Dagmar’s Knee Surgery

The first full day in the rehab center began with a chat with the Doc, Jane. Dagmar suggested beginning the weaning process from the Narco, so she is down to one pill every four hours plus Tylenol as needed in between for breakthrough pain. Mom’s spirits have been relatively high, and the folks here seem very nice, if a bit more haphazard than the hospital.  She’s going to the bathroom all on her own now, and sitting up quite a bit! She deserved a treat…

And we had a surprise visitor! What a great(ers) first day!!

So, what a difference a day makes!!

Yesterday, momma was itchy and uncomfortable the night before and all morning.

But around noon they seem to have found a happy place in her medication regimen. Yay! She seemed very well rested this morning. She didn’t scratch once all day. And she has been in and out of sleep most of the day, so her pain seems to be well managed. She walked about 50-60 feet in her PT today, and she had most of a burger for lunch. Also, she is off of all the IV medications and weaned down to half the pill count they started her with. Tylenol is her drug of choice, but they are being careful not to overdo it to protect her liver.

She is off of all IV meds, but still on oxygen, so they will transport her to the rehab facility, rather than making her ride with me. That way, she can stay reclined, on oxygen, and hooked up to her leg pumps on the way. I will meet her there this afternoon with all her stuff and get her settled. Off to the races!! ?

Dagmar’s resting on and off. Her vitals are good, she’s started using her spirometer 10 times an hour, and she even mumbled that the muscle relaxer was working. We’ve got her hooked up with fresh ice and her own breathing machine. So now it’s quiet til physical therapy arrives to bring on the pain.

Mom was in good spirits this morning. I told her the snow would end when her long winter of knee surgeries was complete. Her vitals were strong in pre-op though she was grumpy because it took two pokes to get the IV set. But she laughed when we shared all the ways it could be worse. By the way she mentioned smelling a strange new odor over the last couple weeks, a slight sweet vanilla smell. I figure definitely could be worse things than vanilla scented skin, but she mentioned it several times. So I smelled her and can honestly report there is no vanilla that I can detect.

More to come when we get to recovery.

Noelle reports that Dagmar is back safe and sound at home. Josephine will be spending some time with her over her winter break. Stephen is also back in town after his trip to Turkey. Sorting through the mail may take a while.

Dagmar was discharged from the rehab center today and is on her way back up to Cleveland. Christopher accompanied her as she signed out of New Albany Gardens and went to an appointment with her surgeon’s assistant. Her bend is still measured at 90 degrees, but she promises to stay on top of the PT and keep working the knee. She also had what she expects to be her last dose of oxy this morning. The report from the surgery follow up is that everything looks good and what Dagmar is experiencing is all within the normal range of symptoms for this stage post-surgery. She is welcome to have surgery on her right knee whenever she feels up for it. Meanwhile, no swimming or sauna until the end of January.

Christopher reports that Dagmar is now at the point where here new left knee feels better than her still-original right knee. Of course, she is still on some oxy, so that may have something to do with it, but she expects to be done with that in a day or two as well. She told Christopher she is definitely interested in doing the other knee too. She looks forward to seeing Dick and Mary Jo while still in rehab, on Thursday she will meet with her surgeon and then head back home to Cleveland.

On Friday in Cleveland she will start her new no-swimming, no-sauna, yes-workout and PT routine at the Winton place. Here is some of the equipment she will have available there, in case her rehab PT staff want to give her any advice on how to use it.

Dagmar joined us in Minnesota via FaceTime for our Joy Sunday Advent Celebration. She was in good spirits and sang along as we caroled for an hour around our candle-lit Christmas tree. I am very thankful that she is feeling so much better.

Christopher visited and Dagmar reveals she has reached a milestone, bending her knee 90 degrees! Well, actually, she says “percent” but the measure is actually “degrees.” Among other things, this means that her goal is actually higher than she thinks, more like 110 degrees so she can get out of all that low furniture in her house!

I was back in Dagmar’s apartment overnight while waiting for my morning flight. I spent some time prepping a bit. Moved the cat litter and food to her guest bathroom to free up the master bathroom for the raised toilet seat to come. Cleared some pathways so that Dagmar could get down her hall and into her study area. We will have to do something about the rocking chair blocking the route to the bathroom. Sasha is lying in wait to trip up her mistress with joy.

Measured the bed as 20 to 21 inches off the floor, but the black living room furniture is only 14 inches off the floor and the red couch (which I had to move over a bit to make a clear path) is only 12 inches off the floor. Clearly Dagmar will have to continue to work on bending that new knee in order to comfortably stand up from such low furniture.

And she will certainly want to make the walk down to Natalie’s place, the view this morning was spectacular.