I have surgery on my left hand (dominant hand) next Friday the 27th. Need to go up to Odessa (250? miles.) Planned on going up tomorrow for pre-op tests (EKG, chest xray (uh-oh), and lab work again) so went to the 'lodge' for a shower and stopped for a meal and started to drive back ... and in less than oh, let's say a mile realized I had a flat. Rocky dirt road, I seriously couldn't tell until I looked.

77 yo changing a tire on a rocky dirt road with a jack that is now on it's 3rd (4th?) owner 'cause the thing will just lift a car and I seldom have flats that I can't get changed easily

I ain't gonna make it tomorrow ... gonna go to bed shortly and sleep till the dogs wake me up!

So thats probably up there on the redneck scale with me and my 67 yr old neighbor cutting off my tailpipe with an angle grinder on the side of the road during a blizzard in 2022.

And if it makes you feel any better, it looks like im drunk on curves right now because i have a going bad inner tie rod i cant afford to fix right now because of the bad gravel roads. And sometimes i think hitting the loose gravel that ends up on the pavement is bad for the suspension. Sliding cant be good. Only here do paved roads wash out regularly. We are bordeing on flooding right now, standing water and mud everywhere.

And i know 7 inches of rain in 4 days may not seem like much, but the ground doesnt absorb it as fast in the desert as other places.

@al best of luck on fhe surgery

Yikes! Hope hand surgery goes well (is this for the dePuytyens contracture?)

Ugh, Emily, be careful! One of my more memorable driving moments was when a tie rod went on a car. Driving down the road, minding my own business... Car suddenly had a mind of it's own and the only thing i could do was brake. Steering was useless. Had an infant in car seat in back. Fortunately, deserted country road so no harm no foul.

So my rear most bottom molar is out. And the hole is healing. I chose an oral surgeon for the extraction as my local dentist does not do anything other than local anaesthetic. I'm glad i did, the tooth shattered v and they had to remove it in pieces, needed to cut open a bit of the gum to search for shards and i now have stitches (dissolvable) in my mouth. Not sure i would have tolerated the procedure without the sedation. And, best of all? Along with the propofol and fentanyl, they topped off the IV with decadron (a powerful steroid) that made swelling and muscle spasms in the jaw basically nil. By the time the steroid wrote off, i was 3 days into healing. This was the easiest extraction I've had. Worst was my wisdom teeth years ago and nobody told my about milkshakes, straws and dry socket

Next up - see the orthopedist to plan for knee replacement. Supposedly, you're not supposed to have any open wounds that could harbor infection - my tooth hole shot be sealed by them but I've got a particularly nasty, large, complex skin tear on the back of my hand. Did that about 10 days ago. Hubby initial worries i might need skin graft but it appears to be healing except for one area that is filling in with granulation tissue and still oozing. It's steri- stripped, covered with a large tegraderm bandage with a very stretchy knit one size fits all glove acting as compression covering the mess (fingerless, I cut the ends off.) I call it my Michael Jackson impression.

Not looking forward to the recovery period, apparently it's a month before. Walking with came out walker, 12 weeks before any semblance of normal function and 1-2  year before full benefit is seen. I had been losing weight too make things easier but the before and after with the tooth i was sort of limited to squishy diet of ice cream, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese. Rather calorie dense. And the steroid really amped my appetite - think cookie monster but can't eat cookies so I've cream and mashed potatoes... Still not comfortable eating anything crunchy or chewy. And there's still a hole that i don't want to get any seeds in (so no berries, broccoli, meat - even chicken makers my jaw ache.)

amymeme wrote:

Yikes! Hope hand surgery goes well (is this for the dePuytyens contracture?)

Ya, if you remember this is the second time around. Last time was the injection that was supposed to dissolve the collegan<??> which almost worked but it's back on my left hand. The injection method is supposed to work, the surgery does work (what isn't there can't cause a problem?)

Good luck, Al. Just remember, there is a slight chance of it recurring, not much of a chance but a bit .

Knee replacement, all i will say is i hope yours goes better then jerrys did last year.

