Tuesday, December 9, 2008

More on the Knees and Surgery

Those of you wondering about what went on after the snafu in my Doctors and the Relay posts back in June need not wonder any more of what's going on.

Friday December 12, 7:30am, I will be having total knee replacement on the left knee. I had a physical, CBC (blood cell count), BMP (Basic Metabolic Panel), EKG (heart rhythm test), and presurgery history. I had a class of sorts with a nurse and other patients who were going through knee or hip replacement to talk about what to expect.

Just tonight, I got the message that my surgery is a GO! Showtime!

I know it's going to be a bit of work on recovery from my research. I had an arthroscopy on both knees 15 years ago and only needed to use crutches. I have a walker someone gave me. I used a cheap plastic chair for showering back then, and found an adjustable height shower chair reduced price of $10! I can easily put one of our other plastic chairs downstairs in the shower stall.

I'll be in the hospital for 3-4 days. I'll post more. Interestingly enough, later in the day after surgery, I'll be able to stand on the new knee and walk around some. Then over the coming days, I'll be attempting to walk more and longer distances and have physical therapy.

For the steps, it seems I may climb them butt-wise, and then normal stepping up and down. Right now, I'm going down them backwards or sidestepping.

Let's see... I got a walker, wheelchair, crutches, two canes, and a shower chair... It's a rest home here, wouldn't you say?

5 comments:

Cindy said...

Here's to a fast recovery! Did you tell the doctor to inform the hospital of your hearing loss BEFORE you arrive so they can communicate well with you when you get there? Get them to turn on the captioning on the tv, put an amplifier on the phone (if applicable), etc.

Unknown said...

Good luck! My father is going in on the 16th to get his right knee done too!

Here's to a quick recovery for anyone undergoing knee replacement!

Dianrez said...

Prayers and wishes for a quick recovery and that soon you'll be running around like nothing ever happened to your knees!

Robert G said...

Cindy, I mentioned this to a patient relations person and to the presurgical nurse during the presurgical interview. I'm going to call the patient relations person soon and go from there.

Charlotte, good for him. It does help to do research beforehand and attend the 'class' related to the surgery if the hospital offers that. It's totally worth it. I didn't have an interpreter there, but I still managed to know what was going on.

Lantana said...

I had my right knee replaced almost 4 years ago. The operation and recovery are HELL, but after all is said and done, my knee is wonderful!! I can even kneel to wash out the bathtub! Do as you are told and you will recover nicely!

Lantana
Lantana's Latitude