It has been a traumatic month for me. I had a total replacement of my left knee on May 22. I thought I was prepared for the aftermath, but I was completely wrong. I chose a femoral block with light general anesthesia. Unfortunately the femoral block wore off about two hours after I was out of surgery. The pain meds they were giving me were for the block which wasn't working, and it took them until the following day to figure that out and give me some real drugs. So I started out in amazingly intense pain. Fortunately that is gone now.
Because I couldn't lift my leg, let alone bend it, I was transferred to a rehabillitation hospital instead. Pleasant Valley was actually an old folk's home masquerading as rehab. The food was unbelievable. Pick the worst imaginable foods, and they were serving it (as long as it was very cheap). I actually ended up in arguments over the food. The only good thing was that my doctor was on the board so I had someone I could complain to who had clout. My PCP is a great doctor. I was in the rehab hospital for two weeks.
The next thing was to relearn moving the knee. For the first week or so I couldn't lift my leg, not even a quarter of an inch. Physical therapy consisted of the therapist yelling at me to move the leg which wouldn't go anywhere. The therapists also hung my leg over the edge of a table with weights on my ankle, and pushed my knee into a greater bend. My reaction was floods of tears and occasional screams. Now it is four weeks later and I am at a 90 degree bend, and looking forward to more weeks of painful therapy.
Since I've been out of the rehab, I have had a crying jag almost every day. I am lonely and feel weak and useless. Surgery took place in the middle of class: Digital Ink and Paint and Digital Audio and Video. Catching up in those classes kept me busy for a week or so, but they are over now, and classes don't start again until July 11. It seems so far away.
