Update on my knee

It seems hard to believe it has only been a month since my last post! So much has happened.

You may remember I was to have my knee replaced Jan 21st. We did so much preparation for the recovery at home. We moved clothes, toiletries, groceries etc to our  ground level basement suite as it has the least stairs in our house. You walk up only two stairs from the garage and then everything is ground level. There is a walk in shower, as well as my craft room just across the hallway on our side of the dividing wall.

The morning of the surgery I got a phone call that the doctor was not able to operate on the person ahead of me and could we drive straight to hospital. Upon arrival at the surgery ward, I showed the nurse that I had a miniscule cut on my foot from a rough edge to the antiseptic sponge I used that morning. I had no problems with the two scrubs the night before and the day before that, but just my luck to get this teensy, sort of paper cut looking cut on my foot. I think it was the last swipe of the sponge that caused it! I also mentioned that my skin was a bit raw on my groin from the strength of the antiseptic.

They brushed it aside and I got the same response when I went up to the operating room. They gave me something to make me relax and just after that the anesthetist arrived. After a few questions, he happened to notice my foot and after examining it with a light, he asked when I sustained the "wound" on my foot! He was already shaking his head and mentioning that it would be up to the surgeon and then asked if I had any other areas of exposed skin. As I showed him the raw area on my groin, I pretty much knew what was about to happen...

My surgeon arrived and after a quick look at both areas and an even quicker consult, he advised that they could not operate on me with  exposed skin above and below my affected knee and would be sending me home!!!

Al had already driven home and was so shocked to get the call to come and pick me up. All in all, I was there about 4 hours!

So, I am now rebooked for March 29th and have been given a prescription for a weaker strength of solution to bathe with beforehand.  I think I will have to cease making cards about ten days before that surgery as they stressed that I can not have any "wounds" on my hands either (I always seem to get teensy paper cuts when I work with paper).

I believe this is all because I contracted MRSA in that same hospital two years ago when I was in for ten days for another matter.  They are uber conscious of the risk of MRSA with me again and are being very cautious!

We were both so down about the cancellation as I am in quite a bit of pain now and my knee is very stiff. It is hard to get up and down from the couch or a chair. We were looking forward to getting this surgery so I could recover, finished physio etc and we could move back into having fun again and planning holidays.

So, to that end, we have booked a last minute special for a 10 day  cruise to Mexico and leave this weekend.  I will still have the February Rudolph Days Challenge running as of Feb 25th, but will not be able to comment on your entries till my return on March 1st!

Sorry that I did not advise all of this sooner but frankly, this knocked us for a loop. We have both been quite down about the cancellation...my husband even more than me. He does so much to help me and hates to see me in pain. We had a hard time adjusting to it all and I just did not feel like talking about it much. Now that we have processed it all, we can accept it.