Category: General

I slept pretty well last night, short of the fact that I woke up every few hours and was a wee bit restless. I can only lay in one position for so long and there’s big production values involved in rolling over.

That being said, I have far more pain today than previously and have been a bit more attentive about my pain killers. Like the slogan goes, “Just Say Yes to Drugs.”

This is the magic day, where the 48 hours after surgery deadline kicks in. In about 1 1/2 hours, I can legally sign documents. And, since this is Day 2, I got to take the dressing off. It’s not horribly ugly, you will all be pleased to know. My knee is a bit swollen although I did have to change the dressing yesterday and it was much puffier. I see they don’t use the horrendous yellow-orange antiseptic anymore. My paint job was a purplish-pink and looked a lot like I was quite bruised until I got it washed off. There are the three tiny incisions and they aren’t leaking at all.

I still, however, have the surgeon’s initials Sharpied on my left kneecap. It’s how, along with asking me about six times on Tuesday, everyone is on the same page with which knee is supposed to be worked on. Note: we are to always refer to the left knee as being the “correct” one, not the “right” one.

But, I really am not moving along very quickly and it will be a few more days before I even think of going out anywhere. I’m still not up for the adventure of going outside too far or upstairs to the 2nd floor. Stairs are a wee bit daunting yet. However, if the weather clears a bit, I may go on the grand adventure of going out to the deck. It’s a tiny little step down from the veranda and more than easy to deal with… even when you trundle along as badly as I do. The fun part is that, apparently, I’m allowed to drive now. That is, if I decided to avoid my pain killers (may cause drowsiness. May?)

That being said, it’s nap time again. I’ve been awake for 4 hours and that’s my record for this week so far. I’m not interested in setting records yet either…

I had my knee repaired again yesterday. I’m not totally sure how much of what got done, other than generically.

The plans were to grind down the rough spots, grind down any bone spurs that may be catching on other parts of the knee. He also washed out the joint to remove any bone pieces that may have been floating in the knee and cut any loose flaps of cartlidge that may be there.

Last, but not least, the idea of the surgery was a chance for an inspection tour and see if the X-rays may be a bit more optimistic than the actual facts. While the pain level is closer to what one would expect with Stage IV arthritis, the X-rays suggest that I’m only at Stage III. Stage IV, the worst case, is where you get a knee replacement, regardless of age.

However, I didn’t get to see the doctor after surgery. He had more in the queue so I’ll actually get the report when I get the stitches out in two weeks.

Generally, I don’t move very quickly and usually run around the house, when necessary, with my cane. It’s a bit sore but I have lovely drugs that keep it in line and I’m allowed to stack my pain killers. T-3s and ibuprofen are a legal mix and I have spread them two hours apart.

As for the visual evidence, there isn’t much to see. Just a tensor bandage over a 6×6 telfa pad, which I can get rid of tomorrow afternoon. There will be three little incisions: one for the light, one for the camera and one for the tools.  Each is an X less than 1/2 inch long.

The interesting point is that there are some important things to consider with anaesthesia. I am considered impaired and cannot drive for 24 hours after surgery. However, I am also considered impaired and cannot sign a legal document for 48 hours after surgery. I’m not sure why there’s a discrepency. It doesn’t really matter much as I have been condemned to imprisonment on the first floor of the house by Clara, and her rules take precedence…

Surgery’s done and I have eaten. All is now well with the world. It went well although I don’t get the surgeon’s report until two weeks and we won’t know if there will be any benefit for about three months. There is often no improvement with additional scopes and this is sort of a “hit or miss” thing. However, the last one did give me more than a year of no pain at all in my knee during most activities.

Now, I get to spend a week condemned to the first floor of the house…

What sort of person schedules you for fasting after midnight and surgery for 1 PM?

Worse yet, where do they get the weird definitions? The strangest thing that gets me today is that I can’t eat solid foods and I am allowed “clear liquids” until 10 AM. Here’s the rub? What’s a “clear liquid?” Here’s where the English language goes slightly off course. I’m allowed to have water, apple juice and the time honoured tea without milk. What you might want to consider is that the sugar in your tea isn’t considered solid food. I suppose that, in solution, you could consider the sugar as a liquid. However, the item I’m having as we type this is another clear liquid, namely, black coffee. What’s that clear about black coffee? 

I’m not sure what’s more confusing: medical terminology or plain English? This is probably why your doctor went to university for almost as long as an anthropologist…

Woo hoo! I got me a hot date. Don’t tell my wife…

Actually, my hot date is with the knee surgeon. I’m going back for another scope and debridement (no, this has nothing to do with divorce) on June 7th. My last one was 3 years ago and probably represented about a year of no knee pain at all for the first time since about 1970. No, it’s not the replacement I was told I needed in 1985. Instead, it’s the 6th repair job on the same knee and, while I’m happy I’m getting something, I’d much rather be getting a new knee than a duct tape and baling wire job.

That, sady, is not going to happen soon, though. It’s not that I don’t need a replacement, but rather the lifespan of a replacement and the cost to the medical system of having it done. See, right now, a replacement knee lasts between 10 and 15 years. Apparently, as my surgeon tells me, they last even less time if you use it as a knee. (By the way, that is my plan. No, I’m going back to downhill skiing or anything along those lines, but I would like to go back to biking again.) As things presently sit, replacements done again do not last as long as the earlier ones too. Therfore, if they replace my knee now, they will probably have to replace it two more times afterwards. Yes, it also costs the territory about $15,000 each time.

One would think that wouldn’t be an issue. However, we recently made national news with the story of a man waiting two years for a hip replacement. The reason given is that the territory only does six hip replacements a year because of cost.

Even if I do end up on the waiting list, it will be about tw0 years before I actually get my knee replaced. Considering a first appointment with the orthopoedic surgeon took 14 months and can take up to 24, needing joint surgery here is a lengthy process. Of course, a lot has to do with the problem that the surgeon has to come up from BC to do clinics since we don’t have one here. And, this is the part I don’t really grasp. When I first wrecked my knee, Sydney, NS had a population of less than Whitehorse does now. Sydney had a greater outer area population, but we also have the rest of the territory as potential clients too. At the time I was injured, we had three orthopedic surgeons living and practising in Sydney. Sadly, the territorial government doesn’t seem to understand why we don’t have one here, although expecting the current government to have a clue (hey, our premier is a convicted heroin dealer, after all) is apparently more than one could hope…