Saturday September 24 I get to take a nice hot shower. It is not easy getting in and out of the shower and hopping around on one leg but oh is the shower nice. I need help once I get out wrapping my leg in the ace bandage but over all I can manage it. Today is Bedford day and my boys are planning on marching in the parade and I am going to try to watch them. My wife drove me to the center of the town and I setup a chair near the curb and was comfortable enough. A funny thing happened while I was sitting there before they stopped traffic for the parade; someone in a car passing by stopped and recognized me from my posts. He also wished me luck; funny I would never expect that to ever happen.

After the parade was over the boys had a soccer game and I decided to go to that also. By the time I made it home my knee was very sore but I guess that is to be expected. Regardless it was very nice to get out of the house and move around a bit. My wife picked up our dog after soccer, she had bandages on both hind legs, and they looked like little booties. She has to take both a pain medicine and an antibiotic. She’ll have to go back to the vet’s on Monday to have the bandages changed. I also was able to sleep in my own bed; my back felt much better and I slept a little bit longer before first waking up at 4:30.

Sunday I was up early and got on the CPM nice and early. Good friends of ours son came over today to mow the lawn. He did a great job and he is a good kid. What I cannot understand is how my whole family thinks he was able to mow the lawn so much faster than me? I think he spent about the same amount of time. They (the family) say that it s probably because he is younger (there so nice). I watched the games (Sox and Pats) and increased my range of motion past 50°.

Thursday Morning September 22 what else could go wrong? My wife saw a friend outside across the street and ran across to see her. She did not notice but the dog managed to sneak out behind her. While across the street her friend noticed that the dog had gotten out. My wife told her friend not to call the dog because she didn’t want her to run into the street but it was too late. Our dog ran into the street and got clipped by a white pickup truck. Long story short we had to bring her to the vet and she needed to have surgery. We were very lucky that there is not any permanent damage. The guy in the white pickup truck didn’t even stop after he hit her! How can anyone not stop?


Now my wife has to take care of me, the boys and our dog’s injuries once she comes home. On Friday afternoon I went back to the doctors office. While there he took a look at my knee and said it looked good, not too much swelling. Dr. Richmond then started to take off the steri-strips and remove the stitches. I was planning on taking a few pictures of my knee while he was dong this but sadly I started to feel very lightheaded. I was only able to get this one picture when he finished before he wrapped my leg back up. I can now start to get my knee wet, which means I can start to take showers, YEA! I also have to start increasing my range of motion up to 90°, I am currently at 30°.

Before leaving the office I got a script for Vicodin and information about the physical therapists at Tufts University Hospital. I am still not sure what PT’s I’ll end up using, I may just continue with the group in Concord that I had used with my last two procedures. I am hoping I will not have to fill the script for Vicodin. I’ll be going back to see Dr. Richmond in a month, sometime in early November.

Monday morning September 19 I spent some quality time in the bathroom. I still have the feeling that there is unfinished business but I am feeling much better. During the week my schedule has started to work out nice. I get my first CPM session after the boys get on the bus, my second before they get home and the last one before they go to bed.

By Wednesday I started to cut back on the medication, I am now only taking three pills a day, one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one before bed. At this point my back is killing me trying to sleep. I just can’t seem to get comfortable sleeping on my back anymore. Not only that but my bum kills me while I do the CPM machine. I cannot wait for both of these to change.

Friday Morning September 16th I wake up in my own home. I must say I have one of the nicest wives. Last night after my wife got me all set for bed she said she would be down at 1 AM to administer my pills. She had already set her alarm clock so I do not need to worry about it. That night around 20 of one like clock work my knee wakes me up. I look up at the VCR for the time and figure that’s not too bad only twenty minutes to wait. Well 1 AM came around and no wife. 1:10 and still no wife and I have no idea where she has hid the pills. At twenty past one she pops into my room to find me wide eyed waiting for her. She had fallen back asleep, needless to say the pills now sitting right beside me before I go to bed with a glass of water. That just works out better for everyone but this does give me something else to tease my wife about, I’m so bad!

I had one thing I needed to do for work so after I finished with my CPM for the morning I got that done. That afternoon I got a gift basket in the mail from my coworkers, very nice of them. I’m guessing the Dean picked it out but that is just a guess.

