I continued on the CPM machine on a schedule of 2 hours on and 4 hours off. At 4:00 AM someone drew blood. At 9:00 AM a physical therapist and an occupational therapist came in and showed me how to use a leg lifter and get into a chair. Unfortunately I was too light-headed to crutch around. This was a disappointment in two ways. First, I was hoping to only have to spend one night in the hospital. Second, they had already removed the catheter that morning and I wasn't able to get to the bathroom. (By the way, I had no idea I had a catheter in until morning. I couldn't feel it.)
After several IV bags of fluid, I had to go! I tried the bedpan but that was unpleasant. When I protested that I didn't want to use it, they informed me that there was another option. Woohoo! The bedpan can be placed in a portable frame that can be placed next next to the bed. Getting to it is no harder than getting to a chair. I mention this because others should know they can ask for the portable commode.
I had a few more pain spikes during the day, but nothing as bad as the first night. My pain averaged about an 8 all day and I was very aware of how long six minutes took to pass so my morphine pump would work again. Clearly I was not going home that day.
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