Fourth Time's the Charm

Nathan had his 4th surgery associated with his ACL last Thursday. This surgery was also his second ACL reconstruction. However, this time, he went under the German knife in the ATOS Klinik downtown instead of the American military knife in Landstuhl. Same place he had his most recent surgery, with the fancy food and afternoon tea : ) 

From the time I said goodbye to him until the time they wheeled him into his room, five hours passed. They allowed me to stay in his room, but there wasn't anything in there but a hard wooden chair and a small table. I grabbed Starbucks from the Hauptstrasse, Facebooked and worked on my PWOC Bible study to pass the time, all the while hoping and praying the surgeon would be able to fix Nathan's knee so this would be his last surgery/complication. When Nathan first arrived in the room, he was half awake but in serious pain. Within a few hours, they were managing his pain better. A few miscommunications with the nurses were to blame. Apparently to them, "morphine" is the same as "ibuprofen." Our experience there might have been more uncomfortable had we not already been through this type of surgery once before, not to mention the hours we have logged in the hospital over the last year and a half. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences in the American and German ways of nursing too. The fluids given to him through the IV were in glass bottles, instead of plastic bags. The nurses checked his heart rate manually, using his pulse points and a small watch attached to their uniform, instead of a machine clipped to his finger. They were much less intrusive than the American nurses we had, who liked to stop in every few minutes.

Nathan's surgeon called while on his way to board a flight to India to check on Nathan within a few hours of Nathan being admitted to his room. His surgeon is world renown and was on his way to do a live taping of a surgery. The man is seriously a rock star. Throughout this whole ordeal, the biggest concern has been the state of Nathan's cartilage in his injured knee. Every time anyone has checked it, there has been good news - that his cartilage has not been damaged. However, the surgeon had some disappointing news to share over the phone. The cartilage was slightly roughed up on the edge. Bright side: He said he was able to fix it with a few stitches. Down side: It means Nathan will without a doubt be on crutches for at least three weeks, possibly four. Nathan was not happy to hear that... He wanted to be off crutches ASAP.

He spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday at ATOS and we passed the time by reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan, watching The Matrix 2 & 3 and episodes of Scrubs. 

So far, he's been doing really well and he says he can already feel the difference in his knee. Let's hope that difference sticks around : )

They had this nifty machine that exercised his leg while he laid in his hospital bed. 

via Pinterest: DIY ice packs

I really could have used duck tape to make them leak proof, but we didn't have any at the time. Otherwise, they were great. The consistency of the gel allowed Nathan to mold them to his knee. 

To read more about Nathan's knee and the fun it has put us through, click here.