Getting a New Knee After Africa Trip

Thanks. Yeah. Lots of miles on these knees and a fair bit of kneeling and squatting as an industrial electrician and before that an industrial mechanic. I guess ya never know how long they will last. Many go the distance in spite of the abuse and some fail early. I guess it's like wheel bearings.

BTW, I had my "re-pre-op" this morning. All they did was weigh me, draw more blood samples, re-swab my nose for MRSA, and have me pee in another cup. Still don't need a COVID test, they say, since I'm vaccinated and haven't been sick or near sick people, so they canceled that appointment. They also re-wrote my instructions so I have the right dates in writing for stopping various meds and that sort of stuff. Nice folks, too. I was the first customer and was in and out in about a half hour. WAY faster than the first time.

 

In the list of stuff to do to prepare for being laid up for several weeks, this one goes in the surprise category. I put the same info in the Gen 4, what did you do to your Prius thread just to have it there. I'm sure glad it happened yesterday and not two weeks from now.

Wife was taking an elderly friend on errands and stopped for lunch with her. She called and needed a jump. Said she had the low 12V message and the car wouldn't boot up. I went to where she was and jumped it with our Noco lithium booster. Then she informed me that she'd had that message before. "Now ya tell me." I told her to not shut it off while taking her elderly friend home. When she got home about 20-30 minutes later, I checked and it was still only 11.4 volts. After the $10 coupon, a new Truestart from the dealership two miles away cost me $172.69. Even with brushing and vacuuming the battery tray, the job took about 15 minutes total, not counting going to get the new battery. Why is it that people will pay $250-300 for one installed by the dealer and then not know if all the connections are tight and that everything is clean?

By the way, this was the third time I've used that jump battery, but the first time on one of our own cars.

 

$200 and change is about what I paid for one several years ago on my old 2005.

Side note that has nothing to do with a battery or a knee: I asked someone in the dealership if they were starting to get new cars again. He said they are trickling in. I mentioned the chips. He said he was hearing that it's mainly the log jams at the ports that's slowing down the arrival of the chips for the factories. I imagine it's also slowing the arrival of the cars assembled overseas.

 

I got the call from the hospital this afternoon. The mission is a go this time. They want me there at 6 am tomorrow. Nine to ten weeks of anticipating someone using a power saw on my knee is almost over. The prediction is that I'll go home either Thursday or Friday. Maybe I'll see ya next week. Thanks for all the prayers and kind expressions.

 

I got back home yesterday afternoon. Things went very well other than the Spanish Inquisition hospital bed. That sucker hurt worse than the knee!!!

Only one snag so far. I normally wake up about 5 am. My Percocet schedule is 6, 12, 6, 12. I didn't realize how much better I'd sleep in my own bed with Percocet compared to the hospital bed with the tram medicine that the forum software bans me from using the whole word. I woke up at 6:47 feeling like a hand grenade went off inside my knee. It's under control this afternoon, but, WOW! Now I have four alarms set in my phone so I don't do that again.

Home health nurse came over this morning for the initial evaluation. PT will start coming on Monday. Meanwhile, I'm going with the routine from the hospital PT but modified slightly. I think I overdid the quad work yesterday and those muscles are having a shutdown strike. So I'm just stretching till they get better. The continuous passive motion machine is a godsend. Now I spend almost 100% of my waking hours either stretching, walking with the walker, icing, or enjoying the CPM machine. And an occasional Percocet-induced nap oblivious to what's on the TV.

The whole hospital staff was fantastic. No complaints at all other than that horrible bed.

 

Oh, by the way, the surgeon said my knee was way worse than it felt like to me. He said that, not only was the cartilage gone, but one bone had ground a divot out of the facing bone. But the operation itself was routine.

 

I tried. He said they are bio hazard. I said, "You mean it's not like getting a new lower control arm?" I seriously would have liked to have seen the old parts.

Edit to add that today got off to a WAY better start than yesterday. It sure helps to keep on schedule with the pain meds,

 

After careful consideration, I think I need to go to a 5-1/2 hour pain med schedule. Six hours is cutting it too close and makes it really hard to do the therapy very soon after a dose because the previous dose has sagged a little too much. That means I need to set new alarms every day. Hopefully, just for a few days.

 

Yup!! I start the day with ice while having breakfast in the Lazyboy and then have it after every time I work the knee or if it just feels like it needs the ice. But with all the therapy going on now, it's pretty much full time either ice or stretching therapy. I also keep it iced while eating.

The great thing about this ice water pump is the timer. Since it's not good to chill the knee to cold for too long, the timer lets me keep it wrapped and then it pumps ice water for 20 minutes, rests for 20 minutes, and pumps again. Usually, the two 20-minute pumping sessions with the intervening 20-minutes rest session will take me to my next period of stretching.

The home PT is due here in about two hours. I imagine that she will make some adjustments. I still can't use the quads to extend the leg, although, once it is extended, I can tighten them. I'm hoping she can explain that and have a way to resolve it. This leg lifter is a real help right now when getting into the CPM machine.

Each day is noticeably better than the day before. I may go back to the six hour Percocet schedule tomorrow. 5-1/2 is a pain to keep track of.

 

Well, that was informative.

The PT came yesterday and was trilled to get a 91º flex from my knee. She gave me a very livable regimen of stretching, walking, icing, etc. Then she got a little concerned about some minor warmth and redness on the left side of the knee. I thought it looked like Plavix induced bruising. She sent a picture to the nurse who called the surgeon's office. So, that's where I went this morning feeling a little nervous.

The PA looked it over and said that it was not infected. It was (as I suspected) simply bruising from the Plavix. In fact, he said it looked very good for a Plavix user. He re-bandaged it and sent me on my way after telling me that the 91º I got yesterday is what he expects after two weeks post op, not after just five days. He's happy and so am I. Apparently "prehab" is worth the effort!

 

PT just left. The one who came Monday was for evaluation. The one today is the regular. After we got done, she told me that the Monday PT had told her that I was not a typical knee patient. She was pretty stunned at my range of motion and strength. She even had. me stand without holding the walker and close my eyes. No problem. Open the eyes and she gave me gentle pushes in each direction. No problem. I said, "Oh! a pushy therapist, eh?" LOL! She said, "You don't really need that walker, but keep using it anyway, just in case. She also liked that I walk with a normal heel to toe stride. I said, I use the walker as my security blanket. That knee is definitely not ready for a stumble recovery.

 

Just a little update. The knee is slowly gaining function, but pain is as bad as ever. It's now swollen around the Achilles tendon where it hurts almost as much as the knee. Again, though, they were surprised that it took that long given all my blood thinners. So I grit my teeth and press on. At least it doesn't ALWAYS hurt. LOL!

Oh, and I got a new bandage today. Nurse said it looks great.