Just a quick update to all of you who thought we had disappeared. Were still here and I am glad to report Cindy is recovering from her ACL reconstruction surgery she had on Feb 22nd. Fortunately it has been almost a totally snowless winter so we have not missed out on any great conditions. I think we are both starting to show signs of cabin fever though as we have not been able to do anything outside since the accident.
Cindy was really hoping her knee damage was just a MCL sprain but after 5 weeks it was still hurting and starting to lock up. I finally convinced her that we needed to get it looked at again. She had to change doctors and I think she got a really good one the second time. After looking at her knee he told her he was 99% sure she had internal damage, most likely a torn meniscus and ordered a MRI. Well he himself was surprised when we looked at the MRI because the meniscus was fine but then as he scanned down he saw that the ACL was missing. Cindy wound up having a 99% tear.
The surgery was scheduled for the morning of 22nd so we were up early and heading to the surgery center. They made quick work of getting my little lady ready for surgery and let me see her for just a few minutes before they wheeled her back. Doesn't she make a cute little patient?
She will kill me for that pic but I think it is priceless.
After about an hour and half the surgeon met with me to discuss the procedure and show me some pics. the ACL was all but gone which made less work for him cleaning out the damaged tissue. He showed me pics of the drilled holes in her bones and the new cadaver tendon they inserted into her knee. He assured me all went great and went over the rehab details.
I got to help Cindy to the car about 45 mins later then carefully took her home. She was super tired from the pain meds so I got her setup in front of the fire and that is pretty much where she camped out for the first week or so.
I had to take her back the next day for a post op check up and she was barely able to stay awake long enough to get to the car. She went right back to sleep once I got her belted in and then struggled to stay awake to get into the office. She went right back to sleep sitting in the waiting room and then once she saw the pillow on the exam table she went right back to sleep again.
The Doc woke her up and asked if the pain meds were making her drowsy? Just a little LOL! They reduced her dosage and checked out her knee. All looked well and they gave her the green light to start exercising it daily to get her range of motion back.
Cindy started working her knee that night and had plenty of help from the boys as they wanted to make sure she was doing them right.
Ok, so the were not much help but they were there to offer moral support. They have really liked having Cindy at home with them everyday. They love having someone else to take naps with them during the day.
Cindy just had her two week checkup and the Doc said she was Rockstar because she was doing so well. Her range of motion was well past 90 degrees, probably close to 130. She was walking without much of a limp and he cleared her to not wear her brace all the time. He also said she could ride her bike on the stationary bike trainer stand without any resistance. Cindy still has some swelling if she is on it for very long or if she works it a lot but that is just part of it and will go away as the knee continues to heal.
I have been trying to be the best nurse i can be for her during her recovery. I think I deserve an A for my nest building skills
The curved foam pillow was just the ticket to keep Cindy's leg from rolling off when she slept.
Sadly we chose to cancel our trip to the Rockies this summer. While her doctor said she should be fine to go it just isn't worth the risk of re injury so soon after surgery. Once I told the doc that we were going to be backpacking in and fly fishing in the streams he agreed that it might be best to postpone that trip till her knee is completely healed which will take up to a year. We were both really looking forward to going and had already started getting all the gear we would need. We can use the gear kayak camping as well so it will get used one way or another and we really hope to be able to go out next summer and see the Rockies. It just wasn't worth the risk of Cindy slipping or stepping on a rock and stressing the new tendon as it heals. Plus I did not want to have to carry her out 6 miles at 10,000 feet. I would have done it but I would much rather not doing it if at all possible.
As long as Cindy continues to heal at the rate she is healing she should be good to go when sailing season arrives in a couple of months. She will still need to be really careful crawling around on the boat to make sure she does not slip and take a spill. I will do my best to keep her somewhat under control.
We are getting ready for our spring break trips as Cindy is going to Key West with her girlfriends and I am hoping to head down to the Smokies for a few days with my fishing buddy Bill to backpack in and fly fish for trout. The forecast looks great for Cindy's trip but it is still kind of iffy for our fishing trip. They just had snow in the mountains and now the temps are really dropping with a low in the teens tonight. That will make the water temps drop as well and we really need the water to be 50 or close to it for the trout to be active. There is a warm up forecasted to start a few days before we are scheduled to go so hopefully it warms the water back up.
I know Cindy did not enjoy getting hurt and we both really missed not being able to take our normal ski trips to Michigan. But I know she has really enjoyed being at home the past few weeks. She started cranking out the sewing projects once her knee got well enough for her to be a little mobile. I think it has given her a taste of what retirement will be like and from all impressions I get she really really likes it!
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