Sunday, June 6

First things first. Thanks to Brent for posting updates and thanks to everyone for responding. I think between Facebook and this blog we managed to easily communicate with everyone. Your comments have been so helpful, especially when I've been in pain. I have gone back and read your kind, encouraging thoughts multiple times. I can never thank you enough.

Sunday was the first day for both occupational and physical therapy. Occupational therapy is basically getting to a point where I can do daily care type activities such as getting out of bed, doing a sponge bath, brushing teeth and getting dressed. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Just getting out of bed is a huge trial, and just because I made it one time doesn't mean I can make it the next time. The therapist made a comment about my strong thighs, about what it took to hold my legs out straight, but would I please bend them! LOL! The counter top with the sink is wheelchair height so it works out great that once I get out of bed and into the wheelchair I can slide under there and do things like brush my teeth. I always knew I would one day need to know how to spit like a guy. I'm learning.

PT really sucks. Part of the issue is coordinating therapy with the meds so that you can push it as much as possible without hurting so bad. This has been an on-going issue. I have taken to setting an alarm over night to insure that I get the good stuff in a timely manner. Right now I'm doing percocet every 4 hours and oxycontin every 12 hours. The thought is that since the percocet isn't lasting the full 4 hours (more like 3), the oxycontin can help bridge the gap. In theory I suspect this works if you can actually get the meds in that time frame. That aside, they put a pillow case under each foot and I had to bend the leg in, on each side as far as I could go without hurting. Right side - excellent. Right side - very painful. Then I wallked 36 feet to a bed where they measured the bend. At hospital was 30% bend, and after this first rehab session it was 60% bend. The right knee was 35% bend and is now 62%.

But the best part of yesterday was a bath which meant clean hair. I don't care how ugly it looks, as long as it's clean. I've lost all manner of modesty at this point. As I shuffle along with my walker and my bum hanging out, I just put on my headphones and tune my painful world out.

Donna Update Saturday 6/05

Donna is now at the Good Shepherd Rehab Hospital, 850 S. 5th St. Allentown PA in room 206-B and will be there until Thursday at least. She is doing very well – in the course of the day she dragged herself to and from beds, wheelchairs and toilets a dozen times. At this stage she’s got a pair of pretty sore knees and while the docs are happy with things there can be some pretty significant pain involved when lapses occur in pain meds. We had to use the bite bullet for a while this morning but things are much better now. Better living thru chemistry!!!! They will be giving her two 1.5 hour sessions of PT each day so she will be up and moving quite a bit. Thank you for all the support, prayers and encouragement; Donna finds it quite inspiring. If you would like more detailed information on her location, etc. please email or call me (Brent)

DONNA UPDATE FRIDAY 6/04

Good news continues as Donna is progressing very well. With help (but mainly encouragement) from PT she got out of bed, stood on her new knees at her walker, then sat in a chair with knees partly bent for two hours. She then got back in bed. She met the highest expectation for the day after; a lot of people do not even make it out of bed. There was a lot Donna power going on!!!! Her pain is being managed well so she has been mostly comfortable.
She will go to the rehab hospital tomorrow!!! To begin 5 days give or take of intensive physical therapy. She will do PT in the AM and PM, sounds sort of like the Olympic training Center for knee replacements. I will give specifics on her location and contact info tomorrow after she is settled; please don’t hesitate to email or call for detail. Kera, Chris, and Gwen and bro Rick were here today so it was a good day.
Stay tuned, Brent

Donna Update

Well Donna now has 2 new knees. The surgery went "perfectly" (as the surgeon described) and she sailed thru recovery. He also said she had really bad knees. Donna is in her room now, doing well, and finding the pain existent but tolerable with a dose of morphine. ...whew .... just when I thought we needed a bite bullet!!! Her mom and Dad brought her a comforting pink teddy bear which wears a pink stone which dad cut.

They will get her up on those knees tomorrow and things will progress from there. Thanks to all of Donna's fanbase :) for your wishes, thoughts, and prayers and stay tuned for more updates as things progress. If you would like to know where Donna is or how to contact her please call my cell or email at brent.shultz@comcast.net

Whew! Updates, and Many Thanks

I finally had a call from the surgeon's new office last night. I feel so much better now, knowing that the correct surgeon will be sawing parts of my bones off.


For my family and friends who read my erratic rambling posts, Brent will be calling my folks and Kera following the surgery. He'll also make a post here and on my facebook wall. Yes, Brent who said he would never have anything to do with facebook, will lower himself enough to make a post there.


Everyone says this is so routine anymore that I shouldn't worry. Sheesh, have you met me? I'm the biggest wuss in the world. But wuss or not, I have some fantastic friends and a really supportive family who have done so many wonderful things for me. For now, thanks to Renee, who organized my friends in her usual take charge fashion, and to all those friends who contributed to the Dream Dinners and the Amazon gift card. To Kim who added yummylicious casseroles to my freezer, thanks honey! To my MIL who makes fantastic soups, thanks for the contribution. To my mother the saint for my favorite breakfast, gracias. Thanks to the "wings" group for keeping me distracted tonight. Giving me peace of mind for after the surgery, thanks in advance to Jayne, mine brither who wubbers me, and Sebbie for upcoming babysitting services to be rendered. Thanks to my family and friends for all the emotional support. God knows I needed it. And most of all, thanks to Brent. Even though he drives me crazy with his engineering analness (is that even a word?), without him I would have totally lost it.

A Toby Keith Moment

Ok, it's 2:33 PM on June 1. Where is my surgeon and why haven't I heard a word? Why do I think that tomorrow I'll hear from the hospital between 4-7 PM telling me what time to arrive at the hospital on June 3 and I never will hear from the doctor? At this point I'm just hoping he'll be at the appointed place at the appointed time for the appointed surgery. Call me selfish, but right now I really am feeling that it's all about me, it's all about I....nothing like a good Toby Keith song to hit right at the heart of the matter!

Shop Til You Drop

Ok, I'm not much of a shopper so it really doesn't take much for me to reach my saturation point with it all. And that's when I'm shopping for something I actually like or need. Imagine my patience for raised toilet seats, tub chairs and walkers. Can you say, non-existent?