Total Knee Replacement - Update

Yesterday was six weeks since I had my knee replacement surgery and it got me to thinking. Time is an interesting thing - isn't it? These past six weeks on one hand; have flown by - feeling like only a week. On the other hand, it has felt like six months!

If you have been following along in my recovery, you know that the first three weeks were hell, and although I am six weeks post-op, I feel like I am really three weeks in my recovery. And let me just say that I have really excelled in these past three weeks.

This past Thursday was my 5th session of physio. I am now officially off of the walker!! YAY!!! In fact, my therapist (Ryan) and I went for our regular walk down the hospital hallway, and we usually do this walk with a cane, but Thursday I did the walk with no equipment. Even though I don't use any equipment in my home, I just hold on to furniture and walls when needed, I just cannot tell you how freeing it was to walk down that hallway on my own! I feel so proud of myself! :-)

As you can see by the photo above, my knee is healing very well. The picture on the left was taken on September 19th following staple removal. The picture on the right was taken today - one month later. What a huge difference! The staple holes are starting to fade, and the holes in the incision are closing nicely.

Most importantly, I am feeling stronger each and every day. And my Bentley will be coming home in two weeks! I just cannot wait to see him again. I miss him beyond words. I can't wait to hold his face in my hands, kiss his nose, and see his big brown eyes!

Total Knee Replacement - The Surgery And The Recovery

It has been awhile since my last blog posting. Well, as some of you know, I have been in recovery from total knee replacement surgery.  And now I am going to update all of you on how things went.

As always, I am going to keep it real - very real.

The day of surgery began at 8AM.  My sister and I went to the hospital ahead of the surgery. I have to say that I was quite surprised by the beauty of the lounge where we were seated. This was my pre-surgical lounge, as well as where my sister waited during my surgery.

Below, are a couple of pictures I took while waiting to 'go in'.  Click on images for enlarged viewing.

 

At approximately 10:30AM, I was taken into the first prep-room, where I changed into the ever-popular johnny gown.  Was asked a thousand questions about my medical and surgical history and was given an I.V. prior to being wheeled into the stage two prep-room.

The second room was significantly more procedural feeling than the first. It was in this room where I was given the nerve blocker, which was placed into my femoral vein. I have to say that when the doctor stimulated the muscle in my thigh, and it began to pulsate - without my control - it was .... shall we say .... trippy!!

Following the nerve blocker, I was then given the spinal. This is essentially a glorified epidural. Those of you who have children are probably familiar with the epidural.  Well, this spinal was like the epidurals big brother.  Instantly I was paralyzed from the waste down. My legs felt like a thousand pounds each. It was such a surreal feeling. And kind of scary to be honest. I literally felt nothing below my waste.

At that point - approximately Noon - I was wheeled into surgery, where I was given Propofol - and was knocked out.

I came to, approximately 2 hours later. Now, when I say that I came to, I was technically conscious, however, I was slipping 'in and out'. I recall waking up in the operating room. I recall moments of the transport to post-op, I recall moments in post-op. But I was in post-op for about four hours before I really was able to stay conscious for any amount of time.

Long enough really to vito a boot that was placed on my non-surgical foot. It felt like it was made of Sherpa and had a steel soul. It was extremely uncomfortable and I begged the nurse to remove it. Thankfully, she did.  However, on my surgical leg, was a long, thick, pressure stocking that went from the top of my thigh down to my ankle. And it HURT!

This stocking could not be removed for 24 hours.

Sometime later that evening, I was transported up to my room. It was a semi-private room, but I was had it to myself for the majority of my stay. Another plus, was that it was the only room on the floor with its own air conditioning.  SCORE!!

The surgery was done on Friday, September 5th, and needless to say, the first 24 hours were hell. To say it was painful is a gross understatement. I had a wonderful nurse that night; Beth, who told me it would be better the next day once my stocking could be removed.

