What the Surgeon Says

Hick had his 6-week appointment with the back surgeon on Thursday. The Veteran rode along with him, either for moral support, or a free lunch on the way home. Hick said he had to walk the length of our driveway (which is 1/8 of a mile) from the parking lot to the reception desk. Then that distance again to get to the x-ray part. I asked why he didn't have The Veteran drop him off at the door, and Hick said, "I drove." Seriously? He couldn't figure out a way to get out of the car and have The Veteran get behind the wheel to park???

Anyhoo... since Monday, I noticed an ooze coming out of a tiny segment of Hick's incision. When he was there unappointmented last week, the surgeon pushed and squeezed all along the incision, and said he got nothing out of it, but noticed a little gap near the bottom. A little opening about 1/4 inch vertical. He gave Hick some more of the betadine wipes for me to scrub with every morning after his shower. After looking at it and poking around on Thursday, the surgeon said it's nothing to worry about, but not to take a bath until it's closed up. And it wouldn't hurt to add some antibiotic ointment to it every day.

Hick can pretty much go about his business as usual, with the exception of not lifting more than 15 pounds. His bone grafts are growing together. The surgeon said that from what he saw on the x-rays, he would not do anything to Hick's hips. He said it looks like the bursa are inflamed. Hick had that problem a long time ago in a knee. They drained it with a long needle, and Hick says they took it out when he had his knee surgery a couple years later. That's a new one on me.

Anyhoo... the surgeon said that Hick should keep taking that anti-inflammatory medicine, which is not really a painkiller, but should help the bursa inflammation. He said he could give Hick another medicine to fight the inflammation, but it would also hamper the bone growth. So he'd rather go with a local medication that will only affect the hip. The surgeon (actually one of his colleagues) will give Hick a shot in his hip bursa in a week or two, to help with the pain. In the meantime, Hick can take up to 3000 milligrams of acetaminophen a day. That's only six pills. He said the liquid version works faster, but knowing how Hick doses himself with liquid meds, I think that's a bad idea.

Hick is still hobbling a little. He took his cane with him today. But once he got home, he left for town without it. Says his pain is around 2/10. He had one good night of sleep, only getting up three times through the night. The Veteran helped him program his breather so it isn't blasting so much oxygen into him while he sleeps. Supposedly that can wake a sleeper. We'll see how it goes.