As scheduled, Paul had a total knee replacement of his left knee on June 6.  The surgery went extremely well, with no glitches and no re-cuts (as reported by Dr. Hallock).    He spent three days in Harrisburg Hospital and then was transferred to HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Mechanicsburg.    On a normal day there, he was in physical therapy, occupational therapy, on the Continuous Positive Motion machine, or in the pool for a total of 5-1/2 hours.  They kept him quite busy.

On Wednesday, June  21, he came home from HealthSouth and on Friday, he started out-patient rehabilitation at Penn's Wood Rehab in Carlisle, where he will go three times a week.

This has not been an easy experience, but, as everyone says, he'll be glad he had it done.  His thigh was quite swollen, which appears to have slowed down his knee-bending ability.  He was doing well in HealthSouth, but his knee tightened up when he came home, despite the fact that he was doing all the prescribed exercises.  We hope that Penn's Wood will take care of that and he'll be back on his feet very soon.

Finally -- the follow-up visit to the surgeon.  We saw X-rays of the new knee and it looked great, according to Dr. Hallock.  The swelling that is still present is not abnormal and things look good to him.  He authorized another month of aquatherapy at Penn's Wood (after asking Paul if he felt he needed more therapy).  We go back in six weeks.

Six weeks later and Paul's knee is still somewhat swollen.  I'm not sure that the additional therapy did him any good.  He has been really good about doing all the exercises, but I think he may have overdone.  Dr. Hallock was surprised to see that it was still swollen and that Paul is still in pain.  He assured us that "it will get better."  Come back in six weeks.

Six weeks later, the pain is still there, which surprised the doctor once again.  He said Paul was somewhat slower than others {in healing :-)} and that we should come back in three months rather than waiting till the anniversary date, which is what would normally be done at this point.

Paul still has pain in the knee area and he has had pulled muscles in his left calf  several times.  The front part of his left foot is numb most of the time.  At today's visit, the doctor examined Paul's knee as it is still somewhat swollen and the doctor seemed concerned.  He aspirated a large amount of fluid from the knee and sent three small vials for testing (culture and cell count).  The doctor said the fluid looks clear and he doesn't anticipate the tests to show any problem there. He took another X-ray and everything LOOKS fine; his walk is fine, his extension is fine, etc.   He read his notes from the surgery and said maybe the patella (which apparently wasn't replaced) was rubbing against the artificial parts and was being irritated, thus causing the pain and swelling.  Maybe he should have replaced the patella. We go back on February 8 for the results.

However, for the other knee, there is another (new) procedure for which he might be eligible.  The info sheet on it says it's for people under 60, so one would think that would disqualify him, but the doctor must think otherwise.  What happens is this: the doctor does an arthroscope of the knee and takes care of any spurs (or other problems) that might be present.  If the knee has enough cartilege in the other side and he's deemed a good candidate, the doctor will slit the side of his knee and insert a metal spacer between the top and bottom bones of the knee.  This should balance the knee and help straighten out the tendons along the side.

This procedure was just approved earlier this year, but Dr. Hallock did his first one 17 months ago.  He was also to do three trial surgeries and the first patient liked his so much, he was also the third patient.

If the arthroscopy shows Paul not to be a good candidate, they stop there and send him home.  He is leaning toward this technique, but knows it probably won't last forever.  It could be done at Grandview Surgery Center, next door to where he went for rehab last time; he'd be taken to the Rehab and stay there one or two nights and then come home.
That part sounds really good and the doctor said he could have an epidural (either for this or full knee replacement), something he had not agreed to earlier.

In the meantime, Paul has made an appointment to have his cataract removed on November 28. 

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