My right knee was replaced seven years ago in Boca Raton. The surgery only took 40 minutes. I had a spinal with femoral nerve block. At one point I heard hammering and sawing during the procedure but then drifted back off, thank heavens.
Leading up to the surgery, the knee wasn't particularly painful until I had to step up or down and then it was weak and very painful. The surgeon, who does several knees per week said I was a good candidate as I was very healthy and the operation would for me be a "piece of cake". He said to bring street clothes to the hospital as his patients were always up walking the next day. He recommended some kind of tonic and some expensive vitamins for two weeks prior to the operation which I took.
Just after the surgery I felt fine and was doing a crossword puzzle. All of a sudden I became very nauseous and it was a struggle from then on for the remaining 4-day stay. I couldn't do the therapy or even sit up due to low blood pressure. My hemoglobin count went way down and I had a transfusion. My doctor claimed his patients "do not go to rehab" but finally offered me the choice to go home or to rehab. I elected to go to the facility for a week to take the burden off my husband. As it turned out, going home would have been better because the facility was a nursing home and there was very little time for rehab patients. The only good thing was that I had a private room, the knee massager machine, and really good food.
The physical therapist who visited me at home was much more competent, and he instructed my husband how to do the manipulations which had to be done every day. It was very painful but so much better to be home. A nurse also came every day to administer an injection of blood thinner in the abdomen, which didn't hurt at all.
However, I continued to feel ill, lost several lbs. off a slight frame, and ended up with an ulcerated esophagus. This condition prompted another admittance to the hospital.
In the meantime, the knee healed very well. It was swollen and a little painful for six months but ever since has been pain free and functioning well.
|