YOU DIDN’T ASK, BUT I’M GOING TO TELL YOU ANYWAY!

YOU DIDN’T ASK, BUT I’M GOING TO TELL YOU ANYWAY!

You know how it it is. You meet someone you know. You ask, only to be polite, "How are you?" and to your surprise the friend launches into a detailed description of some medical ailment they have had or are going through. You aren't really interested because the only thing we really are interested in is talking about ourselves. But, oblivious to our non verbal language of not caring,  our friend launches into a detailed report of their medical problems with a special emphasis on bowel function. Well, that' sort of what this post is like and here's your chance to avoid knowing about my medical situation. 

For 15 plus years I've have had two knees and hip total joint replacements. Starting some months back the right knee replacement began to fail. Since a revision is more complicated then the initial procedure I started checking on doctors with experience in 2nd revisions. Next to Florida, who has more old people with joint replacements then Florida and Arizona? People go there to retire and old people are the ones whose joints Images wear out so look to retirement states was my conclusion. We have a vacation home in Scottsdale and I decided to check there. I found a couple of orthopods who had done more revisions then anyone else in this area and selected Dr Theodore Firestone for the procedure. On June 8th the surgery was done at Shea Hospital here in Scottsdale. Unfortunately, I had waited  longer then I should have and he found a mass of destroyed muscle, tissue and previous implant material that had to be removed in what turned out to be Instead of a 1.5 hour surgery was 4 hours with lots of difficulty, but it was successfully done.

That was followed by three days in the hospital and discharge to our home for rehab. Six hours on a knee bending machine a day, exercises three times a day, walking more each day with a walker and taking lots of pills. Home visit nurse & physical therapy. Everything is great if you don't count my having to pee  in a bottle, a woman PT who  finds ways to move my knee joint only the German interrogators in WW II would know about & being confined. 

The truth is the person who has to provide the care and not the patient is the one who suffers. My wife Lita is that person. The lack of independence means you have to ask for everything you can't do yourself. Anything 3" too far to reach is totally inaccessible. That means that Lita is doing all the work and not getting the sleep. But, improvement is daily and complaints become less each day.

Lita and I are here for awhile while I rehab. The outside temp is 102 degrees plus. The largest wild fire in state history rages elsewhere the state and my world has shrunk to a radius of 150 feet. I'll talk to you later and by then about something else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thought on “YOU DIDN’T ASK, BUT I’M GOING TO TELL YOU ANYWAY!

  1. Best of luck with the recovery Paul! If there’s anything you need from Washington, don’t hesitate to ask, though I’m more than sure Lita has you covered.

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