Day Sixteen

A big day with 4 sets of PT.

The sunshine today helped with my attitude.  So did a LITTLE walk with my neighbor Linda and Allison's daffodil bearing pop-in.  You know,  I hadn't been outside in over a week....not once.  Ouch.

Did a drive to Danville full of back roads and wrong turns which was fun.  Sat in the passenger seat with ice on my pathetically flexed knees on the way to pick up an EBAY purchased espresso machine that had to be fixed before we could use it.  Funny how minor details like that are often left out of the EBAY descriptions of things we buy.  But maybe he didn't know it was broken?

Yesterday I admitted to feeling sorry for myself because of.....guess....my knees.  These days any normal person seems to make it through the operation and rehab with good results.  My problem is that I'm just not sure I will.  Of course no one really knows for six months if the operation was a huge success or not but even so I feel like there are things going on in my knees that don't go on in other people's knees.  My baker cysts reoccurred and feel really gross.  My knees are still really swollen and tight.  Flexion exercises don't really seem to help.  The hardware clicks and clunks.  The nurses and physical therapists are amazed at my progress but I think they are comparing it to the progress of unfit, older patients and aren't aware of what I should be capable.  I didn't expect to be running yet, by any means, but I had hoped daily progress would be more obvious.  People who know, tell me the first month is a nightmare so maybe I should wait a few more weeks before I give up.

Day Fifteen

Today should have been my best new knee day yet but I decided to feel sorry for myself instead.
The physical therapist came at 7:30  and before long we got extension/flexion measurements of 0/100 on the left and 0/102 on the right.  We worked up a good mount for the rowing machine, did a couple makeshift squats and a stiff but comfortable pedal stroke.  She told me I should replace my crutches with a cane, which to me is a visual move toward elderly, to her it's one step closer to freedom.

I blame the crappy day on last nights non-sleep.  I'd finally get comfortable enough, nod off, then wake up ....five minutes later!  Over and over.  I feel like I'll never function again.  Like I'm not me.

I did 2 1/2 to 3 sets of PT instead of my new 4 set regime.  The whole feeling sorry for oneself is such a waste of time.  Who ends up suffering?! 

Maybe someday I'll watch a youtube video of a knee replacement which, from what I hear, will answer any questions one may have about why it feels like it does where.  But not for a while.

Tomorrow will be better, I'll make sure of that.

Day Fourteen

PT came early.   A different therapist which is OK.  To me, they all seem good.  Each of them has a little different method of getting to the same place with me.   I don't feel like I need the consistency of the same therapist every day because I know enough about how things work to be able to decide which of their suggestions are best for me.  Having several therapists gives me a bigger selection of exercises from which to choose.

My flexion was a little less this morning than yesterday which could have been that
1. it was 'just a little less' for some reason
2. it was a different therapist with a different kind of calipers
3. today she measured me on the bed and yesterday she measured me in a chair. 
I decided I wasn't going to get too hung up on the measurements until there was more consistency in measuring and just keep doing everything right and often.

Last night was lousy.  Pain.  Seems like the four sets of exercises wiped me out.  I was tired way earlier than I usually am. 

My definition of a set is:
a bunch strength and flexion lying on the bed
a bunch strength and flexion using the kitchen counter for stability
strength and flexion using the stairs
a bunch strength and flexion using the bike
then:
ice really often
doing laps in the house whenever I think of it

Even though the four sets wiped me out yesterday, I did four sets again today.  My last set was great.  I'm sure it was partly because I took the pain meds according to the prescription but my flexion was good.  It felt really tight on the bike but surprisingly, didn't hurt.  Matter of fact, it was very enjoyable. 

From what I've read, it feels like my knees are more swollen than they should be at this point.  The swelling is what is keeping my flexion sucky.  They are both swollen along the top.  I want to call the surgeon tomorrow to talk anti-inflammatories since the swelling seems to mess with the therapy at this point.

