Nothing Profound

I have so many exciting and creative ideas in my brain right now, and I’m not going to share any of them! I am quite sure that 99% of said ideas are fuelled by Percoset, and so I think it would be better to hand on to any shreds of self-respect I still have by keeping them to myself!

It’s great to be on the “done” side of Wednesday’s surgery. All went according to plan, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a few moments (quite a few, actually) of anxiety and panicky feelings in the days leading up to Wednesday. I will spare you most of the details of the day, but here are a few, without being too boring, I hope!

First of all, Banff hospital is a really nice place – for a hospital! It’s much more personal – first name basis for everyone, please, including the 3 doctors in the surgery. (Laurie, Harry, and some other guy who’s name I can’t remember, sorry, Dr!) The nurses were just the right mix of friendly and efficient, and were never too busy to stop awhile and listen to me chatter or bring me something to make me comfortable.) Pretty good food, incredible views out the window, you get the idea.

More and more surgeries are now performed using a spinal block instead of a general anaesthesia. This meant that I was awake and alert for the first part of the operation, and was able to chat and answer (and ask!) questions of the docs and nurses. My surgeon was so excited to work on my weird knee, and even thanked me for letting her operate on it. (“I LOVE to start my day with an interesting knee!”) I got to watch the first part of the surgery as she explored the whole knee using a scope to look around. She was making her “to-do list” and also confirming that she could do everything she’d planned. Once she called for a knife, though, the anaesthetist winked at me and said “Aw, the next part is too boring to watch!” and he turned off my screen. He also added a little something to my iv that made me really, really relaxed. I mean, REALLY. Still awake, but really didn’t care too much about anything. As soon as the surgery was done he shut off everything and I was totally alert again within 5 minutes. No struggling to swim up from the depths of a general anaesthetic, no 2 or 3 days of feeling like I’d been run over by a moose. (It was Banff, after all!) I felt pretty good – until the spinal wore off. At that point the anaesthetist put in a femoral nerve block, so I didn’t need any other pain meds for about 10 hours. Beautiful.

OK, too much detail, moving on. Let me just say that I am home, well taken care of by my family, and spending 16 hours a day on the couch with my leg elevated and ice water circulating around my knee. The other 8 hours a day, I am in my bed, with my leg elevated, and ice water circulating around my knee. Poor Steve is exhausted with waiting on me, changing my ice, feeding the dogs, on and on.

I have so much to be grateful for today! Here is today’s instalment toward 1000 gifts:
44. Total bill so far for about $15,000 worth of medical care this week: $129.
45. A cool (literally) pump that circulates ice water around my knee 24 hours a day to try & keep the swelling down.
46. Flowers from my wonderful Mommy. (via Kim & April, her accomplices.)
47. Flowers from our connecting group.
48. A yummy meal on Friday from sweet Shirley – also part of our connecting group.
49. Comfort food last night courtesy of my beloved Kerry – including warm cinnamon buns and a fresh banana loaf. Friends are wonderful, aren’t they?
50. Skittles, who lay on my chest all morning while the family was away at church – apparently it was his job to keep an eye on me.
51. Painkillers- not gonna lie, this makes all the difference.
52. The internet – I feel much more in touch with the world than I thought I would be.
53. Our beautiful art in our family room – I haven’t taken time in years to really look at all the nice things we have. It’s a gift to really look with new eyes at these things that have meaning to us.
54. The big tree in our backyard is full of busy sparrows and chickadees. What a joyful kerfuffle they make.
55. My little red laptop that Steve gave me last time I had knee surgery. Such a gift to have a way to stay connected. (see #52)
56. The new teachers report that my studentss are transitioning well. I’m so relieved!
57. A sweet card and book from the choir at Bethany. I love that musical community and will miss it while I’m down.
58. This phenomenal weather – I was able to sit in the sun on our front porch yesterday and enjoy the fresh air. Benton & his Venturers company went winter camping this weekend and slept in quinzhees. (That’s a self-dug snow cave, as you surely know already.) So great to not have to worry about the weather!
59. Fuzzy slippers
60. The entire first three seasons of Castle on DVD... and the time to watch them.
61. Candy hearts

I think it's naptime, must go!
Susan