Thats right. Monday, October 4th, was surgery day for Cory. Using robotics, Dr.Johnston gave Cory a left total knee replacement. Everything went super. He spent one night at the Celebration hospital as an observation He was almost in the same room I had one year ago!
Before I get into the minute details, I have to finish up with our eating extravaganza we were enjoying prior to his surgery. Because we had a free coupon for a desert at Cheddars, we made that a definite stop. Our main course was their yummy chicken pot pie. Its always a winner! The free desert was their legendary Cookie chocolate chip cookie, baked to order, with vanilla bean ice cream, homemade hot fudge, whipped cream, chopped nuts and a cherry on top. Actually, we got two cherries on top and two spoons. Oh, God.it was sooooo good. Unbelievably, we couldnt even eat it all. Im sure you are as shocked as we were!
We had one more night and one more place to try. We went to Capones in Margaritaville. Remember how I said they had HOMEMADE pasta? We had to try that! Cory ordered their spaghetti and meatballs. I
ordered their rigatoni with meatballs. The meatballs were super! The homemade pasta was good but almost had the texture of al dente and a hint of flour in the flavor. It was okay but I wasnt as thrilled with it as I had hoped to be. Probably wont go back. Olive Garden has better!!
And, of course, Sunday was our football and pizza day. Both were winners! The Buffalo Bills won and Pizza Hut Pizza won, too. Since Cory home from the hospital, Ive been Julia Childs slaving away in our kitchen area. But Im had it too good for too long.
Cory had to mail a letter at the Celebration post office. When he returned, he said that some of the Celebration folks were having their yard sales. They usually have them in March. He wondered if I wanted to go.I was in the car before he had to say more. We did a lot of looking. If we had a big house, there was a lot of stuff we could have bought but in the RV, space is sacred. Nearing the end of our yard sailing, I spied four nice, wheeled chairs.
We had bought two padded folding chairs for our table in the RV.trying to conserve space and weight.but these chairs were sooo nice! Cory is so weary of buying me chairsI love chairs and small tables. But, with some simple whining, he agreed and we bought two of the chairs for $10.00 each. They are and match perfectly in our RV. Cory is such a sweetheart! I love him!
Okay.lets move along and review Corys medical experience. One call said to wear jackets to the hospital. Whaaaat? Remember, even at night here in Florida the weather feels like you are in a sweat hut. But I packed my sweater and Corys jacket. We arrived at 5:15AM.yawn! Cory had but still had to sign in, sign papers and get his ID band. We waited a short time in the freezing cold waiting area before his buzzer went off. Just like being in a restaurant except the maitre de NURSE said your stretcher is ready, sir.
Cory was escorted through the restricted doors and I found my way over to a reclining lounge chair. Brrrrrrrrr! Now I understood why they said to bring a jacket! They
should have suggested a snowsuit! It must have been 20 below 0! And I was wearing shorts! Oh, no! The woman next to me was wearing just a tiny sheer top and was about to die from hypothermia. I offered Corys jacket to her but she said she would go get a cup of coffee and try to warm up in the cafeteria. I put Corys jacket over my legs. Finally, they called me so I could be with Cory while he waited to go into surgery. It was still cold in the area but a tad warmer. I sat close to Corys stretcher and used part of his blanket to cover my legs. The doctor and anesthesiologist came in to see him. He made sure they knew he wanted general anesthesia instead of a spinal. I encouraged him to go this way. They preferred a spinal. The nurse had started his IV and shaved his left knee area. By now it was 7:00 AM and the wait began.