For pain control, I was on a Morphine pump. I was able to hit the pump every five minutes - as needed. And let me tell you .... it was needed.

On Saturday, the stocking was removed, and as promised, the the pressure was lessened by the removal of the compression garment. My family came to visit me on the Saturday, and my beautiful daughter brought me some beautiful flowers.

Let me stop here and say that although the surgery in and of itself, was a total success. The recovery has been a nightmare. Particularly the first three weeks.

If you recall in my pre-surgical posting, the plan was that I would be released from hospital on the Monday or Tuesday. Well, it did not go as planned. I could not even get out of bed until the Monday. Turns out that I had a reaction to the Morphine. I was sick and could hardly lift my head off of the pillow. It truly felt like the world's worst hangover.  Monday I was switched over to Hydromorphone, which is derivative of Morphine, but much stronger. The pain relief was wonderful and I did not feel the same side effects as with the Morphine.

I was able to get out of bed on the Monday and take my first couple of steps. I was able to hold my head up and keep my eyes open. I was in love with the Hydromorphone.

During one of my bandage changes, I asked the nurse to snap a picture of my knee.  Below is a picture I took with the bandaging, as well as the picture the nurse took of the unbandaged incision - complete with staples, bruising and surgical swelling. Which, I am told will not go down for months.

The first picture is taken while I was in the CPM Machine. (Continuous Passive Movement) Which was a part of my inpatient physio therapy. I was in this machine for a couple of hours each day. And to be honest. I was wonderful! My leg felt better after each session with the CPM. I really wish I had one at home. This machine got my range of motion to go from 40 degrees to 60 degrees in two days.

Below is another shot I took while in my CPM Machine.

From Monday to Thursday, I did the physio, which involved walking in the halls of the hospital, along with the CPM Machine as a part of my therapy. But because I was not yet ready - according to the doctors, a decision was made to have me transferred to a rehab hospital for an additional week. However, a bed was not available, which meant that I would have to stay at the hospital, just walking up and down the halls. I determined that I could do that at home and hand a consult with the surgeons and we all decided that I would go home on the Friday - September 12th.  So long as equipment was brought into my home ahead of my discharge.  Equipment included a raised toilet seat - which was substituted with a commode. A wheelchair, A walker and a cane. 

So, with all of the arrangements having been met, I was released on Friday, September 12th.  I was given ample supply of bandaging so that I could change the dressing daily. I was given prescriptions for more Hydromorphone to be taken every 3 hours as needed. 

And so, home I went. Easy Peasy - Right? Wrong!!! 

The wheelchair that was provided, was extremely low to the ground. In fact, my first words upon seeing it when my sister brought it to the hospital to pick me up were "That is sooo low! I will never get out of that!!!" 

In hindsight, I should have stayed in the hospital until an appropriate wheelchair was made available. But honestly, I wanted to go home!  Oh, did I mention that the wheelchair had no leg lift? It only had foot supports.  Well, the foot support was fine for my non-surgical leg, but the surgical one could not bend that far and therefore my foot could not reach the foot rest. 

My nurse took a pillow, tucking it under my surgical knee and it rested beneath my leg, as the back of my ankle rested against the foot rest. Sounds comfy right? Wrong!!!

Every curb we hit, every ramp we took, the bottom of my foot hit the ground and my knee was jarred. This happened about 7 times. Including being wheeled into - and out of - the wheelchair taxi. 

Within hours of getting home, my entire leg ballooned up - it truly looked like The Nutty Professor!!!

And so, essentially I could not move my leg for the entire weekend. My daughter went and picked me up bags of frozen peas, and I was icing my entire leg for the next several days.  It really wasn't until Tuesday before the swelling began to go down. 

