Sunday, August 05, 2012

I now have a new right knee.  And it hurts like a SOB.  Just like last time.  Surgery was non-eventful and I woke up in my room at TOP's Surgery Center with tubes and hoses and drip-bags everywhere.  I wasn't hurting then but all the good stuff wore off and I was reduced to only the prescribed pain meds.  They weren't working very well.  Still aren't.  And they make me feel strange.

The Doctor let me come home Saturday morning.  Meanwhile, I have to perform a lot of therapy here and at KSF's Therapy Center starting tomorrow.  The staff knows me well from two years ago when I was having some major problems with anemia, and inflammation in my leg.  The doctor gave me almost two units of the blood I donated before surgery but it didn't help much.  Plus, the hydrocodone pain meds were simply not working to relieve my pain.  I was in a real mess and got behind on my therapy at the most critical period.  It took almost a year before I could start seeing some improvement.  I sure don't want that to happen this time so they prescribed percoset this time.

Here's some pictures...



Yeah, I threw the one with the zipper in myself.  Gotta have some humor in everything we do or it just isn't worth doing.

Oh, and I learned today that replacement knees don't hold up forever.  Twenty years is about tops.  I'm not sure I want to do it again.  For one thing, it's even more complicated, and the success rate is much lower.  I may just have to squeak when I wear these out.