it has not been all rosy!!

January 19, 2004

so almost two weeks from the R. BHR with De Smet, I am back in

Vancouver Canada after a very painful trip cause I was still very

swollen and sore. However there was this miracle in the flight London

to Vancouver where my sister and I were sitted in first class!!!

don't ask me how that happened but it was a very necessary miracle.

Probably due to the blood loss (I had to have blood transfusion after

the surgery) I feel very weak and have had two " attacks " of faintness

and extreme weakness and short of breath, all quite scarry.

today is better, but I cannot do my exercises more than once a day

and my muscles are cramping a lot. Also sometimes I get at night

this " restlessness " in my hip and HAVE to move my leg otherwise it is

pain and impossible.

Has anyone experienced some of the above?

have to get up now from that seat!

But De Smet is really great and I am grateful he did the surgery on

me.

SUnita

January 19, 2004

Hi Sunita

I have very low blood pressure, and I experienced some of what

you describe. I almost fainted several times; they had to give me

oxygen in the hospital to steady my head. Then, about 2.5 weeks

post-op, I woke up in the middle of the night gasping for breath, and

when I tried to get up to go to the bathroom, I fainted, and would

have crashed to the floor, had I not been caught by , who was

trying to help me get up. It was scary, but it hasn't happened again,

and as soon as I passed out I started breathing normally, so I think

some of the breathlessness was sheer panic! I also had terrible

muscle spasms and " restless leg syndrome " . Try taking Robaxacet; it

really helped me. If you can get a prescription for Ativan, it will

help you sleep, and it also contains a muscle relaxant. Drink lots of

water and juice to help build up your blood supply. Just water alone

is not a good idea if you are experiencing faintness; maybe Gatorade

or some sports drinks might also help?

I still get occasional spasm attacks, but they are milder, and

not so often. The more I'm able to exercise, the better I feel, and

even though there is some pain, it's now all muscle pain. It took

about two months for me to start feeling halfways normal, especially

in my thigh, which had all these weird " numb " spots. I was advised not

to go for massage therapy for two months, but after reading postings

here I did go once after about 5 weeks, and it seemed to help, so I

went again every three weeks or so.

Feel free to email me privately at mledirect@... if you want

to ask more questions. Don't worry, in another six weeks you will

start to feel like a new person!

Best regards,

n

rBHR Oct.17/03 McMinn

> so almost two weeks from the R. BHR with De Smet, I am back in

> Vancouver Canada after a very painful trip cause I was still very

> swollen and sore. However there was this miracle in the flight London

> to Vancouver where my sister and I were sitted in first class!!!

> don't ask me how that happened but it was a very necessary miracle.

> Probably due to the blood loss (I had to have blood transfusion after

> the surgery) I feel very weak and have had two " attacks " of faintness

> and extreme weakness and short of breath, all quite scarry.

> today is better, but I cannot do my exercises more than once a day

> and my muscles are cramping a lot. Also sometimes I get at night

> this " restlessness " in my hip and HAVE to move my leg otherwise it is

> pain and impossible.

> Has anyone experienced some of the above?

> have to get up now from that seat!

> But De Smet is really great and I am grateful he did the surgery on

> me.

> SUnita

January 19, 2004

Also sometimes I get at night this " restlessness " in my hip and HAVE to move my

leg otherwise it is pain and impossible.Has anyone experienced some of the

above?

Sunita,

I had that restless feeling, especially with my left hip. And due to the nerve

involvement I had going on, I had to ask for help moving the left leg at all.

So anytime I wanted to shift positions, I had to wake my poor mother up(who was

sleeping in the living room) to help me move. I hated to wake her as often as I

would have to, so I would wait until I just couldn't *stand* the feeling

anymore, and by the time I called her, I was in tears. Fortunately that didn't

last long and I was able to get myself moved around after several days.

Cindy

C+ 5/25/01 and 6/28/01

_______________________________________________

January 19, 2004

Did Cindy reply to Sunita? Didn't Sunita JUST have this surgery? If so- I

had probs too, but they passed, esp. w/ the basic excercises. Who wrote

what here?

Dave

Boyd C+ 12/18/03

----------------------------

Cindy??

>

> Reply-To: surfacehippy

> Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 00:29:42 -0500 (EST)

> To: surfacehippy

> Subject: RE: it has not been all rosy!!

>

> Also sometimes I get at night this " restlessness " in my hip and HAVE to move

> my leg otherwise it is pain and impossible.Has anyone experienced some of the

> above?

