable. 
• My back is more stiff and achy than yesterday. Walking upright is harder due to muscular tension in the lower back
• My pill count was: Gabapentin 300mg x2, Tramadol 50mg x2, Nurofen Express 200mg x2