PT Bruce Died

PT Bruce died awhile back. I had reported him for smelling alcohol on him twice. Nobody knows for sure what caused his death or they aren't saying. He was a young man.

Still Stumbling

I am still learning how to walk. I had no idea it would be this difficult or frustrating. PT Bruce was here today, gave me some new exercises to do. It's a good thing I was holding on to things because I would have toppled over otherwise. (Insert commas wherever you think they should be.)

I've been discharged from seeing my orthopedic surgeon. I'm to see him in 1 year, then every 3 years after that. Sounds good to me.

Still have the major owies on my belly. God bless Vicodin.

I've Found the Cure

I've discovered the cure for post-op knee pain: get your gut ripped open. Seriously, you won't notice the knee pain much at all.

I'm having home health nurses daily for awhile to do the dressing changes. Yeah, I can do them my own self, but it's good to have someone else keeping an eye on how the wounds look. I tend to ignore things when they happen to me.

PT Bruce will be back to see me here at home. Apparently, in order to have home health you have to stay at home. No shopping, no outings -- except, get this, you can go get your hair done. I kid you not. I'm sure there are exceptions like doctor's appointments, but they pretty much expect that you aren't able to go somewhere to get the dressings changed.

It's good to be home. I think everyone missed me. The cat has been hanging around me more than usual. The dog, you can never tell what is going on in his hard head. The bird just babbles. I think she says, "Hello!" Hubby's happy to have me back. That's always nice. :-)

To Omaha

I've got some sort of infection in my abdomen. I have 3 areas that have broken open and are oozing some nasty gunk. I'm going back to Omaha to get them fixed.

Ever since my hernia repair when they put mesh in to hold things together, I keep getting these infections. The first time, in 2005, the mesh was infected and they had to remove it and put in a different kind. More infections, small repairs, one big repair with yet another mesh put in, small repairs, and here I am again. GrrrrRRRR! Anything foreign increases chances of getting an infection, but I've had my fair share already. Enough, already.

I really don't want to risk either of my knees getting infected, so I'm going to the best surgeon I know to get this taken care of. I saw a surgeon locally, and was not impressed. In fact, his lack of knowledge scared me a bit. My Omaha surgeon specializes in abdominal wall defects and hernias, among other things. He'll take good care of me. Leaving Sunday, surgery Wednesday, hopefully home on Thursday.

The knees are doing well. The left one still hurts and there is some swelling, especially by the evening. I still think my recovery is slower with this one than with the right. It wakes me up when I move it some way it doesn't like.

I'm still learning how to walk correctly. :-/

Day 23 PO

Well. Who knew? Apparently I do not know how to walk. Funny, I've been getting where I need to go.

There's more to getting the legs straightened than I realized. PT Becky says I will have to concentrate really hard on each step I take for at least a month, and then it will start to come naturally. Walking correctly, that is.

Oh, joy. Until I get the hang of this, I sort of list from side to side like a drunken sailor. I almost tilted off the patio steps last night and came close to giving The Groom heart failure.

The pain is better. I'm still very swollen and using my ice machine.

Post-Op Day 20

I've finally turned the corner with the pain. It's much better. Whew. Still lots of swelling, but at least I don't want to cut my leg off now. I'm taking half doses of pain meds. I hope this continues.

I went to an outdoor soiree yesterday, had good food, iffy wine, and met some new people. I was out and about for 2 hours. My leg was really swollen when I got home, but I enjoyed showing off my straight legs. The Groom is getting tired of me talking about being straight. I guess if you haven't had crooked legs all of your life, you can't really get it. ;-)

Eighteen Days Post-Op

Ouch. This still hurts pretty badly. About 2 a.m. this morning, I was wishing I'd never had this knee done. I know it will get better. Soonly, I hope.

PT Bruce made his last visit today. My knee bent to 115 degrees, which is what I could do before surgery. Maybe I should slow down with the movement and exercises. I'm way ahead of where I was at this point after the right knee surgery, and I wasn't hurting this much. Ya think skipping the walker and the cane has something to do with it? Maybe.