True Grit ..

Greetings Everyone!

Sorry to not have gotten back sooner.  Ernie was discharged from the hospital late Friday afternoon - and its been non-stop since then. 

Our first big challenge was for me to haul all of Ernie's recovery stuff out of the hospital - they sent him home with a very fancy blue electrical, circulating ice pack machine  - more like a high-tech ice cooler, loads of 4 x4 sterile gauze, surgical tape, 2 pairs of compress stockings, discharge orders, prescriptions and a walker.

Ernie - all happy to be leaving the hospital.

  I helped him shower at the hospital - and I should have wore my rain gear - live and learn.

Before Ernie was dressed, the nurses instructed and showed me how to prepare Ernie's knees for the shower, and how to change his bandages. 

The second biggest challenge we had - was stuffing Ernie into the front seat of a small Toyota truck.  In case some of you didn't know - our truck blew its' transmission the day before Ernie was scheduled for surgery.  So our truck sits at the mechanics waiting for us to move forward with repairs.  I actually don't know if stuffing Ernie into a small truck would have been any different than trying to lift and shove him into bigger truck.  Feat accomplished however!!

The third challenge was getting Ernie up 21 steps and into the condo! I expected us to take a good hour to climb that 'mountain' - but Ernie just held onto the stairs side rails and went right up - albeit slow.  He rested on the landings and achieved an awesome task in about 20 minutes.

Our first night at the condo was interesting - we both had to figure things out together - like when to use the ice machine, tracking his medications, exercise schedule, when to put him on the 'passive motion machines' and how to get Ernie in and out of bed without killing him. 

 I must admit though, we did have a rather lengthy recovery pamphlet - given to us by the hospital - on what to do and not to do at home to assist Ernie in his recovery. What is not in the pamphlet - is that Ernie would be waking up frequently throughout the night because of discomfort - which he did - every four hours.

I'd then do a few things at the same time -- hook him up to the ice packs or passive motion machines, give him his meds and gently stroke his knees to relieve the discomfort. 

All aside, Ernie is doing well.  Today Ernie accomplished a total of  750 feet - using his walker.  He's continuing with his walking and knee exercise which he does daily, and religiously.  On Monday, the physical therapist will be coming to the condo three times a week - and from what we hear - Ernie will be more challenged to accomplish physical recovery goals.   

In case some of you were curious - these are what Ernie's knees look like right now.  His surgical sites are swollen, black and blue, and he has a number of 'staples' holding things together.  The staples will come out on March 21st. 

 In the above photo - I was changing his bandages - "dressings" - and his compression stockings.

Well, from here on out - we will be at the condo.  The doctor will not approve Ernie to drive for three months, no traveling for eight weeks and no jumping.  So - we will take one day at a time.

Again, we thank each of you for your support, thoughts and well wishes. 

Take care and I'll keep you posted.