Well, what with band rehearsal and the the memorial service Thursday and Friday, and going out to dinner with friends (another recent widow and her two daughters) on Saturday night I was pretty wiped out. The painkillers certainly do their job, but I'm so drowsy all the time it's an effort to do anything. Despite all that, when I woke up this morning I found I could walk unaided. Not elegantly, mind you, but my right leg can take enough weight for me to be able to walk unaided if necessary.
The big decision this morning was whether to go to church or not. I'd need a ride, of course, so I thought I'd leave it to chance to see if anyone called and offered me a ride. My friend Dave B did, with about 45 minutes notice, so I thought I'd shower (only the second since Monday) and be reasonably clean. Well, what with the dismantling of the knee brace (see right) and the unwrapping of the dressing and the rewrapping of the knee in clingfilm it took all of that time to shower and get dressed and in the rush to get out I forgot to take my medications. In fact, the last I'd taken had been 11 pm the night before. I have one set on a 4 hour cycle, another on a 6 hour cycle and another on 12 hours.
The useful thing about easing off the pain meds is that you can figure out how severe the pain is and where it's located. By the time we got to the end of the service I was starting to feel just where the pain is coming from. By the end of the service I could tell that the knee itself isn't painful at all - stiff, yes, but not at all sore. The sore part is the hamstring, where they took a piece of tendon to use as the replacement ACL. Even that isn't too painful. Except that the pews at church are curved so that they just manage to cut into the backs of your thighs in such a way as to aggravate any tenderness just like I have.
Last Thursday was the first time I unwrapped the dressing on the knee, and for less squeamish among you, I have some pictures after the jump. They aren't too bad, but if you'd rather not see them, don't click.
Here's the knee as it was first unwrapped (right). The red smudge is roughly the location of the primary incision. The smaller incision above the knee is one of three locations where the fiberoptic cameras were inserted. I think the most surprising part for me is that they can inspect the hamstring tendons and take what they need all from the primary incision on the lower front side of the knee
The picture below shows more of the camera incisions and the primary incision covered up with a bigger band-aid. All that will be removed Wed 18 when I have my follow-up doctor's appointment.
Finally, here's a picture of the ingenious ice water cuff I got on ebay. My doctor mentioned that these things are useful, but they aren't worth the $300 they cost from medical supply places, but that they can be had on ebay reasonably. $40 and a week later, mine showed up. It's quite ingenious.
The little connector at the top of the cuff (bottom of the picture) is a quick connect device that allows the cuff to be filled with ice water from an insulated tub, emptied when it warms up and then refilled, all without taking the cuff off. This will prove especially useful after rehab and exercise.