Surgery Day +4: Settling In

Monday, May 27

I start the day by asking Ed:  what the hell were we thinking when we scheduled this surgery immediately before a holiday weekend?  It’s a reasonable question, but the answer is equally reasonable.  This knee had been going bad for 25 years, and went wildly out of control back in February.  On February 22 I had a cortisone shot, something that had previously provided immense relief.  This time was the exception, and the longer it took to show any improvement, the more I knew that it was time for the replacement.  In fact, I was ready about two weeks later.  The monkey wrench in that plan was - in addition to the fact that the good surgeons are scheduled out months in advance - there is a 90 day restriction on having the replacement after a cortisone injection.  The steroid somehow weakens the immune system, and the last thing you want going into a surgery this big is anything that would increase the risk of infection.

But really, this is supposed to be a holiday!  Talk about poor planning.

Instead of celebrating a holiday with a nice long weekend trip somewhere, or going for an invigorating hike in the mountains, or soaking in one of the many hot springs down around the Great Sand Dunes National Park, we’re holed up here at home, settling into what will become my daily routine.

Here’s how it goes:

7 a.m. or so - start the day with morning PT exercises for home

7:15 - struggle to put on the ^&*%$ TED stockings

7:30 take a short walk to the end of the block and back, with help from a walker and Ed and our friends Tom and Deb

8 a.m. - light breakfast

8:30 a.m. - morning meds

9 to noon - elevate, ice, nap, repeat (elevating means that my knee has to be 18 inches higher than my heart, kinda hard to do much other than nap or read or work crossword puzzles)

12:15 - short walk

12:30 - elevate & ice

1:15 - mid-day PT exercises

1:45 - little lunch

2 afternoon meds

3-6 - elevate, ice, nap, repeat

6:30 short walk

7 - elevate & ice

7:30 - light dinner

8-9 - TV

9 - shower (and yay! get rid of the stockings!)

9:30 - evening meds

10 - lights out

And so it goes.