Just had my first PT session.  Not too bad!  The pain is totally different than before the surgery, and it feels like I just have to work through it, and it’ll eventually fade away.  I have a list of exercises I have to do twice a day, which aren’t so bad.  Two of them are much more painful than the others, but it’s just stretching things to the point of pain, then forcing it just a bit more to work a little further each time.  I’m also walking across the house once an hour and doing breathing exercises once an hour.

And here I thought I’d have all this free time to play video games… sure, there’s more free time than I had before, but nowhere near the extra time I thought I’d have.  No problem though, it’s all for the better.

The ride home and the walk into the house was Challenge #1, and Mother Nature set the difficult level to High. In addition to the normally bumpy roads, it was raining and of course the torrential rain started the minute we pulled into the driveway. Sandy backed into the driveway so my distance to walk would be as short as possible. I took the challenge head-on, using the Walker as quickly as possible to get into the house.

I made it into the house in decent time, but we were both really soaked. Sandy changed me into some dry clothes and I finally got my achievement reward: Sitting in my recliner.

Now I’m under house arrest. LOL

I’m back home now, after the surgery. Wow, that was something! I’m still pretty groggy and my entire right leg is numb. There is intense pain with every slight movement. The ride home was pretty painful. I never realized just how bumpy Kenosha’s roads really are.

They said the pain will get much worse once the numbness from the medication in my leg wears off, which is supposed to be this evening. Oh joy, so something to look forward to. But at least the spike of stabbing pain every time I tried to walk on my bad knee is gone. Now I just need to work through this.

My therapist stopped by tonight right after work for an initial visit to go over what I can expect from the surgery, tips for the best recovery and how best to go about everyday tasks post-surgery.  I think I got this.  

My own version of preparing is just about complete now too… I have everything I need within reach of my recliner:  Laptop, TV remote, a controller for each game system, a walker with folding tray table (so I can get my Sparkling Ice drinks and a Red Solo Cup filled with ice back to my recliner), and last, but not least… A new Intel NUC all loaded up with my entire Steam Library!  That last one’s a first for me…and took quite some time to do:

Now let’s get on with it already!

Well, tomorrow is Surgery Day.   Last week my regular doctor gave me a full physical, did blood work, 12-lead EKG, etc., and I passed everything, so I’m cleared for the surgery.  I’ve been Hibiclensing once a day and Mupirocining twice a day for the past 5 days and I’m ready to get on with it.    My nose feels like it’s constantly running, I’m frequently sneezing, and my skin smells alcohol-fresh.  My surgeon’s office has turned in my FMLA paperwork and my house has received the “OK for knee replacement rehab” seal of approval from the physical therapy people.  This means my walker will fit through all of doorways in my house and I will still be able to use my bathroom facilities.  Now I’m off to one last day of work before FMLA starts.  I’ll post again as soon as I can after the surgery.  See you on the other side.

Today’s lesson is “Up with the good, down with the bad.”  I learned that from the therapist that visited yesterday to check the house for walker and handicapped accessibility.  That’s the phrase to remember when walking up or down steps–“Up with the good, down with the bad.”  Lead with the good leg if you’re going UP stairs, lead with the bad leg if you’re going DOWN stairs.  There’s less bending when descending and more when ascending, so it’s less painful doing it this way. 

I posted this mainly to help me remember it.  You know, with my CRS and all… That explains “The Good and The Bad” in the title, but why “The Ugly” you ask?  Well, that just reminds me that I need to catch up on a few good classic movies during my sick time at home… Some classic Duke and Clint is definitely on the menu!

My second opinion appointment with Dr. Michael Slimack went quite well. After explaining my situation, reviewing my history and looking at me, he said there wouldn’t be any problem with me having the surgery and he’d be glad to do it. We were shown a mock-up of the three knee parts attached to a fake leg to get an idea of how it works. It’s two metal pieces–one attached to the upper leg and one attached to the lower leg. The lower-leg piece is a baseplate for the plastic middle layer. It all makes sense and works great as a model.

By the end of the appointment I was scheduled for the surgery. It’s going to be next Wednesday, September 5th. It’s outpatient surgery, performed in right at the doctor’s clinic. I go home a few hours later with a new knee. The physical therapist I had been going to to rehab my bad knee said she’s never known of anyone having this surgery as an outpatient. It should be interesting.

