Days One and Two After Surgery

DAY ONE: April 16

Busy day! My surgeon saw me first thing this morning, and told me "that joint was pretty trashed, so it was ready for replacing!" The nurses removed the Foley catheter and the femoral one. My thigh was still numb for the next few hours. 

I saw the physical therapist, and walked in the hospital hallway with crutches: "Baby stepping down the hall...."   I did not need the brace, and no buckling of the knee. Then we worked through the exercises I am to do twice a day. Then later in the afternoon, a second session to be sure I could go up and down steps..(we have 5 TALL steps on our porch, then 16 the staircase to our bedroom).

The trip home was exhausting..then greeting the doggies and settling. Yummy Anderson's Split pea soup for dinner...and now to try to sleep.

DAY TWO

The first thing I noticed this morning was that I could put a little more weight on my leg. The day has been very busy, with a visit from my at-home physical therapist and the home health nurse. 

I have discovered that male nurses are really pretty terrific. I think I still had a hard time seeing men in this role which I see as nurturing...not a typically male trait. Anyway, the men who have cared for me have been wonderful. 

I am pretty tired, and very likely have been up too much during the day, so plan on an early bedtime. The highlights: a walk next door to say hi to my neighbor (I have been told to walk outside daily); the first bowel movement (kind of like being a 2-year old---"Mommy, I made poo in the potty!" --but seriously, this is an indication of the body returning to normal, and important; having a gorgeous bouquet delivered from 4 of my friends. Speaking of bouquets, my neighbor brought me the most lovely flowers cut from his garden yesterday!

My knee flexion sitting on a chair is 93% - not too bad, and swelling circumference compared to the other knee is about 1 inch. Going to spend more time resting tomorrow, to allow the swelling to go down if it will. Meanwhile, lots of flexing of the ankles throughout the day helps. The most difficult thing right now is transitioning from sitting to standing and vice versa. I have to move very slowly and help it along with my hands to support. 

All things considered, I feel 300 times better than I did on Sunday!