Home again, Home again, jiggety jig

(Title from the nursery rhyme To Market)

So I'm on the other side of surgery and have once again started the healing process. Dr. Brumback was pleased with the way that surgery went and was able to accomplish what he set out to do as far as reshaping and realigning the top of my tibia. He said he got rid of all of the bone filler cement that was used during my last surgery. He was able to rebuild the section with all my own bone stock and didn't need to take any bone graft from my femur (which is where he was planning on taking it from if it was needed). He was able to bend my knee 90 degrees while I was still out. He said that didn't mean that I would be able to get 90 degrees when I started therapy, but it is nice to know that my joint is now capable of that range of motion after surgery. He wants me completely immobile and not bending it for 2 full weeks. He also said that I will be non-weight-bearing for the full three months. So the wheel chair crutches and possibly a walker will be in use until Christmas as I suspected.

The most positive thing he said though was that he feels he has bought me a couple of years before the knee replacement will be necessary. Dr. Brumback doesn't sugar coat anything, as I've said before, and he still tempered that statement with a lot of qualifiers, but after comparing notes with my family we've decided that was the best thing that he said in the whole post-operative briefing.

Union Memorial is a great hospital and if you or a family member needs surgery I'd highly recommend it. The staff was amazing and the policies and procedures that they had in place to ensure proper care were impressive.
There was -

• Charlotte, the Patient Care Advocate that escorted us from registration to the surgical area (pointing out landmarks etc so that finding the way back to the garage, gifts shop, ATM were easy as well as being a very calming presence to all of of us)
• Linda the pre-op nurse
• Linda the anesthesiologist
• Tony,the post-op nurse who talked me through all the things done to me in a post-anesthesia fog and wheeled me up to my room
• Wendy the Nurse Tech who brought me fresh gowns, toothpaste, wash clothes and deodorant both days. She was really funny and got a kick out of me spilling a bottle of mouthwash all over the place. Boy was my whole room minty fresh.
• My nurses - Vicky, Katie, Anna, Stephanie, and Priscilla
• Diana - the PT lady who worked with me to get out of bed, use my crutches or a walker and made sure I was safe to get around at home
• Carol Ann the social worker who made sure that CVS ordered the blood thinner I was going to need filled when I got home
• Melissa and the pretty red head who were Physicians Assistants who changed my dressing, remove my drainage tube and put me in my fancy new brace.
• The food services ladies whose names unfortunately I can't remember.

There were more people that made my stay what it was and I am truly thankful to each and every one of them.

So far the pain management seems OK although I'm trying to find the happy medium between a tolerable level of discomfort and causing the troubling withdrawal effects that I experienced last time. I want to be as pain free as possible without overdoing it with the narcotics. I mentioned the blood thinner medicine above. I have to give myself shots in the stomach twice daily for the next month to gaurd against clots and some very serious problems with leg surgery and remaining immobile. I was pretty freaked out when they first started giving them to me in the hospital and even more so when they told me I'd be continuing them at home, but it really isn't that bad. They don't hurt much at all and they gave me a little kit with an instructional video, a log book and my own little medical waste container to discard the syringes.

I'm feeling pretty good although I'm sure I'm forgetting key details that I want to relate. What can I say, I've been on a lot of drugs recently and I'm still a bit foggy. Can't wait to see and talk to everyone, but wanted to put this out to let everyone know I'm OK and to say thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. They are much appreciated.