Day Thirteen

I'm humoring the CPM machine at the moment.   There are definitely mixed opinions on whether it is effective or not.  The only downside seems to be that my time may be better spent doing something more active but what the heck....if we're both just sitting, I may as well stick my leg in it and give it something to do.

The only flexion and extension measurements I have today are from my head-held calipers and the reading I'm getting is that both measurements are worse.

Bumped my PT up to 4 sets today.  What an animal.

Day Twelve

Sleeping was OK.  Since I started taking the ms contin I don't dread bed anymore.

This morning I was pretty stiff (which, as it turns out is pretty normal...dah) and the baker cyst things were bumming me out so I felt like I should take the day off at least until PT got here.

The physical therapist came.  Cringing, when she pulled out her calipers, I wasn't looking forward to knowing how little progress in flexion I had made since the last time I'd seen her.

Measurements:
Sitting on the bed using my hamstrings to hold the knee angle = Left/86 degrees; Right/85 degrees.
Sitting on a metal kitchen chair = Left/7-98 (last time 95) degrees; Right/5-101 (last time 96) degrees.
She remembers the extensions being in the teens last time but I didn't write it down.  So anyway....not great but better.  I have this discouraging piece of paper that I got in the hospital and seems to be in my face no matter where I'm sitting,  that says at the 4 week mark I should be 0-120.  (the low number is how many degrees my knee is up off the table when the legs are out straight in front of me and the big number is how many degrees my knees bend...without assistance in this case.

Now for the best part....I got on my bike.  At first there was no way I could do a complete pedal stroke, (Dad told me I should raise the seat:))but later, if I had one pedal under a heel with my toes pointed I could jerkily go around.  I can't imagine any better way of stretching and flexing.   I asked her about using the rowing machine and as I was going into my plan of hanging a trapeze thing from the ceiling in order to get on it (since it is so low). she suggested I wait a week.

Anyway, it was good to get an outside perspective and some concrete measurements because I am progressing even though I was sure I was sliding backwards.

Dug out some compression tube sox to help control swelling.  The inside of my left knee can go up to a 9 on the pain scale at times....but just for a couple of minutes.

Now if I can just figure out an easy way to gain ten pounds.

Day Eleven

Warning....extra boring as I am documenting some stuff.

Last night was the best sleep so far.  If I didn't have to pee several times a night I feel like, with the ms contin, I could have slept through the night.  So.  No, because of the peeing, I didn't sleep all night, but the ms contin (sounds like a rapper) made getting up to pee and then getting back to bed comfortable. 

My cumidin is keeping my blood thin enough.  Getting cut and bleeding could be scary.  So could a blood clot which makes balancing the cumidin very important.  (a surgery situation....not a specific knee situation)

PT didn't come :( so I didn't get to try my bike.  But, when she comes tomorrow I'll have new platform pedals so I don't need to fuss with cycling shoes.

Up and down the stairs several times.  I feel like a kid that just realized there was such a thing.  More than anything I'm concentrating on building up my right quad.  That's the one that disappeared.  I feel like, without crutches, my leg could collapse.

Did a bunch of PT. 

I feel like I have baker cysts in the back of both knees again.  Not painful but very uncomfortable/annoying partly because of associating baker cysts with the old knees.  I don't know if PT aggravates them or not.  I'll ask tomorrow.  I think it has something to do with swelling s if PT causes swelling then I can assume......something?

I know it is just day 11...should I still be walking like Frankenstein?

Pain, sometimes fairly severe, is on the inside of the left knee.  It's there, but not as severe on the right but the right also has a painful spot on the outside top right.  Nurse Tim said the pain on the inside is not uncommon.

I showered.  My expectations were too high.  I thought it would feel better than it did.

Day Ten (Sunday, March, 25 2012)

Beauty is only skin deep.

Is it a football?

Did lots of PT.