Over the weekend I just tried to get into a routine. Wake up (way too early, but that is the case every morning), my wife gets me breakfast and fills my Ice Man, do the CPM for two hours, relax for a little while before lunch, eat lunch and hopefully get the Ice Man filled again, do the CPM for another two hours, get things done (this usually means some relaxing, some cleaning up, reading, surfing the web, writing these posts, etc.), eat dinner, get the Ice Man filled for the evening and do the CPM for my last two hours and read to the boys before they go to bed. After that it usually is a little TV and then to bed. To say the lease I cannot wait to get back to work.

I just want to get back to my point of having the nicest wife. Despite the hard time I give her I cannot imagine most wives would make sure I had 3 good meals a day and all catered to me. Make sure I was comfortable and well hydrated. Try to keep up with the Ice Man despite the fact it hurts her back lifting and filling that thing up. Give me sponge baths (I have had three to date) and make sure I am taking care of myself. All this while taking care of our two boys and dog and having to teach Sunday school and go to back to school night alone. I consider myself very lucky despite the hard time I give her.

One last thing on pleasantries, I am starting to get a bit backed up (if you know what I mean). My back is starting to really hurt me in the morning when I wake up and I think it stems from the fact I have yet to be able to go. Hopefully it will take care of itself soon.

Thursday Afternoon September 15th I am finally dressed, being wheel chaired out and ready to go home. There were no issues going home except that everything seemed to take forever. I just really could not wait to be back in my own house.

When we got home I got myself situated in the family room, a small room in the corner of the house that is a mess and were the boys usually play. I had already setup my CPM machine before the surgery there so I got (my wife got for me) a few pillows, my Ice Man set up besides me and I was good to go. My wife borrowed her sister’s Aero bed so I’ll be sleeping in the family room for a while.

I got one session of my CPM machine in tonight. I logged onto my portable computer that I borrowed from work, only one work related email. I sent out a quick update to my co-workers. From there I just tried to get as comfortable as I could.

I didn’t have the best sleep I have ever had but it was wonderful to be home and with my family!

Thursday Morning September 15th still in pain with my knee, awake but tiered. I figured I might as well order breakfast. I wasn’t overly happy with my last breakfast so I went with something very simple, Cheerios and a banana. The breakfast was fine and I had no problem eating that right up.

The nursing staffs shift changed around 7:30 and around 8 my new nurse came in to visit. Again I talked about getting sick yesterday, when I would be able to leave and the pain in my leg. As for the pain this nurse was much more lenient as to when I could get the drugs and seemed to disagree with last nights nurse’s assessment of drug distribution. She said she could give me two more pills about a half an hour early, around 8:30. She didn’t seem to think that it was the pills that were making me sick since I don’t seem to be having any issues with them now but she wants to watch how I do on them. As for leaving she wanted to first get the pain under control.

I got my two Oxycodone and within the hour my knee finally started to feel better. My nurse came in again around 10 to checkup on me. I again asked about going home and said how the knee was feeling better. She wanted me to hang around until after lunch so that she could make sure that the knee pain was now under control and that I was no longer feeling queasy. Since I don’t think I could argue that point I ordered lunch.

For the life of me I cannot remember what I had ordered for lunch now. The nurse poked in to check on me around 11:30 and my knee had already started to hurt again. She said she would be back around noon to give me more pills. Had my lunch and my pills and by 12:45 my leg was feeling much better. Again around 1:00 my nurse came in to check on me and I was really pressuring her about leaving. She said she would like me to hang out just a little longer but she does not see why I cannot get out by 2 PM.

While she was there I had her unhook me from my Ice Man and asked if she would get me some more ice. She said she would get one of the CNAs to get me more ice. All excited that I was given a time to go home a called my wife. She tells me that she will not be coming until 3, I want to get out as soon as possible, why do I need to have to wait until three. Wow, I hope I don’t always act and sound like a four year old.

While the Ice Man was still unhooked and I hadn’t got the ice for it yet I got up to use the bathroom. I had no issue with the bathroom, never felt queasy and I figured while I am up I’ll get my cloths from the closet and maybe get dressed. I managed to get the closet door open and with my crutch drag the cloths on to the ground but that is about all I could do. The cloths remained there for the time being.

Three o’clock rolls around and I’m still waiting for the wife to show up. My nurse pokes in to see how I am doing and the pain is still under control (finally). She saw my cloths on the floor and commented that I really did want to get out of there. She said I could relax for a little while longer because I would not be going home for another hour. WHAT? I said my wife was supposed to show up at 3. Oh, she says, she called and we decided that the best time for you to leave is 4. I cannot believe that this nurse would conspire with my wife to do what is best for me, how dare they!

