The nurse took out all the staples from Mrs. Major’s knees. The tool she used looked nothing like the staple puller I have in my desk. No wonder Mrs. Major didn’t want me to do it. The tool looked like a small pair of pliers that had two teeth on the bottom and one on the top. When she squeezed, the staple would bend upward from the middle, unhook itself from the incision, and Mrs. Major would gasp.
While there, Mrs. Major confided to the nurse that the pain was constant and pretty much unexpected. The nurse asked what kind of pain meds she was taking. When she heard it was just Darvocet, she was amazed. I’ll give you something good. So now Mrs. Major has a jar of Percocet. That should fix things up. She hasn’t taken any, yet.
They also gave her a T-Card that has miniatures of her x-rays on it and a verification that she’s had bilateral knee replacement. It’s supposed to avoid cavity searches at the airport. I hope it does.
It was a busy day. First the PT’s visit, then the home nurse’s visit, then the trip to Ocala to the doctor’s office to have the staples removed. The PT had Mrs. Major go for a short walk outside, and she had to do some walking at the doctor’s office. Mrs. Major is exhausted. The Major is a little tired, too.
I also found out that Mrs. Major was given Zimmer Gender Knees. I knew the replacements were gender specific, what I discovered today is that they were Zimmers. So now when Mrs. Major gets upset with me I can just say, “Zimmer down, please.”
© 2008, J. M. Erickson. All rights reserved.
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