Just over a week ago, on Wednesday September 5th, Sean had his shoulder surgery
He went in at 8:30 am and left the Out Patient Center at 2:30.
The girls and I stayed with him while he got into this hospital gown and got his IV.
Lexi was really scared of the IV.
We tried to teach her about veins and give her a little anatomy lesson.
We left right before Sean got a nerve block.
They did an ultrasound on his shoulder and then "blocked" the nerves so he wouldn't feel as much pain.
It basically was like an epidural for his shoulder.
His surgery took about an hour and a half.
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While he was in surgery we went home.
We live just a few blocks from the hospital.
We live just a few blocks from the hospital.
And we made Sean a big poster.
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When we saw him after he was in a lot of pain.
We think that his nerve block didn't take until after the surgery.
Sean was also really tired and out of it.
See for yourself...
The nurses were really great with the girls.
They gave them gloves and snacks.
They gave them gloves and snacks.
Avery insisted that I take her picture too.
The nurses told Sean that he needed to wear these "stockings" on his legs
for three weeks to help prevent blood clots.
He also had three different prescriptions that I needed to keep track of.
And he had to stay hooked up to this "Cold Therapy Machine" continuously.
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When Sean first came home he was exhausted.
He just laid on the couch and slept a ton.
I just had to share this picture of Avery playing in our bed.
She was so excited to lay in Sean's spot since he was on the couch.
Sean is a great patient. He is pretty easy going and isn't a wimp or a whiner.
And he is a great sport and let me take pictures of him and then blog about him.
A few times I left Sean to go run some errands. I would leave Lexi home with him so he wasn't a lone.
I told Lexi that she was babysitting him and she was really excited to do that.
In these pictures Lexi is reading to Sean
and keeping an eye on him while I tried to get some stuff done around the house.
Sean was given a really nice sling to wear
as long with the gray shoulder pad that hooks up to his "Ice Machine."
We had to purchase the gray shoulder pad for $40 and we are just renting the machine for $10 a week.
I had no idea how much work this system would be for me.
About every four hours I have to dump out all the cold water in the cooler
and fill it with about seven pounds of ice.
So that means that we were going through about 40 lbs of ice a day!
After just one day I realized that I couldn't fit that much ice in our freezer
and I couldn't run to the store several times a day so we ended up buying a small chest freezer.
And to date I've bought 260 lbs of ice! Which is about $50.
$50 was our copay amount for the surgery!
Sean enjoyed watching lots and lots of football while recovering.
Some of the highlights were the BYU vs. Weber State game and the Utah vs. Utah State game.
The Sunday after Sean's surgery I sent the girls to church with a friend so Sean and I could nap
(mainly, me because Sean could nap whenever he wanted).
Here's a picture of the girls kissing Sean goodbye.
And I just had to share these pictures of our two little cuties all dresses up for church...
Four days after the surgery, Sean got to take his first shower and I got to change his bandaging.
You can see the two spots they went in and did the surgery.
I'm wondering what all those markings are all about.
This week Sean slowly started working again.
Just from home and just for a few hours a day until today when he worked a full 8 hours.
And just because he's so cute, here's another picture of Sean sleeping...
I just thought I'd add this picture of Avery napping in our bed the other day.
Yesterday, Sean had his post-op appointment.
He got his stitches removed.
Lexi was scared but the nurse let Lexi help put bandages over the incisions
and even gave her pink latex gloves to wear.
Sean shoulder is looking great, he has no swelling or bruising
and he's slowly reducing his pain medication at a good schedule.
Sean was giving two different exercises to do until he starts physical therapy in three weeks.
And since yesterday, Sean has been doing the exercises several times a day and is already improving!
We were also told that he doesn't need to use his ice machine 24/7 anymore
just as need for about another week.
And he doesn't have to wear those horrible thigh high nylons anymore either! Thank goodness.
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On another note, we got a statement this afternoon from the hospital (that didn't take them long)
and the total so far was $15,361.53! Are you kidding me? That's crazy!
I want to call the hospital and ask them what "SUPPLY/IMPLANTS" are
because they are charging $5,611 for it!
I'm just glad that we have great insurance, but still, this seems ridiculous to me.
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Anyway, I'm happy to say that Sean is finally on the road to recovery and I'm so proud of him.
He's been a great sport through all of this and kept his sense of humor and still been his cheery old self.