When my wife and her sister showed up I had to grab the basin and pretend to get sick. I thought it was a hoot but no one else seemed to. We came to the conclusion that it was probably the antibiotic that had made me feel sick. I think I had mentioned that at one point!

Wednesday Afternoon September 14th I am depressed in my room with my wife and her sister watching on. I feel terrible, not so much from being sick, that has already passed, but because Susan’s sister drove in to get me and I am now not going to be going home. I could tell they felt bad also, for me. They didn’t hang out too long, they wanted to beat the traffic home, we said our good byes and then again I was alone. So, with nothing to do and now feeling hungry I ordered dinner.

I ordered roasted pork loin, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad with Italian dressing, Sprite, and ice cream for desert. The dinner was very good; everything but the mashed potatoes but that is unfair to compare them because my wife makes the very best mashed potatoes. After discussing the situation with the nurse she came to the conclusion that she thinks my body can not handle taking two Oxycodone every three hours so for the next dose she would only give me one. I suggested that it might be the antibiotic that was making me feel sick but the nurse didn’t think do.

I guess it was around 6 PM that I got my next pill, I didn’t have much pain and I was feeling fine in the not sick to my stomach way. I called my boys; they were at their grandparents’ house still (my wife’s parents). They were a bit upset that I wasn’t coming home; they thought something really bad was wrong with me. I tried my best to alleviate their fears. The new shift of nurses came in around 7:30, again I really do not remember any of them except for the fact that they were very nice and I didn’t like mine!

It was a little past 9 and I was feeling my knee so I paged the nurses’ station to request more drugs. The nurse came in and delivered another Oxycodone for me. While she was there I had her unhook me from the Ice Man so I could go the bathroom. For some reason I had to go the bathroom a lot, maybe it was all of the fluids I had gotten while I was on the IV, I don’t know, I just know I was an never ending fountain. Since I couldn’t go to the bathroom unless one of the Nurses or CNAs unhooked me from my Ice Man I ended up using the bedpan off and on. Yes it is gross using those things but it was much easier!

A little past 11 I started to feel my knee again. By midnight I needed my pills so I page the nurses station and let them know I’m due for my pills. My nurse comes in and explains to me that I can only take the Oxycodone every three hours for the first 12 hours and since it is past those initial 12 hours I’d have to wait four. Being in pain like I was I tried to rationalize with her. I said that since I’m allowed to take two pills every four hours and I have had only one and since I am not feeling queasy any longer can’t I please have the other one now. She said yes but that would mean I would have to wait four hours from now before I cold have anymore. At this point I didn’t care I just wanted that pill! The Nurse left to get the drug.

When the nurse returned she informed me that the last pill she gave me I was not supposed to receive for four hours and I had it three hours later so I can’t have anything for another hour. WHAT! I’M IN PAIN AND I HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER HOUR! It was a very long evening. At 1 AM I got my two Oxycodone. It never caught up with the pain (hence long evening). At 5 AM I got another two Oxycodone.

Wednesday Morning, September 14th I had got myself situated comfortably (as best as I could) in the bed doing my logic (Yes, I know I’m a geek as well as a jock) problems. Dr. Richmond’s fellow came in to check on me. He thought I looked good and said the procedure went very well. He said they could keep me another night if I wanted to stay. I laughed outright; I think he took that as no. I asked about leaving he said he didn’t think that should be an issue. I still needed to meet with Dr. Richmond and the PT and I should be able to go home.

My next visit was from Dr. Richmond. He went over the procedure with me again and again I heard that the procedure itself went very well. What he found after removing all of the bad cartilage away from the injured area was that the amount of cartilage needing to be replaced was much larger than he expected. The missing cartilage ended up being the area of a silver dollar. I asked what that meant for my knee. Basically it lessens the percentage of success. Not much I can do either way, there was plenty of Carticil to fill the area and I’ll have to continue through the same recovery protocol. How he explained it to me is instead of having a 95% success rate it will be more like 80%. I asked about going home today and he said I passed the look test. He said if the patient looks good more than likely they would be fine to go home. He said as long as I get the okay from the PT I should be all set.

One of the anesthesiologists stopped in next. She went over the basic pain management with me. For the first 48 hours she wanted me to take the Oxycodone without tying to wean off them. For the first 12 hours I would be taking two every 3 hours and then after that two every 4 hours. Once I’m past that first 48 hours I can start weaning off them. Before I could start taking the oral medicine I needed to get off the IV, I had no problem with that!

