It's 10:00 p.m., I just got out of a school board meeting, and have caught some mixed info about exactly what went on (and am a touch brain dead), but here's what I know...
They were ready to go at 5:30 a.m. for the surgery; Dad called me at 6:51 to tell me the scheduled time was for 2:00 p.m. (boy, was I glad I didn't take the day off). As it turned out, she went in about 11:00 a.m. My sister-in-law, Tamara, arrived about 10ish, so she got to see both of them before Mom went to surgery.
She didn't come out of surgery until around 3:00 p.m., so the surgery lasted much (MUCH) longer than had been anticipated, and it was even longer before the surgeon came out to visit with everyone. According to Tamara (Dad was asleep when I came in- don't blame him), the surgery was much more invasive and complicated than expected. There was a lot more damage than anticipated, and he removed a lot more bone and material than he had anticipated. Mom's right leg will probably be 1/4-inch shorter. There was a Plan A (go in with just a plastic joint replacement) and a Plan B (restructure the knee), but this required a Plan C which he wasn't entirely ready for, so that was the reason for the extra time. More parts were needed and they were placed deeper into the bones. There was more muscle, ligament, and nerve damage than anticipated, so that reconstruction part took longer as well. The doctor was not sure to what extent the nerve damage could be healed.
As the doctor visited with Tamara and Dad, Tamara was especially taken as to how he kept referring to "when" Mom would walk-- never "if." He was concerned with the left knee, which would not straighten out entirely, and said that, at some point, it would probably need surgery. He was concerned with the drop-foot, but said it was a matter of re-stretching the Achilles tendons, which we are sure will be a part of the therapy.
Therapy starts tomorrow. Since this doctor is a "complex joint replacement" specialist, we figure he and his therapy team know exactly what they're up against, so it shouldn't be any big deal, other than it's going to take a lot of therapy and she will probably be in the hospital a little longer (maybe 1 or 2 days) than expected.
They finally got to see her in recovery, and the first thing she said was, "I hurt." She's on a morphine pump that she can control herself; Tamara mentioned to the nurse that she was in pain and the nurse said, "not from the knee." Come to find out, they put a nerve block (kind of like a spinal they give to women in childbirth) from the knee on down, so basically the whole right leg was as if it were full of Novocaine... Tamara did remind her that she had other ailments, so the nurse showed her how to work that morphine pump.
She and Dad had some special moments together that both Tamara and the nurse noticed- whenever the nurse asked "how long have they been married," Tamara told her over 50 years. Mom overheard enough of the conversation and responded, "it will be 55 years on March 19th" (so she had a pretty good grasp of her faculties, so to speak). Tamara then teased her and said, "Yeah, she's put up with him for 55 years" to which Mom responded, "I've loved him for 55 years... no, actually, I've loved him for 73 years." Very special time for them to remember.
There will be several more days of pain and the therapy will not be fun, but Pam commented earlier that she felt Mom was in better shape both physically and mentally for this surgery than she was for the hip replacement that started this whole thing. So, hopefully, the recovery will go quicker.
Dad and Tamara both left the hospital about 6:30 after the nurses ran them out. She is spending the night in a highly-monitored area (but it's not ICU). I don't know what room she's in, but I'm sure it's temporary until tomorrow.
Bottom line- the doctor was concerned that it was worse than he thought and that the recovery may be longer, but he seemed confident that everything went very well and the surgery was very successful. I'll try to write more tomorrow night and keep everyone posted for a little while on how everything goes.
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Hello There Tired And Exhausted Pilgrims !! Thanks a mega bunch for the "Post" I just don't understand many of those medical terms, but this statement the doctor made surely caught my attention,(Bottom line- the doctor was concerned that it was worse than he thought and that the recovery may be longer, but he seemed confident that everything went very well and the surgery was very successful. Mighty glad to know that, and anxious to get your next report. I love you folks. F.E.
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