The new knee is in! It hasn’t been easy, but at least the process is under way.
My left knee got completely replaced in an approximately 90-minute operation on September 4th. I woke up in serious pain afterward. During the days that followed, my pain level hit a 10 out of 10 at points. I give the hospital poor marks for their pain management – they kept me either behind the pain, or so drugged out I couldn’t tell my own name.
They got me up on my feet once during the 6 days I spent there. I took a couple of steps and sat back down. A second attempt to stand failed miserably.
You’ll note that I’m not posting pictures of the incision, surgery, or anything else. That’s because the only ones I have are too gross to post. When they first unwrapped my leg, my wife was there, camera in hand. She saw what looked like barbecued beef brisket, with plenty of bark and several blistered areas. My leg had reacted with the Tegaderm adhesive placed over the stitches and caused blood blisters and large skin blistering, which had to be drained. I still look somewhat brisket-y, but nothing like I first did.
On September 10th, they transferred me to a “skilled nursing center” in Garland, TX. Here, I’m supposed to get more physical therapy. I am, I’ll admit, but I’m not getting much else. The food here is weird – I’ve lost 20 pounds from not eating it. I won’t say much else for fear of getting in trouble.
Getting used to a new knee is hard – excruciating at times. Just getting up from the bed or a wheelchair is the hardest part. Your muscles get confused working with a new zirconium/titanium interface, plus they hurt like hell since every one of them have been cut and are swollen. By comparison, standing and walking are easy. I can put 50/50 weight distribution on my legs. Still can’t 100% bend the leg, though. Too swollen.
Anyway, it looks like I’m going to be here for a couple of weeks minimum, which sucks – I can’t even see my wife due to COVID-19 restrictions. I’ll manage, but damn, I want to go home.
Tomorrow’s the day, barring a panic call from the COVID-19 testing center of the hospital. I had that test run yesterday, and yes, it was of the “brain scrape” variety (i.e., insert a long swap through the sinus cavity so that it feels like they’re scraping your brain). If I hear nothing of the results, that means it’s safe to report to the hospital on Friday (Sept. 4th) for total knee replacement surgery.
