[Rhodes22-list] I'm back from the hospital

[Jesse Shumaker]

Roger, hope you have a smooth recovery so you can be ready for more
adventures in the spring!

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Wed, Nov 17, 2021 at 5:19 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> My right knee replacement finally took place on Monday at Alma Hospital
> after being delayed 2 weeks because of overbooking due to COVID-19
> infections.  The procedure took about 1-1/2 hours on Monday afternoon.
> But, I was in the recovery room for several hours.  I had some weird
> reactions to the nerve block.  As I was coming out of it, I started
> uncontrollably shivering, bordering on convulsions at times.  I wasn’t
> cold, just shaking from head to toe.  It took 3 doses of IV Demerol to make
> it stop.  Monday night, the nerve block  caused my heart rate, BP, and
> blood oxygen to shoot up and down all over the map.  I was hooked up to an
> EKG, auto BP cuff, and blood oxygen monitor all night, with nurses in
> constant attendance.  Fortunately, by Tuesday morning, they had my cardiac
> issues stabilized.  The nerve block also caused my bowels to stop working
> for a couple of days.  But, I finally had a BM this afternoon.
>
> Dr. Ware, my orthopedist, stopped into my hospital room early Tuesday
> morning.  He said the procedure went well and that the incision looked like
> it was healing nicely, with no leaking or signs of infection.  My right
> knee area is swollen about 3 cm larger in circumference vs. the left knee.
> With great difficulty and a lot of pain, I can get the knee joint to bend
> to about 80 deg and straighten out to about 170 deg.  I had 2 PT sessions
> in the hospital on Tuesday and another PT session in Beaverton today.  All
> were very painful and exhausting!  But, the therapists say I’m doing well.
> I have my next PT session in Beaverton on Thursday morning.  I’m getting
> around pretty well in my walker and I’ve figured out how to get in and out
> of the Toyota minivan by myself.  I don’t think I’ll be able to use our
> Subaru Legacy sedan for a while because the car is much lower and the doors
> are not as wide.  Obviously, I won’t be able to drive for several weeks.
>
> I am on pain meds just prior to PT and to help me sleep.  As long as I can
> keep the knee joint in a neutral position, the pain is not bad.  But
> lifting the leg or loading it in any way is excruciating!  At the moment, I
> have a hard time sitting in the car for over an hour.  I am using my COLD
> machine to sleep and several hours each day.  It helps with the swelling
> and pain.
>
> So far, it’s no fun; but, about what I expected.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows
>
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