Happy Thanksgiving!
It's been a month since my
last blog, I know. But I have been a little busy. A week ago I got
a new knee! I have been uncomfortable walking since this summer.
During the month we spent hiking in Utah on our trip back to Arizona from
Colorado, I experienced increasing discomfort in my right knee. Shortly
after getting settled in our winter home, I visited my doctor and was sent for
an MRI to see what was wrong.
Several years ago, 2011 I think,
I had surgery for a torn meniscus in my right knee. At that time, John
was told I had extensive arthritis in the knee. Over the years I have had shots
in the knee to relieve some of the discomfort.
When I met with my primary care
doctor about the September MRI, he said I was bone on bone in that knee and I
needed a knee replacement. Since he had surgery to replace both of his
knees over the summer and was doing well, I asked for the name of his
surgeon.
Once I met with the surgeon,
there were many steps in the process of being cleared for the operation.
What an ordeal. Blood tests, exams, an EKG. It wasn't enough to get
the initial referral from my primary care MD, I also needed a formal letter
clearing me for the operation.
Finally, everything was in order
and I was scheduled for surgery! At 8 am
last Wednesday, I checked into the hospital.
Of course, because of Covid 19 restrictions, John couldn’t come in with
me. He dropped me off at the front door
and drove back home.
We used face time to keep in
touch. A few hours after I was admitted,
I was taken into surgery. About 1 ½
hours later, I was in recovery. I had PT
in the hospital once that day and again twice on Thursday before I was
released—about 28 or 29 hours after I got there.
I can’t say, yet, I feel better
than when I got there. But I am
hopeful. They did a lot of work after
making that 6-inch incision in my knee.
My body really didn’t like that and I have a lot of swelling and
bruising. I am sore.
Every hour I am awake, I need to
do some walking. I have had PT twice
since coming home and will be going twice a week for the next month. I haven’t needed very much pain medicine.
Already, I can bend the knee just
over 90 degrees. I can extend it to with
2 or 3 degrees of being completely flat.
From all I read and am told, I
will take up to 6 months to be totally healed.
But I see the sunshine ahead and
really, really like my surgeon and my therapist.
Now it is time to go outside and
hobble around for a short walk.
