The time has come...

Well, my long wait is over, and the time came for my full knee replacement surgery scheduled for September 10th. We woke up early for the drive over to Duke Med and

 got all checked in. I sat down and within a few minutes I was called in by a nurse. She took my vitals and then took me to my pre-surgical room where I got into my lovely hospital gown. 

Next, I was hooked up to several machines and given an IV. While waiting for the doctor I got to know the nurse who was in charge of me really well. I met the doctor once again who was performing my surgery as well as the attending fellow. Also swinging by to meet me was the anesthesiologist who would ensure I felt no pain, at least for now. 

Before I knew it they were giving me a spinal block and that is about the last thing I recall before waking back in post-surgery recovery. 

Surgery took a total of only 55 minutes.  2 hours was scheduled and I'm sure glad they didn't need all 2 hours of it. In recovery I was a bit groggy but totally aware of my surroundings.  I was also aware of the long road ahead of me. 

Once home I realized how tough this was going to be especially with all the inactivity I must endure. I started my pain regimen to stay ahead of the pain and on day 2 (post-surgery) my PT (daughter Katie) took off my ace bandage and exposed the bandage. All in all it looked okay no for the long road of healing.

And here I am about 6 days post-surgery. To say the last 6 days have been unpleasant would be an understatement. I am lucky if I sleep 2-4 hours a night, usually less. The pain hasn't been too horrible and I'm already off the oxycodone originally given for pain. It's mostly the lack of sleep, random nerve pain and the dull ache in my back from laying in the same position 24 hours a day.

I have started my PT which for me now means painful time and not physical therapy. I'm looking forward to getting the first two weeks out of the way as I understand that's the most challenging. 

I know I too will survive this challenge as many others who have had this procedure done before me.  From here on out it will be one day at a time as I begin day six today. I am fortunate that our daughter is a PT who assures me I am progressing normally and the whole family is trying to make life as comfortable as possible. I really look forward to getting back to my normal life and seeing my friends on the road of retirement sometime soon.

Made it to North Carolina

We moved the RV from Apache Wells RV Resort over to Towerpoint RV Resort and set up at our usual site. We would only spend one night at Towerpoint before our flight to Raleigh, North Carolina the next day. We left our keys with some great folks at the resort in case of emergency, so we felt so thankful for them! 

As morning broke, we contacted Uber for a ride to the airport. Amazingly we were able to pack all of our stuff into carry-ons, passed through security at American airlines with ease and waited at our gate for our flight. 

When boarding began we worried about being group 6 but thankfully were able to secure an overhead bin for our carry-ons. Sharon and I settled into aisle seats across from each other. Lucky for me no one sat in the middle seat, but Sharon wasn't as a lucky. 

Fortunately, the flight wasn't too bad. There was some turbulence during the flight, but the worst part was the landing. I'm not sure if this pilot's flown very much but it might have been the worst landing I've ever had as we hit very hard. But with that being the worst that happened, we were pretty pleased. 

After debarking, Sharon and I headed down to the departure area where our son in law, Brooks, picked us up within 5 minutes! (Thank goodness as it was already 11:00 p.m) We surely knew at that hour we would not see our daughter awake nor our grandchildren since they had work and school the next day. 

However, the next morning we had some time to spend with the grandkids and the granddog for the first time in awhile before they headed to school. And of course, after school we had much more fun with them. Likewise, we will have plenty of time to reacquaint and watch them grow up a little bit since we will be here for at least the next 6 to 8 weeks while I have my right knee surgically replaced. Stay tuned...