- Joined
- Mar 26, 2002
- Messages
- 1,861
The $54,000 wound I asked for – am I a masochist?
If you notice in the picture of my knee, there is a "YES" written above the marks for the incision. Thsi is to be sure that the surgeon did the correct knee. Makes me shudder to think that they have to go to such lengths!
Been a little over one month since the Total Knee Replacement. My body thinks I have been the victim of a major attack, a train wreck, a losing encounter with Chuck Norris.
If you have a strong stomach, you can open the link below and see “Virtual Knee Replacement” and “Photos.” While these are not my knee, this IS what they did to me.
http://www.edheads.org/activities/knee/index.htm
They knocked me out, bent my knee about 90 degrees, made an incision, moved the flesh, muscles and tendons out of the way. Then they drilled holes in my leg bones, put in temporary jigs to align the saw, cut off bone and glued in a new titanium knee. This part of the operation took about 30 minutes and cost about $28,000.
Thank God for Kaiser insurance!
A friend’s brother is an orthopedic surgeon. He says that the main training he received was in Shop class. He uses the same tools to operate on bones. Power saw, drill, hammer, chisel, glue. Orthopedic power tools are made by Black and Decker, are chrome plated and cost 20 times as much.
I remember being wheeled down a long hallway, fluorescent lights sliding by overhead, like in the movies. Then into an operating room with huge round lights. A LOT of people were there, all dressed in space suits.
The next thing I knew, I was back in my room looking up at Anne and our dogs. Yeah, the dogs got to be in my room! They are registered as Service Dogs. This means they can go anywhere except in a surgical environment. We did clear this with the hospital beforehand.
Anne has Menere’s Syndrome. A form of heavy vertigo combined with a panic attacks brought on by stress, we think. Medications are of little use. But the dogs sense when she is about to have an attack and go to her, lick her hands, crawl in her lap. The result is no attacks in the almost three years we have had them. If Anne was going to have a problem. It would be from her stress at seeing me go through this major surgery.
That night, Friday, I slept well. Still under the effects of the anesthetics. Also had a “Pain Pump” – a wonderful device that I could control to put extra pain medication into my IV when I needed it.
Saturday I was out of bed and walking down the hall. A tiny red haired nurse and a walker supported me. About 100 feet total distance. Then back in bed where I was hooked to a machine that moved my leg for three two hours periods a day. The important thing is to move the leg so that stiffness does not become permanent.
Saturday night and Sunday night were hell! I had a temperature of 101.4 degrees . My blood pressure was 212/90! I was having hallucinations, seeing faces in the wall paper and the ceiling seemed covered with spidery writing. Looked remarkably like Ge’ez, an ancient form of Ethiopian liturgical writing.
It was like an acid trip from the 1960s. “Go with the flow”
The nurses were attentive for a while and then decided I was just being a wuss and left me alone. The dogs were in my bed because they could sense my stress and they wanted to take care of me.
The hospital provided an uncomfortable chair that turned into an uncomfortable bed. Anne was with me 24/7.
Through Prayer and their support I somehow made it. Time marches on.
Five days after the surgery I was allowed to come home. This was good. I had asked that people NOT visit me in the hospital. I appreciate their support, but from a distance is just fine with me.
Anne drove me home and we unpacked that night.
My leg would not move on its own. You know how you decide to move your leg? Just put it there? Well, though I had feeling in it, it just plain would not move! I had to have Anne pick it up and put it down whenever I moved. I also used a belt around my foot to move it myself. The little things were very hard, like putting on my socks – I had a neat little device that helped, but otherwise I just could not bend enough to get there.
The thing that they do not tell you about is that the body has a form of rudimentary consciousness that pervades your whole life. My body had just experienced an incredible trauma. Something akin to being in a really bad accident. I did not want to move. I did not want to do the exercises to keep the knee from being stiff, I did not want to leave the house – there was a low level fear that whatever had gotten me before might still be lurking and would get me again.
This was very strange. Consciously I knew this had been elective surgery to repair severe arthritic deterioration, but try to tell my body that? NO! It was sure I had been attacked and nearly died and was taking no chances!
So I did not leave the house for two weeks. When I went in to have the 44 staples removed, the doctor said that I had a ‘discoloration’ that he wanted checked out. Ultrasound was brought in and they found a blood clot in the back of my knee. The doctor told me that a clot in the back of the knee was not so serious as one in the FRONT of the knee, but I was rushed to the emergency room for shots and observation.
Damn! A blood CLOT? I remember a friend who broke his leg and died in the hospital from a blood clot. It seems that when the marrow is exposed, the body tries to be sure that any possible attendant blood loss can be stopped. Unfortunately that jelly like mass can hit your heart and it is all over. So more pills and shots. Anne wound up having to give me injections in my stomach three times a day to keep the blood thinned and dissolve the clot. We think it is now gone.
