Dr. Fahey just stopped by to say that Mom is out of surgery. He said her knee was bad, as they had expected, and part of the knee replacement involves using metal and plastic to rebuild about half an inch of bone that - without much cartilege to protect it - had worn away. Dr. Fahey said they would be installing a nerve cap in one of the nerves that goes to the knee, which would block some of the pain for a couple of days. He said Mom was right that she would not be getting blood thinner until tomorrow, and so that's the time period - over the next few days in the hospital - that they'll have to monitor for internal bleeding. The blood thinner is to prevent clots which - although she has a filter between her legs and torso - she also has a history of (so they're trying to avoid the Scylla of clots and the Charybdis of internal bleeding). They'll also start Mom probably later today on a machine that moves her left leg up and down constantly, which I've seen Grandpa on at his old house after one of his knee replacement surgeries (he's a success story). The doctor said Mom would probably be in the hospital for several days - going to rehab over the weekend if there are bed available, and then in rehab for about two weeks. He sa,d the soonest Mom could have her right knee replaced is 6-8 weeks (?!), but more ideal would be to wait longer for her to recover. Of course, the danger with waiting too, too long is that the knee could get worse and one can get older and less healthy and strong in general and recovery can be tougher. The doctor seemed competent and businesslike. He sat next to me - with his green scrubs and clear plastic over his hair (perhaps one reason why he didn't look totally like his picture).
Ironically, minutes after Dr. Fahey left, a retired Lutheran pastor, whose now one of the "parish associates" at our church, stopped by. He's helping cover for our pastor, whose out fo the country, and he knows Mom and Penny even more than me. I was shocked to see him there but I was surprised that he was here not only to see but also to see GIGI - who's good friends with his wife. Tallahassee is a small town, and birds of a feather flock together, but it still seemed kind of amazing (he also knows Jorge). I talked with Emory (pictured above) for a while, whose a Texan like our pastor but has lived in Tallahassee since 1968 and is involved in lots of different projects (including a small in-fill housing communitiy called Daystar which he helped build behind the Miracle Theater and next to a small old African-American community called - he told me - Caroline's Quarters - and two non-profit stores. Talking with Emory reminded me that Mom had joked to the staff not once but twice about whether things had gotten to the point where it was too late to get out of the surgery. That reminded me she was nervous - because she couldn't entirely be jokiing (just like when she told me that she was shaking, just before we split up). Penny called soon after Emory left (minutes before Jacob was to get home from his last day of school, but she said she'd been concentrating healing energy - consistent with what she does with her healing practice, even from long distance - on Mom's state of mind - during surgery- to help her relax and be les nervous, and also on her right knee which will be bearing the brunt of Mom's weight for a while.
The volunteer, Tish, says I won't be allowed to try to see Mom in the recovery room, because other people are also in there. she expects that when the board switches to pink - "PACU out" (patient has left recovery), they would call her to give me a room number. Editing a work report and a late lunch after that. I'm waiting to hear from Stephanie about her an dher colleagues' and perhaps her father's Churchill Downs horse-racing visit and to see if any more information appears about Vincent's Denmark trip on the blog.
Ironically, minutes after Dr. Fahey left, a retired Lutheran pastor, whose now one of the "parish associates" at our church, stopped by. He's helping cover for our pastor, whose out fo the country, and he knows Mom and Penny even more than me. I was shocked to see him there but I was surprised that he was here not only to see but also to see GIGI - who's good friends with his wife. Tallahassee is a small town, and birds of a feather flock together, but it still seemed kind of amazing (he also knows Jorge). I talked with Emory (pictured above) for a while, whose a Texan like our pastor but has lived in Tallahassee since 1968 and is involved in lots of different projects (including a small in-fill housing communitiy called Daystar which he helped build behind the Miracle Theater and next to a small old African-American community called - he told me - Caroline's Quarters - and two non-profit stores. Talking with Emory reminded me that Mom had joked to the staff not once but twice about whether things had gotten to the point where it was too late to get out of the surgery. That reminded me she was nervous - because she couldn't entirely be jokiing (just like when she told me that she was shaking, just before we split up). Penny called soon after Emory left (minutes before Jacob was to get home from his last day of school, but she said she'd been concentrating healing energy - consistent with what she does with her healing practice, even from long distance - on Mom's state of mind - during surgery- to help her relax and be les nervous, and also on her right knee which will be bearing the brunt of Mom's weight for a while.
The volunteer, Tish, says I won't be allowed to try to see Mom in the recovery room, because other people are also in there. she expects that when the board switches to pink - "PACU out" (patient has left recovery), they would call her to give me a room number. Editing a work report and a late lunch after that. I'm waiting to hear from Stephanie about her an dher colleagues' and perhaps her father's Churchill Downs horse-racing visit and to see if any more information appears about Vincent's Denmark trip on the blog.
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