To add insult to injury, and not to get too graphic, but in keeping with being brutally honest, I had explosive diarrhea. I was unable to eat anything without it shooting right through me. This lasted for two weeks. Until I discovered that although constipation is on the main list of side effects of the Hydromorphone, diarrhea is on the less common side effect list.  So, it really was not until the 22nd until I was able to start eating again. By then, of course, my stomach had shrunk to the size of a walnut, and since then I have basically been eating half a meal a day. The equivalent of a sandwich. And I'm stuffed!  

Prior to going into surgery, I had booked the staple removal for two-weeks post-op, which of course was the 19th of September.  I had been dreading this day. I just KNEW it was going to be awful. I was actually afraid of having the staples removed. And I was right to feel this way. 

My doctor had lost count, but he estimated that their were approximately 67 staples.  I will be honest in saying that 20 of them were nothing. They felt like having a hair pulled from my leg. Another 20 were painful, but still tolerable. The remaining 27 were pure agony!!! 

I was lying on the exam table, with my hands gripping either side. I was gripping so hard that I actually snapped off two nails!  My face was beat red, I was dripping in sweat, my tremors were in high gear. My entire body was shaking. My doctor was as wonderful as he could be under the circumstances, and we stopped after every ten or whenever I needed a break. He also mixed up the order as not to focus on a particularly sensitive area. But I'm not going to lie to you. It was AWFUL and I am never doing that again!!! 

Below is a picture of my leg, which was taken about two hours after coming home from staple removal. You can clearly see that my leg was not happy!! 

Once again, I was rendered immobile that weekend. I was beginning to notice a pattern forming. Surgery on a Friday - sick all weekend. Home on a Friday - in pain all weekend. Staple removal on a Friday - immobile all weekend.  The difference was that prior to staple removal, I was having a watered down pinkish discharge, which everyone said was completely normal.  Following staple removal, the discharge turned into a thick, slimy, yellow.  My leg was infected! Awesome!

I just could not understand how an infection could be possible. I was cleaning the incision religiously. I was so careful. How could this be!!??  Well, I found out how on Tuesday the 23rd when I went to the rehab hospital for the first time. 

Apparently and as if a reaction to the Morphine wasn't enough. And if a reaction to the Hydromorphone wasn't enough. If starving for two weeks wasn't enough. It seems I had an allergic, infectious reaction to .... wait for it .... THE STAPLES!!!  

Are you freaking kidding me!!??!!??

But it does explain the extreme pain I was in. It was the infection!! Which I learned is a different pain than the surgical pain. 

So, Now, I'm off of the pain killers, I have one week left of the blood thinners, (three weeks in total - following needles in my stomach while in the hospital) and now I'm on antibiotics. Fantastic!! 

As you can see, the first three and a half weeks of my recovery - were, well..... a nightmare.

The good news is that the infection cleared up. I am now off of all surgery-related drugs. I am able to eat once again. All over-active booty events have stopped. And I have started my outpatient physio therapy. And it is going wonderfully!

I just adore my PT and the PTA. They are magnificent!!! Along with the volunteers, the nurse, and all of the staff at Bridgepoint Health are so supportive, encouraging. Just Awesome!!

Today I had my 4th physio session, with 8 more to go. I attend twice a week - for six weeks. And I am now officially off of the wheelchair. I am in the process of transitioning from the walker to the cane, and should be fully off of the walker - and on to the cane by the end of next week!  My range of motion is now at a 100 degree bend. With a goal of 120 degrees or higher. 

Below is a picture of what my incision looks like today, and as you can see, I am healing quite well! 

Even though today will be five weeks since my surgery. Given that the first three + weeks have been hell, I really consider myself to only be two weeks in recovery. And when you consider everything I've gone through, and how well I am doing in my therapy, I am deeply encouraged! I've come a long way baby!!! 

I am not kidding myself, I know that I still have a long way to go. And It will not be for at least another three weeks that I will be able to bring my dog Bentley home again. I am hoping and praying that I will be strong enough at that point to be able to take him out three times a day. I am praying that my muscles will be strong enough, that I will be secure enough on the cane, and that my stamina will be strong enough to enable me to bring my baby home. I have not seen him in five weeks. And it is killing me!!! 

