Down in the Knee, Part 2

I looked on the long wait in the surgical waiting room as an opportunity to read. I used to be a voracious reader, but everyday life seems to have taken up that time with other things since I quit smoking. So I brought along a great, big book knowing I'd have the time to really get into it. I'd borrowed it months before from a co-worker and barely made a dent in its pages.

Finally engrossed in Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol", I didn't notice the old man standing patiently in front of me. Finally, he said "Excuse me.. are you reading The DiVinci Code?" I told him no and he launched into a description of a book called "Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue" which sounded interesting until I realized it was a slam-Obama book. From there he moved on to the new healthcare plan, illegal immigrants, medicare and gay marriage. I fought down the urge to tell him that I was in that waiting room waiting for my wife's surgery to be over. Instead, I nodded and "hmm'd" and asked things like "Why do you suppose that is?" There was no point in goading this old minister, so I didn't. He finally said thanks for listening and wandered off to rejoin his group.

As odd and slightly irritating as that was, it did help kill about half an hour of a four-hour wait. Finally, the surgeon came out and told me DM was in the recovery room. He'd come through with flying colors, had a top-of-the-line titanium knee and would be in his room in a couple of hours. I left the hospital then, went to collect my boy, fed the dogs and returned to the hospital with boy in tow to visit his dad and have cafeteria food for dinner (his request). We left Darling Man to sleep and went home to our own beds. A day of sitting around can be exhausting!

Today, Darling Man was much better. His voice had returned to normal after the raspiness left by being intubated. His eyes were more alert and he'd even taken a slow walk down to the nurses' station down the hall with his physical therapist.

The leg was impressive in its armament.

There's staples, covered by bandages, covered by a pressure bandage with a drain and some contraption to keep the knee cool. On top of that are breathing leg cuffs that change the pressure on his legs and helps prevent clots from forming. When he gets up to walk around there's yet another soft brace that he has to put on before shuffling off on his walker to the bathroom or down the hall and back. He is doing remarkably well, according to his physical therapist.

The normal stay for a knee replacement is three to four nights. It is possible that DM will be home after two. I can understand his desire to be home rather than in the hospital, but I kind of wish he'd stay another night. Just to make sure everything is doing what it's supposed to do. And he admits that the food IS good!

He's feeling pretty chuffed about the whole thing now that the scary part is over. He survived, he's doing well and he's on his way back to his normal life.

Everything is as it should be.