Shiny brand new knee

November 18th was the day scheduled for total knee replacement surgery for my left knee. The surgeon used a spinal block and drugs to, as he put it, "not care" about hearing the sounds of the saw and other surgical sounds. It worked. I heard the saw but it didn't bother me. I heard him hammering and that didn't bother me either. One benefit of having a spinal block is that waking up is a lot easier! No nausea either. The pain in my knee came on gradually instead of being there already when I came out of the recovery room.

I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning in the hospital. I'm not going to note here the lack of care I received in the hospital. I'm just mentioning that it was certainly substandard and bordered on dangerous and life threatening. I have had several apologies from management at the hospital and they told me they have take remedial actions. I hope so!

I have been under the care of a service that provides nursing and physical therapy services at home. They've been great and very helpful! That service terminated last week so I'll have to begin outpatient physical therapy once I find a place to go.

Now, if you are queasy, don't look at the following pictures! Here's my knee shortly after I went home from the hospital on up to a recent photo:

The last three show a little improvement, don't they?

Speed Trap

Wow! The posts have just been flying!

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NOT!


Intentions (good, as usual) did not become realized, as far as me becoming a blogger...and have you ever noticed how life tends to get in the way of living?? I seem to say that a lot lately. As busy as we've been, life is still enjoyable. We just need to take a breath and stand still now and then.

Mary and I are very grateful to be employed. It's even better that we enjoy what we do, in spite of the demands we've had placed on our time. Nowdays good jobs can be hard to come by!

Speaking of taking a breath and standing still...well, ok, I'll stick with the breathing part...I will be taking it easy as of Tuesday, Nov. 18th. Here's the story...

Background:High School football ruined my knees. The last game I played was during my freshman year. Yes, I was just getting started! Anyway, a collision on the field hyperextended both knees. The next day in P. E. finished destrying my ACL in my right knee. In Dec. of 1971 and June of 1972 I had my first knee operations, the first to rebuild the ACL in my right knee and remove my medial meniscus. The second to remove the medial meniscus in my left knee. The knees have held me up fairly well until about 8 years ago. My knees have finally worn out. Now, where did I put that warranty...

Anyway, it's time to take a breath and have my left knee replaced. I think I will enjoy resting for a change! I do realize, however, that therapy will interrupt my rest from time to time and that's OK. I want my new knee to function optimally and so I will be dedicated to all the rehabilitating exercises the doc throws my way...and then I'll rest between times!

Hmmmm, maybe there will be more time for blogging...

The beginning

As in anything else, this blog needs a beginning. This is it. I may meander a bit but I hope it's entertaining from time to time. Not everything will be a jewel nor will the jewels have value for everyone.

Stay tuned.

And Thus It Is.

Bruce