Doctors, Rehab and Kevin's Surgery

So far we are off to a busy week.  Monday I went to the orthopedic doctor.  I actually met with his PA, and I really like him.  They are starting with my left hip.  I have some arthritis in both hips, but not enough for surgery.  It seems that my problem is my bursa.  It is so bad he said it will probably take several months of treatments.  That’s because I left it go for so long.  Anyway, he gave me a cortisone shot, prescribed an ointment (which I am having trouble with my insurance company authorizing) and rehab.  My back had been hurting also because of the way I was walking.  The shot helped with that pain also.  However, my knees are another story.  But….because of Medicare they can only check on thing at a time.  So the knees have to wait.

After going to the doctor Jana and I had lunch at Dairy Queen.  We then went shopping at Walmart for a few odds and ends.  Then it was home for the day.

Started my rehab today (Wednesday).  All went well.  I learned a lot about this bursa thing on Monday and today.  Of course, by the time I finished my rehab my hip was hurting again.  The shot helped a lot.  In fact, last night was the best night’s sleep I have had in a long time.  I have been given three sets of exercises to do twice a day.  I also go to rehab twice a week until my next doctor appointment which is January 9^th.  After we left the rehab facility we stopped at IHop for breakfast.  Then it was home to do laundry and other necessary housework.

Tuesday, Jana did her laundry.  I finished wrapping my Christmas presents.  Then I spent the afternoon with Renea in the She Shed helping her with a couple of projects.  It felt good to get back to the house and off my feet. 

Kevin set up my Alexa that I received for my birthday.  I actually received one for the She Shed and one for the house.  So far, only the one in the house is working.  I am gradually adding music, etc. to it.  I still have a lot of setup work to do in the She Shed.  Probably won’t got too much done out there until after Christmas.  However, Kevin has been a busy bee in his Shed.  His business if booming.  Yea for Kevin.

It is now Thursday and Kevin had his surgery today.  Everything went fine.  The doctor was able to smooth out the burrs on his neck which was almost touching his spine.  He removed the damaged discs and replaced them.  He removed the old hardware from the surgery he had almost twenty years ago.  Doing all this actually straightened his neck/spine.  Hopefully, this will eliminate the pain and numbness that he has been feeling.  He spent the night in the hospital because of his problem of coming out of anesthesia.  All the Aker guys have this problem. 

He came home on Friday.  Just an FYI for those who don’t know this, when this surgery is done, the doctor actually makes the cut in the front of his neck.  He them moves everything over so he can work on the back of his neck.  VERY SCARY!  One of the problems is making sure there is no damage to his vocal chords.  He is wearing a soft neck collar.  He has to keep this on until he sees the doctor next Thursday.  He is eating soft food,  His speech is a little raspy.  He has limitations on what he can do.  However, he is doing great!