I had a post-surgery appointment with the doctor this morning. She seemed pretty pleased with my progress.
But the most amazing thing about it was… A first in my medical/dental experience. I was seen early.
You never know what Jax traffic is going to be like, so we always allow extra time to make appointments. Traffic was light, so I got there darned near half an hour early. I figured that sucked, that I’d be sitting in the waiting area for a while. But I walked in, and before I could even sign in the clerk asked my name. I told her, and began spelling it (I always have to spell Bussjaeger). Before I finished, she was looking at her computer, and asked, “Mr. Carl?”
I signed another form, and she told me to go take a seat, they’d call for me in a few minutes. No more than two minutes later after I sat down, they did call me.
All told, I was out five minutes after my appointment was scheduled to begin. That’s never happened before. My niece was pretty impressed, too.
So: Hip doing well. Doc thinks I won’t be on a cane permanently (really only using it to assure balance while I get used to how the leg feels now, a bit odd). I think my blood pressure needs watching. Despite good numbers while I was in the hospital, it was a bit high today. But I’ve always gotten nervous about doctor (and especially dentist — bit of a story there) appointments, so it might just be that.
Doc was pleased that I’m not needing even acetaminophen. I got the feeling she’s not used to hearing a lot of her post-op patients rating their pain at 1 (on the 1-10 scale).
Paying for all this is still an issue. I really don’t want to see that 4 ounce silver round. But I have to admit that UF Health has been very forgiving of the worst of the bills so far. I still need to pay the ambulance bill, and those guys earned every penny.
Happy to hear your hip is recovering well!
When my Dad broke his hip in early 2015, working in EMS I knew it was what we refer to as “the beginning of the end.” First off, he was predeceased by my Mom, who if she was alive would have kicked his ass back into shape. I remember her having major surgery, and insisting on getting out of bed to start walking the halls dragging her IV pole as soon as the anesthesia wore off, as in “I am getting the hell out of here!” Not Dad, he would come out of PT and be moaning how “brutal” it was and on the 1-10 pain scale say it was a 15. I would get so pissed at him, and tell him those ratings are for severe burn victims or car accident victims with multiple broken bones and missing limbs. I told him to embrace the pain because it means you’re alive. Only dead people feel no pain. Nope, the nurse would come in and ask him if he was in pain, and the Oscar winning performance would ensue. But the prize wasn’t a statue, it was a mouthful of opioid pain killers that would turn him into a drooling zombie and end the visit.
Dad passed away on Jan. 3, 2018 and was buried with full military honors (stacked above Mom in the same grave) at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, MA. Serving with the Patriot Guard in MA as well as CT & RI, I visit all the family graves there every couple of months.
I hope your recovery continues to go well.