Tomorrow I'll get my blood checked again for clotting risk around the same time my flexion is measured to see if it's improved and is good enough to get on the stationary bike.  I look forward to rehabbing with tools that feel real to me (bike, stairs, walking...)

I think I'll get the dressings off and be able to SHOWER.

I have to start weaning myself off of the 'leg lifter' thing.  Sometimes, when I'm not thinking about raising my leg, I realize it's on the bed and must have gotten there on it's own.

One really sore spot for me that 'they' don't tell you about is down the fronts of the thighs.  It's sort of like the pain you get from the first day of gardening when you spend the whole day bending at the waist instead of squatting except it's on the front of the legs and not the back.  Same kind of sore though.

Decided to quit snubbing the MS Contin and took one before bed last night.  No nausea and seemed to take the edge off the pain enough to cut out a vicodin.

Day Nine

Now THAT was a lousy night.  It's good to have one of those once in a while so when I start thinking that all nights are lousy, I know they could be so much worse.

I started the day gradually and before I knew it, I was moving around normally....whatever that means.
Except for walking around the outside of the house six times, and going up and down the stairs four times (which are both really fun) my physical therapy is a blur.  Just stretching and being stretched hours a day.

I feel really stiff but I felt stiff for my last PT visit and my flexion was better than before so I don't want to just give up. 

The hardest thing I do all day, besides sleeping (or not sleeping), is extension work.  Like putting a pillow under your feet and sitting with your legs straight out in front of you so your knees hang down in the middle.  On a good day I can do 10 minutes before I start screaming.  No one is sitting here with a gun to my head or anything so you're probably wondering why I don't just stop at nine minutes before I start screaming.  The answer is....I don't know.

Day Eight

Vin took Max and I on an outing today in the car.  Max sat in the way back, I sat in the middle so I could extend my legs and Vince drove.  Usually Max gets the middle AND the back but I think he liked having me along so didn't mind putting up with his cramped quarters.

We went to Johnson State College so Vin could do some work in the darkroom.  The hallway was set-up perfectly for my physical therapy exercises.  He got done developing his film the same time I got done with my PT and we drove to Stowe where I walked 1:10 on the bike path along the river.  It was warm and sunny and I was out walking.  It was like a miracle.  1:10 was a comfortable amount of time.  And for everyone that is thinking I was over-doing it --I OK'd it with my physical therapist yesterday.  Vin and Max walked with me.

Vince is a great nurse but he sighs a lot.  If I try to do something myself, he sighs because he feels like he should do it but if I ask him to do something he sighs because he has to do it.
 
Tonight it felt like the baker cyst appeared behind my left knee again (is that possible?) and then disappeared before I had a chance to ask the surgeon for my money back.

I have to figure out how to sleep.  With both knees in rehab no position is comfortable or painless.   For 54 years bedtime had been one of the highlights of my day and now I dread it.  So, I guess one of the goals of this whole knee ordeal is to be able to look forward to bedtime again.

My temp is OK again.

Nurse Tim said that he heard a little gurgling in my lungs so I have to more diligent about breathing into a simple plastic contraption (Voldyne) to discourage pneumonia and improve post surgery lung function.  I'm breathing for two (new knees) now.  So happy I did them at the same time.

Day Seven

That's my leg in a contraption that flexes my knee while I just lie there.  You know how I feel about exercise equipment that does the work for you?

Tim, my smart-thorough nurse came and took out my staples.  I think that was the most painful thing about the surgery for which I've been awake and the first time I'd regretted having both knees done at the same time.  One staple wouldn't have been bad but forty seemed to go on forever.  Some stuck and pulled but most of them didn't so that was good.  I tried to keep screaming to a minimum even though Tim said I could scream as much as I wanted. It felt like 200 degrees in the house.  I signaled for Tim to 'hold off for a second' while I scrolled through our CD collection until I found "Run Around" by Blues Traveler, turned it up until the windows rattled and gave him the 'GO' signal.  That worked.
 
