HOME AFTER TWO NGHTS...

Ted has done really well in hospital so they let him out of jail free after 2 nights. As I was getting ready to pick him up yesterday, he phoned to say the doc and physio were happy for him to leave, but staff  needed to get his blood thinners on track. He will still inject a blood thinner in his stomach (ouch!) for 5 days at home and get his usual cooumadin (rat poison) up to the right level at the same time. The mobile lab will visit Monday to take his blood, which is a whole lot better than me shoveling him into the car to take him to line up at a lab.

 I didn't need Mark to accompany me to drive him home in the back seat of his SUV. I got him in the front seat of our Honda Accord, which is great, as he won't be able to drive for 6 weeks. I guess I am going to be Driving Mr. Daisy..

  Liz called this mornign nd s pleasantly surprised to tak to her brother in law in person. Clive is also now waiting to get a new knee, but it in a lot more pain than Ted evidently was.

  This enforced home stay has its benefits. The guy called this morning to come by and check what needs to be done to wall up our side door and replace it with a big window. Hopefully that can be done soon now the snow has stopped - we hope.

  Or feathered pal is pleased he has company and just sits there saying "hello hello" all the time.

Note the kangaroo pocket pinny - he can bring things back and forth in the pocket without calling for Maria all the time...hahaha

  A friend dropped by last week with an ice machine. Quite simple really. You put in freeze packs (less messy than ice) and fill with water, plug in and it circulates cold water around the knee. Everyone who's used one swears by its efficiency at getting the swelling down. So we will use it 4 times a day after he does his exercises.

  Note deformed feet in foreground, good thing we didn't reproduce and replicate them! I

  'm glad its shorts weather now.

DAY TWO, PAINFUL..

Ted did get up last night after his surgery, just to stand by the bed apparently. He did not think he would use the painkillers as he has a high pain threshod. I guess today he found out otherwise. This morning the physio visited to show him some exercises and he said it was excruciating pain. After that he ate what purports to be real food (soup and an egg salad sandwich!) then fell asleep. when I arrived he woke up as the nurse was removing some of the tubes attached to various part of his anatomy too.

  At 1pm he was taken to the real chamber of horrors, the physio room with all manner of implements similar to the Spanish inquisition tools - I guess that's how it looks to people who have had their knee removed and put back together again.

 Young Joe grinned the whole way through the session, showing Ted how to do all the things that will make the leg bend again, but it all looked incredibly agononizing to me. By the time the almost hour was up he had done floor exercises, walked with a walker, learned how to use his crutches properly, walked the parallel bars and climbed over a small obstacle - no mean feat. 

  Returning to his bed, we got him propped up with ice and supports and he accepted the painkiller with alacrity! 

  I took him a bag of real roughage, pea pods, oranges and a big carrot so hopefuly he will get them all down as well as the mushy food he gets there.

  I remember a German guy having his second knee repaced when Ted was in for his hip replacement 15 years ago. Back then when he had the first one done in Germany, he woke up with his leg in a machine that gently lowered and bent it from the get-go. I think that's what's needed here. The theory  must be that if you don't let the leg stop moving, it won't be so hard to get it to 70 degrees within 4 days, to go home. I guess in Germany they come out of surgery and shortly thereafter go to convalescence for 6 weeks of intensive physio and exercise. What a gret way to do it.

  Now I anticipate him home Friday (that's the plan...) so I am out looking for a nursie outfit, but perhaps not in the love shop! Hahaha

BIONIC TED - NEW KNEE TODAY!

We returned to Alberta in plenty of time for Ted to do all the taxes and get in shape for his surgery today. He has lost about 20lbs and feeling better to undertake the grueling physio required in getting the knee back to working order.

  He will be way up NE in the Peter Lougheed Hospital which is where the ortho surgeons from his clinic all operate. So I will get used to driving across the city for a few days and hope 3 nights in hospital will be enough. 

  This morning, before the crack of dawn (a time we are not familiar with..) we were up and heading north on the Deerfoot in the dark, as admitting opens at 6am. By 7:30 he was all suited up, line in, and both surgeon and aneastheologist had visited. They determined he would have an epidural, rather than regular anesthetic, as recovery is usually far better. He's been off the rat poison (blood thinner) for nearly a week, injecting a substitute for the last 4 days, so his INR (indication of thinness of blood) is 1 and they are happy to do the epidural.

  So I will return later to see how the patiet has fared, take him a pair of crutches and no doubt he will be up and walking this evening.

BACK TO THE SWAMP...AND HOME

On our return to the Six Mile Swamp, what a difference! Spring had arrived, the cedar trees were in full leaf, flowers were blooming, baby alligators were sunning on logs, the rarer green heron (actually several colors) was lying in wait for the tiny critters stirring everywhere. I spotted a dangerous moccasin snake curled up peacefully on a log. But sadly it was time to head north again.

  Florida is definitely being loved to death, with very crowded beaches full of beached whales, coated in oil and about the color our the turtles! No sign of skin cancer fear here. It was spring break so beaches, malls, etc. were swimming with people. Even our return to the idyllic Sanibel and Captiva Islands was a huge shock. But we did find by driving off the beaten path some lovely wildlife areas preserved by far-seeing planners.