Even in Despair.....

As earlier written, Riley had both knees replaced on the 13th of May. He was home on the 22nd of May and all was well....until.....

Friday, the 26th of May I came home after 5 hours away (womens' group studying a Beth Moore lesson @ church; a trip to the quilt store and to JoAnns) and the dear man's left knee was swollen. Mind you, not overly swollen. He couldn't get comfortable and within 45 minutes or less, the left knee now resembled an overripe cantaloupe and he was in a lot of pain. Horrors. Could get him down by elevator to the lobby (curses on living on the 6th floor of a high rise apartment - at least temporary curses) but he could go no further.

A 911 call was made (thank you Deanne and Jason of our leasing office!) and within minutes, an ambulance was getting him on the gurney.Despair does not begin to describe my state of mind.

Long story short - adhesions & scar tissue had torn away from the knee and while good for the knee to bend properly, it was complicated by the blood thinners he is on. Hence, blood pooling up in the knee.ER doc's discussion with ortho surgeon resident was interesting... drain the blood & risk infection or .... Can't say I heard much after the 'drain the blood' issue. Suffice to say, I didn't choose the medical field for a reason.

An ultrasound was ordered (resulted in finding blood clots in left lower calf - already knew there were small ones in right lower calf) and also an Xray done - just in case. Six hours later, he was released with a pain medication slightly more effective than the previous one prescribed.

It is now the 3rd of June. Riley is doing well. We've had our discussion of fear. I feared I would be going home without my beloved - permanently. Riley feared he might lose his leg. Eh. Rather a leg than a life. At any rate, it sure did make for glorious days afterwards.

Even in despair, there can be joy. We learned that pain medication is a good thing - especially since this particular medication has Tylenol in it (helps relieve swelling). We learned there is a proper way to elevate the legs (which we were not doing properly). We learned too much walking may produce consequences but exercising does not.

Baby quilt pictured above was finished 30 minutes before having to leave for a baby shower on Monday, 1 June. That elevates my procrastinator status greatly. Second quilt I've freehand quilted with my trusty Singer sewing machine. Oh yes. Almost five hours of quilting but worth the effort. Just don't look on the backside of the quilt.

I quilt.

Angel45402