Well, I played a lot of Xbox games, watched a lot of movies and have gotten better. A lot better. I have a long way to go ‘til I am ready to climb Mt Everest. Won’t be allowed to drive a car for another month.
Folks, this has been a humbling experience. My first time with major surgery. The knee is the biggest joint in the body. Friends have pitched in and helped. Fate has rolled a few bowling balls down my alley.
I was involved in a big real estate deal that I had already put in a lot of money. ONE WEEK before the operation my partner, who had been trying to buy me out, told me that he would not be able to raise the money and close.
Our option period had run out and I was going to lose the money I had in it unless I was able to raise more cash than I had ever put into a deal.
One very weird thing happened. I was still short a lot of money and had a call from VISA offering to lend me, interest free, until February an amount of money that was enough to close the deal. Anne and I were sure that it was a scam of some kind. We turned it down. They called back and kept calling back until we finally agreed to take the money. Very strange. It was for real. Guess God was looking out for us!
We managed to do this and closed on the property three days before the surgery. Took all my savings and maxed out my lines of credit, but we made it happen.
Two days before the surgery my father’s house burned to the ground. Dad had long since passed on, but my ancestral home, where I grew up from 1945 to 1970 was gone. That hurt.
There I am lying in the hospital feeling sorry for myself, and I got an email from munk, another one from Yvsa, then more from few others in the Cantina. Really cheered me up.
I thought of other people who had to have surgery. Cancer. Horrible accidents. Especially soldiers wounded while defending our Country. I decided that I was, in comparison, lucky. VERY LUCKY!
So, here I am, still kicking (groan) and looking forward to riding my motorcycle in the beautiful spring weather. Enjoying life and friends.
Finally got enough range of motion to sit on my Honda. It IS on the sidestand, but it was a real moment. Took me three weeks of intensive therapy to get my knee to bend this far. The first time I tried it, I could come nowhere near the foot peg. I felt like crying. But while I can't yet ride it, I do FINALLY fit on it again.
And while I can't drive a car or ride a scooter for another month, I did get out and run my riding mower up to about 8 MPH! Doctor's permission!
Thank you all for the smoke, prayers, emails and offers to help. I am lucky to have friends like you, Anne and our dogs.
Hope to see a lot of you at the 2006 Blade show.
If you notice in the picture of my knee, there is a "YES" written above the marks for the incision. Thsi is to be sure that the surgeon did the correct knee. Makes me shudder to think that they have to go to such lengths!
Been a little over one month since the Total Knee Replacement. My body thinks I have been the victim of a major attack, a train wreck, a losing encounter with Chuck Norris.
If you have a strong stomach, you can open the link below and see “Virtual Knee Replacement” and “Photos.” While these are not my knee, this IS what they did to me.
http://www.edheads.org/activities/knee/index.htm
They knocked me out, bent my knee about 90 degrees, made an incision, moved the flesh, muscles and tendons out of the way. Then they drilled holes in my leg bones, put in temporary jigs to align the saw, cut off bone and glued in a new titanium knee. This part of the operation took about 30 minutes and cost about $28,000.
Thank God for Kaiser insurance!
A friend’s brother is an orthopedic surgeon. He says that the main training he received was in Shop class. He uses the same tools to operate on bones. Power saw, drill, hammer, chisel, glue. Orthopedic power tools are made by Black and Decker, are chrome plated and cost 20 times as much.
I remember being wheeled down a long hallway, fluorescent lights sliding by overhead, like in the movies. Then into an operating room with huge round lights. A LOT of people were there, all dressed in space suits.
The next thing I knew, I was back in my room looking up at Anne and our dogs. Yeah, the dogs got to be in my room! They are registered as Service Dogs. This means they can go anywhere except in a surgical environment. We did clear this with the hospital beforehand.
Anne has Menere’s Syndrome. A form of heavy vertigo combined with a panic attacks brought on by stress, we think. Medications are of little use. But the dogs sense when she is about to have an attack and go to her, lick her hands, crawl in her lap. The result is no attacks in the almost three years we have had them. If Anne was going to have a problem. It would be from her stress at seeing me go through this major surgery.
That night, Friday, I slept well. Still under the effects of the anesthetics. Also had a “Pain Pump” – a wonderful device that I could control to put extra pain medication into my IV when I needed it.
Saturday I was out of bed and walking down the hall. A tiny red haired nurse and a walker supported me. About 100 feet total distance. Then back in bed where I was hooked to a machine that moved my leg for three two hours periods a day. The important thing is to move the leg so that stiffness does not become permanent.
