Kind of like ... Frankenstein ...

At noon today, Grandpa Jones removed the compression bandages that were covering his surgical site. Yikes. 25 stitches is kind of ... gruesome. The surgeon had shown me before and after pictures on his point-and-shoot camera, but this was the first time I had actually seen it with my own eyes. Ouch. I could never be a nurse. Or a medical technician. Or an emergency worker of any kind whatsoever.

We took a close look at all of the stitches, and they are intact and none of them look suspicious of infection or bad behavior whatsoever. There is a lot of swelling. And both eyes look rather purple/blue/crimson/black ... kind of like someone tried to take Grandpa Jones "out" in a back alley somewhere. Yikes. There is no way he can put his glasses on yet. Too much swelling ... plus, the surgical site is exactly where the base of his glasses press against his face ... and that entire area is rather painful. No glasses means ... difficulty reading (he's using a magnifying glass) and definitely no driving.

So far, we haven't even filled the prescription we were given for a low-dose narcotic pain medication ~ so Grandpa Jones has done well with managing the discomfort. Today, he was finally able to shower and is now able to apply a nice warm cloth to the area 3x per day. We were also given an antibiotic ointment to apply to the area. Thankfully, Grandpa Jones is doing all of this "nursing" stuff independently.

When I was talking to family Monday evening (the day of the surgery), Adam wondered if we were given any pictures of the surgery. He thought it might be "fun" to post them on this blog. I told Adam that we did ask for the surgical photographs, but we haven't received them yet. However, I will NOT post them. I think Adam was just trying to "lighten up" my mood with his suggestion ... which is actually why I've posted this cartoon picture of Frankenstein.

So far, Grandpa Jones has been a model patient. He has slept a lot and has been very quiet. No complaints. His stitches are scheduled to be removed Monday morning. Hopefully, the swelling will have subsided by then.

P.S. I spoke with Jesse this morning prior to his knee surgery. He sounded good. Diana was with him in the pre-op holding area. I've just read an update on Facebook that Diana posted. They have performed a partial meniscectomy on his knee. You would think, after typing for orthopaedic surgeons for 19 years, that I would actually KNOW what this means ... but I do not. I can accurately spell the word and pronounce it correctly as well ... but I cannot tell you exactly what it means. I told you I have absolutely ZERO medical comprehension and this proves it.