At first I was "YES" let's do this !!! Then after we got home, I began to panic, wondering all the 'what if's'... But we already set the date and now began the research more intense than before. Not only did we want to research the surgery options and recovery but now the surgeon himself. Since the first surgeon we met with not only did he have horrible bedside demeanor, but did not want even want to discuss our own apprehensions, so out he went. On with the next. And boy were we happily surprised.
The next surgeon was very emphathetic as well as very helpful in describing in detail all the process and recovery. We did some additional research on him at home and were pleasantly surprised with our decision.
My husband needed total knee replacement on both knees and a total hip replacement on his left hip. Now came the decision on which side and which joint to start with. We could do both knees at once, but the recovery is very difficult and also involves going to a skilled nursing facility verses being able to go home.
We chose to do one at a time and be able to recover at home with family support. I am so glad that was our decision. It has been a lot of work and some long hours but I made it. With the help of my children, and some very close friends coming by to visit.
My husband is now done with all three, and is the only patient they have ever had with all three joints replaced in such a time frame as his. He was able to do each surgery within 90 days of each other. He made the medical journals. As most patients need 6 months to recover and do rehab, strengthening the muscles and joints to go onto another major surgery like he did.
It's been 4 weeks now since his last surgery of hip replacement, and for the first time in over 5 years he is pain free. The surgeon commented that he really did not know how he had been walking at all with the degree of wear on his joints that he had.
My husband is a very strong man, and now it proves it, with all the strength it took to get through all of this. I am very proud of him, as many people will not go through one, as they will just continue to suffer. But he went through 3 all within a very short time.
I now have to recondition myself as well in order to keep up with him soon. He is my bionic man, and will be up and running very soon. We have a pool, and as soon as the weather is good enough we will be able to do some pool aquatics to further our strengthening.
It's been a very long haul, and through it all, I also remodeled my sewing room, which you can read about in previous blog postings. Also we had our whole house floors redone from carpet to shining new wood floors that were existing but never exposed. They are beautiful, and make our home look brand new.
I don't know what I would have done if I had not had these major projects to keep me busy mentally. It took alot of emotional stress off of me worrying about my husband and allowed me to care for him without showing worries.
Has anyone gone through similar circumstances? If so I would love to hear from you, as well as if I can provide any input from our experience to give additional support to someone about to go through the same.
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