Knee Surgery for Brian

Brian had knee surgery on May 1st. What his doctor thought was tendonitis, was actually something much more serious. He had a hole in the cartalidge which required Microfracture knee surgery. He had to have four holes drilled into his bone in hopes that the bleeding would create tissue and eventually new cartilidge to replace what he had lost. It was a pretty invasive surgery, but the doctor said that it was very successful. 

Hours later, he was up and moving around with the girls...Collins took excellent care of her patient feeding him lots of chocolate chip cookies and making him lots of pretty pictures and a special garland necklace. 

And something you don't expect to see right after knee surgery...a patient chopping down a tree. Can you say stubborn?!? 

Because he did so well initially and because the doctors told us he might be off crutches in a couple of days (originally he was told it would be six weeks), we were surprised days later when he was in so much pain and not anywhere ready to get rid of crutches. The next two weeks were really tough for him- just lots of pain and swelling with the knee- and trying to go back to normal life (going to work, walking up stairs, etc.). 

I have learned that taking care of three people is not as easy as I thought it would be. He has done a good job of being self sufficient, but there are some things you can't do if you're on crutches (like carry the girls, drive, carry a plate, cook- you know important things!) so we have all had to adjust. 

Two and a half weeks in to surgery, he was able to drive which was a game changer for him and me. He also was in a lot less pain and slowly things have been getting back to normal around here. He cooked two fabulous meals for us over Memorial Day weekend, and we finally got out of the house for a date night! 

The hope is that the surgery will allow him to run and return to his normal fitness routine by Fall. He has been out of F3 for 5 months now which is really hard on him. He has been a trooper, but he NEEDS to work out. Hopefully, this surgery will get him there!