Key Learning So Far

  • Understand the side effects, if any, of the drugs you'll be taking after surgery - especially possible withdrawl symptoms
  • Make sure whoever picks you from the hospital brings a paper and pen to take key notes from the nurse discharging you
  • If you have a job, organize your STD (Short Term Disability) as much as possible before surgery

Pain Chart - Post Surgery

Pain Chart - Post Surgery

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 7

Pain Rating:

Woke up at 4am to take the painkillers, otherwise a good nights sleep. My back felt pretty good this morning, so immediately after breakfast and my usual dosage of pills, I went for my longest walk yet (around 20 minutes). I also managed to do some work from my computer as well - at this point I'm relatively comfortable sitting for an hour or so, but after that I need to get up and move around.

The area on my back where the surgery was done is starting to itch today, as the pain seems to wears off. The muscles still feel tight and tender.

Found out today that I should have completed my STD (Short Term Disability) forms prior to going into surgery. Apparently I'm entiled to use 5 of my "sick days" for recovery and after that I need to claim STD, which is 75% of my salary. I hope to have the relevant people (surgeons, company representatives etc) fill these forms out with me by the end of tomorrow, so that I can fax these to the insurer, who will hopefully then verify that I'm covered for STD.

I managed another 20 min walk in before dinner, before heading to bed around 10pm.

Was this blog useful