Sleep
With the pain meds, Lion can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. It was not fun yesterday when we went to his post op visit. He was asleep for an hour and a half beforehand, walked in under his own power, and then proceeded to sleep through most of the visit. He couldn’t stay awake for the physical therapy demonstration. I think he was taking too many pain pills.
During one of his more lucid moments at home, we decided he should back off and only take the minimum pain pills needed. Of course, up to that point, we had no idea what the minimum was. Even today, he’s falling asleep with just the minimum. I think these drugs affect Lion differently from how they affect other people. For some reason, they knock him out.
On the one hand, he’s easier to deal with when he’s stoned. He asks for help nicely and accepts it nicely. But he’s not really able to eat things. He forgets to chew. And, because he sleeps a lot during the day, he’s awake a lot at night. Which means I’m awake a lot at night. Which means I’m very tired.
On the other hand, when he’s more aware of his surroundings, he tends to be a little more difficult. He wants what he wants, when he wants it. That, coupled with my tiredness, has earned Lion a few growls over the past few days. It’s mostly the result of being asleep during his physical therapy appointment. He doesn’t like the idea of doing the exercises on his own. They’re easy to do, but he’s fighting them. Finally, I told him I’d play the role of the physical therapist so we can do them. So far that seems to work for him.
The best news is that the incision sites are healing well and the surgeon is happy with the surgery overall. He sees no reason Lion won’t regain full use of his shoulder. If he can just stay awake long enough. I’m assuming the pain will subside as the wound heals and his shoulder is less pissed off about being invaded. Once that happens, he’ll need fewer pain pills and my Lion will return to normal.
