Betsy has knee Surgery

On Monday, November 27, 2017 Betsy had to have surgery on her left knee for a meniscus tear.  Unfortunately, Betsy's doctor was very late to her surgery - 4 hours!!!!  Then she did the operation in 8 minutes - what???  We found out that there was a lot of arthritis and patella condomalaisia. They shaved the arthritis from behind the knee cap.  Little did we know at that time it was going to take so long to heal.

Then, Mark left for Ireland the very next day!!!  Betsy had to sleep on the couch for a week; Jasper was her little buddy.  Betsy was on crutches so it was super hard to manage the stairs, etc.  

It was a long week.  There were good days and bad moments.  After 10 days Betsy went back for a follow up appointment.  They were able to remove the strips - they assigned me to PT.  They also approved my trip to ski in Utah.

Before

After

Knee Surgery

On Monday, November 27, 2017 Betsy had to have knee surgery done on her left knee for a torn meniscus that was actually torn in two places. Betty had to be there by 11 AM. However her doctor didn’t show up till 4 PM for the surgery.  When Dr. Grossfeld got  Betsy into surgery, after Betsy had waited four hours for her to show up, Dr. Grossfeld found arthritis behind the kneecap and also in the knee joint itself. She shaved off the unstable arthritis.

Betsy was able to go home that very day but because of the stairs she slept on the couch for the duration of the process of healing her knee. Unfortunately the very next morning Mark had to leave for Ireland and he was going to be gone for a week. Betsy was on her own to fend for self while on crutches and needing constant ice packs.  

It turned out to be a much longer recovery than anyone expected. Because of the arthritis it took three months for Betsy’s knee to heal and for her to be without too much pain. She had not expected this for Christmas or for the ski trip in Utah or for taking her new job.

Mark's Dad has Hip Replacement Surgery

Around 12:00 today, Mark sent a text saying his dad would require hip replacement surgery.  Wow!  What a shoke.

Yesterday was his 90th birthday.  Linda and Kevin went to visit him and celebrate, but Mark called they also said he had taken a fall and was going to the doctor to be evaluated. 

I feel so bad for Mark's dad.  He's 90 years old, has a wonderful family, life and a nice place to live, but because of Alztimers' Disease he doesn't remember much of the present and because of poor knees he doesn't get around much.  As he is getting older he is getting weaker and now he has taken a fall that requires dramatic surgery.

Our thoughts and prayers are with him for a safe and successful surgery.  I'm sure he will also have to undergo extensive rehab and physical therapy. 

Mark's Surgery

On Friday, September 14 Mark went to Baptist East to have Stacey Grosfeld operate on his left knee.  He had to be there by 11:30 for a surgery at 1:00 pm.

Stacy was running late so they ended up not taking Mark back until 1:40.  He didn't come back until 2:55.  She said everything went great and that his knee looks great.

Mark did great coming out of surgery at the hospital, but as soon as we started driving home, he got sick to his stomach.  We were only 5 miles from home and he got sick (violently).  Luckily I had a 32 ounce cup in the car for him to use.  He was feeling terrible!

We got Mark upstairs with pillows under his leg, we put the ice on right away.   I got him all situated.  He didn't throw up any more and fell asleep for a few hours.  It was good.  He felt much better after he opened.

Marissa has oral surgery

Marissa had to have surgery on Wednesday.  At first Mark had made the appointment for the Friday before Christmas - now I'm so glad that there was an opening three days after Christmas.  I didn't want her to be in any pain on such a special day.  She was so brave.

Her appointment was at 9:00 AM.  Her permanent canine tooth didn't come in where it was supposed to.  In fact, it didn't come in at all; it came in horizontal across the palette of her roof of her mouth.  Because that tooth didn't come in where it was supposed to the baby canine never got pushed out.  Today they had to go in an remove the baby canine tooth, then cut open (expose) the permanent canine so that the orthodontist can put a hook on the tooth to pull it down into it's proper place.

She was in surgery for approximately one hour.  She had laughing gas, Novocain and then a general anesthesia.  When she came out she was completely unaware of what happened to her.  The doctor said she did great and that the spacing looks even better than they originally thought.  There is a worry that the permanent canine might kill another tooth because the path runs so close to that tooth's root.  We are hoping it will have enough space not to damage the lateral tooth next to the canine.

Marissa was a great patient.  She came home well.  She can only eat soft food (no sucking out of a straw).