In May 2017, Cindy Jones underwent her third knee replacement. While her past surgeries had been effective, it wasn’t until this third surgery that she received the perfect prosthetic. Despite initial success post-surgery, Cindy had a number of difficulties getting back to normal. Cindy shares how she overcame these obstacles and was able to have a speedy recovery below.
I was thrilled that the prosthetic I was given after my third surgery was a perfect fit. My initial healing process started well, but shortly after arriving home, my surgical site began to bleed out. Here’s where the complications began. The bleeding required the wound to be redressed several times a day. After several weeks, I ended up developing an infection from the open wound. As a result, I returned to the hospital for two additional surgeries - one to clean out the knee joint and the other to replace some of the components. While at the hospital, an intervention radiologist inserted a PICC Line into my right arm to help administer treatment for the infection. While, the actual procedure was pain free, the combination of the infection, additional surgeries, the pain, the possibility of further infection or even losing my leg had me completely overwhelmed. I felt that I was at my breaking point.
Everything became more challenging once the PICC line was inserted; showering was going to be a problem, giving myself daily IV infusions was scary and I was afraid I would pull out the line while sleeping. I was also concerned that my progress in physical therapy would decline and I would be unable to spend time with my granddaughter.
Fortunately, things were not as bad as I had feared.
Slowly, but surely, treatment got better. Weekly blood tests revealed that the infection was responding positively to antibiotics and physical therapy continued to go well. While a nurse had told me to create a homemade PICC line cover by cutting out the toes of an old sock, finding the Care+Wear PICC Line Cover was a game changer. It was much more comfortable, both physically and socially, was cooler than the sock, easy to take on and off and also allowed me to check my PICC site anytime through the mesh window without taking it on and off. If I wore a shirt with sleeves, it was completely hidden. It was my PICC Line fashion statement - I hated taking it off to wash it!
Eventually my PICC Line was removed and with the help of my physical therapist I was quickly back on course - life went back to normal. While things were difficult at first, I feel truly blessed. The big things matter, but sometimes the small things, like a PICC Line Cover that is cool and comfortable, helps to make the load much more bearable. Lastly, and most importantly, this previously active grandmother was more than ready to resume her precious time with her energetic four-year-old granddaughter.
Do you have a story that you want to share with the community? Feel free to email us at wecare@careandwear.com. We’re inspired by the anecdotes of amazing people such as Cindy and are always excited to share the stories of patients from around the world!
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