If you would be so kind, please keep me in your prayers, that my healing will continue. (With no additional setbacks!) That I will gain even more strength, security in the cane and in my new knee, and that I may have the stamina to bring my baby home at the end of October. Two months away from my boy is just far too long!! 

I will close this posting with some pictures I took of the physio gym at Bridgepoint. The hospital itself is only 18 months old, and the facility is really quite nice. I did forget to take a picture of the therapy pool, which I will try to remember to take next week. I should also say that these pictures were taken from my physio bed, so it is really deceptive. The gym is much larger than it appears. There are actually ten beds in the gym. Well, perhaps I will take a better picture next week along with the pool pics. But in the meantime...... here is where I will be recovering twice a week for the next four weeks. 

Before I leave, I want to thank all of my friends and family who have supported me in this journey. All of the visits, the notes, messages, emails, phone calls. Each word sent - each prayer whispered - a precious tribute locked away in my heart. It is with your good energy that I am able to fight through the hard times and finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Love and Light....

-Laura

Total Knee Replacement - What's Next, What To Expect

Today was a long day. A very long day. It was pre-admission day. My appointment was a 8:30AM, my alarm was set for 5:45AM and I had only fallen asleep around 2:30AM.  Needless to say, three hours of sleep was not nearly enough for me to spend all day in a hospital. Alas, this is the hand I was dealt, so it was the hand I played.  And consequently, I am exhausted!

I was not sure how the day was going to unfold, only that I was expected to be there for at least 5 hours, and would be having several tests, and various consults. Uncertain if I would be limping all over the building, I brought my friend with me.  The plan was that if need be, she would push me around in a wheelchair all day long - from clinic to clinic.

Thankfully, and mercifully, everything was done in one clinic. PAF - The Pre-Admissions Facility. And actually, to make things even better... I was put into a private room and there I sat as a parade of people took turns filing in and out of the room.  

I did the pre-surgical physical. Blood work. An echo cardiogram. Medical and surgical background consultation. A meeting with the Anesthesiologist. And after the parade was over, everyone who was attending the clinic today was ushered across the hallway to Conference Room 1, for a short movie, followed by a lecture given on what to expect prior, during and after surgery. Followed by a Q&A session.

I have to say that the people in the PAF were extremely lovely. Caring, thoughtful, considerate, professional, and just made the day as painless as possible.  It was really quite remarkable how fast 5 hours had flown by. Needless to say, however, my knee is on fire this evening, and so I am doing precious little right now. Essentially just resting until it is time to take my Bentley for his evening trip outside.  

It is really quite interesting - the avalanche of information that is given. Between the books, pamphlets, brochures, loose-leaf papers, and the orientation, well .. it is a lot to process. 

The day before surgery, I am to call the hospital, to find out what time my surgery will be the following day. Slot 1,2 or 3.  And therefore what time I am to check in prior.  The night before surgery, I am to shower with these special anti-bacterial sponges that were provided today.  The morning of the surgery I am to take a second shower with another sponge. No powders, deodorant, lotion, perfume, make-up, nail polish.  

Basically, wash off, throw you hair in a pony tail, get dressed and leave.  

Surgery day is considered Day 0.  I will check in, Change into a johnny gown, and get prepped with an IV, etc.  Then await the actual surgery.  I was told today that I have a choice between the route of anesthesia. I can opt for the full and typical anesthesia.  Or, I can be knocked out with Propofol and a spinal epidural, which will render me as equally put-under, but apparently with the ability to be aroused. If this occurs, I simply raise my hand and I will be knocked out again. This is not to say that I will be aware of the operation, or feel anything whatsoever, it is a deeper level of conscious sedation and ultimately results in quicker recovery time in post-op. And will leave me less groggy the next day.  This decision has to be made within 30 minutes of the actual operation.

