Powerful pain drugs are good things when you need them. I've been sleeping a lot, and Bill has been taking wonderful care of me.
After I was discharged from Stanford on Sunday, we were able to see my trusted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Warren King on Monday morning. Surgery was done on my elbow on Monday evening. A surgery that was expected to take one-and-a-half hours took three hours. Surgery started at 6:00 p.m. local time, and we did not leave the surgicare center until 1:00 a.m. It took me some time to recover and feel competent to leave. At the follow up appointment this afternoon, Dr. King said that my elbow was "a bag of bones," and not even the professional football players that he's worked on had anything that bad. He mentioned that my arm was in something like 25 pieces. I believe that normal is something like four. Today's x-rays showed a lattice work of screws with two metal plates plus one large screw at the bottom that will be removed next week. I also have some cadaver parts to help fill in where needed. Dr. King seemed rather surprised by the amount of damage. I don't think he's seen that much before. However, I trust him more than I do the 30-something orthopedic surgical resident that Stanford wanted me to use. No thanks. For an important joint, I'll take an experienced doctor over a resident or someone who has just finished their residency. Besides, I was not impressed with the medical care that I received at Stanford. Dr. King is ordering a CPM machine for my arm. I should have it in the next day or two. This machine moves your limb in a particular pattern. It's passive exercise. The hard core physical therapy starts next week, I think. Probably after the large screw is removed, I suspect. To everyone who has sent good wishes, thank you. They are appreciated. Here's to quick healing. Now, to figure out what I can do for Halloween... Until later-- Carole _______________________________________________ basfa mailing list [email protected] http://vesta.wallis.com/mailman/listinfo/basfa
