Pam had her first physio appointment yesterday. Her therapist basically used the day to get baseline measurements, how far she can bend her knee (not far!), range of motion in her ankles and feet – stuff like that. She still has considerable swelling near her knee, but it is better than it was last week.

She’s managing the pain a lot better I think. She’s taking the “long term” pain killer twice a day, and takes another booster as necessary, and she seems to be taking fewer of those. She is still three weeks or so away from putting any weight on her left leg. She has managed to actually turn on her side during the night, at long last, so she’s really happy about that.

We still have not heard from Home Depot. I went to Home Depot with the private investigator to get statements from employees, and a copy of the incident report. They were not willing to provide either. The manager did seem quite surprised to hear that we had not been contacted, but said it was out of his hands. We did manage to talk to the woman who tried to administer “first aid” to Pam, but she refused to elaborate, nor did she even ask how Pam was doing. It’s all rather remarkable to me. They can’t even ask how she is doing?? I realize for legal reasons they don’t want to say they’re sorry, but they could show SOME compassion!

Thanks again guys for all the kind words. I’m sorry I’m not providing better updates, but we’re hanging in there. Pam’s spirits waver, but your words do help her. It’s not easy to see her struggle, but I do see minor improvements from last week, and that’s all we can ask! Keep the faith, as they say.

We’ve been busy the last few days. Pam has been hopping about the lower level of the house, and seems to be doing very well. Can’t ask for more really. She’s managing the pain quite well I think. And Max is pretty happy to have her back!

We met with Pam’s family doctor on Thursday and she removed the staples from Pam’s two incisions –  71 staples in total – forty on one side, thirty-one on the other. She said that “In truth, you should still be in the hospital…” But the incisions looked very good, and are healing very nicely. There was no sign of infection or anything, so really good news there.

On Friday, we met with the surgeon who performed the surgery. They took some X-rays, and while there is a loose bone fragment near the kneecap, they thought things were healing nicely. We got to see the X-ray which showed the big metal plate in her leg, and four big screws attaching it to her bone. He was pleased with her recovery so far. He has ordered her into physiotherapy to get her bending the knee. He was quite pleased with the healing on the incisions too. So all in all, pretty good news.

She still has a lot of swelling and there is quite bad bruising, particularly on the back of the calf muscles, and around the knee. She still can’t walk on the leg – still another month before she is allowed to put any weight on it. We have a walker for her to hop around, but she’s not really comfortable doing that yet. The brace bangs her right leg, and she’s got some small bruising her good leg.

Her work buddies sent a couple of big boards with post-it notes full of encouraging words, and that has buoyed her spirits. It was fun to read the messages! They’re just in disbelief over her bad luck!

Anyway, things are going well so far. The tough part for Pam will be starting the rehab on Monday. She has been warned it will be painful and difficult to regain the movement she had previously. And although we’ve been told she will never be the same as before, we’re hopeful that she can buck the odds and come back strong. Doesn’t help to be negative, so we’re thinking as positively as we can.

I picked up Pam from the hospital this morning. We loaded her into the back seat of the car, and got her home. I was able to get a wheelchair and a walker from the Red Cross so I was able to wheel her into the house via the garage and got her settled in her big favorite La-Z-Boy recliner.

Max was pretty excited to see her, and kept licking her feet – now that’s one tough dog eh?!

It’s a nice day here, so we were able to have the patio doors open and she got to see the garden. She seems to be in much better spirits! We’re having a bit of trouble getting her completely comfortable, but it’s not like she was totally comfortable in the hospital either! But the recliner is much more comfortable than the wheelchair in the hospital.

We had a relaxing day. I think she really liked having Max around, and he was really glad to have her back. It’s good to see her back here. Mentally, this change will be really good for her. She’s pretty pumped about not having to lay in a bed for 80% of the day.

She read all the blog posts and comments and she wants to thank everyone for their kind words, and encouragement. THANKS EVERYONE!

Well, for better or for worse, Pam is coming home on Saturday (tomorrow morning). She’s been in the hospital for twelve days, so I’m glad she is coming home. I think it will be good for her mentally. She’ll be in more familiar surroundings, and Max will be good for her soul! I’ve got a wheelchair for her, so we’ll wheel her out into the back yard and she can watch the flowers.

I think she’s a bit worried about the pain meds, and not having medical staff close at hand, but I’ll do what I can, and if we need some home care help, we’ll call them in.

I was quite surprised when they talked about making her leave, as I really didn’t think she was ready, but her family doctor said to us, “From the minute you get out of surgery, they start making plans to get you out of the hospital.” They told her she had the choice of moving to the hallway, or moving home, so home she’s coming!

They took off her main bandage yesterday, and she has two long incisions. One is about 12 inches long, running six inches below the knee to six inches above the knee, on the outside of her knee. There is a smaller eight or nine inch incision on the inside of her knee. She didn’t have any complications with them, like an infection or anything, so that’s a blessing. There is a massive amount of bruising, as you’d expect, and her leg is still swollen, but that has gone down somewhat since surgery day.

Anyway, she should be home by noon tomorrow. She’s used up all her minutes on her cell, so she’ll be glad to be back to a phone she can use! haha

Pam walked 5 meters today, so that’s a big accomplishment. She’d only been able to take a few steps before today so this is good for her progress in returning home. It’s been five days post-op so they are moving forward with trying to get her home. I’ve been given a list of items to get for the home – wheelchair, walker, safety bars etc – and they’ve talked about things I need to do to make it safe for her on the walker.

She still needs regular pain meds, and her leg is still quite swollen. It’s not as bad as it was a couple days ago, but it is still quite swollen. I can’t really be positive about things, but at least she has not gotten infections, or other complications from the surgery. She has trouble getting her leg comfortable, and part of that is the swelling, but it’s also the brace is not exactly comfortable! She has some irritation under her leg, too. I think it’s awfully tough laying only on her back. She can’t really lay on her side yet, but maybe in the next few days she will be able to give that a try.

I’ve taken her a number of things to help her, like lotion and shampoo and her toothbrush, hairbrush, her e-reader, some writing material. She’s still quite down, mentally. It’s been tough being separated and knowing she faces such a long haul.

They do have an email service of sorts – if you want to email Pam, you can send an email to youvegotmail.smh@fraserhealth.ca and if it arrives before 2 PM they will print it off and hand deliver it to her that day. Include her name (Pamela Ormon) and the ward/room combo – 3 South, Room 327. I don’t think they do replies tho!

It was a sunny Sunday here in Surrey, at long last. But not so much for Pam. She had a pretty bad day. It started out ok – she was able to do a couple of hops with the walker. She is not allowed to put any weight on her left leg, so she’s having to learn how to hop! They put her up in a chair, but there was no support for her leg. Unfortunately she was up in the chair too long and her foot got badly swollen.

I thought her leg was quite swollen yesterday, but man, it was really bad today. Her pain levels were quite high, and she just couldn’t get comfortable. It was tough to see.

It’s going to be a long haul. There will be better days, I’m sure.

On the positive side, she had a couple of nice visits with friends and that raised her spirits somewhat! Hoping tomorrow will be a better day.