When I left off last time, I had left the hospital after breaking my ankle. It was Friday, and I was told to come back on Sunday for the surgery. We did get to spend Shabbat at my sister-in-law’s house along with our nephew and his wife and three girls. My pain level was so so, and I was not excited about having surgery and thus increasing that pain level!
On Sunday morning, we headed back to the hospital. My surgery was scheduled for 3 pm, but we had to pay and talk to a bunch of people about paying first. Then they didn’t have a room for me, so I sat around in a waiting room for a long time. I wasn’t allowed to eat after 9 am, but I wasn’t very hungry. When I finally got to a room, which was actually a bed in the middle of two other beds, sectioned off with curtains, I got quite anxious about having the surgery!
Eventually I was brought in to meet the doctor and get set up to go. I asked that I not be asleep for the surgery so instead I had a spinal anesthesia. I was very bored during the whole thing. I sang songs in my head. The only time the people in the room talked to each other, they talked about the war. When they finished, I was brought into a large recovery room with many others coming out of surgeries. There was a cross section of Israeli society in the hospital – religious, not religious, Arab Israelis, etc. There was a soldier surrounded by other soldiers in recovery as well.
After about an hour I was brought back to my tiny room area. The doctor never came to talk to me and my family wasn’t informed that I was out of recovery – Dave, his sister, and the kids were all there waiting. During the day, the kids met Gabbie’s friend for lunch and walked around a bit. Then they all ate dinner while they waited for me to finish surgery.
The overnight nurse assigned to me didn’t speak English and this was frustrating for me. Dave stayed with me for awhile but he went back to my sister-in-law’s house to sleep. I was able to sleep as well. However, I wasn’t allowed out of bed to use the bathroom, so I had to use a bed pan, which was a new experience for sure.
In the morning, I had breakfast, which was about as good as it looks.
PT came and got me out of bed and using a walker. I was thrilled to use the bathroom normally again. I had an iced coffee, which made me happy.
Dave also brought me falafel for lunch.
Zachary was scheduled to visit a school that he may want to attend after high school, so my sister-in-law drove him there. Then the kids went to Ikea and had lunch there. They bought me a stuffed alien that they brought later in the day.
Eventually I was allowed to leave, even though I still couldn’t feel my toes. The nurse said this was a problem, but they also said it could take 24 hours for feeling to return. I was very excited when I was able to feel again! That night, everyone went out to a burger place but I stayed home and they brought me my food there.
Beginning the following day, we had a reservation at a hotel in Jerusalem. This turned out to be very helpful, as we were able to get an accessible room and I could use the shower easier than the one at my sister-in-law’s house! It did take awhile to get all checked in. Meanwhile, Zachary had gone earlier to visit another school, so after we got settled, Dave and Simon went to meet him there.
That’s the alien the kids got for me.
One of the things we’d planned to do but couldn’t due to my surgery was to visit a few friends in northern Israel. My junior year college roommate and her family live there and since we couldn’t get there to visit them, they ended up meeting us at the hotel. It was so nice to see her! Her husband and daughter didn’t stay long, but she did, and then we got some food with her too.
That same day, my other sister-in-law arrived in Israel to visit her son and daughter-in-law who had just had a baby. She and my brother-in-law and nephew came to see me that evening at the hotel as well.
I suppose by then I was already feeling better after the surgery, and by the next day I was able to get around a bit more, so more about that next time!