It Felt Wonderful
After more than two weeks, last night I was able to sleep in my bed and it was —— wonderful. Soft flannel warm sheets and a winter weight quilt that seemed to snuggle around me never felt so good. I have had to sleep on my back with my right arm tethered in a tight sling while the shoulder was propped up sporting an ice pack.
Remember that Foley catheter that came home from the hospital with me? After having it removed after a week it was as if my plumbing system didn’t think it was suppose to hold any amount and loved sending warning alarms that it was time to pee. Not even making it to two hours there was the eye-opening realization that my body was talking to me. I know I was falling into the deep rem sleep as in the dream I would be in a scenario that I needed to go to the bathroom.
Dennis was on board full time during the day and there was no way I could wake him every several hours to help me get out from under sheets, quilts and extra pillows. The easiest route was to lay close to the edge on top of the bed with just a blanket that could be easily flipped back with my left arm, swing the legs to the floor and head for the bathroom, drop off the warmed ice pack and pick up a new one and slip under the blanket with the pillow supports never having been disturbed. For sure the “kiss” method. For those first weeks the last thing I wanted to do was to make the shoulder buck any more than necessary. There was no fear of me falling out of bed as mobility was not in the picture.
I still have to sleep on my back with all the remaining “must do” instructions, but the bladder has slowly been realizing that it’s O.K. to have fewer interruptions during the night. It has literally expanded its understanding of what was normal and now is getting back to that normal. After 18 days the discomfort of moving the shoulder is becoming less – so very much worth a little discomfort to get back to hustling out from underneath the warmth of flannel.
Working on the rounds of exercises I keep in mind how wonderful it will be to lay on my side during the night’s sleep. The ‘no pain no gain’ is the real deal.