Either way, I will have the nerve blocker in my femoral vein, to numb the leg, and will be hooked up to a self-administering morphine pump. I will be able to dose myself with 1mg of morphine every 5 minutes, up to 30mg in a 4hr period.  While being monitored by a pain management team, who will adjust the levels accordingly to my level of pain following the operation. 

When I awake, I will of course have antibiotics and saline via an I.V. as well as a urethral catheter, and a second catheter in my leg to drain any excess fluid from the incision site.  My leg will be heavily bandaged and covered in a compression stocking - from the top of my thigh to my ankle. This bandaging will apparently be quite impressive in size, but will be removed the following day.  

The remainder of Day 0 - surgery day, will be spent resting, and eating ice chips, while being monitored by nurses around the clock. 

Day 1 - the day after surgery, I will have the bandaging removed from my leg, and possibly the urethral catheter as well as the catheter from my leg - assuming it has stopped draining any fluids.  I will begin eating and will meet with physio, who will help me to get out of bed and walk for the first time with my new knee. This is going to be extremely painful and will no doubt be a short trip. Probably across the room to the washroom, and back to my bed.  I will also sit up in a chair for an hour, just to get me up and insure that I do not get any blood clots from staying in bed for too long. At this point, I will hopefully be able to use the washroom, and no longer require assistance with a catheter.  Additionally, I will be placed into a CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) Machine, which will continually bend and extend my leg while I am in bed. The machine will be set by the physiotherapist to bend my leg to a certain degree, typically beginning at 10 degrees, slowly expanding as my knee becomes use to the motion and more flexible.  This will take time and I could be in the machine for two hours at a time, several times throughout the day. 

All of this in in addition to bed exercises such as foot pumps - simply bending my foot forward and backward, pressing my knee down into the bed, and then raising it back into a natural straightened position. As well as knee bends, sliding my foot upward along the bed, to bend my knee.  

Frankly, all of this is going to be very painful, but the more I do it, the harder I work, the quicker the healing process will ultimately be. And although my surgeon is concerned about my Fibromyalgia, which amplifies pain, causing me to feel more pain than the average person might feel in the same situation, it is my plan to work as hard as I possibly can - in order to get through this as quickly as I possibly can!

Day 2 will be the same as Day 1, just more. More walking, more exercising, longer periods of sitting up in a chair. I will also begin practicing stairs with the physiotherapist. On this day I will also have the nerve blocker and epidural removed. The bandaging will come off of my leg and I will have thinner bandaging placed over the incision, which will be changed daily until the staples are removed. 

Day 3 - Judgment day.  It is on this day where an assessment will be made to determine whether or not I am on schedule in my recovery, thus able to go home on Day 4.  If it is determined that I am on track, I will continue with my in-hospital physio, in preparation to go home the following day.  If it is determined that I am not on schedule and require extra time to recover before going home, I will be transferred via ambulance to a rehabilitation hospital - where I will stay for 7 days. 

So, in a nutshell. I will either be going home from the surgical hospital on day 4, or I will be going home from the rehabilitation hospital on day 10.  Needless to say, I am going to do my level best to insure that I am released directly to my home on day 4!

Assuming that is what happens, I will be continuing my exercises at home, and continually working to increase the range of motion of my new knee.  At night I will be wearing a Zimmer Splint.  This is to keep my leg straight as I sleep, as they want to insure that I do not sleep with my knee bent all night. This will cause harm to my new knee, as it could set in a bent position and cause me extreme pain when I attempt to straighten it in the morning.  This situation will force me to make an emergency run - via ambulance - back to the surgeon, who will then have to force my knee to extend again.  Clearly, this is not something I want to happen, and will be a situation to avoid at all cost!  I will wear my Zimmer Splint like a champ!  

14 days after surgery:  I will see my family doctor, who will remove the staples from my leg. Do a general post-op check, insuring there is no swelling and that everything is looking as it should. I have this date already booked for September 19th. 

