TKR
In November of 2013, I had a Total Knee Replacement of my right knee. The problems with the knee had gotten to a point of no return. Also, I was having problems with my back and there was some who thought that once I got my knee fixed that my back would get better.
The surgeon's assessment was troublesome. He stated that the knee was so out of place and there was so much tissue build-up, he was unsure if the knee would turn out as well as he would want. That was a downer. The surgery went without incident. I went into the hospital on Monday morning ans was escorted out at 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Yes, someone was there after surgery to get me out of bed asking me to walk for them.
The worst of it was the physical therapy afterward. A therapist came to the house three times a week. When he first arrived I could straighten my knee to 60 degrees. He wanted to get to 90 degrees as soon as possible because the longer it takes the more likely it is that scar tissue will develop and keep the knee from moving at all. I wrote to the military and offered this physical therapy technique as a way to get information from terrorists. I screamed, cursed, and called out to the saint of all joints. Nothing saved me from the excruciating pain. It did not help that when the therapist had me in a leg lock, trying to get the knee to bend, that he was humming. Every session lasted between 45 minutes and an hour. On the last visit, my knee was at 106 degrees. The ideal is 120 degrees.
The knee continued to work well and I was pain free. On my last visit with the surgeon, he marveled at his work. He showed me x-rays of the knee before and after. I told him that I thought those images had been doctored.
MID and Complications
As the knee healed, I started to get increased back pain. The legs might go numb and tingly. I would get the urge to go pee or poo. Sometimes the body signals were real and other times not. These symptoms would disappear when I would sit for a few minutes. When I got the urge to go at home, no big issue. When I got them at the store, I would rush to the restroom, just in case. This was not a way to live.
On March 5, I went to the hospital to get a MicroInvasive Decompression. The plan called for an overnight stay in the hospital. Bones or bone spurs were crowding into the spinal column affecting the nerves. The procedure would snip at these and relieve the pressure on the nerves. I was promised a 1.5 inch incision and got a 4 inch incision for the same price. I went by all accounts the surgery went well. I was in the recovery room feeling no pain and I was able to pee freely. This is the key to this surgery. Once the patient can urinate, they are deemed ready to be dismissed. I did not get to my room until 2:30 p.m. That is when the problems began.
Pain
I started to feel the urge to urinate, but not being able to. As the urge increase, so did my pain. At times I would put out a little dribble here and there, but the pain was constant. The nursing staff told me that the pain was the irritation from the catheter during surgery. Since I had never experienced this, I bought the story. I was asked if I had pain and I would clarify that my back was pain free, but there was pain elsewhere.
This pain continued until 8:30 the following night, more than 24 hours. Overnight I got some relief from the pain medications, it did not go away. Finally, the urologist that was asked in for a consultation came in, inserted a catheter, and in not time, I was pain free. I had more than 1200 cc initially and another 1200 the next morning. The problem was that I was in acute urine retention. There was nothing cute about it.
High blood pressure
Many years before I left Washington an abnormal heart beat was detected during a routine doctor's visit. Since I did not have a history of high blood pressure and I was not complaining of chest pain, it was a none issue. Before my first knee replacement the issue of the heart beat was noticed but was not a concern. The same happened before my second knee replacement. Amid the pain from the retention, my blood pressure was very high and all of a sudden the irregular heart beat was an issue.
A cardiologist, and Internist, and the hospital Physician Assistant were called in the consult. In two shakes, I was hooked up to heart monitoring telemetry. An Echo scan of the heart was ordered. One by one these assessment tools showed no irregularity as a cause of the high blood pressure. However, no one considered the urinary retention as a cause.
Never Mind
After the retention was relieved, my blood pressure began to drop. The pain disappeared and I was ready to go home. However, the only one to give the "all clear" was the cardiologist followed by my surgeon. I waited all day on Friday waiting for the word. A nurse finally called and he stated that he had already be on the floor and had written on the chart. However, he did not have the professional courtesy to come by the room to give me a summary of his findings or to suggest follow-up care. Was this a fear of admitting he was in error in missing the retention problem? Someone wrote an order for medication for high blood pressure and I got some pills, but what do I do when I run out? It reminded me of Gilda Radner's line, "Never mind!"
As I write this I am still trying to get my bladder to work on its own and hope to have that resolved in a couple of days. I am not ready to walk around with a catheter for the rest of my days. I am also not in any hurry to return to the hospital any time soon. I would like to think that I am physically stable, for now.
Before surgery I took only one prescription drug, but I left the hospital with five.
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| My bikini and thong wearing days are over. |
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| Before the end of the month, I hope to be back to my one prescription drug. |
Damn. Glad you are better now. Maybe you should send Nurse Ratchet a Horse poop bouquet as a thank you.
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