Fatigue?

I never truly understood the term "bone-crushing fatigue" until today. We went to bed last night at our usual time and got up at 5:00 am. That's a bit earlier than usual but not that much earlier (I'm usually up by 6:30). I didn't feel this tired driving to the hospital or even sitting in the recovery room. Our pastor came by a couple of times and I spent the rest of the time reading a book and surfing around the net.

The surgery took longer than anticipated. Instead of 1-2 hours for surgery, he was in there closer to 3 hours. They had a hard time getting the spinal started. Then, he bled a bit more than they expected. Add to that the fact that he had quite a bit of scarring in the joint and muscles from previous injuries and surgery - and contractures of his muscles. That combination lengthened surgery quite a bit.

The surgeon finally came and talked to me around noon. He'd gone into surgery at about 8:00 am.

After he talked with me, I went and had lunch and then went to move my car from the emergency room parking lot (which is also the parking lot for admissions) to the regular parking lot.  I got out to my car and literally had to sit there for several minutes before I felt like I could drive around the building. I think it was just the relief of the whole thing washing over me that made me feel so exhausted.

I had to go get some lunch stuff for this week and mail a couple of things, so I left about 3:00 pm and made plans to return later. I had an appointment for cable repair this evening between 5:00 and 7:00. I got the stuff unloaded from the car, put away the cold items, and then collapsed in the recliner and slept until the phone woke me around 5:00 or so. I'm not sure how long I actually slept, but it did give me back some energy.

I'm the same age NOW that my mom was when she started doing the "hospital routine" with my dad. She did it for 18 years. I don't know how she coped through the exhaustion. I'm sure none of us kids ever gave her the kudos she deserved for all the things she did. She made my dad's last years much longer than they would have been if she hadn't been there to take care of him. I never heard her complain although I'm very sure she must have been extremely worn out through all the times he was in and out of the hospital.

We should have been more considerate of her. Yep...

I'm turning off my alarm and will get up when my body says it's time. Then, I'll go to the hospital and on to work. I need to put in my 8 hours before I leave, but I'll work through lunch (I know... I should get up but can't do that; I'll heat my lunch up and eat as I work) to cut the day down a bit.

I'll try to post tomorrow with an update. Maybe not until Wednesday.

(Note - I didn't post any pictures. Poor guy... I didn't have the heart to even take his picture today. There's always tomorrow.... )