The Great Knee Surgery Adventure

I have been "inactive" for almost a year now... due to a knee injury. That means no softball, basketball, tennis, golf, volleyball for a year! Auuugh! About the only thing that I COULD do without unbearable pain... was ride my bike. It has been a very frustrating year... to say the least. The first doctor that I went to see told me that there was arthritis under my knee cap. Other than a couple of exercises that he gave me to do at home... he never really gave me any hope for getting back to any sort of athletic activity. That WAS NOT the answer that I was looking for. After several X-rays, an MRI and 4 (3 minute) visits over a period of 5 months last fall... I decided to get a second opinion (best decision ever). At my first visit with the new doctor... he gave me a cortisone shot (which worked great for about a week and a half) and then ordered the arthroscopic surgery... immediately. THAT was what I was looking for... answers. I thought that it would be fun to document the experience with photos. So this is what my day at the hospital was like:

On our way to Aultman Hospital in Canton. I think I was trying to keep April awake as she was driving.















Ah yes... that wonderful hospital robe. We were told to arrive at the hospital at 9:15. That's all we knew. I was told that the procedure wasn't supposed to take very long. You know... maybe on my way home by noon??? Yeah... right.









10:00 and still waiting.

















It's all good...
















Finally... the nurse came in to hook up my iv. Looking for a vein in my wrist... so far...no luck.















Still looking for a vein...
















She had to go a little higher up on my arm to find a vein.
















I hate ivs... but you can't let it show... right?

We just found out that my surgery isn't happening until noon now... which means that April has to cancel HER afternoon doctors appointment. Bummer.









11:15... and still waiting.

They didn't take me back until 12:30... and I still didn't go into surgery until around 2:00. I was BORED OUT OF MY MIND!











Back in my room... waiting for the anesthesia to wear off. Going home soon?















4:20 and still waiting to go home...















Yes! Finally! I'm outta here! And I am HUNGRY!

















I was STARVING... so we stopped by Chick-fil-A on the way home... and guess who was in the drive-thru line? Lee Ann and Matt! What are the chances of running into those guys in Canton?

Oh yeah... and Chick-fil-A ROCKS!









Working from home today. As always... the girls are taking great care of me. They are WAY too good to me.








I




LOVE my MacBook Pro. It's the ONLY way to work from home.
















Well... the surgery was a success... but (once they got in there) they ended up doing a lot more than they had originally planned on doing. The plan was just to clean the arthritis out from under my kneecap. They ended up removing quite a bit of cartilage. Doc told April that I was a perfect candidate for a knee replacement. Even though that is not great news... it's so much better than going on with no answers... or the wrong answers.

April and the girls are taking great care of dad. I start therapy on my knee later this week... and if all goes well... I will be able to get back to normal activity before the end of the month. A huge thanks to everyone for their prayers and phone calls.