Miscellany

Weekends are obviously a time-out period for me--no work, no physical therapy, just time to relax and regroup. Much like yesterday, I spent a lot of time relaxing today although I did go to the drugstore, the grocery store, and I did cook a minimalistic dinner. Since there's not much new with my knee (thank goodness!), I'll address two topics briefly. Tomorrow it's back to work and back to physical therapy, so we'll see how a long day treats me when I write tomorrow.

The first, and briefer topic, is Percocet. I had 7 more tablets left, and 4 more physical therapy sessions. I take no Percocet at all on the days when I don't have PT, but I'm still taking two tablets about an hour before PT. I hate to be a wimp, but I'm not sure I could get through the knee-bending part of PT without some pain medication, so I'm still taking the Percocet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So, if I have 7 tablets left and 4 more sessions, you see the difficulty. I really don't need a lot of Percocet, but I decided today to go ahead and get the extra prescription that my surgeon gave me. I will, therefore, have what I need to finish physical therapy, plus I'll probably take some next Wednesday afternoon before going to see my surgeon for a check up. He isn't quite as demanding as the therapist, but almost; so, when he starts pushing my knee up, down, and sideways, I want to be able to grit my teeth and stand it without any undue moaning!

The second topic was suggested by Stan, and I may expand upon this later in the week as I near the end of my regular posting on this blog. When I wrote, the other day, about how much Stan had done for me, he mentioned to me later that he had been worried the whole time that he might do something wrong. Having never had any nursing experience, of course, he was somewhat in the dark as to what to do. We had information provided by the hospital giving a general overview of what a "coach" should do, and Stan, being the conscientious person that he is, took the admonitions in the hospital notebook very seriously. He did do everything perfectly, of course, but I can understand how he might have felt insecure and unsure of himself. It was new territory for both of us, and I would no more have known if he did something "wrong" than he would. If, however, you are having TKR surgery, I can't emphasize enough how critically important it is to have a "coach" who takes his coaching duties seriously. I can hardly imagine how anyone could get through the first two weeks without someone there to help, to encourage, to support, and, frankly, to wait upon the person who has had surgery. This being such an important topic, I think I will go into it in more depth later this week or early next week, and hopefully will be able to give a few tips, pointers, and suggestions for those saintly people who put their own lives on hold in order to take care of an invalid. So yet again, thanks, Stan!