Surgery Day is Behind Us

View of Pensacola from Mom's room at Sacred Heart Hospital

Surgery day is behind us. Ugh. It was a long one. I woke up at a quarter 'til to two, left home at three and made it to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla. by 5 p.m. Mother's surgeon said her knee replacement went extremely well. The only snag we ran into was that the hospital was out of rooms. Momma basically spent six hours in recovery waiting for one. After she was given a room, Sydney and I stayed with her and with Daddy until things were settled. She had PT and OT and a meal before we left. We hung around until about seven because, with the rain, traffic was a nightmare. The ambulances left for another call as soon as they dropped off their patients at the ER, just underneath us.

We made it home around 10 p.m. and I was absolutely exhausted. People who don't take medication that affects your sleep don't understand. With my bipolar, sleep is always a battle. I don't want to do it and take medication to help me stay on a schedule. Days like this surgery day are brutal because i can't take my meds at the right time, not can I sleep like I'm supposed to. Then, the next day is messed up because I sleep until lunch and that throws off my morning meds. Ugh.

In the end, it's worth it to know I was there to help my parents. I know they would and have helped me the same way in the past. 

Driveway to the rental in Waldo, Ala.

I'm really looking forward to putting the past 12 months behind. Like as I knew changed last April with my bad fall and subsequent knee damage, Daddy's ruptured disc and back surgery, Sydney GI issues complete with endoscopy and colonoscopy, Mother first knee replacement, Craig's three-month health crisis, my bad mammogram complete with two mammograms, an ultrasound and an upcoming MRI, and Momma's second knee replacement. My brother, Jesse' dealt with severe kidney stones on top of all of that. 

I just want a week with no doctor appointments. No trips to Pensacola or Mobile to doctors and hospitals. Tomorrow will make my third trip to Sacred Heart Hospital this week. It's an almost four-hour round trip.

By the way, I talked to Momma this morning and she had a good night.  :)

I'm tired. I hope that our short getaway to the middle of nowhere in two weeks will help. We're staying in a cabin in the woods by an old abandoned covered bridge and small creek. Ah. Makes me relax a little just thinking of it. 

I hope things'll be normal when we get back.