Physical therapy came.  She told me to keep my movements slow whether it was exercise or household routine....no problem there.  Added standing-at-the-kitchen-counter exercises and up an down the stairs to my laying-down routine.  My right leg flexed at 96 and my left leg flexed at 95 so I'd progressed when I was positive I hadn't.  I crutched around the outside of the house five times.


I ate more than my maintenance calories.

Pain and fever are still monkeys on my back.

My blood is still too thick (clotting risk) so I increased my Coumadin level again. 

Picked up the neighbor's rocking chair (another knee replacement survivor).  Vin glued it in a few places and now I can work on flexion without thinking about it.

Day Six

'Leg lifter' for when my own muscles aren't enough or I'm feeling wimpy.  It's a little too much like cheating.

I recycled the paperwork for our our new digital thermometer and then accidentally hit some button combination that made all readings Celsius so now I don't know if I have a fever until I convert it to Fahrenheit.  Last night it read 37.9 which doesn't sound high until you convert it and see it's 100.22 which is on the low side of alarm but enough to call the MD.

Tim the nurse stopped by again today to see how I was feeling.   He didn't have to and didn't get paid to do it....he just stopped.  He's still sloppy but I feel like he is smart and thorough.  Someone that likes his job.

I begin the day with gusto and then by late afternoon I feel like crap.  A little nauseous and little dizzy, sore.  The good thing is that the symptoms hold off a little longer everyday.

Today I pretty much ate my maintenance calories which makes me so happy.  I actually felt a little hungry at one point.

I do PT stuff all day and don't feel like I'm progressing but I must be. 

Day Five

I was complaining about my back today.  I try to make my complaints different every day to keep them interesting.  Friends George and Elinor picked up on the new complaint and came knocking on the door with a huge fuzzy triangular back pillow that velcros into millions of nifty comfortable positions.

The physical therapist came today for the first time.  I was doing some of the exercises right.  From what I could tell, if an exercise is comfortable, it's wrong.  The flexion in the right knee was 85 degrees.  The flexion in the left knee was 85 degrees.  It may have been 90 but I think that was when the PT was pushing on it.  Seems like that would make it a fake number?  In any case, I can't imagine it will ever be more than that. 

Miserable as this whole rehab ordeal is I know if I had to do it over,  I would do both knees again. 

Day Four

Today the Home Health Nurse came.  He seemed thorough but sloppy.  Like putting gloves on, digging through his dirty bags then changing my dressings...the dressings that no one is supposed to touch because there is such an incredibly high risk of infection.  Then he gave me this sticker and told me to be sure to call if I had any questions at all.  

"call this number anytime" said the nurse when he handed me this sticker.

Did exercises all day, that don't feel like they do anything, but what else am I going to do?
My blood is still too thick so I had to increase my Coumadin levels (more pills) in order to avoid blood clots.  Coumadin (aka warfarin) is also used as rat poison.  I am learning so much.

I still can't eat and feel feverish. (rat poison?)
I will never get better.

Day Three (March 18)

Did PT in the morning after 2 hours on the Continuous Passive Motion Machine (CPM).  They're slave drivers here.  Was flying up and down those stairs during PT (relatively speaking)....I wasn't 2nd up the Empire State Building Runnup for nothing.  Stuck my head outside and just stood there with my eyes closed drinking in the 40 degree, light breezed, sunshiny morning.

Vin loaded me up with Max and we headed home.  Even though I was cold we had to have the windows open because Max was hot.  The countryside was pretty from the car. 

Vin pulled the car up the to kitchen door and I got to do a few more steps.  He had the living room fit for Martha Stewart.  There was a bit of a bed situation (boring now but not at the time) and during the situation, when my friend Linda called, Vince told her there was a crisis and he couldn't talk.  I called her right back because if she's like me she would never ever called call again because now that she was aware of potential crisises she would worry that anytime she decided to call, we may b ein the middle of a crisis.  She has called and visited since so I think we're good.

