Steve and Judy's Travels!

 

We as a country have been voting for two hundred years.  Voting should be, and could be, easy; maybe even fun.  Yet this week, primary voters suffer hours-long lines?  C’mon.  It’s not rocket science!  It’s just the primaries.  It’s not like there is any point in suppressing the vote.  Sometimes more people show up than we expect.  We can’t build that possibility into our plans?

 

Meanwhile, if we were keeping score by day, it would be Judy 3, Knee 1.  The knee is winning today.  We’ll see if Judy can mount a comeback tomorrow!

 

Got the dogs home from the boarding kennel.  The pack is complete again.

 

 

What a difference a day makes.

 

At the hospital they pushed more and more Percoset.  Two every four hours.  Judy was barely conscious by the time we left.  Last night and today, two Percosets spread out over the first 24 hours.  She still needs some pain relief, but not nearly as much as she was getting.

 

From the slow-motion escort of her every move, suddenly she’s up and around (with the walker) going room to room unassisted.  Her first taste of regaining physical freedom.  She had her first appointment with the physical therapist today.  The PT put her through all the rehab exercises then announced that Judy was doing better on Day 3 than anyone she has ever worked with (over a 7-year period).  That’s encouraging!

 

We (and by “we” I mean Judy) will be dealing with pain and swelling for weeks, but it’s a good day today.

 

 

The more modern version of the hospital recliner chair for sleeping.

 

It’s not a recliner.

 

It’s a hide-a-chair!

 

Not great, but it let me stay next to Judy without having to curl up in a recliner all night.

 

And today, the big reveal.

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Time to take the wrap off.

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Before you look, let me point out that we’re not looking at scars or stitches.  We’re looking at magic marker the doctor put there for reference.

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No external stitches.  It’s all tape and glue.  Her scar will be a tiny vertical line.

 

More walking and PT today.

 

Lead with the good leg going up; lead with the surgical leg going down.  That way the non-surgical leg does the majority of the bending under load.

 

Through the discharge procedure and gone before noon.  It was a longer drive home than usual because we had to stop the car to get out and stretch our legs a couple times along the way.  Can’t drive that far without moving the knee.

 

Back home settled in at Sandpipers for a long recovery and rehab.  The hospital was wonderful.  It’s good to be home.

 

 

Now it’s all about the Percoset.

 

The nerve block has worn off.  Reality has set in.  Judy is still up and about, staying awake most of the day, walking around the hospital floor, but with her eye on the clock for the next pain killer.

 

Me, I got out for a walk around our old stomping grounds at lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judy now has a new knee.  When they take the joint apart, they don’t really cut off the bones on either side of the joint.  It’s more a matter of taking out the old joint, then recontouring the bone ends to fit the prosthetic knee.  They only take off a few millimeters of bone. The new knee joints are produced in multiple sizes and are modular, so the different parts plug together to be just right for each patient.  The vendor is present during every surgery to make sure every aspect of the joint works just as it should.  It only took two hours in the operating room and just one hour of that was the actual knee replacement by the orthopedic surgeon.

 

Within two hours of surgery, and while she was still waking up from the anesthetic, physical therapy was in and Judy was up and walking around.

 

This afternoon she did her second walk of the day, circumnavigating the entire floor, and practiced going up and down steps.  When we got back to the room, the PT announced that she had just done the entire sequence of Day 2 expectations on Day 0.  That was cool.

 

She’s not past the pain yet.  That will take a little longer.

 

Meanwhile, our domain.

 

A most promising Day 0.