A get-well
present from CABVI friends means happiness
Dear George,
Katja got out of the hospital
from her knee replacement surgery on Saturday, June 8th. They had originally planned to
discharge her on Thursday or Friday, but she had an adverse reaction to her IV
painkillers the first night, and that slowed her progress. The surgeon had said her operation was
the best he’d ever done, and he was dismayed to find her in such an incoherent
state the next day since he’d been elated about his success. Our doctor son J told us that years ago
Katja would have stayed in the hospital for three weeks after an operation of
this sort, so she shouldn’t be in a hurry to get out. However, the hospital didn’t offer any options, and Katja
was eager to leave anyway. Both of
us were nervous about her coming home for her recovery since her condition
seemed pretty delicate. The
physical therapist at our pre-op class said that she would require 24/7 care at
home for fourteen days following her hospital discharge. That was a challenging prospect. I tried to explain to the therapist
that we had two large dogs who required multiple walks a day. She advised me to just put them out in
the back yard since I needed to have Katja in my sight at all times. Since we don’t have a back yard, that
seemed unrealistic.
Because Katja’s leg needed to
be protected against jarring and banging, I decided Mike and Duffy shouldn’t be
allowed in the bed. To get them
used to the idea beforehand, I built a barricade of chairs and laundry hampers
several days before Katja’s return. This was clearly the most traumatic event
in the dogs’ entire lives. They
just sat outside the chairs, looking soulfully at me and uttering pitiful
squeaks and yelps. I spread out
several camping blankets on the floor, hopeful that they might think they were
in our tent, and eventually the dogs would reluctantly retire there for the
night. But they never got used to
it.
When Katja came through the
back door with her walker, the dogs were thrilled to see her. However, they clearly recognized that
something was amiss, and, rather than their normal jumping about and rowdiness,
they were gentle in their greeting.
Duffy came up and sniffed the brace on Katja’s leg, then gave it a
lick. Katja spent the rest of the
day napping, and, in her presence, the dogs suffered even more from their exile
from the bed.
Katja had her first physical
therapy session that Monday. The
physical therapist said that she was able to bend her knee at a sharper angle
than any post-surgery client she’s had recently. Katja has been working out on the recumbent bike several
times a week at the fitness center for the last year. I think her leg muscles were more ready for surgery than
they’d been for her first knee replacement. Her pain has also been less agonizing than the first time
around. While it’s still severe at
times, Katja grits her teeth and carries out her regimen as best as possible.
For the first few days Katja
needed help with everything – getting in and out of bed, sitting in a chair,
adjusting her pillows, meds, food and drink, turning on NPR, etc. Then she gradually started getting out
of bed by herself and moving about a bit.
After a week Katja couldn’t stand it any more, and she invited the dogs
back into the bed. That was the
end of sleeping soundly, but good for some of the parties involved. Now that Katja has finished two weeks
of post-hospital recovery, I’m freer to go here and there. The recovery process hasn’t been as
draining as I’d anticipated, mainly because Katja’s doing better than last time
around. Being stuck in the house
for two straight weeks, though, hasn’t been much fun. A couple of times a day I help Katja get on and off her
continuous motion machine, which mechanically bends her knee up and down for an
hour or two at a time. At the
beginning she was bending her knee 60 degrees, and she’s now up to 120 which
the surgeon said was her goal.
Afterwards we hook her up to an ice water machine which circulates
freezing water through a pack which is velcroed to her knee. Katja’s using a walker for outside the
house excursions, e.g., to physical therapy or Panera, but she’s walking on her
own in the house the rest of the time, getting steadier each day. Whenever Katja calls from the other
room, Duffy starts barking like crazy.
I don’t know if it’s protectiveness, alerting me, jealousy, or early
onset dementia, but it creates commotion.
The whole situation has been difficult for Katja – boring, painful,
physically demanding, seemingly endless.
And, given that we’re used to being self-sufficient adults who don’t
need much assistance, the past two weeks have been a sometimes onerous change
for both of us. It once again
reminds me how deeply intertwined people’s lives are, especially in
marriage. The other day Katja said
I was being a saint, but that’s not true.
Saints don’t get grumpy and irritable from being cooped up. But now we are clearly on a forward
path, and it won’t be that long before life returns to normal (or maybe even
better than normal).
Love,
Dave
G-mail Comments
-Linda K-C (6-25): Maybe not a saint, that's a little hard
to imagine, but saintly, but on the other hand, if you really did this alone,
I'd look up martyr. I am good for
7 days, then I hire someone, even if it meant I could not buy food, saint and
martyr sound do religious , that in itself would drive me out of the
house. Glad everyone is getting
better , love to Katja for being such a trooper.
-Phyllis S-S (6-25): Dave, Maybe saints DO get upset when they are cooped up in the
house for two weeks. You were a thoughtful and caring husband - who cares
if you were upset and maybe wanted to scream - you did it...That's what
counts. Phyllis
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