I've been so groggy and nauseous that I'm going to see if I can go the day without pain meds.  I wonder if everyone in my situation is this stiff.  I can't imagine I'll ever not be stiff again. 

Eating is a huge problem.  I can't even force myself to eat which, I know, is a problem a lot of people would love to have.

Remember....this is just my journal and not intended to be any great literary work of art.  Think of it as educational.

Day Two

Had some visitors again :).  My friend Liz sent flowers.  My friend Susan bought amazing needle felted birds for me to play with.

(note the bird on my table) Don't I look great?  Yuck.

The MD liked them (who wouldn't) but he also said I was ready to go home so I think he was sort of crazy.  I can't imagine, after taking one look at me, he would think I was ready to be home.
PT came and went well even though I don't remember specifics.  Vin helped me with a shower.   Slept better than the night before.  Was happy I stayed.

Day One

The day was mostly a nauseous blur.  Made it to the commode followed by a little spin (head and legs) into the hallway.   My nurses said they were ready to catch me and noticed I was consciously trying to make good time back to the bed before I passed out.  Nap time again.  Sat in the chair for a few hours...whoopee.   Some friends stopped in.  Didn't know how a visit would go but it was really fun.  Made me tired.  Vin brought me beautiful roasted chicken and potatoes but I just couldn't eat more than a few bites.  Fitful non-sleeping night.  I'm told my wounds look great.  To me they look like Frankenstein.  No, worse than Frankenstein. Getting lots of calls and emails which it both surprises and makes me happy.

Day Zero

I was able to ski for an hour with Vince before we went to the hospital.  It was so fun and mostly painless really.  It's pretty much the end of the season so my timing as it happened really was good.  The anxiety of the drive to the hospital wasn't what I expected.  I thought Vin would have to knock me out but he didn't.  I took a vicoden for the trip in.  The OR nurse was a dink.  She kept insinuating I was making up the necessity of a saline (not glucose) IV.  I finally told her that I didn't care if she believed me and she got much nicer.

Anyway, went in to the OR thinking I was getting partials and came out with totals.  Guess I wasn't all that surprised.  The surgeon said they were both so bad that the decision was a no brainer.

I don't remember a whole lot about recovery except I felt like crap and thought the nursing staff I had, must have graduated at the bottom of their classes.  I stood, vomited and took a few steps.  Got a bunch of calls and emails.  Vin came.  I couldn't eat.

One Day

Skied 3:15.  Took my old knees on their last trip.  Oddly sad.
Spent the day packing, scrubbing my borrowed commode and walker, commenting to emailed good wishes, answering phoned good wishes, showering with special soap, washing sheets, vacuuming dust (infection prevention) and fretting.
Generally a good day.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" asked my friend John today on the phone in reference to my surgery and rehab.  I thought for a second then said, "I have a Netflix at the Post Office and I don't have a car.  Can you pick it up for me?"  He left work and rode his bike to the PO.  Knee surgery = Power.

Huber, the surgeon called.  He got my skewed hip photos.  He mostly wanted to chat about tomorrow and make sure I understood that if we did a partial, since we can't predict the future, I may need more work done in the future (?total?  ?another compartment?).  He said that in someone so 'young', he really wanted to minimize the surgery and not replace the whole knee if the only bad part was the kneecap.  It looks as though that is all that has to be replaced but until he gets in there and scopes them, he won't know for sure.  If he gets in there and they are totally trashed he will do a total tomorrow.  If he gets in there and 2 compartments are trashed, he will have a custom knee made for me and I will come back. :(  I decided that since it is likely I will need only the knee cap compartment, I would trust him to make the decision..it is worth the gamble (shooting for the partial even though I may have to come back if a partial won't work or have another surgery in 10-15 years.  He said as far as the other compartments are concerned...I am not symptomatic.
We ended with 'see you tomorrow'  which sounds so casual.  Nevertheless, I am very anxious.

