My newest BFF, Nurse Kim, after Monday's "scope"

June 25, 2013 – Tuesday

69 degrees/hazy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I’m happy we installed the air conditioners Sunday as they’ll be used today. The high is forecast for 84 degrees with a goodly amount of humidity. Thankfully, our little house is easy to keep cool and the small window unit downstairs, coupled with the teeny 5,000 btu air conditioner in our bedroom, keeps the entire house very comfortable.

As long as we were installing the air conditioners, Sargie washed the windows in the living room and bedrooms.

Yesterday’s surgery went well. We were at the hospital well before 6 AM and after standing in line to be processed, found ourselves in a small pre-op cubicle where I was adorned in a hot and sexy hospital gown.

Sargie was later shown to the family waiting room while I was wheeled into another cubicle where IV lines were inserted and the same questions were asked and answered over and over… my full name, date of birth, and what kind of surgery I was having and on which knee. The operating room nurse told me the questions were standard to be sure there were no mistakes made. Already injected with drugs and half loopy, I jokingly quipped that I didn’t want the doctor operating on the wrong parts of my body. I thought it was hilarious and laughed and laughed. The nurse smiled and told me she hoped I was a better teacher than a comedian, to close my eyes and get some rest.

I really don’t remember anything from there on. The nurse who put in the IV inserted the needle into a vein on the back of my hand so painlessly that I didn’t even know she’d done it.  I remember getting up on one elbow and looking around the operating room and cracking a joke about there being an HD television so the doctors could watch the Packers games. The next thing I knew, a nurse was waking me in the recovery room and shoveling ice chips down my throat.

After the procedure, the doctor stopped and talked with Sargie and told her that he’d repaired the torn meniscus, there was no arthritis, and the knee looked good. The prognosis for eventually getting back on the trails seems to be favorable!

I received the ultimate compliment from the anesthesiologist before the operation. She was reading down the usual list, asking about past operations, medications, etc. and at the end, I jokingly asked if I passed. She put the chart down and said, “You’re way too healthy to be in here.” That made me feel good. The operating room nurse said I was the first person my age that had come through in a long time who wasn’t on any regular medications, didn’t have some sort of implant or medical device, and was simply healthy. I told her if it weren’t for my eyes and now the knee, I’d darn near be perfect in every way. She just laughed and told me to go to sleep.

I was wheeled back into the original cubicle where I met Sargie. After a spike in blood pressure, from 114/70 to 196/156, it went back to normal and I was wheeled out to the car.

The doctor had injected the knee with a painkiller and I felt like a million bucks. I remember thinking that maybe I’d take a small hike this morning, up the road and back, just to begin getting back in shape.

Then the painkiller wore off.

After a quick drive through of McDonalds to get a Coke to quench my very thirsty and sore throat (from the breathing tube they’d inserted during the operation) I piled into my recliner at home and slept most of the afternoon.

Yesterday was Mr. Milligan’s 88^th birthday. I told Sargie I wanted to attend the family gathering for him, a picnic held outside at the VA Hospital, so we drove back to Iron Mountain. 

It was good to see everyone and Mr. Milligan enjoyed it a great deal. 

Marley and I sat on the swing for sometime and talked and later, she used my camera to take some random snapshots. I thought she did pretty well for being only five years old.

Sleep last night was intermittent. I was in bed by 9 PM, but think I woke up every hour. I hate to take Vicoden, the pain pills the doctor prescribed. Still, I took one this morning in hopes of having a somewhat pain-free day ahead. Actually, my throat hurts as bad as my knee. I think they brought up half the skin from my throat with the breathing tube when they removed it. That thing that hangs down in the back of the airway (the one that makes a person snore) is swollen to the point of almost closing off the airway this morning, but at least the pain is mostly gone. I’m assuming all will go back to normal in the next day or two.

Realistically, after taking off the rose-colored glasses, I can see the knee is going to be a project. I think I’ll get a hiking pole hanging on the wall in the garage to assist me. Walking is a bit of a chore. There’ll be no cross country hiking for a while.

Sargie is off again today. We’re going to take Brutus to the animal hospital in Iron Mountain. He has a lump the size of a golf ball that has developed on his inner groin and is accompanied by a discharge. In my very unprofessional opinion, I’m guessing he has an infection of some type. I also want to make arrangements to have him neutered in the near future. He’s a good pup. Getting him neutered should only make him better.

Some people are coming to look at Sargie’s van. Hopefully, they’ll purchase it and we can cross that project off our list.

With that in mind, its time to get another cup of coffee and think deep thoughts. A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…