I have had several memorable driving incidents. The day i got spider. She was born on mt blanca at the end of a 4x4 road/trail. Lost a bolt the connected the tie rod and snapped the passenger side of the axle going down the mountain. Then there was losing my brakes of a forest service road on a steep downhill grade. There was when Chrysler overtorqued my lug nuts and they snapped and the wheel fell off at 67mph and then the 2022 black ice truck on the rear bumper thing. But current issue its showing a little play right now and once i get around to actually advertising the explorer for sale and sell it i can fix the expedition. Snow in the forcast tonight and given the 4x4 works flawless and really the whole thing minus the ac and radio is ok (and some minor things like the thermostat is shot so it runs cold, and the belts are looking worn) and based of the price of whats available and not really broken i should have no issue asking 4k and getting it sold.

Uhhh... Emily, I hesitate to ask, what went wrong with Jerry's knee replacement? I'm really at the no choice point. I've been doing non weight bearing exercise to strengthen muscles around the knee but it does nothing to help with walking. I'm the morning it's sorry of ok, walking more than a few steps with a very short stride had grinding pain in the joint line but i can do it. Much activity at all and the swelling starts and the knee is stiff, thick and hard to bend. And the grinding gets worse, if i forget and start to move with any speed or approaching normal stride length, i get a very sharp, stabbing grinding pain - I'm a real treat to be around as you here me yelping When the knee grinds on itself. I've yet to use the grocery store motorized carts because I believe any exercise i can do is better than none but I'm slow as hell given my shortened stride and creeping pace. I'm forever stopping and letting people pass me because I'm so annoyingly slow. And even then, i really can't do a whole long shopping, I get fatigued from the pain. And it's effecting my foot and hip with the increasing bowleggedness. When i walk now, my for only strikes on the very outside unless o have a wife legged stance. But then it causes hip pain. This is no way to live and i don't even want to consider how this is impacting my bone health and my cardiac health! I just joined a gym so i can use the stationary bike (it's s Medicare advantage benefit, cheaper than buying a stationary bike and the hassle of where to put it in our overfilled house) My only fear is that insurance will want failed PT before approving the surgery. I've been doing my own strengthening and flexibility stuff, icing, heat, Tylenol (can't take NSAIDS, unfortunately. I was talking turmeric which in retrospect, I believe was helping but had to stop that when we figured out the turmeric was the cause of my gastritis. It got so bad that as soon as good hit my stomach, there was intense burning, Wayne had me on 40 mg famotidine twice a day for a month to get rid of it. Took 2 courses. As i started the second course, o got suspicious about my needs and supplement because I've always had a cast iron stomach. Ran across info regarding turmeric and stomach issues. Stopped the turmeric, finished the famotidine and now - stomach is fine.

Interestingly, son 2 asked about what he could do for Archer - his hips seemed to be bothering him and he wasn't very active anymore, trouble hoping into truck etc.I told him about Ami and the Dasuquin and the relatable improvement in just a few says. So son started Archer on the Dasuquin and had a similar, positive experience. Welp. Turns out Cosamin ASU is the human version. I figured I'd gamble and ordered a bottle for both hubby and I (he's having a hip problem that really interfering with life ) The cosamin is supposed to arrive tomorrow, well see how it goes. I'm not expecting much at all with my right knee as that has no cartilage, just bone on bone and stage arthritis. But, if I can protect my left knee, I'll be quite a happy camper. And so far, except for what i think is a bursitis issue in my right hip secondary to the knee derangement, I have no issues with my hips. Yet. Except for low bone density. Which is why i ones my knee to work!

I might try that for my hip. Anyway we really arnt 100% sure why it failed. But he can barely bend it without alot of pain. Surgeon that did it claimed it was from scar tissue buildup but then offered no solution to fix it. But it also seems like i moves side to side more then it should to where he describes it as feeling unstable. The surgeon that did his neck at uchealth looked at his range of motion and said he would consider it failed at this point. Said they might be able to laser some of the scar tissue but the instability was a different issue. He said he suspected it didnt seat right against the bone and recommended calling a different orthopedic surgeon to look at if a revision surgery could be done or if it had to be completely redone. They did a cementless full knee replacement.

Emily, I'm sorry to hear that. Almost sounds like his bone didn't fuse with the implant. Curious about his bone density, is that might be an issue.

Really wouldnt know. The surgeon that did it saw him for a pain related followup, took an xray and only commented on scar tissue and gave him and injection and that was it. Didnt comment about vone density or anything else. So i found the dr that does the knees for the us ski team. Trying to get him an appointment with her.

