My rolling knee walker arrived at the medical supply store.  They had to special order one for me.  The standard size they carried only adjusted to fit someone who was 5’10” (at 6’3” and change that wasn’t going to fit).  Fortunately, my wife had asked about the height when we dropped off the prescription.  I went to the store and I have to admit it was a little like getting a new bike.  My hands were getting sore from the crutches and I was looking forward to setting them aside a bit  There in the store, in the midst of bedside commodes, shower chairs, and power recliners was my new mode of transportation.

Fresh out of the packaging (complete with plastic still on the wheels) was my cherry red rolling knee walker.  Handbrakes and basket included.  I hopped on and the fit was good.  It was loaded into the car and I was off to roll around the house.  We have hardwood floors, my wife wasn’t interested in my idea of pulling all the rugs up to help reduce the drag.  I settled for cruising around and putting things in my new basket.

As silly as it was, having more freedom of  movement and being able to give my hands a break from the crutches boosted my spirits.  My insurance company is covering part of the rental fee and I am a big fan of the rolling knee walker.  As long as you are on level ground it beats crutches by a mile.

After a weekend with my foot up, my wife drove me to same day surgery at 6:15am.  I signed in and took a seat.  By 7am I was in the pre-operative holding area, I met with the anesthesiologist and signed my anesthesia consent.

There was a moment of comedy while I was on my stomach for the peripheral nerve block.  I was prepped and the anesthesiologist was ready.  The nurse asked if I was starting to feel more relaxed (from the sedatives), I felt no different and this led to a discussion between the two nurses that amounted to “did you give the meds” “no I thought you gave the meds” “I didn’t give anything yet”.  Bottom line was a little bit of light sedation and then a lot of pressure as the block was given.

The CRNA (nurse anesthetist) introduced himself to me, we had some small talk about his kids.  After another dose of sedative to relax me…I woke up in the recovery area with oxygen via face mask.  I vaguely remember the surgeon assuring me that everything went great with the surgery.  I snoozed a bit, my wife came back to see me.  I found out that the surgeon was able to simply stitch my tendon together–no release from the calf, no tendon transfer.  The surgeon’s physician assistant came by to give me my discharge instructions.  Post-operative visit would be thee following Friday and she recommended I try to stay home until then, keep my leg up and get my recovery started properly.

I was sent home with a wrap to ice my leg through the splint (it is a small cooler that circulates ice water through a wrap I put on my splint).  My instructions were to keep my leg elevated and continuous cooling for the next 72 hours.  The nerve block was great but I had to pay close attention to my foot whenever I got up to make sure I didn’t bump into things.    Heeding the anesthesiolgist’s advice, I took a dose of pain medication before going to sleep (even though my nerve block was in full effect).   By 2:30 am the block was wearing off and I was reaching for more medicine…