> Sunita,

> I had that restless feeling, especially with my left hip. And due to the

> nerve involvement I had going on, I had to ask for help moving the left leg at

> all. So anytime I wanted to shift positions, I had to wake my poor mother

> up(who was sleeping in the living room) to help me move. I hated to wake her

> as often as I would have to, so I would wait until I just couldn't *stand* the

> feeling anymore, and by the time I called her, I was in tears. Fortunately

> that didn't last long and I was able to get myself moved around after several

> days.

>

> Cindy

> C+ 5/25/01 and 6/28/01

>

> _______________________________________________

>

January 20, 2004

From: D Dailey To: surfacehippy@...:

Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:23:14 -0800Subject: Re: it has not been all

rosy!!Did Cindy reply to Sunita? Didn't Sunita JUST have this surgery? If so-

Ihad probs too, but they passed, esp. w/ the basic excercises. Who wrotewhat

here?

Hi Dave,

I did reply to her, knowing that she has just had her surgery. Even though I'm

2 1/2 years out, I still remember the immediate post-op period. I'm not *that*

much older ;-)

I remember the restless legs and the troubles sleeping for the first couple of

weeks, and wanted to reassure her (and all other upcoming hippies) that it does

go away!

Cindy

C+ 5/25/01 and 6/28/01

_______________________________________________

January 20, 2004

Hi Sunita

First, congratulations on surviving the flight. I think it was far worse

than the surgery...I live in Penticton, not far from you, and was done by De

Smet in August. I didn't experience the faintness, but my roommate there did,

and we decided that it was because: she was a lot taller than me (blood pooling

in the feet, takes longer to reach the head) and she had low blood pressure, and

we were not to eat for about 24 hours after surgery. I couldn't do the

exercises more than once a day when I returned, I just didn't have the oomph,

but recovery has been fine, so I wouldn't beat yourself up over that .I have a

hot tub and found it helped enormously for pain in legs and the restless leg

thing. If you can soak for at least half an hour in a hot bath, it should

help, and as many people here have attested, if you can get to a pool and do

some stretching exercises in water, that helps heaps. Good luck.

Sharry

it has not been all rosy!!

so almost two weeks from the R. BHR with De Smet, I am back in

Vancouver Canada after a very painful trip cause I was still very

swollen and sore. However there was this miracle in the flight London

to Vancouver where my sister and I were sitted in first class!!!

don't ask me how that happened but it was a very necessary miracle.

Probably due to the blood loss (I had to have blood transfusion after

the surgery) I feel very weak and have had two " attacks " of faintness

and extreme weakness and short of breath, all quite scarry.

today is better, but I cannot do my exercises more than once a day

and my muscles are cramping a lot. Also sometimes I get at night

this " restlessness " in my hip and HAVE to move my leg otherwise it is

pain and impossible.

Has anyone experienced some of the above?

have to get up now from that seat!

But De Smet is really great and I am grateful he did the surgery on

me.

SUnita

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 20, 2004

Ah Sunita, what a tedious chore the immediate recovery is. Your shoes

arew tougher than mine. You didn't evenget the rush of excitement

immediately after surgery that sustains you for the first two or three

days. When that goes away I had forgotten the annoying side of the

first few weeks: the broken sleep: the inability to work at night; the

inability to sleep; the inability to sit comfortably; the grinding

emptiness of some of those long watches in the middle of the night.

Have you found yourself down in the kitchen at 2am reading a book

you're not particulary interested in, having a drink you like but

don't really need?

It will get better, much, much better.

Chris.

(Second resurf, 6 Jan 04)

> Hi Sunita

> First, congratulations on surviving the flight. I think it was

far worse than the surgery...I live in Penticton, not far from you,

and was done by De Smet in August. I didn't experience the faintness,

but my roommate there did, and we decided that it was because: she was

a lot taller than me (blood pooling in the feet, takes longer to reach

the head) and she had low blood pressure, and we were not to eat for

about 24 hours after surgery. I couldn't do the exercises more than

once a day when I returned, I just didn't have the oomph, but recovery

has been fine, so I wouldn't beat yourself up over that .I have a hot

tub and found it helped enormously for pain in legs and the restless

leg thing. If you can soak for at least half an hour in a hot bath,

it should help, and as many people here have attested, if you can get

to a pool and do some stretching exercises in water, that helps heaps.

Good luck.

> Sharry

> it has not been all rosy!!

>

> so almost two weeks from the R. BHR with De Smet, I am back in

> Vancouver Canada after a very painful trip cause I was still very

> swollen and sore. However there was this miracle in the flight

London

> to Vancouver where my sister and I were sitted in first class!!!