The following week I begin physio at a rehabilitation hospital - twice a week, working with a therapist, with machines. This will continue for up to six weeks, depending upon my progress. It could be shorter or extended, as needed.  At the six week mark, I will revisit the surgeon to do a post-operative examination to determine how my recovery is progressing. This appointment has been set for October 21st.

So, in a nutshell, this is what I have awaiting me. What my next two months are going to look like. It is scary, and I am not looking forward to the pain. But I do know that it will be a healing pain, which will eventually get better. And ultimately I will be better off than I am now.  I will be doing follow-up postings through my journey, with pictures of my leg over time.  I am doing this because I learned today that a thousand of these TKR surgeries are done each year here, and so, I am certain that someone, somewhere, is beginning their own journey. And it is always better when we know that we are not alone in what we are going through. 

Until next time.....

Love and light.

-Laura

Total Knee Replacement - Surgery Booked

I have lived with arthritis for most of my adult life. And as many people who have arthritis know, it attacks the joints. And often times, people who live with arthritis will experience great pain in their joints. Sometimes the damage is so severe, you will eventually require joint replacement.

This is what I am in the midst of.  The arthritis in my right knee is so bad that the cartilage is completely gone. Causing the bones in my knee to grind together.  For probably fifteen years I have had what I call the ratchet feeling when bending my knee. The clicking that can be heard and felt when bending and extending my leg.

Over the years the clicking has gotten worse as the cartilage wore away, and I began having the sensation of my knee slipping out of alignment. This of course causes extreme, sharp, stabbing pain.  I would then have to bend and twist my leg until I felt the 'click' and my knee would line up once again. At this point the pain would dramatically reduce.

In March of 2013 I had a bad fall outside of my apartment building.  I call this "the beginning of the end".  I never really recovered from this fall. I went straight down on my knees, and the pain shot through my body like a missile. I battled the recovery of the fall through the Spring and Summer, never really recovering from it. It was about three weeks before I could even walk again, and by the end of September, I was in so much pain that I knew my only real option would be to discuss surgery with my family doctor.  Although I am not a fan of surgery, having had so many of them in my lifetime, I knew that if I did not want to end up in a wheelchair, something drastic needed to be done.  Also, a good friend of mine had just had her first knee replaced and was doing so wonderfully well that it really gave me great encouragement that this journey might be right for me.

At my next appointment, I addressed my thoughts and concerns with my Doctor and he agreed that it was time to pursue surgery. Because I am a research type of person, naturally I had read up about it, and after having lengthily conversations with my friend, I knew that the first step was a scope of the knee.  This is essentially a mini operation, which requires the same amount of recovery as TKR (Total Knee Replacement). To me, this seemed ridiculous. I have zero cartilage in my right knee. Coupled with the fact that I also live my life with Fibromyalgia, and so inviting more pain in to my life is not something I take lightly.  I spoke with my Doctor about my concerns and he agreed with me that a Scope is a step we should skip, and go directly to surgery.

In January I got an appointment with a Surgeon, who wanted to do a scope. This frustrated me. Really, it upset me greatly.  I informed him that in no uncertain terms was I interested in having a scope done. And that I would be having the surgery done elsewhere as he was unmovable on the matter.  So, back to my Doctor for another referral.

In February, I attended my new appointment at a different hospital here in Toronto.  Funnily enough, the surgeon I was to see was at home, recovering from his own hip-replacement surgery.  So, my appointment was with a Fellow on his surgical team.  I cannot say what I truly want to say about the woman I saw during this appointment.  But I will say that she was horrible. Just awful.  So much so that I left the hospital in tears. In effect she told me that she would not recommend the surgery to the surgeon.  I was crushed. Devastated. Hurt. I felt deflated. I am only 45 years old, and this awful, horrible, woman in essence, had just said to me that I should live the rest of my life in agony!

