New Uses for Lawn Furniture

We are rolling right along on post-surgery recovery--sometimes literally!  Over the weekend, Ken pushed me in the wheelchair down to the riverfront, and it was just in time to save me from going stir-crazy inside the house.  Thank God, the recovery is going well, and I am tolerating the pain just fine.

As they were pushing me into the operating room, I met the anesthesiologist, a nice little fella who seemed pretty confident. I was looking for that.  I asked him if they'd put me under, and he explained that I'd have a spinal tap with a sedative, so I'd probably sleep.  I warned him that I sometimes talk in my sleep, so anything that he hears in the OR, stays in the OR.  That's about the last thing I remember.

That afternoon the surgeon came in to check on me. I half-jokingly asked if I'd conversed with them, not really expecting his answer.  "You kept trying to speak, so I finally told you to settle back down and rest, and you quieted down."  Oops.

But he also was very surprised that I'd already been out of bed and could bend my knee so far, so he told me I could go home--two days earlier than anticipated!  We decided to spend the night since the drive was so long and it was already dark.  An offering from a group of people we've never even met helped to pay our hospital bill the next morning, and we were on our way.

Funny thing happened.  I told you they were taking out the plate that had been holding that snapped-in-two bone together.  Well, the doctor assured me it was fused and would be able to hold its own (haha) within a couple of months, but until then, not to put any weight down on that side.  Easier said than done, but doable.

Anyway, when it came time to roll over and hobble to the bathroom, I suddenly had this irrational fear that the bone would snap in two when I lifted the leg.  I moved stiff-legged until the doctor came by for his visit, when he reassured me that it was just fine.  I wish I'd have thought to ask him to take a picture when he had me opened up, just to see what's up in there.  Oh, well.

This being the third time for this sort of surgery, we've kinda got a routine down now.  We dragged the recliner into the bedroom (where the a/c lives) so I could keep my leg elevated and sleep in coolness, and pulled out ye ole' faithful walker for hopping around the house.

And, uh, yeah. This get-up for bathing.  When one doesn't have access to a medical supply store, one does what one can.  ;)  Except for the fact that I'm nekkid, I wish you could be a fly on the wall for some of our bathing fiascoes!  It can get a bit complicated, but a lawn chair and waterhose save the day.

The pain has been very tolerable.  I take a bit of Advil for the swelling and keep the leg elevated, and I'm happy to report that I can already bend it past 90 degrees.  I can't do that without using my hand to make it happen, but pretty soon, I'll have the muscle strength once again to move this leg on its own, when I tell it to! Won't be long now!!

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