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Vanimal's
KNEE surgery
january
31, 2008
The Steep and Treacherous Mt. Baldy, our local ski
mountain.
Scene of the crime as viewed from my doctor's office.
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I busted my knee skiing at around 9:30am January 29, 2008. It was my 4th
ski trip of the season, second run of the day up on Mt. Baldy. I was taking it easy, skiing in
control, warming up and reviewing my technique. On Robin's run, a fabulous
blue trail near my fave black diamond Skyline run, I caught some ice, got straight legged,
then fell forward and tumbled. Both ski bindings released. I cried out
with one word: "KNEE!"
I sat there a minute then attempted to get up. No way. Too much pain. I
sat there some more thinking I had just tweaked my right knee but good. A
guy came around and asked me if I was OK. Could I ski down on one ski with
my good leg? No way. I'm not that skilled. Could I side step down the
hill? No way. Can't stand up. Call Ski Patrol.
Joey came to the rescue and started prepping the "Meat Wagon"
for me. Then more boarders and skiers started falling down all around us.
One guy plowed into a tree just 50 feet from us and we thought he had
Sonny Bono'd on us.
Once Ski Patrol got me down the trail and then up to the patrol hut via
snowmobile they removed my ski boot and made a cardboard splint for me.
From there I was able to call Ryan to pick me up and call my ortho Doc,
Dr. Husain's office to score an appointment "today". My buddy
Elvis went down the lift with me, he sitting on a crutch with my foot
propped up on it. Ryan was there waiting for me.
Here is what a Schatzker's lateral tibial plateau fracture type 2 looks
like...
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| Surgery took place Thursday January 31, 2008.
Thursday night I spammed my pals with the
following:
I am overnight in hospital recovering after the surgery. The operation
went twice as long as expected, around 4 hours. When I see doc tomorrow
I will find out more about what happened.
Coming out of anesthesia was really hard this time. They had to wake me
up while I still in the OR in order to stick a catheter up at front/top
of leg (in the bikini line crease) to do a femoral nerve block. That
took what seemed like too long. I was in bad bad pain from that sticking
and poking and of course the knee area was killing me. Woke up in
horrible pain. I had been under for a long time and woke up in huge
pain, shaking uncontrollably and crying.
About 15 min later the nerve block started working. My worst wake-up for
sure. That was around 7:30p
Then I got wheeled into recovery room and got some more drugs bring my
pain lever down and my pulse down. I called my nephew and we chatted for
maybe half hour about work and such also taking my mind off the pain.
The pain decreased. About 8:30p they wheeled me up to my hospital suite
and installed me there. I'm on a Dilaudid pain med pump, there's some
cooling system installed around the knee bandages, and a blood drain
from the incision site. I sure am glad I'm here not home. As long as my
iPhone works, I can work. Even in the dark. I can also listen to my iPod.
So that's great.
Ryan and Angel came up to visit for a few hours. Such sweet kids. I was
very cheered to see them. More tomorrow. I'm gonna go to sleep now. Just wanted to let ya'll know
that I feel fine right now.
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"Call my Nephew Chris 781-###-####"
is what I wrote on my arm for the Doc cuz who remembers phone
numbers anymore? |
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Friday morning: The Day After Surgery
A PT guy came around to get me up using a walker. Oh so much better
than crutches!
We did a lap around the hospital ward.
Dr. Husain came by and gave me good news that the surgery went exactly
as he planned and there were no surprises. The ligaments got stressed but
none were busted so he didn't have to do any ligament repairs. The
incision runs along the side of my right knee and comes around the front.
He went in from the front of the tibia and drilled up through the bone to
push the tibial plateau fragments back up into place in the joint under
the cartilage. Then he packed the head of tibia with cadaver bone and
installed a side plate and several screws to hold the pieces together. He
spent almost 4 hours on the surgery. Doc answered all my questions and I
am slated to see him again in about 10 days.
The rest of the day was spent
experimenting with vicodin vs. percasets to see what was going to work
best for me to go home with.
The nurses finally disconnected the Hydromorphone HCI drug pump,
removed the blood drain, and disconnected the refrigeration unit from my
leg. I'm supposed to get a leg freezer system at home sometime next week.
It pumps ice water from a cooler into a rubber bladder wrapped up in the
ace bandages around my knee.
My best friend from college, Will, came to pick me up at 5pm. We swung by Theodora's pharmacy and
grabbed the blood thinner shots and a walker for me. Or I could have
nibbled on some D-CON... the blood thinner is a preventative measure so no
clots get formed and transported to my lungs or brain or get stuck
somewhere. I got home last night and set the little dog in my iPhone to
bark at me every four hours to remind me to take my
druuuuuugggggsssss. Will was out
here for a conference so we changed our dinner plans to "he cooked
a scrumptious kosher chicken Indian meal for me"
instead. 
Will spent the night and we're now downloading some Nurse Ratched dialog
to use for the task of reminding me that it is "medication
time". I'm on Endocet 7.5/350mg x 2 every four hours. Same
drug as Percoset. It's oxycodone cut with Tylenol.
So I have people around me to help me. I am back home and I can
work from bed on miPhone and laptop and keep my leg raised.
Damn thing hurts like a bitch but I think I finally got ahead
of the pain with taking the drugz on schedule and not moving
while sleeping.
I am in for a long haul on this one.
I am not allowed to bear weight on this leg for 8 weeks.
Plenty of time to lay in bed and type. Will gave me the first
season Partridge Family on DVD to keep me entertained.
