Category Archives: clogged surgical drains

Yesterday afternoon after some debate, we made the 90 min. trek to Disney. We rented a wheel chair for $10 and Ken pushed me around all afternoon. The trip over was bearable but I DID get a bit motion sick about 20 min. in. So I popped a few pieces of candied Ginger. It really is wonderful stuff and it got rid of the nausea and dizziness in about 5-10 minutes. It’s important to start eating it when you begin feeling motion sick though. I have yet to find anything that will fix motion sickness when you’re in the midst of it.

I also ended up taking half a hydrocodone before we even got there because I was spiking about a 5 or 6 on the pain scale. It’s not the bumps, it’s the vibrations from the road that really are the worst part of traveling. I’ve talked to others about this too and they all agree with me that it’s the road vibration that really makes riding painful.

When we got to Magic Kingdom, Ken maneuvered our way into the Minnie parking lot and found a space closest to the entrance in the row behind the handicapped parking row. I stayed put, still waiting for the pain pill to kick in, while Ken walked across to the main handicapped lot to grab a wheelchair.

The way it works at MK is that you use the parking lot wheelchairs aka the really crappy ones, to get to the gift shop by ticketing. Then you pay the $10 rental fee and transfer over to the better wheel chair with the wider seat. From there it’s up the ramp to the monorail.

The monorail then, after going through the Contemporary Resort, stops at Magic Kingdom. Then it’s down the ramp to the turn styles. We went to one of the gates that either wheelchairs or parents with strollers can use and a cast member ran our passes through the machine. We were in.

Usually the first stop is the Haunted Mansion but as we were both half starved we decided to stop by The Plaza restaurant on Main Street and see if they had any openings. Unfortunately, the next availability was in 30 min. Too long for us. So we headed for Tomorrowland and Cosmic Ray’s.

It’s really surprising how oblivious people can be to anything that is below normal line of sight. So I indugled in some cheerful “BeepBeep!” sounds when folks would stop directly in front of us. The park wasn’t very crowded so that didn’t happen too often.

Once food had been consumed, we headed for Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square by way of Fantasyland. Now HERE is where the flagstone minefield comes into play. Remember earlier I mentioned vibrations? Well wheelchairs have less shock absorbing capabilities so running over very rough flagstones such as are ALL OVER on the ground in Fantasyland, is rather like being IN a jackhammer. There are concrete paths around these islands of flagstone but it’s quite a bit like being in a mine field. The worst area for it was up by Ariel’s Grotto and Pinocchio’s. Unfortunately, that’s where we got caught.

Once we were out of that particular area of Fantasyland, it got much easier to deal with as the paths are all concrete.

As far as the attractions themselves, I had to walk the farthest for Haunted Mansion. They’ve worked out the best way to get people past the cue but after that, you’re still standing. Pirates of the Caribbean will let you roll all the way down to where you get on the boats. There they give you a tag so that you can retrieve the correct wheelchair after you come out. But you still have to walk from the boat, through the gift shop, back to the entrance to retrieve your chair.

The BEST attraction we went on for a wheelchair was Jungle Cruise. They have a boat that you just roll right onto. Then the lift swivels around and settles you in facing forward and you’re locked in nice and safe. No muss, no fuss.

There was also Philharmagic, which is a 3-D movie and for that you just roll into a space and watch the show. Also easy-peasy. By the time we’d eaten, done a little pin hunting and rode a few things, I was done for the day. So I popped another half a hydrocodone and we headed home.

This time I folded up the spare sweatpants I keep in the car for emergencies and used that as a cushion for my back. That really cut down on the vibrations and made the 90 min. ride home MUCH more tollerable. That, and we caught up with the last few episodes of the Geologic Podcast. A good dose of Geo always helps.

To review: Candied Ginger is your friend; Fantasyland is a Flagstone Minefield; Jungle Cruise is the best wheelchair-friendly ride and Sweatpants make a great cushion.

Twice a day we do what we’ve come to  called Morning or Evening Maintenance. That’s when the one remaining drain gets milked and gauze gets changed out as needed. This morning when Ken was changing the bandage on my back he found that the gauze around the remaining drain had a dime-sized area of dried blood on it. Apparently I did some damage to myself last night after all. The more Ken  gently pulled off the gauze the more he could see that I HAD ripped out a stitch. He very gingerly trimmed it off and re bandaged the area. Since it was only one of the stitches holding in the drain, it’s not a big deal. There’s still one other doing its job. The area is VERY tender, but it will be alright in a few days.

