July 5, 2014

  Right about now, I don't know how I feel.  As with the other knee, I had pictures taken, sitting and standing to see how  crooked the legs are. Last year I was appalled at the deformity.  Yes, that's what they call it, medically.  This time, though the pictures are an ugly sight, I didn't feel so surprised. I guess I'm used to the horror.  I almost think I would feel a little better if I had more pain, in order to fully justify getting rid of it.  Oh, wait, the knee is not replaced, merely resurfaced. I rode for 15 minutes, covering 5 miles, today with minimal discomfort and circled the outside of the house a few times without having to call for assistance.  So.
     I think I feel more nervous this time around, probably mostly because I have a weaker support system.  But I guess that can't be helped, at least by me.  Snookie called this morning to wish me well, and Barbara called this afternoon.  It was good to hear from both of them. The mail brought a card from the Mass. Schroders, cute, with art from the kids.   But I stayed home all day, as I did yesterday. Maybe tomorrow I'll venture out.  We might have to go buy a washing machine: the old one seems to have given up the ghost, a victim of over-zealous workouts due to that clean-everything-before-I-die impulse.  
   I had registered for the MyHealth Patient Portal and today was able to view my labs from July 1, a very convenient program but also a little unsettling because not only this week's results are there, but a comprehensive collection of all  my medical procedures and visits for the last several years from all the doctors and hospitals in the ever-expanding system, including, even, surgical notes from TKR #1.  Of course the site is supposed to be secure, but that often turns out to be a fallible setup.  But then again, who in the whole Ethernet would be likely to care about matters that are of such supreme local indifference.
      Anyway, it doesn't look like any of the results will be obstacles to what has been set in motion.  A few tests slightly away from the norm, but almost all fell into the normal range.  The biggest surprise was my glucose level of 79, because I did buy a mixed bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and KitKat bars (for the kids), and I did tie a double knot in the plastic bag, but then I punched a hole in the side.
    Elective surgery, or any surgery for that matter, is a lone and lonely venture.