Ice packs; hiccups; distinctions

After trying a few different things — including the stretchy wrap used for packing — we’ve found that masking tape wrapped liberally works best for holding a bag of ice on a bulky, slippery cast.

After Dean came out of surgery yesterday I noticed he had hiccups that would come and go. Well, last night they came back with a vengeance and kept him up all night; he was up at 3 AM on the internet researching remedies. He would find things that would work, abut after about about 20 minutes the hiccups would start again, and the remedy wouldn’t work anymore and he’d have to try something new. The hiccups are violent and painful.

I slept through some of Dean’s hiccuping but it disturbed my sleep enough that I almost slept through the kids’ swim lessons this morning — we were about 10 minutes late. And between that and helping the kids negotiate their schedules today (making sure I get a couple chores out of them but also giving them some time with friends) and helping Dean, etc., I didn’t get my breakfast until 11 AM — and only by telling Rose she would have to wait for her lunch until I had my breakfast. Also, I have been feeling sick to my stomach since yesterday.

Oh, and also Dean says his cast feels too tight around his shin, so I am taking him to the doctor’s office this afternoon and they will most likely cut a piece out of the cast where it feels tightest.

Dean also asked the doctor about the hiccups and he suggested Dean call the hospital and talk to his anesthesiologist to see if there’s a remedy, which Dean did. The anesthesiologist told him that he’s never had a patient get hiccups and that the hiccups couldn’t have been caused by the anesthesia, and that there wasn’t any medicine available for treating hiccups.

After hanging up the phone, Dean did an internet search and learned that hiccups are commonly associated with general anesthesia.”Further research found that they can also be caused by opiates (which Dean is taking for the pain.) And he learned that a couple of anti-schizophrenia medications are sometimes used to treat hiccups.

I think that for now Dean has stopped hiccuping — thank goodness. I’ve got to go take the medicine I’m supposed to take with breakfast, and get Rose and Henry down for their naps. Maybe Dean and I will be able to rest, too.

Oh — one more thing: when Dean talked to his surgeon this morning, the surgeon said that he was thinking about it more last night, and he really thinks that Dean’s was the most difficult surgery he’d ever done. In addition to the problem getting the metatarsal to go where it should, he said that Dean had hardly any cartilage left, so he even thought about putting in an implant, but decided not to on someone still relatively young like Dean. But Dean will likely need work for that in a few years. I guess it’s a badge of honor to have given your surgeon a workout. Maybe.

Explore posts in the same categories: Meanwhile in the real world