Thanks to Jimmy, JB, Bob 'n' Gail, and the BofA ladies for the lovely
flowers!
And that's where I'm at this Saturday Feb 2nd 2008. |
John Jennings visits the Vanimal! Saturday nite we all watched One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
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*Magical Tim Ribs*
Oh my God! Tim baked these ribs for Super Bowl Sunday that were
seriously THE BEST I have ever had in my whole life. No, I am not
kidding, these took first prize.
So what we did was basically like this:
First, obtain 2 racks of Spare or Back ribs
Here's The Rub:
Parsley
Thyme
Oregano
Paprika
Garlic powder
Onion salt
Black pepper
Cayenne
*put equal parts of each Spice girl in a bowl and rub them ribs with
this mixture
Smoke ribs in Cameron's Cooktop Smoker for 30 min using Bourbon
Soaked Oak wood chips.
Transfer rib to deep baking pan. Bake dry for 30 minutes @ 225F.
This locks the rub onto them ribs.
The sauce:
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (Smothered them ribs)
1 can cheap yellow beer like Budweiser
Poor that stuff onto ribs then cover deep pan with foil.
Slow cook ribs in the sauce for 4 hours @ 250 F.
Be patient. Cook 'em slowly 'til tha meat falls off da bone.
Seriously.
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Recovery weekend: Chris made a little
video of the two of us for his folks. You
can view it here.
| GORE FILTER provided by the gauze.
That's like 7" of SLICE AND DICE BABY!
YOW! HOKEY POKEY!
(Nice TV hifi system......)
Here's what's inside my leg. Six drywall
screws and a plate.
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No gore filter. I have been going to Physical
Therapy every day. Loren and Darrnen work me over with electro-stim,
ultrasound, massage, ice and exercises. I can get about 90 degrees
bend with a leg curl which ain't half bad. What *is* bad is my
tennis elbow condition is totally inflamed now so I have to
alternate crutches and the walker as to not kill my arms and hands
having to be walking on them, in effect. So they are working PT on
my arm too. Stitches came out Tuesday Feb. 12, 2008
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Feb 21, 2008
I do a lot of this these days:
Lie down on sofa and type on my laptop or miPhone.
It doesn't hurt to have superb hifi
systems.
Thanks go out to my sister Spacey for the Columbia sweatpants. I
did not have to cut off a leg because do not have a cast. When
I am up and about I have to wear that $600 velcro leg brace
"just in case" I wipe out. But I can sleep without it and
lounge around without it too. Sweatpantss are perfect for me now.
My range of motion is now around 120 degrees.
Still must not put any weight on my right leg until April. No
stress on that knee joint.
At physical therapy I do leg lifts, leg curls, and hip abductor
exercises. Can't do anything for my poor wasting right calf. It is
just going away....... along with 6% of my body weight.
I'm off the pain killas and gimping around on crutches and
fighting off the urge to take afternoon naps. |
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It also doesn't hurt to have friends like Mr. Wrench
come over to cook lobster pasta and cheesetoast for you.
Carb fest! Yum yum yum.
So I got the hospital bill. $34,000
How 'bout that? Good thing I have excellent insurance. |
February 28, 2008
Well I am NOT going scuba diving in Bonaire with my buddies this coming
weekend as I had planned....
Today I measured -7 degrees from straight on leg extension and 120
degrees total flexion. That's damn good.
My right leg can go 130 degrees. So yeah, my movement is good.
I have been working some leg machines at the gym to keep my hip muscles
and hamstrings working.
I am not allowed to load the knee joint so there are not a lot of quads
exercises I can do at this juncture. Patience.
I have another whole month of this program:
wake up and take a bath and get dressed
go to Physical Therapy for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Go to work and lie on my
sofa and type all day. Drive the War Wagon home with my good left leg.
Hop 'n' cook in the kitchen, push my plate to the table on a rolling desk
chair, watch tv and sleep. Wash. Rinse. Spin. Repeat.
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March 3, 2008 xrays
Doc said at the six weeks after surgery mark I can start getting some
weight back on the leg, starting with 10% of my body weight then adding
ten percent every other day. Let's see how that goes. Maybe I'll be
walking by April 1st?
March 13, 2008: 6 weeks post surgery I
was allowed to get on the stationary bike on Thursday March 13th, starting
first at level 1, but after a couple of days I can easily do level 4
without stressing my knee. My leg is nice and fluid. I have been riding 45
to 90 minutes on the bike every day now. It feels good to get moving
again. I am slowly adding a little weight to my walking-crutch routine. I
can stand up on two feet, still favoring the good leg of course, but
adding more to my bad leg every day. Progressing well with very little
pain, if any. The balls of my feet are still very sensitive. Feels like
stepping on needles sometimes. March 27, 2008:
8 weeks post surgery Today I am allowed to put 120 lbs on
my busted leg. Even though I *can* do more, I am dutifully following
doc's instructions and walking with one crutch to keep maximum
weight near target. I continue to crank the stationary bike,
pedaling for about an hour everyday at level 12. I got my pulse up
to 185 on a level 13 sprint for a minute or two. If there is good
stuff to watch on the little TV I can just keep on pedaling..... My
feet have adjusted back to walking and all is looking well to ditch
this crutch over the weekend. Anyone need a walker? March
31, 2008: Vanimal is walking again! I am focusing on gait
training on the threadmill. No more crutches yay! |
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Vanimal's Busted Wrist 2000 |
