Four months have gone by again and it has been a quiet four months, except from my total knee replacement and Pat's FDA submission.

 

At the end of July my left knee started hurting again . This was very disappointing as I had had surgery on that same knee in May.

By the third week of August I was in so much pain that I had to walk with a cane and going up the stairs to our bedroom was a very painful experience.

Luckily the doctor who had operated me in May could see me on short notice and after looking at some new xrays and the result of a MRI we decided that the only way to get my mobility back was for me to have a total knee replacement. By that time, the last days of August I was not able to go into work any more and was living on painkillers.

Fortunately there was a cancelation and my operation was planned for September 3. I knew that after the operation the real work would start with physical therapy, but the pain would be different. I was operated on Wednesday September 3 and left the hosptial on Saturday September 6. The days in hosptial went by in a blur due to the painkillers I had to take. Strarting in hospital and the following 10days at home I had to inject myself with Lovonox so my blood wouldn't clot.

 

Pat was with me in hospital as much as possible, but had to go to work as well. Thanks to my lovely brother in law Vinnie, who came over to take care of me, he could concentrate on his job without worrying about how I was doing. Vinnie was the angel in my life during the nearly two weeks he stayed in Durham. He supplied me with food and drinks, took me to physical therapy and even refinished our coffee table while he was here! Great job Vinnie!!

 

Physical therapy was painful, but I was determined to get as much mobility back as possible. I started the Monday after I left the hospital and that day was very bad, but gradually over the next two months it got better and less painful. In the beginning I had to use a walker, from there I went to using a cane and then nothing!

Also Pat had organized for a machine to be delivered at home. This machine did wonders for bending/stretching my leg. It was put on my bed and set to my height, my leg was put in it and with a remote I could set the pace and angle of the bending. I spent six hours per day in this machine for three weeks. That machine, physical therapy plus the excercises I was given to do at home was my life for two months.

I went back to work on a 50% basis on November 10 and full time on December 1. My knee still hurts when there is a change of weather (don't need to watch the weather channel anymore!) and when it rains, other than that I'm fine. Sometimes a bit of trouble getting out of my car if I'm not able to open the door all the way, but that will improve over time as well.

 

November 6 was a special day for me, because I had my interview and test to become a US citizen. I passed everything and they told me I would get a letter form the USCIS (old INS) in about two weeks. I received the letter ten days later and was invited to the swearing in ceremony on November 21. Pat was there and about two hundred other people who would be sworn in at the same time. Many had friends and/or relatives with them. It was a nice ceremony and I walked out with a certificate stating that I now was a US citizen! We had a beer and went straight to the office of voters registration and I registered to vote, YES!! After that done we made our way to the central post office in Durham to get the paperwork done (and pay) for a US passport.

Not even two weeks after I applied for the passport, I received an envelope from New Orleans with my brand new US passport! I now am the proud owner of a US and a Dutch passport because I have the right to dual citizenship on the basis that I'm married to a US citizen.

 

Those months that I was at home,Pat was very busy with a FDA submission and worked at all hours of the day, evening and night (no kidding, once he didn't get to bed until 05:30). He received the answer a couple of weeks ago and, ofcourse, the FDA requested more explanations. He has been working on that like crazy but everything was sent in by the December 23 deadline.

 

The holidays are very different from the ones last year when we had Yerik living with us. Now there are just the two of us and we decided that we wouldn't give each other any presents, but instead buy presents for a needy family here in Durham. Durham Social Services helped us with that. I felt a lot better doing something for other people more so in this year of recession. Unfortunately, in this country people who have to live off their Social Security or unemployment don't have as much money as those in the same position in European countries.

 

Yerik is now studying at a university in Almaty, Kazachstan, where classes are in English. He passed all his exams with A's and B's and is now at home for the holidays with his parents in Semey. He's enjoying his classes and  thinks about staying at this university to get his Bachelors degree and then try to get a scholarship for the US or UK for his Masters. I hope he'll choose the US, but I'd understand if he goes to the UK. It will be another foreign experience for him and the more the better.

 

I had to work Christmas Eve and Chrismas day, but I'm off from Friday December 26 and won't have to go back to work until New Years day. It's really nice to be at home for New Years Eve and not to receive bad phonecalls at 911 this year!! We'll get enough on New Years day anyway, but I'll be rested by then and up for it.

The real nice thing is that Pat is off during the same period, so after all the hassle of FDA submissions and my operation, we finally get some quality time together!

 

For all of you who read this, Pat and I wish you all the best for the new year and above all a healthy 2009.