A Matched Set of Knees for Dan

It's early morning of day two following Dan's second total knee replacement. I'll be trying to start his day off right by taking him his morning Americano, from Starbuck's, a little later this morning.

Thursday was a long day. We checked into the hospital at 7:30 a.m. At about 9:40 they took him up to the operating room, and I settled down in a corner of the family waiting area. Scott & White does a good job of keeping the family posted. They have a screen that shows each patient (by an anonymous number, not by name) and a green line that indicates the progress and the estimated time until the surgery will be completed. They also make calls to the desk, with messages for the family such as, "Surgery has begun and everything is going well."

Despite their efforts, the wait is hard and always seems longer than it really is. I was so thankful to have our preacher and friend, Rodney, show up right after Dan had gone to the OR and stay with me the entire time. Good conversation really helps pass the time!

At 11:45 I was told that the surgery was finished, and that Dr. Allen would meet me in Conference Room A. Rodney went with me for that, as well, and we learned that everything had gone well. "He had a lot of damage in the knee, but we took care of it, and now he has a matched set of new knees." Dan was in the recovery room, and would be there, the doctor said, for an hour or two.

Since I wouldn't be able to see him for at least an hour, I took the opportunity to dash out and get a bite of lunch. As it turned out, I didn't need to "dash", because they didn't have a room available, so he stayed in Recovery until one was ready for him, at 3:00.

Dan was still in an anesthesia-fog when I left him for the night, around 7:30 p.m. He kept saying, "I can't get out of this fog!" And I was telling him just to enjoy it.

The next morning (yesterday) the fog was gone and he was in a lot of pain - much more pain than he had experienced with the first knee, back in May. The staff worked with him all day, trying to keep the pain under control, and were able to take the edge off, but never got him very comfortable. What really brightened up his day was a visit from Kelsey, Clara and Robert. They were on their way back to Houston, after visiting Kelsey's folks in Pecos, and stopped for an hour or so to see Grandpa. I went and got Mom, so she could be part of the "party" as well.

Afterward, while I was taking Mom back home, Dan's doctor came and made some adjustments to his medications, which we hope will help with the pain and keep him a little more comfortable. I will find out how that worked when I get there in a couple hours, with his morning coffee.