The Absent Uncle: Caregiving

This past week my niece here in the Houston area was scheduled for knee surgery. Full replacement or just repair. To be determined upon the surgeon getting inside and seeing the full scope of damage. 

So, the surgery went off, the damage was significant but not as bad as expected. But anytime surgery is involved a certain amount of discomfort is to be expected. 

The doctor did a partial replacement robotically, placing two metal shims (my term) in place of the worn cartilage. The amazing thing to me is that she came out of surgery at 12:30 p.m. and I have a picture of her using a walker going down a hall at 2:30 p.m, that same day! I had her home and in her favorite easy chair at 6:30 p.m. after picking up the requisite pain pills from the pharmacy.

To illustrate the effectiveness of the painkillers administered by the hospital after the surgery versus the painkillers dispensed by the pharmacy, I offer the following short story.

While driving back to her home she suggested that we contact her neighborhood friends and invite them to dinner the following evening – at a restaurant! I strongly cautioned that her planning this outing was a bit too soon, and possibly the drugs could be talking a bit too loudly. 

Well, the Uncle was right on this one.

By the next day she was in full mode: “This really hurts”, “When was my last pill?”, “Really?”, “You must have written the time down wrong”, and “I don’t think I can do my exercises”. Of course, I had to remind her of the dinner plan and was pretty much told to stuff it. After some time, we laughed about it.

This really was my first experience with being a caregiver. Trying to anticipate needs, to manage movements around the house, pass along encouragement, help with exercises, and generally just being there to make things as easy as possible.

I worked and stayed with her for five days; she progressed as expected and is now going through the physical therapy sessions required. I transport her almost daily to visits for the therapy or doctor follow up. I can see the improvement, the desire to be self-sufficient again, and am thankful for her efforts (and results).

Caregiving is stressful – and for those of you that are doing it for a loved one on a long-term basis, I salute you and understand how difficult it can to be. Mine was a short experience, but yet a very impactful one.