Medical Milestones

Mother's left knee

This is a big week for our family. Tomorrow, my mother has her second knee replacement in a little more than four months. It's a big deal. A really big deal. Her knee were horrible. She'd been having cortisone shots for years and at 59, was basically tied to a walker when she was home or a wheelchair when she had to travel any distance. She hadn't bought groceries on her on for more than a year and had long since left her love of flowers and gardening behind.

Mother had what is called "windswept knees." One knee curved in and the other out, so her body was basically sitting about six inches to the right of where her feet were, instead of right on top of them. After the first knee was fixed, the second has deteriorated to the point that the tibia has worn a hole into her femur. Bone on bone.

Tomorrow, we take the last big step to getting her life back.

She will have a complete knee replacement. We talked this morning and she knows it will be painful, but is hopeful that, with having the earlier replaced knee to depend on, recovery will go much more smoothly.


While she makes her final preparations, I'll be on my way to the local hospital for a followup mammogram and ultrasound. I have two or three spots the radiologists didn't like from my first scan two weeks ago. I admit I'm nervous. Having lost two grandparents and a treasured great-grandparent to cancer, I've been afraid of it from an early age.

I am very proactive about cancer. A few years ago, I had a bout with adenomyosis, imagine endometriosis contained within a muscle. It was extremely painful. My doctor couldn't assure me it wouldn't turn into cancer at some point, so I asked that he consider performing a hysterectomy to remove the diseased areas. I'm so glad he did.

Keep us in your prayers. I'll update when I can. We're all looking to having these tests and procedures behind us.