Knee Surgery Update

Tomorrow it will be seven weeks post reconstructive knee surgery and I'm doing well. My physical therapist told me that he was quite impressed with my progress. That put a smile on my face. I'm at around 65%. That means I'm walking good (no more cane!), have full extension and 85% bend. Not too shabby! I can't wait to be able to start running and cutting again. Life is starting to get back to normal for me and my precious wife who has served the heck out me. The coolest thing: I can take a shower with out sitting in a ridiculous shower chair.

Knee Update: Hot Rod Gimper

I started walking on Monday. My doc said it was time and my physical therapist agreed so I threw away the crutches (not literally) and started limping around with a new cane. Ah yes, notice the cane. My parents are fans of the show "House" as I am, and thought it would be cool to get a "House cane" for their gimpy son (it makes me look fast!). Anyway, I'm gettin my bend back and should be running in about 6 months. In the mean time, I am one hot rod gimper.

Watch House unveil the hot rod cane:

......and after.

A couple of weeks ago I showed you a picture of my knee bone before the surgery. Well, here are the after surgery pics. Here is a progression of photos from todays post-op appointment with my surgeon.

From left to right:
(1)cracking open the cast
(2)pulling out the staples
(3)bandaged up and ready to go!

A Lame Life.

The title of this post is deceptive. My life isn't lame in a sense that there's not a lot of good going on, but in the handicapped way. I've gotten to the point of frustration after only 1 week of being completely dependent on others (mostly my unbelievable wife). I have this horrible black cast thing, it's more like a splint. It has this plastic tubing that runs through it that can connect to this cooler pump contraption. It's nice alternative to the old school casts (remember the plaster casts?) it can be nice and cool when plugged in. The only problem is you are tethered to this cooler and you can't move. When I do decide to disconnect from the cooler, I can last very little time stumbling around on my "sticks" (athletic vernacular for crutches). I have come to the conclusion that I don't like being confound to a couch and dependent on everyone else in order for me to live. I like my freedoms, in particular my freedom to stand up, walk to the fridge, grab a bottled water or other beverage I desire. The freedom to drive. I can't drive. It stinks. I like to get in my car and go where I need to. I can't right now. Anyway, just a little vent here. Pray for this bro as I heal up. I look forward to the upcoming days of freedom. Till then, I'll be lame and dependent.

Anatomy of a knee surgery.

Here's the procedures that I had done to my poor, mending left knee bone:

Surgery Stinks!

I won't elaborate, but knee surgery yesterday was hell. There is nothing good about surgery day. I got real loopy when they put the IV in and had a hard time coming out of recovery. They kept giving me Gatorade and Coke, I blew it right out, in front of a bunch of waiting patients. Last night was the worst night ever. The drugs my doctor prescribed me didn't work, so I was up most of the night moaning, groaning and cussin'. Not a good sight, until mi espossa broke out the other pain killers, that worked! Anyway, here are a couple of pictures for your enjoyment, I'll share more soon.

Before.....

In less than 24 hours I will have a new anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and a tweeked meniscus. It's one of those things that I look forward to and dread at the same time, you know, surgery sucks, but the end results will mean I can run again or play some hoops. Here is a before picture.....
Pray for a speedy recovery.

My HMO story.

As many of you know, I'm having my knee reconstructed next week. I have had to get some pre-op work done over the past 2 weeks. Well, thanks to my meical insurance coverage, it's not so easy.
Here's my HMO hell story:
My surgeon set me up for surgery back in May. The date would be June 26, which I thought was awfully far away. That's how the medical world is these days, lots of scheduling conflicts and multiple hospitals and surgery facilities to work from. He told me I would have to get some pre-op work done right before the surgery date so I rolled with the punches. I went to my primary care doctor on Thursday (last week) and he runs this EKG on me with an AT LEAST 40 year old machine. It was a medical antique! He asked a bunch of personal history questions and then gave me two prescriptions. One for a chest x-ray and the other for blood work. The x-ray place I could go to at any time but the blood work I would have to get done 1 week before the surgery. I went on Monday (6/18) and got my x-ray done, at an out-sourced place. Not too long of a wait, but a bit of an inconvenience. Today (6/19) I went to get my blood work done at ANOTHER out-sourced place. After searching for the place for awhile, I finally found it and I handed the admin person my prescription. She looked at me funny and said, "We don't do this with HMO's, I'm sorry. You have to go back to your primary care physician and get instructions." Frustrated, I go back to my primary care doctor. They apologize and write another prescription, then send me to another out-sourced place. This time they got it right! Blood work done (another 30 minute wait). I call the surgeon and let his people know I have done all of the required pre-op stuff. She asks me about my insurance. Of course I don't know the answer, and still don't. All of this to ask, is this the way of the medical world? What happened to the days when you could actually have a doctor take your blood work and/or x-ray? Is it really that efficient to out source these? I wonder if next Tuesday (6/26), when I go to have surgery if there will be 5 or 6 different people hacking away on me, all with different responsibilities. I will soon find out.

Do you have an HMO hell story? Do tell.