Darrin's Robot Knees Update - 1 Month Post-Op!

Today we had an appointment with Dr. Ghose for Darrin's 1-Month Post-Op appointment.  He passed with flying colors!  He no longer has to go to physical therapy appointments, he can continue to do his excercises on his own.

Darrin is walking around our block every other day or so as part of his therapy.  He now no longer needs the walker, or any aid for that matter; unless he is going up or down stairs.  His recovery has been absolutely incredible, mind, body, and spirit!!!

Now that he has been excercising daily, and not eating as much, he has lost over 30 pounds!  He is going to try to start working again as well.  His first task will be to sift through about 2,000+ e-mails.  So I wouldn't expect any e-mails back from him for a few days.

Although Darrin has physically been able to move, excercise, and get around, he is still on pain medication.  It doesn't seem to effect him too much, until it wears off, boy then we sure know it!  Because of that he is still unable to drive or be left to his own devices for too long.  He also tires extremely easily, needing more than 12 hours of sleep each night plus a nap. 

This is a picture of how Darrin's knees have healed.  Boy it is amazing what our bodies are capable of after such a major surgery!

These are snapshots of Darrin's X-rays.  The first one is looking at him from the front.  So his right knee is on your left side.  That is the one that required more extensive reconstruction, so the spacer between is much thicker, as there was less bone left to work with.

These are side views of his knees while bending.  What the doctor was looking for was spaces between the bone and prosthesis.  There is none.  Also, he physically twisted Darrin's leg to make sure the prosthesis was holding, and it is just right.

Left knee side view

Right knee side view

We still have a lot of work to do to keep Darrin healing, excercising, and weaning off of the pain pills.  It will take time, but he is showing tremendous progress so far!  Thank you for all of your prayers, they are certainly helping!

Darrin's Robot Knees 6.1

Day 5 after surgery and Darrin is continuing to amaze everyone!  Tonight Sam and I went to visit him, Lucy still has a cold.  Darrin got up from the bed without pushing with his arms at all.  He just slid over to the side and stood up!  He was able to stand there unassisted while I brought the walker over to him.  We walked over to the family room together, and I actually had to speed up to catch up with him!  I can't remember the last time that has ever happened!

They have officially listed Darrin as INDEPENDENT!!!  The main Doctor who can release him will not be in until Monday, but according to the Physical Therapists, he could come home today.  So we will most likely be bringing him home Monday.

Here are a few pictures from our visit tonight:

Darrin's Robot Knees 5.1

Sorry it has been a while since I have updated you.  I did not go down to see Darrin today.  Lucy has been sick with a cold and fever this week, and I am feeling a little under the weather today, so I didn't want to risk it.

Yesterday afternoon we moved to Darrin's knew room, an assisted care facility where he will receive a minimum of 3 hours of physical therapy each day.  Actually, today they have him scheduled for 5 hours of therapy!  He called me this afternoon and he had done stairs, practiced getting in and out of a vehicle, up and down from a real toilet, and he got to have a real shower - he said that felt fantastic! 

I brought Grandma down to visit with Darrin yesterday evening.  Then we left him to try to get some sleep.  They take great care of you at the hospital, but they don't leave you alone enough to sleep.

Darrin's Robot Knees 4.2

WooHoo!  We didn't even need extra help with it.  Darrin was excepted to the assited facility!  I'm going to get us packed up while he eats lunch.  They are going to run him down for a quick chest x-ray because of his oxygen levels, no real worry, just better safe than sorry.  I'll let you know later when we get moved in!

Darrin's Robot Knees 4.1

Today we are not doing as well as yesterday.  Still doing great, all things considered.  He's pretty dopey this morning, between the nursing shift changes, he went back up to his full dose of pain killers, and yesterday they had been starting to ween him off of them.  Over the night they did remove the OnQ pumps, which were delivering pain killers directly into the veins in his legs.  So we think that is why they bumped the pill pain killers back up.  But we have that resolved now and he is trying to rest to wait out what he took this morning.  As a result physical therapy was a little more difficult. 

He did end up doing better for his bending and straightening measurements though!

Right leg bent to 92 degrees.

Left leg bent to 90 degrees.

Right leg straightened to 0 degrees.

Left leg straighted to 2 degrees.  We're almost there!

We were going to try stairs and mock getting in and out of a vehicle, but we decided to wait for the afternoon therapy.  He was buckling a bit while walking, we think because of the spaciness; (is that a word?) well, you know what I mean.

Lucy has a fever now, so I am really worried about decision time this afternoon.  They are talking about going to an assisted facility, but he has been doing really well, so there is a chance of going home.  With her fever, it would be really hard for me to keep her away from him if he is home.  She misses her Daddy.  Please pray for the assisted facility with me, so we don't have to go through that hurdle.  The doctors are all for it, it mostly depends on the insurance red tape.

The nurse changed his bandages again this morning.  Skip these if you get queasy.  He is healing very well.  There is a lot of bruising and swelling, but that is to be expected.

Left leg

Right leg

Before                                                      After

Darrin's Mom, Alice, just reminded me of something Darrin said.  "Yes, I am in pain now, but I know that it is going to go away, and someday soon I will wake up without pain."  That is really what we are all looking forward to.  If you haven't seen him lately, actually for the last year, he has really gone downhill because of the pain he feels every day.  Imagine every time you stand up there being crushed glass inside your knees.  I am so thankful for that pain to be over.  Thank you for all of your support and continued prayers!

Check it out, he can cross his ankles!  I'm not sure if he's supposed to do this, but it's pretty cool, right!