Two Days

Moving forward with the set-up, I located a walker and a commode.
I'm really feeling a sense of community with all of the 70+ locals who have had knee replacements.  Everyone is being so helpful.  One brought over a couple Aircast circulating ice water knee things for me to use and told me to keep her phone number by the bed in case I need help. Another was in town and picked up a couple of gel packs for me. 
I'm doing nagging odds and ends around the house because I don't want to have them hanging over my head when I can't do them.
Today Elinor was walking down the road next to the ski trail.   "How is it today?" she yelled to me when I skied by.  Well of course I thought she was asking about my knee and I went into this long boring scenario, comparing it to yesterday, how I think the boot/ski combination I have on is good...  Then she said "I meant how is the skiing?"
I think my surgery timing is good.  Skiing will be almost done.  Lots of ice and tree litter on the trails right now.
I was just looking at the weather for the days I am in the hospital.  Surgery day is sort of rainy but the day after is cloudless and warm.  I was bummed when I saw that since I'll have to be inside.  Isn't that stupid?
In 25 hours I won't be able to have anything to eat until after the surgery.  I feel like I am going to have some kind of meltdown.

Three Days

Only 2 more ski days left. :(  Skied 2 1/2 hours in the sun today.  Maybe 55 degrees.  I used my waxless skies and skate boots so I was ready for anything.  No knee issues today.
Got lots of good wishes from people that thought I was getting new knees today.  Carol Waters called and we compared pre-op for bi-lateral acl vs. bi-lateral knee replacement.  I keep forgetting that I am going in for petella femoral replacement and not total knee replacement (hopefully).  Very different in my mind.
Spent time looking for a walker to rent or borrow.  The hospital will 'give' me one but then I'll have a walker to store forever.
Talked to the CPM (continuous passive motion) machine people.  The hospital pharmacist called to go over meds.  I called my primary to ask about treating my pre-op irrational fear.  She said I would have to see me in order to prescribe something or I could take Benedryl.  I saw somewhere that listening to music can work too.  I told her I would just have Vince knock me out before he put me in the car that day.   Read over the joint book.   Everyone talks about preparing the house for when you come home but it already seems prepared other than moving the bed into the living room.  I guess I'll want a walker basket if I can get my hands on a walker.  I think I'll be able to use a metal chair in the shower.  I'll need a bedside table the right size and height.  It would be good if I could find a rocking chair.  Guess it works on range of motion and flexibility automatically....I can see that.  Seems like most of that stuff can be organized when I get home.  I suppose I should think about food but I just don't feel like it.  Maybe that should be tomorrow's project.  We'll see.
I addressed the rest of the xmas cards and gathered a few things to mail that I've been putting off.
Now all I have to do is wait.

Four Days

I am getting good wishes today from everyone that thinks I am still going in tomorrow.

Out skiing for 2 1/2 hours +.  Part of it spent walking down the hill to our field.  So happy to get home to take a vicodin and ice.  It was my left knee today which was good actually.  Still (1 AM) really swollen.  Reinforces the fact it's good I'm getting the left one done too.   I blame it on slow snow and skiing from fast snow under the trees to almost coming to a stop hitting the slow snow in the open....and again...and again etc.

Only 3 ski days left.

Five Days

Skied 1:25.  Highland Lodge.  Last time I skied there (a month ago) I had to be snowmobiled out so today was better.
Friends that think I'm still scheduled for Monday are calling to wish me luck.
I am sort of looking forward to convalescing on the guest bed we move to the living room.  It's a sunny cheerful spot.
Cleaned up the house a bit with no extra swelling.
I thought of only having 4 ski days left and it made me cry.