Saturday night and Sunday night were hell! I had a temperature of 101.4 degrees . My blood pressure was 212/90! I was having hallucinations, seeing faces in the wall paper and the ceiling seemed covered with spidery writing. Looked remarkably like Ge’ez, an ancient form of Ethiopian liturgical writing.
It was like an acid trip from the 1960s. “Go with the flow”
The nurses were attentive for a while and then decided I was just being a wuss and left me alone. The dogs were in my bed because they could sense my stress and they wanted to take care of me.
The hospital provided an uncomfortable chair that turned into an uncomfortable bed. Anne was with me 24/7.
Through Prayer and their support I somehow made it. Time marches on.
Five days after the surgery I was allowed to come home. This was good. I had asked that people NOT visit me in the hospital. I appreciate their support, but from a distance is just fine with me.
Anne drove me home and we unpacked that night.
My leg would not move on its own. You know how you decide to move your leg? Just put it there? Well, though I had feeling in it, it just plain would not move! I had to have Anne pick it up and put it down whenever I moved. I also used a belt around my foot to move it myself. The little things were very hard, like putting on my socks – I had a neat little device that helped, but otherwise I just could not bend enough to get there.
The thing that they do not tell you about is that the body has a form of rudimentary consciousness that pervades your whole life. My body had just experienced an incredible trauma. Something akin to being in a really bad accident. I did not want to move. I did not want to do the exercises to keep the knee from being stiff, I did not want to leave the house – there was a low level fear that whatever had gotten me before might still be lurking and would get me again.
This was very strange. Consciously I knew this had been elective surgery to repair severe arthritic deterioration, but try to tell my body that? NO! It was sure I had been attacked and nearly died and was taking no chances!
So I did not leave the house for two weeks. When I went in to have the 44 staples removed, the doctor said that I had a ‘discoloration’ that he wanted checked out. Ultrasound was brought in and they found a blood clot in the back of my knee. The doctor told me that a clot in the back of the knee was not so serious as one in the FRONT of the knee, but I was rushed to the emergency room for shots and observation.
Damn! A blood CLOT? I remember a friend who broke his leg and died in the hospital from a blood clot. It seems that when the marrow is exposed, the body tries to be sure that any possible attendant blood loss can be stopped. Unfortunately that jelly like mass can hit your heart and it is all over. So more pills and shots. Anne wound up having to give me injections in my stomach three times a day to keep the blood thinned and dissolve the clot. We think it is now gone.
Well, I played a lot of Xbox games, watched a lot of movies and have gotten better. A lot better. I have a long way to go ‘til I am ready to climb Mt Everest. Won’t be allowed to drive a car for another month.
Folks, this has been a humbling experience. My first time with major surgery. The knee is the biggest joint in the body. Friends have pitched in and helped. Fate has rolled a few bowling balls down my alley.
I was involved in a big real estate deal that I had already put in a lot of money. ONE WEEK before the operation my partner, who had been trying to buy me out, told me that he would not be able to raise the money and close.
Our option period had run out and I was going to lose the money I had in it unless I was able to raise more cash than I had ever put into a deal.
One very weird thing happened. I was still short a lot of money and had a call from VISA offering to lend me, interest free, until February an amount of money that was enough to close the deal. Anne and I were sure that it was a scam of some kind. We turned it down. They called back and kept calling back until we finally agreed to take the money. Very strange. It was for real. Guess God was looking out for us!
We managed to do this and closed on the property three days before the surgery. Took all my savings and maxed out my lines of credit, but we made it happen.
Two days before the surgery my father’s house burned to the ground. Dad had long since passed on, but my ancestral home, where I grew up from 1945 to 1970 was gone. That hurt.
There I am lying in the hospital feeling sorry for myself, and I got an email from munk, another one from Yvsa, then more from few others in the Cantina. Really cheered me up.
I thought of other people who had to have surgery. Cancer. Horrible accidents. Especially soldiers wounded while defending our Country. I decided that I was, in comparison, lucky. VERY LUCKY!
So, here I am, still kicking (groan) and looking forward to riding my motorcycle in the beautiful spring weather. Enjoying life and friends.
Finally got enough range of motion to sit on my Honda. It IS on the sidestand, but it was a real moment. Took me three weeks of intensive therapy to get my knee to bend this far. The first time I tried it, I could come nowhere near the foot peg. I felt like crying. But while I can't yet ride it, I do FINALLY fit on it again.
And while I can't drive a car or ride a scooter for another month, I did get out and run my riding mower up to about 8 MPH! Doctor's permission!
Thank you all for the smoke, prayers, emails and offers to help. I am lucky to have friends like you, Anne and our dogs.
Hope to see a lot of you at the 2006 Blade show.
!!!
