My Left Knee (Replacement)

Getting my knee replaced is a huge event in my life. I've never been hospitalized for surgery before. My only overnight stays in the hospital came with the birth of each of my children (3 days with #1, 2 days with #2, and 1 day with #3). I had day surgery (arthroscopic) on the same knee in 1989, and I had my gall bladder out in 2001, also day surgery. It's so easy these days; they do laparoscopic surgery, so the biggest scar I have is in my belly button.

Getting a new knee is a big deal. I feel as if I have to run a gauntlet of tests just to be accepted into the New Knee Program. Last night I overcame the first hurdle: I donated a unit of my blood to be used during my surgery, if needed. (I asked if it could be donated to somebody else if I didn't use it, but they said no.) I've given blood before, so it was no big deal. They had the Red Sox game on; it had started early because of the Celtics-Lakers game at 9. While I was watching, there was a brawl. It's a long and kind of typical Tampa Bay vs. Boston story; they're always hitting us with pitches, and we're always retaliating. And this year, Tampa Bay is fighting with Boston for first place in the American League East, so there's even more tension. (Maybe it's because when the Red Sox play at Tampa Bay, there are more Red Sox fans than Rays fans in the stadium! All those retired New Englanders...) Anyway, two nights ago there was an incident involving Coco Crisp (don't you love his name?) and his attempts to steal second. I don't want to go into lengthy detail; read about it here if you're interested; they tell the story much better than I do. So last night, when the Rays pitcher James Shields hit Coco, he charged the mound. The dugouts emptied, and Coco found himself on the bottom of a huge pig-pile. Three players were ejected - Coco himself, not surprisingly, Shields, and Jonny Gomes, a Rays player who had taken an active part in the brawl. They showed it over and over, of course. Everybody in the blood donor center was talking about it - the staff and the donors. This is New England - everybody's a Red Sox fan. (Actually I think one guy might have been a Yankees fan, but he didn't make a big deal out of it because - hehe - this is New England...)

So, there is a unit of my blood waiting for my surgery.

I have already had a couple of required tests - a chest X-ray and a urinalysis. I need to have an EKG. This is all routine stuff.

Over the next two weeks I have three surgery-related appointments. The first one's with the hospital, and I don't know what will happen there. The second one's with my primary care provider; she needs to clear me for surgery. Another major hurdle. What if I don't qualify? Although I can't think of why I wouldn't... The third one's with my surgeon. I'll talk about them if there's anything worth telling.

What's a joint like this doing in a nice girl like me?

It's been awhile since I wrote here. Oh, I haven't been silent - just blogging elsewhere. I'm reactivating this one to share news of my upcoming knee replacement surgery. I'm starting out by reposting an entry I originally wrote on April 25, 2008:

My knee replacement surgery is scheduled for June 23. That gives me two months to think it over. I can still back out. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to go through with it. 99% sure.

Reasons I should have a knee replacement:

• The knee is bone-on-bone in two places. It's not going to get better. Cartilage doesn't regrow, and it can't be regenerated.
• I am sick and tired of not being able to walk for long distances.
• I want to be able to hike again. I won't be climbing Mount Everest, but if I could climb even a small hill it'd be great.
• I want to be able to climb stairs again. These days I either shuffle up one step at a time, never bending my left leg, or I cling desperately to the banister, wincing with every step. Downstairs is just as bad.
• This is a good time in my life to have it. I'm relatively young, and my sons are around to take care of me. I've got health insurance that will cover it.

Reasons I shouldn't have a knee replacement:

• I can still go about my daily activities. I walk well on level ground. Sometimes I even walk without pain.
• I can lean over and pick things up off the ground without pain. Last weekend, as I was raking my lawn and picking up the litter that blows into my yard from the nearby convenience market, I was thinking, would somebody facing knee replacement surgery be able to do these things?
• It doesn't hurt when I'm sitting or lying down.
• What if it's even worse after I have it done?
• I'm relatively young. Yeah, that was a good reason, but it's also a bad one. Chances are I'll have to have it done again 20 years down the road.

Having my knee replaced was never part of my life plan. Of course, neither was being single at my age... I had planned to be a successful author, or at least a successful something... instead, I've got a job as an administrative assistant. It's a good job, but it will never earn me the respect of my college classmates.

But I'm not here today to talk about my failures. I'm here to talk about my knee. At least it's just my left knee; my right knee is fine. It'll probably be even better once it can share the work with my left knee again.

One of my co-workers sent me a link to a great site, Edheads. This is a Virtual Knee Replacement exercise aimed at grades 7-12. If you want to know more about what happens during knee replacement surgery, it's great.
http://www.edheads.org/activities/knee/