I had knee replacement surgery on January 10, 2011. They had suggested that I come in to Birmingham on Sunday because of the expected snow. My friend, Susan Clark, brought me in to the Comfort Inn in Irondale. My brother, Stan, was going to come up and be with me during surgery but he got to Jasper and it was too bad. He called and I told him to turn around and go back home. I would get a cab to go to the hospital. Well, that didn't happen! I tried everything under the sun to get a ride Monday morning. I finally wound up sitting in the lobby of the motel accosting people as they came through to see if they could give me a ride so I could have my surgery. T.J. was the angel who got me there. He was traveling from NC to MS to go back to work at his army base and got stuck in our snow/ice. He was at the Comfort Inn trying to get a room and was asking where he could eat breakfast. When he turned from the clerk I told him I bet they had breakfast at the hospital and I would buy his if he would take me so I could have my surgery. Without hesitation he said, sure I can take you. The real treat - when I got in his SUV, there were 3 puppies in the back seat! And they still had their puppy breath! What a treat. I made it to the hospital by 11:00, they processed me through and I went into surgery around 11:30. Next thing I knew it was 4:00 and I was in my room. I do remember waking up in recovery but I don't remember the trip to my room. Apparently I talked to Vicki at some point but I have no recollection of that. I definitely remember supper. Salad, Good rice, good green beans, dry roll and dry chicken. I think it took me 10 minutes to chew that first bite. I asked the nurse if they had any kind of sauce, they didn't, but they did have applesauce. Dip a bite into that and it was pretty good and definitely went down better. The chocolate cake was fabulous and the nurse brought me some milk to have with it when I asked.
Turns out it was okay being at the hospital by myself since I didn't sleep much. I would have kept anyone else awake or tried not to. This way I didn't have to worry.
The nurses and PCA's were great and some of them were stranded there for awhile. Came home on Friday January 14. Went back to work January 27. I only have 2 days at a time in me still. Apparently anesthesia really takes it out of you.
