A day at home

Aug. 21 - 22 After a good night's sleep in a real bed, Miki did her exercises, iced the knee, took her meds, got up and around the condo and generally had a good day, supervised lovingly by Mary Lois.

I made a nice baked ham with the leftover scalloped potatoes, and we all had a nice evening. Saturday was her first home shower - a bit of a performance getting her bad leg over the wall of the tub, but fine once she was in. Then she had a nap and we went for about a 20 minute walk - to the elevator and outside in the sun as far as the parking lot.

Another big nap after that little expedition, but around 4 pm Miki thought her thigh above the knee looked even more swollen. I made a big veggie burger with corn and salad supper, and then we headed off to emerg to check things out - better safe than sorry. Back to VGH around 9 pm, and I found a wheel chair and took her right to the 5th Floor - the ortho ward where she did her recovery. She saw the great nurse Christina who said we should probably go to Emerg anyway just to check it out.

Off we roll, and after seeing intake, an ortho nurse (who knew there were such things), a med student who was about 17 (he said he was 24, but we didn't believe him) and finally the doc on duty, Dr. Penner, they all agreed she had probably just done too much that day, but that everything was fine.

Home again, off to bed and M had the best sleep she has had yet...! Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that we actually shared the bed for the first time....:-)

Recovery is a slow process - it will be good to hear what the physio has to say about how much when on Monday!

Free at last!!

Aug. 20 Mary Lois picked Miki up at the hospital at 10 am, after which they spent a brutal 2 HOURS at Costco (Miki in the car with her foot swelling like a balloon, and Mary Lois in the line-up) getting prescriptions....!!! Got settled at home, slept all afternoon, and then got up for a good home cooked dinner of pork chops on scalloped potatoes, broccoli, carrots and salad. Watched some TV - Nights at Rodanthe (chick flick) and then Miki got to sleep in a real bed for the first time in a week (thanks Mary Lois!!!).



Physio starts on Monday, and depending on how mobile she is feeling, we may go to a party on Sunday.....???? Time will tell. In the meantime, she will be taking her meds, doing her exercises, and expanding her walking time bit by bit. No photo this time - some people can see them, some can't, so will add them when I can!

Miki's knee surgery!

Day 3 was even better! Lots of walking around during the day, physio of course, since
Day 1, and her fever is all gone. Day 2 she had developed a low fever as a result of all the crap in her lungs from the anesthetic, so they gave her some antibiotics to clear that up.







Tonight after dinner we walked all the way to the lounge and watched some TV - she will sleep well tonight! Mary Lois will come on Thursday at 10 am and take her to the condo, get her settled in, and we will start the next phase of recovery.

We have been SO impressed with the medical care - every one from surgeon Dr. Stone, the nurses, the aides, and even the food servers are competant, cheerful, caring, patient and professional.

Miki's Surgery

So Day 2 was even better. Here is the surgical leg, with its unicompartmental knee replacement under there somewhere. Pain is under control with regular pain killers (Tylenol, Dilaudin and some Gravol) and Herself has a new bed with a nifty lifting device over her head which really helps moving around.

Here is Miki walking down the hall - looks like a pro with her walker, eh.....but don't get too used to it, we have dancing to do, darlin!!! Wed. when I got there (with a latte) she had had a great day - lots of walking around by herself, getting in and out of bed alone, going to the bathroom, down the hall, etc.
She had dinner in her chair again but was not all that impressed with the mushy shepherd's pie, but at least she has no nausea!!!!

Miki's Knee Surgery!

Monday, August 17, we went to Victoria General Hospital at 11 am. Sunday night we had stayed at Mary Lois's condo so Miki could do her Big Antiseptic Shower before bed and again just before we left to go to the hospital. They checked her in, gave her a most attractive gown (???) and put in an IV line. At 5 to 1 they took her off to the operating room. Someone introduced her individually to every member of the operating team (impressive!!!), including the wonderful Dr. Stone, and in true Miki fashion she thanked them all for all their hard work just before she went under.

At 3:45 Dr. Stone called me on my cell and said everything had gone really well, and did I want to talk to Miki....?? So there she was all chipper, awake and happy. Around 5 pm they brought her from the recovery room up to the orthopedic ward and settled her in Room 508. For about an hour, she was all happy and cheerful and then suddenly her anesthetic started to wear off and within 20 minutes she went from no pain to about an 8 out of 10. They gave her an injection of Dilaudin and just as it started to work about 20 minutes later, she turned paper white, started to shiver violently, and was freezing cold!!!!!! The nurses treated her for HYPOTHERMIA and said she was the 3rd person to come up from surgery that day to have that reaction - either to the meds, the shock of the surgery, or.....?? So they applied hot blankets, oxygen, and tried to warm her up in a hurry. About 20 minutes later she felt terrible nauseated, so they gave her a shot of gravol, which mercifully helped both the pain and let her sleep. Her colour started coming back, but every time they gave her a shot, she had terrible nausea and then vomiting (just bile, of course, as she had not eaten in 36 hours). It was a very long night - they kept her out of pain, but the nausea and poor colour was miserable. I brought her sips of water, ice and did some healing touch with her, and she did sleep off and on.

By 6 am I had to leave to go to work, and when I got back there after work at 4:15 there was a whole new Miki!! They had slowly given her some food and had changed all her meds to pills rather than injections, which really did the trick. This woman doesn't take any medications other than the occasional advil for her sore knees, but I think it was just too much too intensely for her system. So she had had some breakfast, some lunch, been up to the bathroom, used the walker a couple of times and even sat in a chair to eat. Wow - what a difference a day makes! She had lots of company that evening, with Mary Lois, Terri, Rick, Helen and I coming by. Off to sleep now, pretty lady, let's hope day 2 is even better!