rhapsodic.org is a weblog by Valette Keller

Frankenknee

While I was in Homer I got to see my father in the hospital. He had just had surgery, where the orthopedic surgeon added to his leg a rod, two plates, thirteen screws, and a squirt of bone paste for good luck.

I was excited to be present for the first dressing change after the surgery. The good doctor explained how nasty the whole thing might be, what with all the oozing and bleeding and weeping and gnashing of teeth, so I made doubly sure to bring my camera. You can imagine the disappointment when I saw how clean everything looked.

These photos are pretty graphic, and I understand if you do not want to look at them. They show a bagajillion staples on his knee, some nasty black bruises, and a few huge impact blisters. He almost passed out while looking at his knee; I absolve myself from an injury incurred to your person or computer if you faint from these photos.