I successfully underwent hip replacement surgery on Feb. 2nd, 2021. Simply put, after I went under, I was transferred to an operating table that had stirrups. With my legs locked in position, the surgical team cut open my right leg, moved the muscles and tendons aside, dislocated the joint and cut off the top of my right femur. An artificial titanium ball joint was inserted into the femur and the socket was reinforced before the joint was reset. The skin was then sewn closed with dissolving stitches. The hose from a small negative pressure device was inserted into wound before closure. The purpose of this device was to draw off any fluids from the wound and deposit them onto a sterile strip of gauze taped to my leg. Here's a pic of what my leg looked like after surgery.
You can see both the negative pressure device and the sterile gauze strip in the above photo. Only a small amount of fluid was drawn off onto the gauze and there were no signs of infection. The next photo shows my leg after the gauze, bandages and pump were removed.
The sutures holding the incision closed will dissolve over time. At the moment, I can shower but I can't soak my leg in water without risking infection. The post operative pain and swelling are decreasing and I'm starting to walk better. There's still a bit of discomfort when I lay on my right side.
I confess I've been rather lazy during my time convalescing. Other than doctor's appointments, prescription pick ups and going out to eat on occasion, I've spent my time at home. The short term disability and FMLA paperwork has been successfully filled out and sent to both the surgeon that did my operation and MetLife. I found out that I can send faxes from my printer. This saved me having to drive to the orthopedic center in Kenosha. I've scanned and stored copies of all the completed claims forms onto my main computer.
My taxes have been filed electronically. I'm getting back $1,887 federal and $325 state. Most of it's going to be used to pay down my medical bills. I might splurge a little bit and get me a copy of Cyberpunk Red.
