A New Knee

Lorane & her friend Nicky.

"Ever since surgery began, man's destiny has been to suffer, in order that he might be cured. And no one can change that, gentlemen."
~ Jean Scott Rogers from Corridors of Blood, (Character Mr. Blount speaking to his class in surgery, before the invention of anesthetic, 1958.)

Today my mother will be having knee replacement surgery. She knows this will be painful, requiring intensive physical therapy and that given her medical history, this won't be easy. Her knee pain has reached the point that walking is very difficult and she still would like to be able to walk enough to visit her son Stephen in Austria.

I don't know how blogging will go this week. Either my dad or I will stay with her at the hospital for the three days she is there. Then she will go to a nursing facility for intense physical therapy for 21 days. At least they will have her diabetes better under control, although we have been doing a good job with it.

In your quiet times of devotion this week, I would appreciate it if you could remember her in your prayers. Dad doesn't say too much but I know he worries enough for all of us. Thanks.

Update (6 PM): She came through the surgery OK. Her knee joint had a lot of inflammation, fluid and chondromalacia, so this was really necessary. I had to leave the hospital about 5:30 pm to get ready for a meeting tonight and to feed all our critters, but my dad is staying overnight with her. She was not out of recovery yet. If you knew how hard it is to get her up on normal days this would not seem unusual. More likely they are waiting for a specific bed to get ready on the orthopedic ward. So far, so good. (end of post)