I was driving after two weeks.
How I got here….
Well, this is bit of a long story but I think you’ll find it interesting.
As a 59 year old woman, of course, my knees are going to be a little painful, but hey it’s old age.
My husband and I decided to drive from Florida to upstate New York and the first day went swimmingly.
And then day two happened,
Around Virginia, it was rest stop time. Here’s where it gets interesting. I step out of the car put my right leg down and I felt a rip and a very loud snap. So loud, my husband heard it. Needless to say it was extremely painful to the point that I was not able to walk. Not a problem, my husband was doing the driving EXCEPT I couldn’t get out of the car to go to the bathroom. Okay, now there’s a problem.
There’s nothing worse than having your husband go to the drug store and buy adult diapers. But you see since I was unable to get out of the car anyone driving on I-95 might have seen me trying to put on an adult diaper in the front seat. Luckily, I’ve got a bladder the size of a Mac truck, so happily the diaper was just a memory. Phew.
Fast forward we arrive in Syracuse, head straight to the Emergency Room and ended up with a pair of crutches and my knee wrapped. Yeah, that was a waste of time but after a few days I saw an Orthopedic surgeon who said after looking at the x-rays just taken “Susan, you need a new knee”. Crap. Well, that sure ruined my day. I received an injection of cortisone which held me until I saw my own Orthopedic doctor back in sunny Florida. He also took x-rays, came back and said: “Susan, you need a new knee.”
Double crap. Now my guy in Florida (whom I adore) recently had a hip replaced with great success.
As we were discussing with the Dr. at this office, he told me that he had his surgery by a Doctor Leone at Holy Cross Hospital.
He explained that this Dr. only does hip and knee replacements and that I should check things out.
I certainly did check things out and about 2 minutes into speaking with Dr. Leone I was hooked. And of course, after reviewing my new x-rays, Dr. Leone said: “Susan, you need a new knee.” Well with Dr. Leone telling me this I was like “whoo hoo let’s do this”. Heck, he could have done both knees, my hips and anything else he needed to fix. I was that confident in his ability. Not only are his surgical skills indisputable, his calm relaxing way about himself really put me at ease. As I said before, I adore my Orthopedic dude, but I love Dr. Leone (don’t tell my husband). I have total and complete confidence in Dr. Leone and his staff that make up such a fantastic group. OK, now it’s time for surgery:
Before I left my room, I was given a lovely drug and before I left the room, I was out.
Having a spinal was the best (although I don’t remember any of it) because I don’t like being intubated.
Next thing I know I’m back in my room with my knee wrapped up with a constant flow of ice on my knee. No pain, yippee although it was just a little discomfort when I got out of bed that afternoon but not pain. Happy, happy, joy, joy. I walked to physical therapy and got thing going because tomorrow (the day after surgery) I was going home. It’s hard to believe that anyone could be discharged the day after surgery. The Nursing staff was excellent, foods great and I was feeling unbelievably good.
True enough, I went home that very next day. It was wonderful having physical therapy come to the house to get things started and after a few weeks, I then went to a therapist nearby.
I was driving after 10 days and I can honestly say there was no pain, just some discomfort.
These people totally rock, and I’m heading back to see the good people at the Leone Center of Orthopedics. So excited.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed my little tale of how I met everyone at the Center, especially Dr. Leone…wink, wink.
Sincerely,
Susan Hadrous
