Friday, July 11, 2014

A Hospital Visit- Meniscus Tear


My husband had surgery yesterday for a tear in his meniscus. 
The injury is a result of many years of being a carpenter
and other such activities that abuse the knees.
The final blow came in the chicken coop.
I had taken the day off to volunteer at the church rummage 
sale but after driving only a mile from home, my cell rang.

Come  home and bring a ladder.
He had been in the coop tending to the birds
and while attempting to jump down, he felt something
go very wrong in his knee.  He was stuck in the coop
and the birds knew it.  It was pay back time.
I had no time to waste so I quickly turned around and 
drove home, grabbed a step stool and helped him out
of the coop before they took their revenge.
Whew, safe.
LOL!

I left him to call the doctor while I headed to church,
knowing there was no way to get an appointment that day.
By the time it was all said and done, 
after the insurance had approved everything,
after payment for procedures not yet performed,
he was scheduled (for the 2nd time) for surgery Thursday.
Somehow, even though he told EVERYONE he spoke with 
about his past blood clots, the doctor didn't notice until
right before the first surgery was scheduled.
Then he had to have a dopler test to check for clots
before they could proceed.

All went well, he wasn't in great pain and I took him home
and plopped him in my recliner
(his looks like a Craig's List reject and the foot piece falls unexpectedly).
The blue bandage is really a super huge ice pack with dual
panels that slides in sideways and completely wraps the knee
with velcro holding it in place.  There is another bandage beneath
and other bandages covering stitches.  He can take this all off Sunday.

Do you all like the cammo Crocs?
They are some sort of trail Crocs with very thick soles.
He needed shoes to slip on and agreed to these.
Now he doesn't care what anyone says,
these are super comfortable and you can't feel any rocks
under your feet or get twigs stuck in sandals.
I want a pair too but I can't find women's!

The bad side of this is the twice a day injections he has to give 
himself to prevent post op blood clots.  No training, just a kit.
Thankfully, YouTube had a nice tutorial.
You have to inject yourself in the stomach.
It causes large bruising, being a blood thinner
but he has to do it for only 2 weeks.
In the meantime I'll take care of things he can't 
or I should say, things he should not be doing.

This is why I was so happy that I got my coop deck and door knob.
It's a raise coop because we had to disguise it as a tool shed
due to our subdivision regulations.  At some point we just gave
up and everyone started raising chickens, goats or having other
such violations (like our antennas).  

He could just jump into the coop but at 5' 2", I couldn't even attempt it.
Now I can walk in, the food is right there, gather eggs,
change water with the handy dandy squirter attached to the 
extended hoses going down the hill from the house.
  
Hopefully his recovery period will be quick because he needs 
to get back to work.  It's been almost 2 months since this 
first started with one delay after the other.
Being a carpenter, you have to take advantage of work
when it's available and right now was the worst time
for this to happen because they had lots of work.
Hopefully some will still be there when he recovers!

He's doing well, much better than some others
who have had the surgery. I have to try and hold
him back from doing too much though.


14 comments:

TLW said...

Prayers for a speedy recovery. And how pray-tell would the chickens have exacted their revenge?

Kristi said...

I seriously JUST finished reading about another person's knee surgery:http://a-fly-on-our-chicken-coop-wall.blogspot.com/2014/07/post-op-you-may-need-your-own-anti.html

May your husband have a speedy recovery!

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

TLW, not sure but we saw Chicken Run so we know what they are capable of! LOL

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Kristi- Thank you. One of his Facebook friends was also having the same surgery. Must be an epidemic.

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

Kathy- sorry to hear about your hubby's knee and surgery and the rogue chickens y'all have. Sounds like next time you're in there you need to sit those girls down and tell them to be nice to him. He's a hard worker and takes good care of y'all, (the hens, you and your granddaughter) ...they just need to lay there eggs and don't worry too much about him poking around in there! LOL
...hoping and praying for a speedy recovery, enough work when he is able and energy for you to get all the work done. :)
Pat

Harry Flashman said...

I am very sorry to hear that your husband had to go through all that. He's lucky he has a good wife to help him and take care of him. I sure hope he recovers soon.

Lady Locust said...

Here's to a speedy recovery. My niece just had the same sx (but no clotting.) I couldn't believe how a knee could expand to three times its normal size without bursting. She should get her doctor's release next week. I do hope you are getting some very good eggs:)

Liz said...

What a bad time to be laid up! (like there is ever a good time) I hope he has a speedy and full recovery! The little coop looks great!!

Susie said...

Hi Kathy I do hope he recovers soon. It is such a worry when you have something like this and need to be back at work. Take things slowly and it will mend quicker, which is what I was always told by my Grandma. Usually when I had hurt myself tearing around at 60miles an hour!!!!! Hugs Susie x

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

All- Thanks for the good wishes, everyone. Yes, we are getting great eggs. I have 4-5 dozen in the fridge, in fact boiling some now. The new decking makes all the difference in the world.

Lady- I hope your niece recovers quickly !! I have knee problems too after a car accident so I know how difficult it is when it's not working properly.

Yahoobuckaroo's Blog said...

Get thee to a haberdashery Tom! Or I may have to sneak into your house one night and snatch those clogs. Don't worry, I'll give them a good burial. :-)

Catawissa Gazetteer said...

Just try a pair Yahoo, and you'll find yourself drawn to the darkside, too.

Ever since ol' Harry Truman went out of business, a good haberdashery has been hard to find. Not many tonsorial artists left in business anymore, either!

Do you ever feel that you've been dropped into the wrong time and place in history? Or is it just that old man disease kicking in?

Personally, I'm shooting for a serious case of the curmudgeons!

Yahoobuckaroo's Blog said...

Oh I could have given Andy Rooney a run for his money in a curmudgeon race. But my banter is mostly the friendly kind.

I cut my own hair these days (what there is of it) with one of those razor kits from Wal-mart. It seemed like every time I went to get my hair cut, no matter where I went the first thing they'd ask me was, "What comb setting do you use?" (for the razor). It's like you have to go out of your way to ask them to actually use a pair of scissors and cut your hair right anymore. I figure, if they're gonna be that lazy, I might as well by a cheap razor kit and cut it myself. Anybody can run a razor over their head--even me. These barbers are gonna put themselves out of business with these razor cuts I tell ya. Besides, my hair's so thin now, I can comb it with a wagon wheel. Ain't much point in trying to make it purdy.

Catawissa Gazetteer said...

I should have been a bit more specific about curmudgeon type. I'm going for the Uncle Joe on Petticoat Junction type, not the surly, bitter Rooney.

Though I do find myself falling into complete and utter Rooneyism more and more often of late.

Kathy used to cut my hair. We've quit that now. I got tired of the nervous laughter and hearing her mumbling, "Oh my!", or my personal favorite, " Well, it'll grow back."