I am recording what I remember, 2 week later, from the days after surgery.
Day 1 (Dec 11, 2015)
Not sure if I slept well. I am aware of a few things from the previous evening. Not much. Some of the visitors including Rajesh coming over to my room. RR visiting a second time with his sons Amol and Amit. I am not in much pain. Around 6:30 a.m. the nurse comes by and asks me to get ready to go for a walk. I had some compression socks on and my lower legs/clf was being regularly compressed by a machine at the foot of the hospital. I had the i.v. line in and also had some pain-killer i.v. drug administered by a clicker under my control. I clicked on it once and took a slow walk to Rajesh's room guided by the nurse and the nurse assistant on either side. My wife, Sridevi, had slept uncomfortably in the sofa with a footrest. She came along for the walk.
I had some nausea in the morning for which I got some meds which worked. Around 9 a.m. the nurse came in with a number of meds, all tablets, for me to take. The nurse started educating me on the three categories of meds I would be starting on, some for life. The 3 categories- anti-rejection, anti-infection and others. He started separating them into three separate paper cups. It was imperative that I took them without fail. Still somewhat weak and tired not much registered the first day and I simply accepted what I heard and took the meds in the cups with water over 15-20 mins. Pre-transplant I was already used to taking a lot of pills and these were even more pills. All I knew day 1 was a a smaller set of my previous meds would continue (good news) but a whole lot new meds would be added. I knew that I could handle it. My blood pressure had improved from overnight low levels 110/81, pulse 88, weight lower at 63.8 Kg (140 lbs), temps 98.1F. These vitals were measured each morning along with fasting labs around 6 a.m.
I found my blood sugar levels were high, almost at 181 mg/dl and the nurse gave me a shot of insulin. I was on liquid diet- veggie and chicken broth, super salty, not to my taste. I wasn't particularly hungry and did not mind no solid foods. It was liquid diet and ice water all day on Day 1.
The clinical nutritionist visited me. The main advice I received was to increase my daily protein intake.
In the afternoon took a wheelchair ride to Interventional Radiology. The radiologist placed the PICC line in my upper right arm using ultrasound (US) imaging. The entire process took 45 mins and started with doing a US to identify a suitable vein, followed by administration of a local anesthetic to the right arm and then inserting the PICC line under US guidance.
Day 1 (Dec 11, 2015)
Not sure if I slept well. I am aware of a few things from the previous evening. Not much. Some of the visitors including Rajesh coming over to my room. RR visiting a second time with his sons Amol and Amit. I am not in much pain. Around 6:30 a.m. the nurse comes by and asks me to get ready to go for a walk. I had some compression socks on and my lower legs/clf was being regularly compressed by a machine at the foot of the hospital. I had the i.v. line in and also had some pain-killer i.v. drug administered by a clicker under my control. I clicked on it once and took a slow walk to Rajesh's room guided by the nurse and the nurse assistant on either side. My wife, Sridevi, had slept uncomfortably in the sofa with a footrest. She came along for the walk.
I had some nausea in the morning for which I got some meds which worked. Around 9 a.m. the nurse came in with a number of meds, all tablets, for me to take. The nurse started educating me on the three categories of meds I would be starting on, some for life. The 3 categories- anti-rejection, anti-infection and others. He started separating them into three separate paper cups. It was imperative that I took them without fail. Still somewhat weak and tired not much registered the first day and I simply accepted what I heard and took the meds in the cups with water over 15-20 mins. Pre-transplant I was already used to taking a lot of pills and these were even more pills. All I knew day 1 was a a smaller set of my previous meds would continue (good news) but a whole lot new meds would be added. I knew that I could handle it. My blood pressure had improved from overnight low levels 110/81, pulse 88, weight lower at 63.8 Kg (140 lbs), temps 98.1F. These vitals were measured each morning along with fasting labs around 6 a.m.
I found my blood sugar levels were high, almost at 181 mg/dl and the nurse gave me a shot of insulin. I was on liquid diet- veggie and chicken broth, super salty, not to my taste. I wasn't particularly hungry and did not mind no solid foods. It was liquid diet and ice water all day on Day 1.
The clinical nutritionist visited me. The main advice I received was to increase my daily protein intake.
In the afternoon took a wheelchair ride to Interventional Radiology. The radiologist placed the PICC line in my upper right arm using ultrasound (US) imaging. The entire process took 45 mins and started with doing a US to identify a suitable vein, followed by administration of a local anesthetic to the right arm and then inserting the PICC line under US guidance.
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| PICC line |
The nurse brought me meds around noon, in the evening and at bedtime. My high blood sugar was treated using insulin. The drain bulb was emptied and measured 3-4 times a day and so was the urine from the catheter collection bag. I was making a lot of urine.
Our out-of-town visitors Sati, Sayoni (San Jose, CA), Minnie (Austin) and Mana (Kolkata) came by and chatted with me and said goodbye. They were leaving that evening or early the next day.
Our out-of-town visitors Sati, Sayoni (San Jose, CA), Minnie (Austin) and Mana (Kolkata) came by and chatted with me and said goodbye. They were leaving that evening or early the next day.
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| (L-R) Deepika, Minnie, Ishita, Sayoni, Mana, Sridevi, Sati |
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