Three Week Report

It's been 3 weeks (as of yesterday) since I had a partial knee replacement by Dr. Marquez at Cornerstone Hosptal.

 

June 17, Jim's birthday and my surgery date is finally here!  I called the surgery desk a dozen times looking for a cancellation as my original date was Aug. 5!  Got all the paperwork done and am ready to go!

 

June 18...I've been hit by a truck!  At least that's what my knee thinks.  Am up and walking (with a walker) which is good as I HATE the bed pan, am doing leg exercises on the knee bending machine from Hell.  Hospital food is Ok except for dinner this night.  Cold, unseasoned, coagulated brown goopy meatloaf (I think).

 

June 18, Father's Day.  I get to go home, hurray!  Must wrap my leg in a garbage bag to shower but it was bliss!

 

June 21, first visit to the Physical Therapy section at Cornerstone.  Great guys. They are so supportive.

 

Rest of June, Exercises - 6 hours a day on that hellish machine, PT exercises three times a day.  Takes the whole day to do all the exercises but I'm sleeping great, except for the pain.  Turns out the Tramadol I've been given just doesn't do it, and the codeine which will work, I have to wait for as it is no longer stocked by anybody and must be ordered....but it works!

 

July, stitches are out, hellish machine is gone, I'm walking with a cane and sometimes not even that!  Wow!  After three weeks!  I can hardly believe it.  The knee still hurts of course where they did the cutting (did I mention it was assisted by a robot?), but the arthritis pain is long gone.

 

I would recommend Cornerstone Hospital...great service, it's small but well equipped. I now belong to the legion of bionics at Sandpipers.

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Everyone pray for Barry M.  He is at M.D. Anderson for a serious diagnosis-brain cancer.