So as a diy (and shadows meds killing my finances) i have a closet with no shelves, annd really no storage in my house and ive had these 2x10s outside for a few years. They have some weird glue stuff i need to get off. It might even be plaster or horse bone glue, they came off a house that was built in 1882. I really dont want to ruin them. Also i dont have a sander. So probably do it by hand.

Al? I believe your hand surgery was today? How did it go? Hope you're comfortable.

Doc comes into the pre-op cubical to mark the cut before surgery, asks if I have any questions - 'Yeh, why are you just standing there?'  I have no patience and was druggy from pre-op meds - that's my excuse for insubordination!

Surgery: DONE!  Hand: HURTS!!  Though honestly not so bad as I'd thought it would.  Now at 12 hours past operation and I'm at home.

Doc says that I need to leave the "ACE" style bandage in place for three days (that didn't work), then remove the bandage and wash hand. We'll see if I last that long.  I had to laugh (sorta) at the follow up that he had made a referral for 3 weeks from today with a local (Alpine) doctor for follow up and removal of stitches - if they stay there that long, I'm bad for removing stitches myself when they get really itchy.

In the meantime i have to see what the dogs have been doing and take a long nap ( I got up at 03:00 this AM Dave picked me up at 04:00 and we got back to out houses at about 18:00 (6:00 PM) I been a real tired old man!!

---

@amymeme Yes it was, see notes above.  Comfortable .... ???? Not in agony but it does hurt. I can already tell I'm going to have to crate Belle if I want the bandage to hold!!

ETA 09/28 08:30 Hand hurts a lot less than I expected last night from the jagged (surgical) cut down its right hand edge.  Doc has prescribed Tylenol 3's and by the time they get here from VA (prob Tue/Wed) I'll not be needing them. 
Now gotta go make coffee, get jeep, get breakfast - in that order.

Al, I'm shaking my head sounds like you're as bad as my hubby when it comes to stitches. He's had a lot of skin excisions for biopsies, almost always asks me to take stitches out early. Not that the itch but the skin breaks down, usually due to reaction to suture material. Keeping that ace on will reduce the swelling and potentially allow the hands to heal better.

I just saw my Ortho, my knee surgery is scheduled as outpatient. I made the mistake of joining a FB one replacement support group and I'm getting quite nervous. Apparently it's one of life's more extended painful experiences. I see the NP in a few weeks, I'll ask what the pain control protocol is, get prescriptions early so I'll have them. And, doc says I'll start PT 2 days after surgery I do believe the PT and I will duke it out of the try to push my flexion to hard. I will be persistent and try to push a little beyond each session and do the home exercises. But i will not let them punish me into bending me knee so hard I'm left in agony for hours after.

Poor hubby. He's more than had it with my anxiety around the whole thing. It's much less the procedure than the recovery. Particularly around pain control. I've had so much constant pain for the past few years that I'm beside myself about increasing that level for weeks if not months. Tylenol helps a bit but an NSAID would help even more. Which i can't take. At least the Cosamin ASU has added. A degree of comfort. Not to mention major improvement in my walking ability. And, surprise surprise: it's helping my mouth where i had the root canal and there's that little cyst up there.

We're raining. Again. Ground is sopping. I need to close the pool. Which means final cleaning, moving all the pool furniture to the shed porch and putting winter cover and leaf net on. I'm afraid i may end up asking son 2 to help me with the pool furniture. Hubby is in the middle of attacking the first 3 cords of wood with another 3 cords to be ordered. I'm helping as best i can but I'm am sorely deconditioned after spring on my butt for a year. The good news for him though is he saw the Ortho same day as me and no arthritis in hip! Just severe lack of flexibility. So he will be accompanying me to pt

I went out Thursday evening -that's presurgery - to a flat tire when I drove to a next door neighbors.  Told him I'd get the Jeep on Saturday morning.
So, post op directions are to "leave bandage on till third day, then wash."  Well with a Jeep with a flat tire that didn't work.  Put the spare on and went to a mech who does tires (( note that means I had to dismount the spare, dismount the flat and mount the spare ... all without stressing the wound from surgery.  (( yeh, right!!! )) ))
In summ, I have minimal pain - that's normal for me, I've found out - if I hit the wound on something it hurts for few seconds but nothing major.  My hand is a little stiff at the moment and I'll wrap it again before I crash shortly...
And I'm wandering, sorry.