It’s really depressing because I wanted to try going to Disney today. Maybe tomorrow?

This morning Ken called Dr. Elliott’s office to let him know that the Darvocet wasn’t working for me. A little while later Suzanne called back and said that I should check my email. Sure enough there was a note from Dr. Elliott. So I wrote back and described how the Darvocet was kicking my ass AND not working very well.

Ken let her know what was going on and she said she would get in touch with Dr. Elliott too. A few minutes later, Dr. Elliott himself called me. He said he didn’t want me going back up in pain meds since i was on the Darvocet. He also said that the nausea and dizziness were normal.

I proceeded to argue my case and after a minute or so he capitulated saying he’d send in the script. Ken went to run errands not long after and in that process he picked up my meds. When he got home I ripped open the bag and yanked the little orange bottle from it’s bonds fully prepared to see the word Oxycodone cleary printed on the label. After all he DID say he’d call in the script.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the word Hydrocodone instead. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a BIG fan of the Codiene. It’s always been my favorite in the narcotics family. It has always worked the best for me in that I have no nausea and I can actually THINK clearly on it.

BUT that man LIED to me! There for his pants are aflame. I don’t know whether to be pleased with the replacement or pissed that he lied. Since there really isn’t anything I can do about it and he DID give me something that works, I think I’ll settle for a mixture of gratitude and mild annoyance.

Yesterday I tried using the new pain killer, Darvocet, that Dr. Elliott prescribed. It only worked for 2 and a 1/2 to 3 hours at a whack. The script was for every four hours. There was no WAY I could have made it four hours. Because of it I found a new type of pain in my chest. There was an elephant wearing barbed wire boots standing on my chest. Not to mention the overpowering nausea even WITH the anti-nausea patch. There was also the MAJOR dizziness. Darvocet just doesn’t work for me.

Ken has called twice now but Thursday IS a surgery day. There’s a chance we won’t hear from nnyone until late this afternoon. The scary thing is that I’m down to 1/2 an oxy. When that’s gone I have to go back to the Darvocet. Or maybe just a muscle relaxer will do the trick.

While I was typing, Suzanne from the office called to let me know that dr. Elliott was headed for the airport. Ten minutes after that he called. He’s going to call in the script for me. I DID have to make a case for it though. I argued for just another weeks worth and explained that I really felt that this was only temporary. In another week the Darvocet would probably work just fine. And I’m really taking SUCH a small ammount and it lasts longer than the Darvocet. So he agreed.

I’m guessing that Ken will be able to pick it up in about an hour or so.

In other good news, I actually slept through the night! Went to sleep around 11 and woke up about 12 hours later. I’m so relieved. I DID wake up and go to the bathroom at one point. With a few hypnosis techniques (counting breaths and visualization) I was able to go right back to sleep. If anyone is intereted in learning more about those techniques I’m happy to answer any questions.

Ever have one of those moments when you hear a noise that you only thought existed in comic books? While Ken was milking drains earlier, I actually heard “splort” from my left drain as he was emptying it! It was a surreal moment that I’ll probably forget.

While I *knew* it, it didn’t really register until today. For the last 16 days my oral pain pill has been Oxycodone. I now understand why people pay big bucks on the street for these. I also understand why they’re so addictive. I’m going to miss this gentle feeling of being cocooned in a cloud just floating through my day. I’ve been taking just a 1/4 dose for about week and a half and it STILL whacks me out. But the fun is just about over. I only have a little bit left of the Oxy. Today they switched me over to Darvocet and that’s just not the same. I’ll start taking those as needed since I just took a 1/2 an Oxy.

I once had a friend who took Oxy for his back pain. I can’t understand HOW he could take them and be SO angry. It’s just the opposite for me. Although I SHOULD add that I had a couple instances of very uncharictaristic angry outbursts. One of which I gently cupped Hubby’s naughy bits and threatened bodily harm if he hurt me while milking the drain on the right side again. That is SO not like me. It had to have been a mix of the pain and the meds.

I DID let myself go a little too long before taking this dose. So I can give a description of the pain. My chest feels like someone is scraping the inside of my new breasts with steel wool. My cleavage feels like someone is either slowly pressing a shiny metal spike there or intermittently stabbing me with a chisel. And then there’s the sudden searing pain like beifly having someone drag a white hot bar of steel under my skin.

I’m just glad I have good drugs.