I paged my nurse and asked if it was all right to get breakfast. She said yes and all I needed to do was call room service (can you believe they call it room service in a hospital?). I ordered up toast, eggs and bacon. I also had some OJ to drink. Soon after I placed my order the nurse came in to visit me (I think her name was Jen). She said if I wanted to get the IV off I could. I quickly relied YES! I had just finished my second bag of antibiotic. She undid the IV but had to leave the lead in my hand. She said that I still needed to get one more dose of antibiotic before leaving. She also said that she would page the PT and let them know that I was ready. All his before breakfast!

I was going to call my wife but it was still a bit to early for her (she would still be busy getting the boys on the bus for school). I figured I’d call after breakfast. Breakfast was not very good. The toast was rubbery and the eggs were way too salty. The bacon was good but I ended up only eating one slice, for some reason I was feeling a bit queasy. I called home and said I should be coming home probably sometime early afternoon.

Quite a bit of time went by before the nurse poked her head back into my room. She asked if the PT had been by yet and I said no. She said she would page her again. She, the PT, showed up around noon, she said that she needed to talk to Dr. Richmond to get the exact protocol for cartilage replacement physical therapy. We really didn’t do anything special, she just wanted to make sure I could walk on crutches. We went down the hall, made sure I could make it up and down stairs, and then went back to the room. The hardest thing was getting out of bed. She did give me one good tip about using my other leg to lift my left leg up, which has helped immensity. I found out that the only exercising I would be doing until I saw Dr. Richmond again next Friday was the CPM machine 6 hours a day, ankle lifts, and quad contractions. Once we got back to the room she said I was good to go. I told her I needed to take a pit stop in the bathroom. I did my business but while in there I really started to feel sick again. On my way back to my bed I had to grab one of the plastic basins they had in my room and I ended up getting sick.

I called the nurse and she helped me clean up. There really wasn’t any mess, just needed to wash out the basin. I said that I got the okay from the PT and wanted to know when I could get out of there. She said I needed one more dose of antibiotic but she would check with the doctor first. She came back and said the doc wants me to have the last dose. She said that is probably better then, I can have lunch, make sure I am still feeling okay, get the last dose and I should be all set to go by around 4. 4! I wanted to get out of there now! Ugg.

I got a call from Jeff; he was surprised that I was still stuck in the hospital. Once again he offered to give me a ride home. He said it would not be a big deal; it was close to when he would be leaving work anyway and he could skip on in and get me and then drop me off because I’m on his way home. Again, what a nice offer but I declined. On the way home I really did want to see my wife, I know, sappy.

I called home to give the new ETD (estimated time of departure). I mentioned that Jeff offered to give me a ride home, I got the “why didn’t you take him up on the offer?”. I should have never mentioned it. I then called room service and ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, Texas French fries and a Sprite. This was better than breakfast, the chicken was good just way too much roll in comparison with the chicken. The fries were okay and I didn’t have any issues eating. Basically spent my afternoon doing my logic problems and watching ESPN.

It was starting to get close to 4 so I was getting anxious to have my last dose of antibiotic. The nurse finally came in and hooked me up to the antibiotic. It was going soooo slow and time was now flying. At almost 4 she came back into the room and opened up the IV so that it started to move much faster. From that point it probably only took a couple of minutes to finish. Yea.

It’s four o’clock and I am excited to get out of there a well as feeling a bit queasy again. All of a sudden I had to get up and get the basin because I feel like I’m going to get sick again. At that point I could hear my wife and her sister coming down the hall. Susan’s sister was singing something as she turned into my room. What she got was me with my pale face and hand up trying to motion her to stay out, just moments before I got to taste my breakfast and lunch again. They were much better the first time!

Tuesday Night September 13th I have been transferred to my private (nice surprise) room. They get me situated; show me the call button, the controller for the TV, the light switch and the PCA (patient controlled anesthesia)! The PCA is a morphine drip that I get to control. As it worked out I ended up not using it very much until the following morning.

Soon after I was setup my wife calls. It was very nice to hear her voice! I asked her about her conversation with Dr. Richmond because I hadn’t had the chance yet. She relayed that he said it went technically very well which made me wonder about how well it went in general? I asked if she was worried that it took so long. Yes, but according to Dr. Richmond it didn’t take that much longer than expected, he didn’t actually get started until about 4 and was done a little after 8. I still didn’t have a clear idea as to when I would be going home and she said that they might end up keeping me another day, needless to say I did not want to stay anther day! After I get to meet with the doctor in the morning I was going to call her and give her information about when I can be picked up.

