It must be my Percocet-addled brain. . .

July 9, 2008

I've been home from rehab for a week now, and I haven't updated this account yet. I'm still recovering quickly. The staples in my knee were removed Monday, and the scar is healing well. I've still got some swelling, and of course, I don't have full function of the knee yet - but why should I, two weeks post-surgery?

The rest of my time in the rehab hospital went quickly, with no more major problems. Minor problems - the dreadfully uncomfortable hospital beds, the horrible food - remained, but with everything else going smoothly, these didn't seem as bad. I continued to fight the No Eggs at Breakfast battle until the last day, when they finally got it right. Of course, they gave me regular jelly instead of sugar-free, but by then I decided it wasn't worth fighting any more.

I left the rehab hospital on Tuesday, July 1, a day ahead of schedule. If I had been willing to stay one more night, they would have had my home physical therapy arranged before I left. But I couldn't stand one more night in that uncomfortable bed. My back and hips were protesting; I needed round-the-clock Percocet to relieve the pain in them more than the pain in my knee. The physical therapists had taken me off the Continuous Passive Motion machine a day early because four hours of lying flat on my back on the flimsy plastic mattress were hurting me more than they were helping my knee. So I left at around 4 p.m., promising to call my primary care doctor the next day to get the home physical therapy going. My kids (all 3 - my daughter was staying until Friday) and I had a great evening, eating Bertucci's pizza and playing Rock Band. My older son has a PlayStation 3 and the video game Rock Band, which includes a guitar, drum set, and microphone. He brought them in to my house so that we could all play together. There's a fourth track, for bass guitar, but we only had the one guitar, so one of us would take a break while the other three played. I sang. Next time he brings it in, I'll try the guitar, but I won't do the drum set until my knee heals.

I called my doctor's office the next day, leaving a message. At the end of the day, somebody called me back to tell me I should have had it set up before I left. Yeah, I know... She said she'd see what she can do. I didn't hear back on Thursday, and Friday was the Fourth of July, a holiday, so I knew I'd go the rest of the week without any physical therapy. I continued to do the exercises they gave me at the rehab hospital.

We went down to my mother's for the Fourth of July, as we do every year. She turned 84 on July 3rd. She's combined her birthday celebration with the Fourth since she was a kid and thought the fireworks were for her. My kids cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill for lunch. Mostly I sat in the recliner and let everything happen around me. But I was there! We stayed to watch the fireworks, which were beautiful, as always.

Monday I bought a cane and I've been using it instead of the walker, which increases my mobility a lot. I drove my son's car yesterday, so I don't feel housebound any more. Not that I plan to go anywhere else this week! Also on Monday, I heard from the physical therapist. She came out on Tuesday and will be back today and probably Friday, too. My insurance is paying for this. I'm very lucky.