Yes, it’s very soon too, so I’ve been scrambling ever since the appointment to get everything arranged and all the paperwork and red tape completed in these two weeks. Yesterday I had to go to my regular doctor and get a physical, EKG, blood tests, etc., to get cleared for the surgery, and I have an appointment tomorrow (Wednesday 8/29) with an in-home medical supply company that Dr. Slimack ordered to make sure I have everything I need for after-surgery care. Then, next Tuesday, the day before the surgery, I have an in-home therapist coming to go over everything we’ll be doing for the post-surgery therapy. She’ll be coming to my home regularly after that for my physical therapy up until my follow-up doctor’s appointment two weeks after the surgery.

Yesterday I had scheduled a half-day off of work to see a knee doctor – the same doctor who did my partial meniscectomy on my left knee in 2008.  I’m pretty gimpy at this point, and I really don’t like the idea of using a cane, so Kevin agreed to come along and push me in a wheelchair just to make it easier.  Thanks, Kev! Anyway, I was asked to come 15 minutes early to fill out the initial paperwork. I came an hour early, and STILL barely finished it all by the time of my appointment!  It was a crazy stack of my history, my medications, my FAMILY history, surveys, etc. etc., and I didn’t want to mess any of it up, so one hour early turned out to be just right–though the receptionist did say “you’re REALLY early, just in case you didn’t realize it” when we arrived.

Promptly at my appointment time I was taken into an X-Ray room and a few X-Rays were taken.  My regular doctor had ordered X-Rays a week ago, which I went to the hospital and had done that same day, but the assistant said these are a different set of x-rays specific to my knee issue.  After several minutes of performing various poses and bends for x-rays–some of which were pretty painful–I was taken to another room to wait for the doctor.

Sidenote: Next time I’ll know–skip any tests my regular doctor wants to do, and just go see the knee doctor for knee issues… I’m pretty sure the first set of x-rays were a waste of time and thousands of dollars of insurance money (and probably a chunk of MY money, I just haven’t gotten the bill yet–

My knee doctor came in after a few minutes, showed me all the x-rays and explained the options.  Basically, my right knee is partially bone-on-bone. There is very little meniscus left. This, and arthritis on this knee, explains all my recent and increasing pain.  My regular doctor has prescribed Tylenol with Codeine, and my knee doctor said this was a bad choice–Codeine will not help with this kind of pain at all. He told me to stop the Codeine and he prescribed a different medication.

He went on to list all of the available treatments, and narrowed things down for my particular situation.  Here’s where I stand: My right knee needs to be replaced, that’s a given. The question is WHEN. Insurance companies recommend this as a last-resort option though, especially for someone my age, preferring instead pain management and therapy to reduce the pain and increase mobility and quality of life.

In my particular situation, the doctor said he won’t do the surgery anyway, until my BMI is 40 or below.  He said 30 is optimal, but he’ll be realistic and settle for 40. I’m currently over 50, he said. Google says it’s 48.4, but what does the Internet know?  Anyway, it’s too high, so I need some serious diet and exercise changes. All of this will help a lot with my health and fitness overall, as well as allow me to get a new knee, so it’ll be good all around.  I’m waiting for a nutritionist to call me so I can get a solid plan setup and going. But I already had my initial evaluation for Physical and Aquatic Therapy last night.

I am scheduled for many appointments for PT and Aquatic Therapy already, which starts Tuesday 8/14.  I’m still struggling to see how I’m going to continue to lose weight if I’m not walking my two miles a day, but I do have a schedule of exercises to do at home already, and I’m supposed to walk a little, but only as much as my knee can tolerate.  I’m not quite sure what that means yet, or how far I should I should push it each time though… Until I’m crying from the pain? Just short of that? Until the pain is to the point I can’t think straight? How do you measure that?

So that’s it.  I can’t just get the new knee and shorten the recovery time by several months or years… I have to work through it for my overall health improvement, and then, when I’m finally feeling great, much less fat and in less pain, THEN I can go through the trauma of a full knee replacement and start all over again.  Dems da rules. Let’s do this and get it done!