Post Dubai surgery report
23 September 2007
So Oskar and I are back in Almaty and living well. Oskar never missed a moment’s energetic, happy hooliganism, and I will soon have full movement in my knee when the swelling goes down. The doctor said I should do any sports for three weeks, then another doctor said in 4 or 5 months, I will have inferior (only because it will not be the original parts) cartilage grown in. I think I can wait a few months before I do anything. He said the most important thing is not to twist the knee during the recovery period. I suggested that I should wear a brace or something. He didn’t like that idea because the brace would take the place of the muscle, and they needs to gain strength, too.
On the morning of Oskar’s surgery, he was jet lagged and he woke up at 5:30 am (7:30 Almaty time). We walked around the hospital, and around and around… Later that morning, I couldn’t find the piggie he uses as a comfort toy. I went to all the security places and to each floor, nobody had seen it.
As the time got nearer to his surgery, he got more and more sleepy. Usually he takes a nap about 11:00 (Almaty). The operation was at 13:00 (Almaty). He also was not allowed to eat anything, so…from 5:30 ( Dubai ) until 11:00 ( Dubai ) he couldn’t eat, and he didn’t want to sleep. He also was without his piggie. About 10:00, he started to whimper, “Piggie?” “Piggie!” in a desperate voice.
They gave him some medicine to relax him and make him drowsy about an hour before the operation. It didn’t seem to have an effect on him. On Thursday, they gave me the same medicine about 10 minutes before the operation. They took me down to the pre-operating room and the anesthesiologist was there. I told him I would like to talk to the doctor before hand because I didn’t know what kind of bandage I would have and that I want to see the scope and the tools he would be using. He answered, “Okay, we’ll get someone up here to talk to you right away.” The next thing I remember, I was waking up. So I didn’t get to see the tools, but they did make me a DVD of the operation. I can see in living color the bones and the cartilage and the silver pliers-like instrument that looks like an alligator munching leaves as it gobbles up torn pieces of the meniscus that were flapping around the joint causing problems.
The nurses said they don’t call the parents until the child is awake. He was crying inconsolably. I took him and he calmed right down. They said he was waiting for the smell of papa. They told me I could lie down on the bed and hold him. I did and he went right to sleep. They wheeled us up to our room and we transferred him to his crib. We both slept for about 4 hours. Immediately upon waking up, he said “Kooshat!” which means “Eat!” in Russian.
Thanks for everyone who thought and prayed for us,
James
So Oskar and I are back in Almaty and living well. Oskar never missed a moment’s energetic, happy hooliganism, and I will soon have full movement in my knee when the swelling goes down. The doctor said I should do any sports for three weeks, then another doctor said in 4 or 5 months, I will have inferior (only because it will not be the original parts) cartilage grown in. I think I can wait a few months before I do anything. He said the most important thing is not to twist the knee during the recovery period. I suggested that I should wear a brace or something. He didn’t like that idea because the brace would take the place of the muscle, and they needs to gain strength, too.
On the morning of Oskar’s surgery, he was jet lagged and he woke up at 5:30 am (7:30 Almaty time). We walked around the hospital, and around and around… Later that morning, I couldn’t find the piggie he uses as a comfort toy. I went to all the security places and to each floor, nobody had seen it.
As the time got nearer to his surgery, he got more and more sleepy. Usually he takes a nap about 11:00 (Almaty). The operation was at 13:00 (Almaty). He also was not allowed to eat anything, so…from 5:30 ( Dubai ) until 11:00 ( Dubai ) he couldn’t eat, and he didn’t want to sleep. He also was without his piggie. About 10:00, he started to whimper, “Piggie?” “Piggie!” in a desperate voice.
They gave him some medicine to relax him and make him drowsy about an hour before the operation. It didn’t seem to have an effect on him. On Thursday, they gave me the same medicine about 10 minutes before the operation. They took me down to the pre-operating room and the anesthesiologist was there. I told him I would like to talk to the doctor before hand because I didn’t know what kind of bandage I would have and that I want to see the scope and the tools he would be using. He answered, “Okay, we’ll get someone up here to talk to you right away.” The next thing I remember, I was waking up. So I didn’t get to see the tools, but they did make me a DVD of the operation. I can see in living color the bones and the cartilage and the silver pliers-like instrument that looks like an alligator munching leaves as it gobbles up torn pieces of the meniscus that were flapping around the joint causing problems.
The nurses said they don’t call the parents until the child is awake. He was crying inconsolably. I took him and he calmed right down. They said he was waiting for the smell of papa. They told me I could lie down on the bed and hold him. I did and he went right to sleep. They wheeled us up to our room and we transferred him to his crib. We both slept for about 4 hours. Immediately upon waking up, he said “Kooshat!” which means “Eat!” in Russian.
Thanks for everyone who thought and prayed for us,
James
posted by James Martin at
9:06 AM
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