Saturday, February 21, 2009

Pictures!

Here I am, ensconced in my recliner amidst my personal ecosystem. Samwise is taking advantage of the lap space, I have my laptop, water, books and various other sundries around me. Yup - this is where I'm living at the moment.





My DEAR HUSBAND! has taken pics of my Xrays so I don't need to scan them. Isn't that smart of him? This first pic is straight on the front of the leg. You can see the plate, the 7 screws, and the line of staples where the incision is. Kinda cool, don't you think?

The faint waffling pattern is the dressing and ace bandage that is around the leg.





The second pic is a side view, from inside to outside. You can see the bulge of my calf muscle, and the line of staples again. Note how the patella (knee cap) is way north of where it should rightly be. All I have to say about that is . . . ewww.








Here it all is, wrapped and splinted in the knee imobilizer in my hospital bed. See those blue hose-like things? They are the cooling system! There is a cooler on the floor filled with ice water, and those hoses are hooked up to an ice-pack/bladder thingy around my knee, constantly circulating the cold water around. It's really nifty, and I have to tell ya, the cold helps tremendously with pain relief. Yes, my foot was really poofy for several days after the surgery, and I still have to watch it and keep it as elevated as I can stand it most of the day.

These are some of the flowers I received. The smiley one is from the AIMS PTA, of which I've been President this year. I have stepped down until I can work again, which may not happen before the end of the school year, actually. My friend, Cheryl, who is our Treasurer, works at the hospital where I was, and it was a real treat to see her the morning of my surgery.
The purple flowers are from my staff - isnt' that thoughtful? They're lovely, and are lasting so nicely!
The red tea roses are from my friends, N and J, who very kindly visited me the Friday evening I was there, on their way out to celebrate V-day. It was great to see them, too!

Now that I have the equipment nearby, I will be able to take more pictures and try to make the blog a little more attractive. ;-)

4 comments:

Cheryl said...

Ouch! I can't imagine having metal in my knee! So glad things are healing up well and you are being so well taken care of. So, what have you been reading? You'll have to give us a recap :)

GordonG said...

Jeez Cathy that's rough. Hope it heals up well. :)

Unknown said...

oww, pretty nasty, good thing they use titanium, don't think it sets of the alarms at the airports. Will they take the plate and screws out eventually.
Good luck with the recovery

Cat Herself said...

To be honest, Cheryl, the only reading I've managed so far is a few magazine articles and some blogs. I just can't concentrate. The book I've started is the Graveyard Book by Gaiman, and I like it, but I just can't concentrate well.

There has been no talk of taking out the metal at any point. As far as I know, it's there for keeps.

thanks for the good wishes!