Knee Replacement Surgery

As some of you know, I'm in line for knee replacement surgery sometime around the end of August (who'd have thought there were lines in the best medical care system in the world?). Yesterday I went to a comprehensive three-hour class about what to expect before and after surgery. I was expecting to be in a class with a bunch of 400lb couch potatoes, but I was wrong! I was in a class with a bunch of nursing home refugees. God, were they ever old! I suspect that I was the youngest there by at least ten years. So there wasn't much talk of how soon one could get back to normal athletic endeavors. Instead there was lots of talk about getting in and out of bathtubs and the benefits of raised toilet seats.

As I said, the class was comprehensive, and in spite of the age of my colleagues, it was pretty interesting. They covered the administrative side of the procedure, and provided a checklist of all the things that have to be done before surgery. A couple of things surprised me. One was that I have to get certification from my dentist that I don't have any ongoing oral infections. There are all kinds of blood tests and even an EKG before surgery to make sure I'm healthy enough for the procedure.

Another thing that surprised me was that it appears that I have a choice of the type of anesthetic. I'll have to look into the spinal option. I'm somewhat convinced that my inability to remember names is as a result of the 10+ hours I spent under general anesthetic when I had my face remodeled back in '87. It was either that or the cheap drugs I ingested voluntarily back in the 70's.

But the biggest surprise came near the end of the presentation. Though it was of little concern to my colleagues, sex is not recommended for 4-6 weeks after surgery.

I might have to re-think this whole procedure!