Well, my patient was home for two nights before being transported back to the hospital on Thursday evening, May 17th, by three friendly ambulance attendants. He was running a fever and had unrelenting pain in the new knee. They ran blood cultures to determine whether he had an infection, tried unsuccessfully to aspirate the knee, put him on broad based antibiotics and filled him with morphine.
By Sunday he was up and walking around the ward with a normal (post surgical)amount of controlled pain. His appetite returned along with the colour in his cheeks and the test results for infection were negative. What was the cause?? Doctors speculated that it could have been inflammation from the swelling around the surgical site...or gout..in a new knee?? Oh joy!!
He returned home to my sister's yesterday and is doing much better.
Tomorrow is the first physiotherapist appointment and also the removal of staples. Physio is scheduled for Lions Gate Hospital so we will be making two trips each week to North Vancouver until we return to Salmon Arm. It is impossible for him to bend his knee enough to sit in the front passenger seat so, like last year, he is being transported in the back seat with his leg stretched out along the seat. It is much easier for him to slide into the vehicle than it is to hoist himself out!
Nothing is ever easy with this guy!!
By Sunday he was up and walking around the ward with a normal (post surgical)amount of controlled pain. His appetite returned along with the colour in his cheeks and the test results for infection were negative. What was the cause?? Doctors speculated that it could have been inflammation from the swelling around the surgical site...or gout..in a new knee?? Oh joy!!
He returned home to my sister's yesterday and is doing much better.
Tomorrow is the first physiotherapist appointment and also the removal of staples. Physio is scheduled for Lions Gate Hospital so we will be making two trips each week to North Vancouver until we return to Salmon Arm. It is impossible for him to bend his knee enough to sit in the front passenger seat so, like last year, he is being transported in the back seat with his leg stretched out along the seat. It is much easier for him to slide into the vehicle than it is to hoist himself out!
Nothing is ever easy with this guy!!
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