RHODY LIFE

One giant step for mankind

Posted 4/8/21

Hubby was recently scheduled for a knee replacement. For the month prior to the surgery, he had been a Nervous Nelly, spending every day either preparing the house, or thinking of preparing the house. We got rid of rugs, sectioned the dog off so she

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RHODY LIFE

One giant step for mankind

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Hubby was recently scheduled for a knee replacement. For the month prior to the surgery, he had been a Nervous Nelly, spending every day either preparing the house, or thinking of preparing the house. We got rid of rugs, sectioned the dog off so she could not wander around and get underneath his walker, and moved a mini-kitchen into the living room so he would be able to quickly prepare lunch time meals while I was at work, (while simultaneously hiding a commode nearby.) We moved old furniture out of the house and onto the street for garbage removal, obtained a bath bench and hand held shower along with a raised toilet seat, and did an overall house cleaning because various therapists would be visiting the house to provide physical therapy. Needless to say, both of us were relieved when surgery day finally came.

His surgery was to be conducted at South County Hospital by Dr. Robert Marchand and his robotic buddy. A recognized leader in robotic-assisted surgery, this method reportedly results in more precise surgeries with smaller incisions, shorter hospital stays, faster recovery times and better outcomes. I dropped Hubby off at the hospital at eleven o’clock. He was characteristically crabby, especially because he had to go all morning without eating or drinking anything. (His preference would have been to go at seven am!) He was operated on at one o’clock, so he must have been extra non-cheerful for the nurses. I called at two-thirty and his surgery had just finished. By four o’clock he was headed to his hospital room, and was calling me to come visit.

As I sat on the edge of his hospital bed, his overall account of the operation was minimal. He had been, after all, “put to sleep” using “happy medicine” and a spinal blocker. Surprisingly, he was not in any pain, which brought a huge smile to his face. The pain blocker was still in place and the only reminder of the operation was a well-wrapped leg.

A delightful young woman came in to take his dinner order, and, widening his smile, he thoughtfully chose the honey glazed salmon, brown rice, grilled zucchini and chocolate cake for dessert from among a gourmet list of items. They did not have beer as a drink choice, so he reluctantly chose ginger ale.

Because he had to have his “vitals” taken regularly, a parade of charming nurses came in to do the chore. Not used to all of the attention, Hubby flirted and joked with them, right up until bedtime! At that point, he realized that they would have to continue to do so even at night when he was ostensibly asleep, and suddenly their attention seemed a little more intrusive.

On the day of surgery, a physical therapist came to work with Hubby, showing him how to safely get out of bed using his walker, and how to take a step or two. Ever the over-achiever, Hubby took extra steps and even did a little dance. The physical therapy sessions continued the next morning before and after his scrumptious omelet breakfast, and he was soon walking down the hallway and climbing up steps, at which point he was declared good to go home. I picked him up at eleven o’clock in the morning, with his hospital stay being exactly twenty-four hours. Picking him up at that time was a little disappointing for him, as a gourmet lunch would have been served in less than an hour, but his desire to go home superseded his longing palette.

Once home, Hubby took careful steps towards his new reclining couch. Getting close, he took one, last giant step and plopped himself down on the leather. It was one giant step for mankind, in honor of the scientifically designed medical technology that enabled a robot to do his knee replacement. Twenty years ago, who would have thought this possible?

life, matters, mankind

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