Once I got off the phone with my wife my co-worker Jeff called. I was unbelievably touched (as much as a guy could be) that he called to check in to see how I was doing. The first thing he said was that he hoped that I hadn’t seen the Red Sox score, he didn’t want me too feel any worse than I already had. I found out that he had also called my wife to see how the surgery went before that and was surprised that it had taken so long.

My Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA, the first of many and I do not remember what her name was) came in to get my vitals. I asked her if I could get something to drink and eat, she had to ask my nurse. She came back with some ice chips for me. By the time the CNA came back to get my next set of vitals the shift had changed, now Rene, the new CNA, would be taking care of me. I again asked for something to drink and eat and again she would have to ask the nurse. This time I got crackers, gram crackers, peanut butter and Sprite! I was very happy with this and ate most of it up quite fast. My mouth was still quite dry so eating the crackers became a bit difficult. After a while it was like a cow chewing on its cud but I was not complaining.

I didn’t get much sleep; Rene was coming in about every 15 minutes to check my vitals. Either way I don’t think I would have slept, I was not overly tiered and I was uncomfortable. It felt like I was in a constant “just resting the eyes” state. During this time Rene introduced me to my bedpan. I was set up in the bed with the post-surgical brace and the sleeve of the Ice Man under the brace pumping in cold water. I wasn’t in the most mobile position so the bedpan quickly became a friend of mine. Rene informed me that she would really appreciate it if I was able to pee, or void as she put it. Thankfully for all concerned I had no issues voiding! The only embarrassing thing about it is that I had to call the nurse station every time I went; they wanted to continue to measure how much I voided. It was during these times when I had to roll over on my side that the PCA became my friend!

Tuesday evening September 13th I wake up in the recovery room. This part of my experience is a bit fuzzy and hard to recall everything. I know I woke up around 9ish but the who’s and when’s for a while are not exact. I know that I was the only patient left on the recovery room. I know that I got my blocker for the left leg while I was there but I cannot remember who gave it to me. I can remember the needle going into the groin area and thinking that that should be hurting a lot more than it does but I have no idea who was at the other end on the needle.

I can remember feeling a bit concerned that it was after nine. I knew that the procedure was only supposed to take about 3 ½ hours. I remember getting the feeling that my nurse was perturbed to still be here taking care of me. I remember feeling very dry and wanting to get something to drink. I remember feeling worried that my wife must have been sick with worries since the procedure took so long.

Things I know that happened, I asked if Dr. Richmond called my wife and he had. I asked what the Red Sox score was; they were losing (and the Yankees were winning too boot). Another nurse that was there gathered this information for me and kept me up to date with the scores while I was there. She was also nice enough to get me a wet facecloth to moisten my mouth. I asked if Dr. Richmond would be coming in to see me, and he had already gone home and that is where my nurse wanted to go! This is about when I confirmed that my nurse was perturbed. I must note though, everyone else that I dealt with at the hospital had to have taken their happy pills. They all could not have been any nicer to me while I was there. My wife called me while I was there but they could not forward the phone over to where I was so they gave her a quick update and told her I would be able to call her later. I have no idea what time it was when I finally got transferred to my room, only that the Sox game was over.

Tuesday morning September 13th I get to see the boys onto the bus, one of those small pleasures that I never get to do because I’m at work. After my wife got ready she drove me into work. I made the attempt to stay as busy as possible; I really didn’t manage to get much work done. I spent most of the time surfing the web, sorry Tim (my boss), my head really wasn’t in the right pace to be doing work. Anyways, I’m sure all of the code I would have produced then would have probably been junk!

Around 1:30 my coworker Jeff drove me to the New England Baptist Hospital. I had to bring my post surgical brace with me as well as my Ice Man (it looks like a cooler that circulates cold water through a cuff, a supper-dooper ice pack). I registered and got set-up in the pre-surgical room, both processes went very fast. I then proceeded to wait until around 3:30.

While at pre-surgery I had my IV put into my right hand. I am always nervous about getting IVs. When a was a small child I hit my head and had to go to the hospital and get an IV, the nurse did an awful job and made a pin cushion of my arm. I few years later when I had my appendix out they missed the vein with the IV and made my arm swell up. The nurse did a perfect job with the IV.

I met with a physical therapist (PT) while I was waiting. He was under the impression that I was going home after the surgery. I explained that I thought I was gong to be staying over night due to “Pain Management”. Regardless he wanted to show me the proper way to use crutches as well as go up and down stars with my post surgical brace on.