> don't ask me how that happened but it was a very necessary

miracle.

> Probably due to the blood loss (I had to have blood transfusion

after

> the surgery) I feel very weak and have had two " attacks " of

faintness

> and extreme weakness and short of breath, all quite scarry.

> today is better, but I cannot do my exercises more than once a day

> and my muscles are cramping a lot. Also sometimes I get at night

> this " restlessness " in my hip and HAVE to move my leg otherwise it

is

> pain and impossible.

> Has anyone experienced some of the above?

> have to get up now from that seat!

> But De Smet is really great and I am grateful he did the surgery

on

> me.

> SUnita

>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

--------

>

January 24, 2004

thanks everyone for the help. I am still not sleeping at night with the

restlessness in leg and pain in scar but my energy is slitghly better (I have

been taking iron for my blood loss). I am in my third week and still cannot do

the exercises more than once a day and I don't know how I would manage without

my sister who is here for two weeks: she cooks, do the wash, takes the Teds off

and on etc etc... I just wonder how people alone at home manage... I also eat a

little bit more or at least am not disgusted by the idea of eating...

Many people had talked here about a couple of weeks like that but I am in my

third week so I wonder if I am a slow healer??

I walk around the house with one crutch but if I put my nose outside I take both

crutches.

sunita

R BHR Jan 6,04 De Smet

it has not been all rosy!!

so almost two weeks from the R. BHR with De Smet, I am back in

Vancouver Canada after a very painful trip cause I was still very

swollen and sore. However there was this miracle in the flight London

to Vancouver where my sister and I were sitted in first class!!!

don't ask me how that happened but it was a very necessary miracle.

Probably due to the blood loss (I had to have blood transfusion after

the surgery) I feel very weak and have had two " attacks " of faintness

and extreme weakness and short of breath, all quite scarry.

today is better, but I cannot do my exercises more than once a day

and my muscles are cramping a lot. Also sometimes I get at night

this " restlessness " in my hip and HAVE to move my leg otherwise it is

pain and impossible.

Has anyone experienced some of the above?

have to get up now from that seat!

But De Smet is really great and I am grateful he did the surgery on

me.

SUnita

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 24, 2004

Sunita,

In Feb. 2003, I had a bleeding ulcer and was dangerously close to

needing a transfusion. I remember feeling weak for months afterwards

while I built up my iron reserves, so I can empathize with you.

Considering what your body has been through, it's not surprising you

feel the way you do. I'm sure you know that rest and lots of protein

(red meat, if you're not afraid of it...especially liver) would

help. Raisins, spinach, beans and whole grain cereals are also high

in iron. You are lucky to have your sister with you; none of us

would have had an easy time taking care of ourselves with what you've

been through. Be patient and in time you will be feeling a whole lot

better. Hang in there. Donna LBHR 11/13/02 De Smet

> thanks everyone for the help. I am still not sleeping at night with

the restlessness in leg and pain in scar but my energy is slitghly

better (I have been taking iron for my blood loss). I am in my third

week and still cannot do the exercises more than once a day and I

don't know how I would manage without my sister who is here for two

weeks: she cooks, do the wash, takes the Teds off and on etc etc... I

just wonder how people alone at home manage... I also eat a little

bit more or at least am not disgusted by the idea of eating...

> Many people had talked here about a couple of weeks like that but I

am in my third week so I wonder if I am a slow healer??

> I walk around the house with one crutch but if I put my nose

outside I take both crutches.

>

> sunita

> R BHR Jan 6,04 De Smet

> it has not been all rosy!!

>

> so almost two weeks from the R. BHR with De Smet, I am back in

> Vancouver Canada after a very painful trip cause I was still

very

> swollen and sore. However there was this miracle in the flight

London

> to Vancouver where my sister and I were sitted in first

class!!!

> don't ask me how that happened but it was a very necessary

miracle.

> Probably due to the blood loss (I had to have blood transfusion

after

> the surgery) I feel very weak and have had two " attacks " of

faintness

> and extreme weakness and short of breath, all quite scarry.

> today is better, but I cannot do my exercises more than once a

day

> and my muscles are cramping a lot. Also sometimes I get at

night

> this " restlessness " in my hip and HAVE to move my leg otherwise

it is

> pain and impossible.

> Has anyone experienced some of the above?

> have to get up now from that seat!

> But De Smet is really great and I am grateful he did the

surgery on

> me.

> SUnita

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------

------------

>

January 24, 2004