I cried the entire way home, which must have completely freaked out my taxi driver.  Once I got home, I cried for three hours!  I was so upset!  Then the fighter in me took over. I decided that this horrible woman - who wasn't even a full doctor - would not have the final say in my future.  I called the office of the surgeon and spoke with his assistant.  Ok.  That isn't entirely true. The truth is I had a full breakdown on the phone with his assistant. I told her of the appointment I just had, how awful the person was, and that I wanted to speak with the surgeon.  She agreed and took my number and told me to try and relax while she looked into it.  She also informed me that mine was not the first complaint/concern/breakdown she had had with regards to this particular "doctor".

A few hours later my phone rang, it was the surgeon, calling me from his home, while in recovery from his own surgery.

WHAT?!?!?! Who does that?!?!?!?  HE DOES!!

We spoke for about an hour. I stated all of the reasons that I needed the operation. He asked me tons of questions, screening me.  And ultimately I said to him that with the Fibromyalgia, I would never be 100%, I knew that my life would never be as I wanted it to be, that I would never live a pain-free life, but the truth is that he went to medical school to become a surgeon - to help people, and if there was any chance that he could help me - shouldn't he?  And he agreed.

I was so excited!!! I thanked him (about twenty-five times) and told him that I would see him at the next appointment when he returned to work from his own recovery.  I then phoned his assistant. I could tell that she was waiting for my call. I could almost hear her smile.  I cannot say how thankful I am for this wonderful woman! I just love her to pieces!  She is a large part of the reason that I am even scheduled for surgery!

July 14th I finally got to meet my surgeon in person.  My appointment began with another series of X-rays, followed by a meeting with him.  He is fabulous! So kind. So understanding. Patient.  And - in my research - I have heard/read wonderful things about him from other patients.

We discussed my X-rays, and how interesting it is that my left knee is perfect. It is the ideal picture of what a knee is supposed to look like.  My right knee on the other hand looks like a twelve-car collision.  Just horrible.  So much so that he looked me square in the face and said; "I can see your pain. I don't know how you are standing ...and walking around."

At the end of the appointment I signed the consent for surgery and blood transfusion forms. I was given a ton of booklets and pamphlets to read prior to, and in preparation of my surgery.  Needless to say, there are a lot of appointments involved.  The pre-operative appointment has been booked for August 7th.  This appointment will take up to 5 hours, as I'll be meeting with the Anesthesiologist, someone from PT and OT, as well as nursing staff to go over my medical history.  Then there will be more X-rays, blood work, and an ECG. (Which I am not concerned about, as I have had two ECG's done in the past six months and know that my heart is in great shape!)

My Surgery will be done on September 5th.  Seven weeks from today!  I will be in the hospital for a few days and assuming I go directly home, I will be discharged on the 8th or 9th.  If I go to a rehabilitation hospital, I will be there for a week, before coming home again. Obviously I am praying that I will be discharged directly to my home, where I can recover in my own surroundings.

Then of course, there is a list of other various visits that will be taking place. Staple removal, post-operative appointments, physiotherapy. etc.

This journey is going to require a lot of hard work. Not to mention the great pain! It will be trying. But I am determined. Actually, I really just want to be on the other side of this process. I will be coming home with a walker, and a few weeks later, I will be walking with a cane. It will not be for approximately six weeks before I will be able to walk without an assisted device.  This is what I am looking forward to. Being able to do my groceries, walking my dog - without assistance, and without pain in my knee. Although I realize that it will be a few months before I can do my own shopping again. My eyes are focused on next March. Spring, for me, will spell freedom!

As with other areas of my life, I will be writing about this journey, sharing it with all of you.  I know that there will be good days, and days that are not so good. But as with everything else, I will be candid about the details of the surgery as well as my recovery. I'm sure with so many friends of EE, there is someone - somewhere who may be going through the same trials in their own life. And if nothing else, they may know that they are not alone. :-)

Stay tuned.....!