I then met with a slew of nurses, I cannot remember what all of their names were, what their actual positions were and what they all wanted. They pretty much asked all of the same questions, what is my name, what am I having done and to what knee, when was the last time you ate, did you take any medications, has the doctor seen you yet and has he signed your leg (and was it the right leg), have you signed the anesthesia release? I know one of the nurses I met was the surgical nurse, she said I would not remember her, funny, she was right, but then I didn’t remember any of them. One of the other nurses was in charge of shaving my knee.

In between seeing all of the nurses Dr. Richmond’s fellow came to see me, I cannot remember his name. He went over all of the same questions as well as briefly go over the procedure again. Next came the anesthesiologist, again asking all of the same questions as well as “have you ever had any issues while being under aesthesia?” The answer was no. He also explained (and recommended) that they could also give me a block to my left leg. It will greatly help with the pain following the surgery. If after the surgery I didn’t want it that would be fine but he wanted me to sign off on it and I did.

The next doctor that came to visit me was Dr. Richmond. As he walked into the pre-surgical area he was greeted by a hug from one of the nurses. I found out that he had just recently done knee surgery on her brother. A few of the nurses also came up to me and told me that I was very lucky having him and that he was very good. Regardless of how true or not it was it made me feel good. Again, we went over all of the same questions. I got another description of the procedure I am about to go through. I found out that he decided to graft my ligament with one from a donor (a cadaver), I don’ know why he made that change but at the time I really didn’t care and I trust his judgment. I’ll have to ask him at my next visit. The last person I met with before one of the nurses wheeled me into surgery was a student anesthesiologist. He seemed nervous, just the impression I got, it’s probably good he is still a student.

It was about 3:45 when the nurse started to wheel me into surgery. She asked me where I would like on go on vacation because I won a trip to anywhere. We had this little conversation about whether to go to Europe or to an Island. I was saying that my wife would enjoy an Island more than Europe. She explained that on this trip my wife would actually enjoy whatever I made as my choice. So off to Ireland, Scotland and Germany for me! On the way to the Operating Room (OR) they gave me something that started to knock me right out. I remember getting to he operating room and moving over to the operating table and that is about it.

Monday afternoon September 12th I get a call from the surgeon’s secretary. My surgery time has been moved from 7:30 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon. My first thoughts were how am I going to ever survive not eating until then? My thoughts probably should have been more focused on how am I going to get a ride to the hospital.

My brother-in-law can no longer drop me off at the hospital; he’s a plumber and would have to leave the job to do it now (although he still said he would). After making a few calls I am now planning on getting a ride into work from my wife sometime the following morning and then getting dropped off at the Hospital by one of my coworkers, Jeff, around two. My Wife is still planning on picking me up the following morning. She will be getting a ride in with one of her sister.

I stayed busy tonight doing chores and trying not to think about the upcoming surgery too much. I went grocery shopping, took the garbage out, watched the baseball game and had a large bowl of ice cream at 11:30! I actually had an okay night of sleep (the last one for a while it turns out).

The big day is tomorrow! I’m nervous but more than anything can’t wait until it’s over and then I’ll just be waiting until rehab is over and then…

Sergi-care came to my house very early this morning. They are the company supplying all of my medical products. They dropped off the CPM (continual passive motion) machine, Enhanced Trom (post surgery brace), and the Iceman cold therapy unit. I am now all fitted and ready to go. Thankfully my insurance is covering all the cost for these items (21 day rental for the CPM).

The next post will be post surgery. I’ll be dropped off tomorrow at 6:00 am for my 7:00 am procedure. I’ll be picked up sometime the following afternoon and depending on how I feel I’ll post then. I’ll probably not have any pictures but I’ll be sure to take a bunch to post at a later time. Till then…

I am making this post purely to torture my wife (does that make me a bad person?). My wife (and most of her family) can not drive in Boston. It is not like they are banned from doing it, they are just afraid to. Because of this I will be hitching a ride with my brother-in-law into town the morning of the surgery. The following afternoon Susan will be getting a ride in with her sister Jo (the only one brave enough to drive those mean streets) to pick me up at the hospital.

Now the fact that she will not be driving me into the hospital or picking me up without a driver really does not bother me at all. I am quite aware of who I’ll be going home to when the procedure is done. Despite the fact that it doesn’t bother me and I understand Sue’s fear of diving into town it still bothers her. So really, am I a bad person for torturing her?