Total Knee Replacement

Today is day eight since my right total knee replacement surgery.  I have had such peace through the whole adventure.  Here are a few of the I-Know-God-Is-With-Me-In-This tidbits.

• I was the first case of the day. 
• The anesthesiologist that came into pre-op had been personally contacted by a friend of ours that worked in the Department of Anesthesiology and he wanted me to have the best care. 
• Went into the OR at 7:30 and was sleepy by 7:45.  I woke up at 9:05 as I was being wheeled into the recovery room.
• I could move my toes and feet immediately and the recovery room nurse had never seen a patient be able to do that.
• My total time in recovery:  40 minutes.  I got the "quickest patient out of recovery" award from my nurse and she called me amazing (credit to God for that).
• Bed pans are a great therapy...after using one a couple of times you REALLY want to be able to get out of bed.
• To prevent blood clots, I had to learn to give MYSELF a shot of clotting-prevention medicine. 
• The physical therapist met with me two times on Friday and I was up walking.  S-L-O-W-L-Y
• The nurses and I had great fun together.  I had the same nurses during the day and nights.  The night nurse called me Spunky.
• Pain medications do wild things.  For me it was waking up with songs going through my head. I kid you not.   Here are the song phrases I remember waking up to:
• Burn, burn, burn...in a ring of fire...in a ring of fire
• ...hot blooded, check it and see.  I've got a fever of a 103..(the nurse sang it all night after I told her I'd been singing it)
• Call me maybe...

Now that I am home, the real work begins.  My quadriceps (the thigh muscle) is like a cement block.  I look at my leg and say "move" and nothing happens.  There are exercises that I do two to three times a day to encourage my quadricep to wake up.

Today I put a cake pan on the floor and put my right foot into the pan.  I'm trying to use my foot/leg to push the pan.  This really works the quad and exhausts me!  I can barely push the pan from my kitchen to the TV in the livingroom without collapsing to catch my breath.  Isn't that weird!

Also, my knee bends to about 75 degrees.  It needs to be 90 and better to be 'healed'.  This is accomplished by bending and holding the knee several times a day. 

Swelling.  This has started to be more of an issue to I sit with ice packs.  I've also started elevating my leg way up in the air (trying to get my leg higher than my heart) and ice the knee for 20 to 30 minutes.

I was going to post pictures but Blogger tells me I've exceeded my photo limit.   Once I've figured out how to add photos, you'll get to see my 25-stapled knee.

More updates to follow in the next days.

Thanks for praying for me...I have certainly experienced the answers to those prayers!

I Remain...So Amazed