Cost of Surgery

The bills are starting to roll in from my hernia surgery.  Granted, all we owe is the deductible, but wow!  I'd total up all the bills from the doctor, the surgery center and the anesthesiologist and post it, but I don't think it would be very appropriate, plus I don't want to sound like I'm whining.   But I wouldn't have guessed that it would cost as much as it did just to have a small hole patched.  And for what we pay in insurance one would think that we would have a little lower deductible.  It's reasons like this that I don't go to the doctor as much as I should.

Recovery Progress

Things are coming along slowly after surgery.  The first couple of days were a little painful, and I did my best not to use any vicodin, especially since it made me feel so sleepy.  After the first couple of days I was going a little stir crazy, not doing anything, other than a little bit of walking around to go see Kris's dad.  I don't think that I could ever be rich because sitting around all day doing nothing and having other people do stuff for you would drive me crazy.  I did it for two days and I couldn't stand it.

As of today (Thursday) things are going pretty good.  There is still some tenderness to the touch and the muscle feels tight where things were stitched up, so I'll have to just be careful not to try and do too much too quickly.  I think that I will be able to feel if I am overdoing it.  I am ready to head back to work, but I have to wait until I see the doctor next week.  I shouldn't have said anything about it, and I could be going back to work tomorrow.

Recovery

I made it through the procedure, and now I just have to try and sit and recover.  The only problem is that I am not one to sit around and do nothing.  It drives me insane not being able to do anything.  I am doing my best to just sit and rest, but Kris and the girls are already yelling at me because I am walking around.  I'm not lifting anything, or doing anything strenuous, but I'm also not just sitting in the recliner.

The doctor estimated a 10-14 day recovery period, while I was thinking about a week.  Though if you figure in the weekend, it's about 10 days before heading back to work.  But I need to get an ok from the doctor before going back.  Since we are on Easter break, and the doctor has kids who are all high school and junior high aged, he is off for the week doing family stuff, so I don't think I'll get in for my release for work until at least Monday, the 16th.  so I guess that just means I get an extra day off.

So if you nee me, I'll be here, doing nothing, and going crazy.

Under the Knife

I am going under the knife in the morning.  Well, not really under the knife, but having some minor surgery.  I have to get a hernia fixed and it is being performed laparoscopically.  So hopefully I won't be out of action for too long.  Alison is apparently worried, so she is probably going to come along with Kris to the surgery center.  Maybe I'll give an update after it's complete if I can be coherent and conscious after it is over.  Oh, and it is also Brewers opening day.  The game starts at 3:10 and that is around the time i should be heading home.  So with any luck I can watch the Brewers kick around the Cardinals too.

Follow Up

Kris had her follow up on her vein surgery on Tuesday. I will forgo posting any photos as I don't want to gross anyone out (plus I didn't take any) but she had some pretty nasty bruising. When she told the nurses there how much her leg bled and when they saw the degree of bruising she had they couldn't believe that we didn't call them. The pain was still pretty bad on Tuesday, but it is slowly getting better. The doctor tole her she can stop wearing the compression stocking at night if she wants to, but so far Kris has kept it on.

In three weeks she can completely stop wearing the stocking altogether. Updates will be posted as the become available.

Minor Surgery

Kris finally was able to get in and get her leg taken care of. Back in October she went to have some vein mapping done in her legs and an assessment done as to whether she needed to have any sort of stripping, or other kind of therapy done. We were waiting around for two months for her insurance to approve the procedure and she was finally able to get in before the end of the year.

Thursday she went in to have a vein burned and yanked out. She ended up with 14 different incisions. she will need to wear compression stockings now for the next 3 weeks. She said that with the other surgeries she has had, this one was by far the most painful.

As soon as we got home she had to sit with her leg up and let it rest. After an hour or so I had to check her dressings and they were seeping blood all over. I changed them and I wasn't prepared for the amount of blood. I thought there would be a little bloody gauze, but this was different than just a little blood. As I pulled the dressings off the change them, they were dripping blood. The girls were freaked and went running. Obviously they won't have a career in teh medical field.

After changing the dressings a couple of times throughout the day I think we have things under control. So now it is just rest and healing. Tuesday the sutures come out so we'll see how things are progressing then. Check back for updates.