@amymeme It looks like this at the moment; while it may look like it, there is no active blood, just some thin scabs.  And g'afternoon.



Those are some odd stitches ....

Were those open gaps in the incision purposeful or did you open it inadvertently. I would say you've got a major challenge keeping that clean and un-infected! Keep in mind that cellulitis diets not necessarily become visibly purulent. If that would becomes hot, swollen, painful or you start to see red streaks up your arm, get thee to the nearest emergency place!

All of the incisions I've had before the stitches go across the incision individually.  What *I* see here (the pad at the base of the little finger for example) are running parallel to the incision, topping out to close the incision.  As I said, they're the oddest stitches *I've* ever seen.

That red mark across the palm of my hand encloses a pad where the tendon ran but with the removal of the dupuytren mass (or whatever you want to call it) it created a small collapsed tunnel.  What I see at hand is a bit of scab buried beneath the 'tunnel' ...

We'll see ....

Just showed the pic to husband - says the look like mattress stitches ( horizontal or vertical he can't tell from pic) and you won't be able to take those out yourself, you'll end up with embedded stitches left behind. And you need to cover that, infection a big possibility.

I agree that they look like mattress stitches and it looks like a toothed forceps is required for removal and I don't have one - much less the two that look to be needed.  Guess I'll call the local doc to see about removal in a couple of weeks time.
Could I?  probably but it looks like it would be too easy to leave pieces where they don't belong - rather be safe than sorry and thank him for the instruction.

I have a second 'ace' bandage that I'm using today - for a couple more days if I don't have to change any more tires.  These are very stretchy and have Velcro at the ends - real easy to get too tight!  I may head into town and see if I can get some real Ace bandages (or figure out how to wash and dry these)

I think the stretchy with Velcro ace are more the norm these days. I can't decide which i like better, the stretchy do get too tight but the clips on the traditional ace frequently stop holding. I have a complex, large skin treat on the back of my hand that needs protection. I took a stretchy, one size fits all glove, cut the ends of the fingers off and wear that to protect the steri strips and bandage. I also ordered something like these but you may find a compression glove similar or biking gloves:

Link to Stretchy Gloves

Al - here's my Michael Jackson imitation

Also - just go to Amazon and search fingerless gloves. The knit, one size fits all gives some padding and a bit of compression

Okay, I don't think anyone else is using a desktop model so I was apparently the only one not seeing the menu and text at the right hand side of the page.
Anyway, I fixed that so I can see the screen again and deleted a couple of unneeded messages.

amymeme wrote:

Also - just go to Amazon and search fingerless gloves. The knit, one size fits all gives some padding and a bit of compression

Awe, Amazon gets enough of my money already!! I'd rather do ACE style rather than 'gloves'
I went looking for ACE bandages and should have realized that that's a trademarked name!  Various and sundry forms of elastic bandages are on the shelf as well ... but they all arrive (should I order any) Monday or Tuesday of next week when I'll have the stitches out on Thursday ...

ETA: I take the wrap off a couple of times a day, it either gets too loose or too tight so it needs to get rewrapped in either case. The palm of my hand is really odd, it seems that it's black and blue (bruised) more than it was the day after surgery ... may be the case, but at least it's not getting any further colour. He has one stitch that's about to drive me up a wall! It's right at the base of my little finger (between 4th and little finger) and the stitch is hitting my fingers on both sides and it's scratchy!!!

I prefer coflex though i usually put gauze or cotton wrap under it. Ive used both the human and animal type. Its exactly the same (call 3m if you dont believe me) just animal type seems to come in more sizes and colors then just white or tan and 2 4 or 6 inch. Hope that heals well

@Lostmaniac I've seen that though not anywhere near me - that I know of! A demonstration of how to wrap an adhesive bandage (ACE, etc) used coflex ... I wondered when he 'got done with the wrap' and tore it off.

Healing is a problem with me since I tend to heal quicker than the average bear. I'm normally ready to take stitches out at a week rather than two ... and I don't want to even try to take these out by myself (thanks to Wayne!)

@amymeme why do they say to not sleep with an ACE bandage wrapped? it irritates me either way!!!