Bee’s Knees: Pre-TKR, Setback

From the last post…1/24/2022

This post is officially done…for now. Next stop, Total Knee Replacement.

On 1/23/2023 I said:

“New, Approved-Dentist finished up everything he needed so I got Dental Clearance. This is the final piece of the clearance puzzles”

At the end of that appointment, Approved-Dentist gave me a prescription for an antibiotic, just in case.

Stupid me. I asked the intake nurse about that. She reported it to the surgeon who moved my surgery from 2/2/2023 to 3/9/2023. If someone else is rescheduled, I might be able to move mine back. Maybe.

Then, other test results came back – staph infection in my nose, maybe UTI.

Wednesday, 1/25/2023

So, I am still limping around, changing all the physical therapy appointments I’d set up for the 2/2 surgery. One of the positives is that I get more time in water aerobics building up my leg muscles.

A very positive:

1/27/23 was our 50-year anniversary. Amazing! We celebrated early with a cruise on the Wonder of the Seas. I’m still assembling those photos/posts but we went a little earlier in the month because it was cheaper 🙂 I chose this cruise because I thought it would be cool to be on the current world’s largest cruise ship. I have been on larger ships but DH has not.

We have another cruise scheduled for the Arctic Circle in July but I may not make it because of the new surgery date and recovery. I am very excited about that cruise because we tried to do something very similar and Covid changed those plans.

Someone pointed out that, since the new surgery is more than 30 days away, I may have to do all the clearances again.

Today, 1/28/23 is the 10th anniversary of the fall that started all this. My first post about my knee was really about Tom’s heart attack, and the reason for this blog in the first place. Who know that the knee thing would eclipse everything?

In that post I said:

Ice

Monday morning (for real!), I checked the weather and found that school was starting late because of icy conditions.  I put on boots and took the dog out.  It seemed to be raining – if it’s raining, it must be warm, right?  So I didn’t really pay attention (and I had other things on my mind!) and completely missed seeing the black ice.  Next thing I knew, I had fallen on one knee, my cellphone in my pocket bruised my other thigh and my left arm hurt where I’d reached out to catch myself.  Luckily, I hadn’t let go of the dog’s leash.

I ended up sitting in a puddle of icy water for a long time, figuring out how to get up.  I finally sort of crawled up the trash can that was sitting in the driveway.

The dog had an abbreviated walk, I changed my wet, cold clothes and headed to the hospital.  I was showing DH my knee and one of the staff bandaged it up for me.  I told him I hadn’t fallen at the hospital and wouldn’t sue but I guess he wanted to be sure.

(Today, Monday February 18 2013, my knee still has a huge lump under the skin and hurts when I touch it, although I’m no longer limping,  The bruise/pain from cellphone finally went away)

The very first of the Bee’s Knees series was February 28, 2016. I had no idea it would go on so very long. Like I said in the last post, I sure hope this is trus!

This post is (hopefully!) officially done…for now. Next stop, Total Knee Replacement.

Bee’s Knees: Pre-TKR, Part 2

From the last post…12/4/2022 And, there was good news and some surprising news. I got to the doctors office and right away they took x-rays. The results were “Evidence of end stage bilateral knee OA, L>R. Evidence of complete joint
space narrowing. Evidence of osteophyte formation. Evidence of cyst formation

I had no idea that my right knee was as bad. I guess I’ve been so focused on my left that it never occurred to me that I might have other issues.

The term “end stage” was a bit freaky. That sounds to me like I should be bedridden or something.

~~~

1/18/2023

Reject-Dentist still hasn’t sent the receipt, a treatment plan or called to discuss it yet. They did send me an email today asking me to set up an appointment.

Also on 1/18, I went to Reston Hospital for pre-op clearance. This was the third appointment this week, all because of my knee.

1/23/2023

New, Approved-Dentist finished up everything he needed so I got Dental Clearance. This is the final piece of the clearance puzzles

When I got home yesterday I had a new insurance card in the mail. I read all the information and it said I had dental insurance. Reject-Dentist had said that I didn’t so I assumed that I didn’t. Now I get to collect my papers from Approved-Dentist and submit those.

I was supposed to attend a class on knee replacement but the next one isn’t until next month so I got to watch a video instead. I also found this one very helpful:

This post is officially done…for now. Next stop, Total Knee Replacement.