Over a year ago Xy hurt her knee while practicing with the Big Easy Roller Girls. It’s bothered her ever since, and so yesterday morning we rose early and dropped her off for a little surgery. Persephone and I went home and made a “Get Well Soon” poster for her mother. The surgeon called me at about 8:30 AM and said:
She did great and we finished the surgery, everything went fine. She was found to have a torn cartilage, a pretty good tear, or torn meniscus, same thing, pretty good torn meniscus in her knee, and a little roughening or wear, underneath the kneecap. So I trimmed the roughening and removed the unstable portion of the meniscus, and she did well. I left her some instructions regarding her recovery, exercises, specifically moving her leg, and particularly moving her ankle up and down to lessen the likelihood of a blood clot, crutches, left a prescription for some pain medicine, and then I think she has an appointment to see me in about six days. She should be in the recovery room for about an hour and then go up to the fourth floor and stay there for about an hour or so before she goes home. Thank you.
But when I went in to pick her up things didn’t go so smoothly. After visiting with the patient for a few minutes, I was instructed to bring the car around and pick her up. After waiting in the car for a few minutes, a nurse came out and told me Xy wasn’t quite ready to go after all. When we got back up to her room, she seemed substantially worse than we left her.
The anesthesiologist said she wasn’t quite ready to go home after all. Her blood pressure and heart rate had dropped. They just wanted to pump another bag of fluids into her, and then she’d be fine. I almost asked “How long will that take?” But I didn’t. Xy was pissed cuz they’d ripped her old IV out, prematurely as it developed, and had to re-stick her. She doesn’t stick well.
Thirty minutes later I noticed the IV bag had hardly depleted at all. Meanwhile her monitor kept sounding an alarm for low blood pressure, prompting repeated questions from Persephone. After making several inquiries, and getting several nurses in to look at the situation, it was finally determined that she hadn’t been properly stuck the second time, and the fluid was not entering her system at all. Meanwhile we were fielding repeated questions from Persephone about why we were yelling at each other.
Short of the long, we got her home and for the last two days my convalescing wife and inquisitive toddler have kept me hopping.
Except when they nod off of course.
First of all – wow: I didn’t realize how big Persephone had grown! But how is Xy now? I see that you just posted this tonight, so I guess that means she’s exactly how you describe her.
Thank God you were on the case to make sure she got adequate care, Bart, but this incompetence on someone’s part is extremely upsetting. Healthy people tragically die everyday because of this kind of thing. Blood pressure loss, blood clots, and dehydrationcan happen fast. Thank God she’s okay. People getting medical care need loved ones with them!
Yikes, what a story. We have been wondering about Xy and the rest of you, but mostly Xy. Thanks for posting an up-date hope the worst is over.
Wow, thank God you and Persephone were there. Medical situations can reverse and go into a downhill slide so fast.
OK, as a former knee patient (both knees, double meniscus tears and chondroplasty), can you tell Xy for me that PHYSICAL THERAPY is the key to recovery. I was in pain and limping, could barely get up stairs for nearly 2 years pre and post-op (braces, crutches, painkillers didn’t fix things). After the second surgery, I got a portable exercise bike (less than $100) and ride 20 minutes a day. It’s important to do all the other at home exercises too. I can finally walk without pain and climb stairs. No painkillers, either.
So happy she’s home and sleeping on the couch!
Yes, I second the PT recommendation. I had the same procedure (arthroscopic, right), and with PT (or maybe it was something else) was walking a mile with a few days.
What did the (or any) doctor say about the post-op issue? Did she feel better after getting some food? A lot of people don’t tolerate the pre-op food/water prohibitions well.
What hospital was that? I’m curious because quite a few folks have told me about what seem to be unnecessarily bad experiences at four different area hopsitals. I hope XY is up and about soon. That’s miserable.
Actually, I might be getting the exact same surgery soon — despite being a non-athlete. If I need it, you’ll be reading about the Chinese version of the experience.
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