Darrin's Robot Knees 3.2

Today has been a very eventful day!  Friends Lynne and Lisa stopped by for a visit, while Darrin was on his way to the group therapy luncheon.  My Dad met us in the hallway as well.  After Darrin's lunch we had a nice visit in the room.  Then Dad and I went out for lunch so Darrin could have a little nap.  Last night was the most painful night yet, so he barely slept.

Dad and I met Darrin back in the group therapy room for his afternoon physical therapy.  After his excercises, they measured the angles at which Darrin can bend and straighten his knees.  He made it to a 90 degree bend with both knees, which is fantastic - he met his goal!  Then we all got to have popsicles!

For straightening, he brought his right knee to 2 degrees and the left to 4 degrees; 0 degrees is the goal, very close.  He is also able to do the straight leg lifts with his right leg now, so no more leg braces!! 

Everyone who has seen Darrin, nurse, doctor, therapist, and patients alike are all extremely impressed by his progress.  He walked back from the therapy room using his walker, without any braces.

Look Mom, No Hands!!!

This afternoon Darrin's nurse, Cindy, removed his bandages.  I have a few pictures here of his healing scars, skip them if you are queasy.  I personally think its pretty cool! 

This is his left knee.  It looks great!

His right knee is very bruised, which was to be expected because of the extent of the reconstruction required with that knee.  Dr. Ghose said that it was very deformed to start with from the osteoarthritis.

Tomorrow we may be moving out of the hospital over to assisted care, or possibly home, it will all depend on Darrin's progress by the morning physical therapy.  Please keep lifting him up in prayer, it is most certainly working!

Darrin's Robot Knees 3.1

Two days after surgery and Darrin is doing great with his physical therapy.  He has not slept very much, but he can sleep after he comes home.  He attended his first group therapy this morning.  He walked all the way there, and all the way back, about 200 feet!

The board in the physical therapy room reads:

Don't Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems uphill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit!

Darrin's Robot Knees 2.1

This morning was very busy.  So many people have been in and out of here I can't remember them all.  The drains were removed, Darrin is healing very well.  He still has the pain pumps in his legs.  They are so cool, they are little catheters in the veins of his legs to block the pain.  They dial them down during the day, so he can work his legs, then back up at night so he can rest.  The little black bags in the pictures are the pumps that are attached.

We had our first physical therapy session in the room this morning.  Darrin was able to straight leg raise his left leg which is really incredible; usually people who have their knees replaced will not be able to do that for 3-4 days after surgery.  One brace off!  The right knee isn't as easy to move as the left, because of the extensive reconstruction required.  But we'll get there!  After a few strengthening excercises, the physical therapist helped Darrin, using the walker, get up and walk about 25 feet!

The nurse just took out Darrin's IV!  Next will be lunch, then group physical therapy.  All in all, things are going very well.  Time to rest for a while.  He may be up for visitors or calls this evening.  If you want to check in, please call me first and I'll let you know how he is doing.

Darrin's Robot Knees 1.2

Darrin is officially in a room now and doing pretty well. It was a L-O-N-G afternoon as the stinker took 4 1/2 hours to wake up from the anesthesia. He is still pretty groggy and tired, as is expected.

He had a wonderful dinner of saltines, sherbet, and shasta twist.  He said that was the best sherbet he has ever had!  Something tells me the pills are working.

Darrin's Nurse is Dolly, and she is wonderful.  You'll be happy to know that she is taking great care of him.

Darrin uses this pump to help from getting pneumonia, he inhales until the piece inside goes up to the top.  This helps to expand the lungs and keep them from filling with fluids.

Darrin's legs are wrapped in bandages and velcro wraps.  They are also keeping ice on his knees.  Tonight he was able to wiggle his toes, this is a big step!

Also tonight Abe and Dolly got Darrin upright and his toes touched the floor.  Tomorrow, we'll try standing!  Amazing!!!

Darrin's Robot Knees 1.1

Good morning!  I'll be taking a bit of a departure this week to be with my husband.  He is having both of his knees replaced as I type this post.  This has been a long time coming, as he has had extreme knee pain for years.  We finally found the right surgeon.  This Doctor is awesome, it only took one meeting with him to put us both completely at ease.  The day we met him, he said that he had replaced two peoples knees that morning, and planned to do two more the next morning.  It is completely second nature to him, and that is the kind of surgeon you want to replace your knees.

This morning started out very early, about 4:30-ish. Ow my knees! Boy if I had a $1, heck a nickel for every time I've heard Darrin say that! :-)

  

We got ready and headed over to admitting. They shaved Darrin's knees and the surgeon, Dr. Tilok Ghose, came in and signed them both.  The Anesthesiologist came in and, along with Dr. Ghose, discussed what would be happening this morning.  The whole thing is just incredibly interesting, I kind of wanted to stay and watch, but thought better of that and came back to the hotel room to try to relax.  Yeah, like that's going to happen?




Last night the kids came with us to the hotel to swim and have ice cream, a fun family night before Daddy's surgery.  Now they are with Grandma Cindy for a few days.  Thank you Mom!!!  Darrin's Mom will be coming up from sunny Arizona to brave the cold and spend a week with us in two weeks as well.  We are so thankful for all of the love and support we get from our friends and family.

Finally!  Well not for you, but for me, this has been a long 7 hours.  Dr. Ghose just called and said that Darrin did beautifully!  His right knee was much more difficult than the left.  He will be in recovery for a couple of hours.  We will stay at the hospital for a few days then to Sister Kenny for additional rehabilitation.  Thank you God for bringing him through OK!  I'm off to be with him!  We'll update together later.  Have a wonderful day!
Jen