Six Days

Rode a cruiser for 1:50 on the bike path in Athens, Ohio.  Couldn't do grades but my knees bent enough to make a complete peddle stroke that propelled me forward on the flats.  I was certain that my knee(s) would explode so took a vicoden immediately after to stay ahead of the anticipated pain but in hindsight I don't think I needed to.
The plane ride was without episode.  With crutches we got to board before first class.  The only passengers called to board with me were uniformed soldiers (aren't they volunteers?), and parents with babies (also volunteers).
I am scared.
Took my last calcium and zinc until following surgery.
Thought I was coming down with a sore throat but I'm good today.

Eight Days and Seven Days

Nine:  Skied 1 1/2 hours before driving to the Manchester airport and flying to Columbus, Ohio.  Having crutches always make security suspicious.  They take off the tips to look into the shaft and always pat me down. 

Eight:  Rode the precor bike for 10 minutes before my 5 interviews and sitting in on two classes.  I blamed my limp on my torn meniscus (wink wink).*  Made it through the morning crutchless before caving into pain. 

The closer I get the the big day, the closer I am to tears ALL THE TIME.

Only three more days to myself on my Vermont couch with my old knees....the end of an era.

*the interviews are for admission into an MFA film program with an average age of 25.  Bilateral knee replacement surgery is too old sounding even though the result will turn me back into a young person.

Ten Days

Our friends Ed and Linda left this morning...after cleaning the house and making me breakfast.  (an example of the bum knee working to my advantage)
FYI.  I do know that most people getting new knees don't have the luxury of focusing on themselves all day.  They have to go to work.  I am very lucky and I know it.  Knee pre-op doesn't get any better than this and after getting past the feeling sorry for myself preoccupation, I actually enjoy this time alone.
Skied 2 hours and leafed through my knee replacement guide to map out the schedule for the coming days. (i.e. when to stop taking vitamins, when to stop eating etc.)

Eleven Days

Skated quite a while.  Maybe 2 1/2 hours...plus?  Slow skis but a beautiful sunny day so neither my knees nor and other part of me minded. 
The joint book says, no anti-inflammatories as of today.
I looked for and found a 4 year old picture of my hips to see if I was twisted back then and I wasn't.
I am very scared.  Bring on the versed.

Twelve Days

Skied the grand tour with friends Ed and Linda.  Iced up a ton with already slow skis which is never good for an arthritic knee.  Wimped out and took a pain killer (5/325) before bed.
I'm not sure I'd really ever looked at my body in a full length mirror before but today I did.  I noticed my right knee was a bit knocked and my right hip was skewed.  I'm pretty sure I was straight up and down until around now.  I had Vin photograph that part of me so I can send it to the doc.  Is that weird?  If I email it to him will he think it's porn?  Was thinking I could photoshop a four leaf clover or something over the crotch area.  Whatever...I don't think I'm going in for my fix a minute too soon.
Walking is awkward and pathetic.  Crutches help.

I missed Sixteen Days and then some

Days 16 thru 13.
Day 16.  Had a 7:30 visit with the pre-op nurse, that was supposed to be yesterday but had to be re-scheduled because the ortho clinic was running late and I couldn't be two places at once, who asked me all the questions I had answered on a questioner two weeks ago.   Then she sent me to have an EKG, chest x-ray, blood and urine test.  I think I skied but I'm not sure since one day last week my knee wouldn't let me but I can't remember which one.
Day 15 nothing that much different than any other day except for when I started to ski down Elinor's Field and my right ski came off.  That was interesting.  A cartwheel followed by a belly flop and a vision of me laying there forever.  But I did get up...and I did decide not to continue down Elinor's.
Day 14 skied out to Windridge with friends Ed and Linda and no knee incidents worth mentioning other than not being able to find a comfortable sleeping position that night.
Day 13 skied Sam's with friends Ed and Linda then again with Vin.  All good.  Picked up a prescription that I called in yesterday.  Didn't need another tossy turny night.