Several years before I was even a twinkle in his eye, my dear dad was in a boating accident. Having heard the details a few times, I have a good idea of what happened, but since I wasn’t there and the specifics are a bit gory, I’ll spare you most of the story, dear reader.
It involved an inner tube, a rocky & steep incline and a bend in the river. Dad was more or less launched from the tube and rolled up the incline, into a fence and rolled back down. As you can imagine, it ended in a tangled mess including several broken bones, allowing for legs to be in places they don’t naturally bend or reach.
Thank God he covered his head as he rolled or things could have been much worse.
Dad recovered for three months in the hospital, I believe, and his claim to fame when he was out was that for the year or so he was on crutches, he was able to walk through a cafeteria line on crutches AND carry a tray full of food at the same time. See, you can do anything when you put your mind to it!
I’ve only known my dad to have lots of scars up and down his legs and into his hip/back area; scars I used to think/pretend were train tracks for itty bitty trains. His left knee, in particular, has always been more bothersome than the other. The knee itself is rather large compared to the other…our family actually calls it “cauliflower knee.” It’s essentially bone-on-bone and it slips and pops from time to time, which startles/hurts him and scares me. I hate it when his knee hurts…it makes my tummy hurt!
With the exception of a few surgeries here and there, not to mention bouts of accompanying staph infection, not much has been done to the knee over the years. However, Dad finally opted for a total knee replacement! He wanted to put it off as long as possible so he wouldn’t have to face multiple replacements over time.
Because of his history of staph, he had to be checked by the CDC before they scheduled a replacement. When he got the all-clear, dad made his replacement appointment with Dr. Roux…the same doctor who preformed my ACL replacement about 11 years ago!
Dad is home and recovering now. Though his entire leg is much more swollen and painful than expected – we hear there was some hammering involved because of how bad of shape the knee area was – things seem to be healing well!
Mom snapped this picture of the x-ray comparison at a recent appointment.
His new knee is on the left, with the old on the right. It doesn't even really look like a knee, does it? It kind of looks like the old knee had its own brain, I think!
Thanks to all who prayed for skilled doctors, a safe surgery and a swift recovery!!
Now....if you get queasy, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN.
Seriously.... don't do it. I want you to read the blog again, so forgive me if you are queasy and you do see the following picture. But again, this is your warning.
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