Skip to main content

Knee jargon

In the last few weeks my vocabulary has expanded. Dramatically. But not in a way I would have planned for...it's been of necessity as we've educated ourselves and prepared for Daughter's upcoming surgery.

Some jargon: MRI (ok, that's kind of intuitive.); medial meniscus; anterior cruciate ligament; rupture; tear; soft tissue vs patellar tendon; CPM (continuous passive motion) machine; Game Day (cool, compression sleeve/ circulating ice water device that's applied immediately after surgery to prevent swelling and keep the knee comfy); knee immobilizer; sports brace, etc. There's a lot more stuff..but these are high points, in my non-medical opin. They all play into this equation as either actions taken, tests given to assess damage, elements of the surgery itself, or support for post surgery recovery.

There is a whole lot of stuff that goes on well before a knee surgery, to say nothing of what happens during and later.

Prep= modest activity to keep the leg mobile, MRI, assessment and consultation with surgeon, keeping spirits up in spite of impending downtime and rehab, managing equipment acquisition, scheduling...surgery, hospital, preop, cryo machine, CPM machine, knee immobilizer, prescriptions, etc.

Surgery itself= surgeon doing what he does best. We trust in this. We must trust in this. I'm just going to be happy when he comes out to the parents afterwards with his assessment of the procedure.

Recovery/rehab=Who knows at this point? I'm worried about the immediate, comfort-related stuff, the emotional support my Daughter is going to need which will require us, her friends, and a bunch of recorded seasons of favorite shows , movies, card games, sleep, ice, to give her. Physical comfort+ emotional support, you know? That's our immediate goal.

After that, it's all about healing. Being patient. Slowly discovering the needs of the repaired knee as it learns to do what it needs to do for her. And her learning her new limits, knowing when and how to push them as appropriate, and being dedicated to the end goal of complete healing over time.

Easy stuff, right?

Right.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's been a minute

Oh, what a summer it's been! Heat, the likes of which we have never seen seems to be enveloping the planet. They told us this would happen, and it is.  Now what? Is it time to think underground bunkers? To really explore moon colonies? To continue, on an individual basis to do what we feel we can to help the greater effort? We bought a hybrid two years ago. We'll probably buy an electric car once we feel like the infrastructure is in place, but right now, it's not.  We recycle. Glass ( WHO is drinking all of that wine?! I ask myself each time I toss the bottles into the big bin.). Food. We compost all but animal products, and use it in the garden.  Cardboard/cans/plastics go in the recycle bin each Tuesday. My husband thinks the whole recycle thing is a big scam, and that all of the recycling and trash gets taken to the same place - the dump - because there isn't adequate staffing to sort and really carry out the recycle process.  I feel this is a cynical view, but ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hello there 48

And where on earth did 35-47 go??? But I'm being overly dramatic. Again. See, four dozen? Not such a bad place to be when you're me. I've done a lot, I've seen a lot, I've raised a family and landed airplanes and docked yachts and landed (then released of course!) a marlin and climbed mountains and run a LOT of miles and loved deeply and long and hard and felt..so much that, surprisingly did not kill me..that I feel stronger and more centered and energized than in a long time. And I'm blessed with more than one person can ever rightly expect in one lifetime. And I now possess the wisdom to observe a nanosecond longer than I would have 20 years ago before jumping headlong into a new adventure. Which means many less mistakes but still the desire to stretch and grow and be better and more open and generally less judgemental and overall more accepting and mostly, mostly, knowing that this gift of life is precious and special and mine to experience any way ...
2 comments
Read more

It might have been the moon

 The second Super Moon, also a Harvest Moon, just happened. On the same night I had my mini-meltdown. (see prior post). I've talked with several friends who reported intense emotions, mostly around stuff that needs to be released, resolved. When I think about my angst, and how intense it felt, I realize it was all about that kind of stuff. Old stuff, patterns, thinking, habits. So maybe the moon precipitated things. The bubbling up of angst and anger and icky stuff lasted all that night, but had calmed by yesterday morning. Thank gawd, because that was a morass of darkness, the likes of which I haven't experienced in at least a decade. The rest of the weekend has been pleasant. Uneventful. Full of errands, chores, a really nice walk this morning, yummy food, naps, etc. The one thing about energy that feels constant is that no mood lasts forever. Energy continually shifts and morphs, like the Universe knows too much, too long, of any one sentiment just isn't a good idea for ...
Post a Comment
Read more