Rise and Fall, 3 Years' Worth

   Thanks to Facebook and its Looking Back feature, I'm reminded that 3 years ago today, I had a Total Knee Replacement on my left knee, a year following a successful right-knee TKR.  These surgeries changed my life: walking and, even worse, standing, had become so difficult and painful that I would almost certainly be unable to walk today without some type of mechanical assistance.  Now I can walk at will, at least for a few miles, pedal an exercise bike, and stand for a normal length of time.  And I say without any attempt at self-aggrandizement, that I've been doing so since a few weeks or less after each surgery, and with only minimal discomfort right after surgery.  Now  I am completely unaware of my knees, either their  biologic or artificial components,with the exception of kneeling on a hard surface, which can be problematic anyway. The orthopedist said kneeling on the TKR's is okay, but I'd rather not.  And of course artificial joints don't last forever, so in about 15 years...?  I take no credit for my success story, except maybe for having chosen a skilled and capable orthopedist, but the 3-Years of Looking Back on my positive "reconstruction" also brings to mind the beginning of the destruction of another.
     My surgery had been scheduled several months in advance at a hospital in Troy, so it would have been natural for Dave to have driven me there early on the morning of surgery.  But due to the vagaries of the Health Care System and who gets paid how much for what, Ortho NY suddenly refused to perform surgeries at Samaritan, and I was notified that my surgery would be at St. Peter's in Albany, with arrival time before dawn.
    That's how I am now reminded of Dave's condition at the time. He had developed peripheral neuropathy in his feet, especially his left foot.  That was his only diagnosis at the time.   He still drove--all over the area, several times a day, but because of the time and distance, and my state of mind, I was reluctant for him to drive me. But it turned out he had to, and did. He said he didn't use his left foot when driving anyway. And he drove me home, 2 days later.  I may have been a little more stressed than was called for, but we had no other problems.
   That was in July of 2014 and his condition stayed about the same until June 17 of the next year, 2015.  Since then, he has not walked unaided: a cane which did not help, then a walker, and next, having lost all mobility, confinement to a wheelchair.  
  In looking back on my concern for my own self interest back on that July day, I must have known his physical capabilities were not what they were and sensed they were not what  they should be, but would never have anticipated his present-day condition.   Ironically enough, I suppose, I am now able to do the walking for two.