Going Home

Checking Out
The day I was released from the hospital was very busy. In addition to the revolving door of doctors, nurses and technicians that were checking on me throughout the day every day, I had to leave my PCU room to go get back and chest x-rays. A young man came and got me and rolled me in my bed down a maze of hallways and elevators to the x-ray area. My mom went with us. X-rays were no fun, as they involved standing up and moving this way and that. But these x-rays were much less uncomfortable than the x-rays I had been getting in bed each day with the men lifting & rolling me on top of hard film cases.

All my wires and tubes were removed earlier that day, and I was using the restroom on my own. They had started giving me laxatives and slightly more solid foods a day or two before. Once I had my first bowel movement, I’d be a little closer to being allowed to leave. I’ll refrain from going into that, although, there were some new moves I had to learn for this, too.

After my shower and last words from my OT, we began to wait for the paperwork. After much waiting and checking with the nurses, I was finally released.

A lot of people who have fusions have to go straight from the hospital to a rehab facility for another week of more intense PT/OT. My doctors thought I was young and healthy enough that I would be ok just going home. They gave me a long list of do’s and don’ts to follow. The most important thing was to not lie in bed all day. I was to get up and move and walk and sit up as much as possible with short naps in between. The more active I was, the faster my recovery would be. Funny how that works.

The young man who rolled me to my x-rays earlier came back to get me with a wheelchair while my dad pulled the car around. I felt tired and a little overwhelmed at the thought of driving from the hospital to my parents’ home (where I had moved in to, so they could help me during my recovery), almost an hour drive. We put a pillow in the passenger seat to help support my back, and I slowly, carefully climbed into the car the way my OT had explained to me — I leaned up onto the edge of the seat where my back faced the driver’s seat. Then I would kind of push myself up onto the seat and swivel my legs to the left toward the front of the car; then scoot back and get buckled.

I wanted to get home as fast as possible. I was extremely nervous about the drive. I was in pain and wanted to get home, but mostly driving made me very scared. I worried about how badly I would be hurt if we got in a wreck. I worried that my back would snap and the metal rod would go through me, and I would die. I worried that even a little bump by another car & I would be just overcome with pain.

It was very surreal being in the car and out of the hospital for the first time in a week. It’s such a normal thing to be on a drive. But the last time I was in that car, I was in a different body. After a quick stop for meds at a pharmacy en route, we made it home ok.

That’s when the hard part started.