Ruby In The Groove

Ruby's knee finally gave her enough trouble that we decided it wouldn't get better.  Dr.  Murray promised that no matter what was wrong when he got in there, he would fix it.  Call time for the surgery was 5:30 AM Thursday.  I packed a bag full of books and snacks and looked forward to hunkering down at LDS Hospital for a good five hours.

Well, they don't let you hunker.  They keep you moving.  Paperwork, changing clothes, changing rooms, talking to the surgeon, getting an IV...By 8:30, I had read one paragraph on my book and Ruby and I were ready for a nap.  Lucky Ruby, she was about to get a dose of anesthetic.  I was about to be moved to another room where someone would ask me to fill out another form as soon as I cracked my novel.  But then again, I wasn't about to have my leg sliced open, so I couldn't complain.

When the anesthesiologist came in to administer the drugs, he was sniffling and coughing like he was carrying the plague.  After having me sign a consent form, he wandered out of the room.  When he wandered back in holding a giant needle, he said, "Did I have you sign this?  I can't remember.  I'm having a brain cramp."  He literally said this while injecting drugs into Ruby's IV.  After that, I didn't get much reading done anyway. 

So Ruby did a little napping and I waited.  The doc ended up taking out some scar tissue (no, Dad, not cancerous) and doing a lateral release, which basically lengthens the ligaments on one side of her kneecap so that it doesn't keep popping up out of place.  Before surgery, it was at a 40 degree angle to where it was supposed to be.  After, the kneecap was sitting nicely in the groove.

By the next day, Ruby was back in the groove too.  Due to my debilitating optimism, I was convinced that Ruby could easily play in her guitar recital 24 hours after having knee surgery.  I figured she'd be too doped up to worry about it, and that she could just as easily be on crutches with a giant bandage around her knee at a recital as home in bed.  And guess what?  I was right.  It was fun and Ruby did a great job on both of her group pieces and her solo.  Without Ruby, the trio wouldn't have been able to perform the pieces they have worked on all semester. 

For the first piece, Scott helped Ruby onto the little stage while I held her guitar.  We created an epic spectacle of helicopter parenting.  On Ruby's solo, the last piece in the recital, Scott helped her while I sat in my chair and forgot to start recording.  And it was a great performance!  I wish I had gotten the whole thing, with Scott helping her up and everything.  I did record her talking to her teacher afterward for a few seconds.  Roy is an exceptional teacher; inspiring, patient, encouraging, intelligent, knowledgeable, dedicated, connected, kind.

Roy made Ruby's heroic feat seem mundane, with all his tales of knee surgery.  A ski instructor at Alta, Roy goes in for "a scope" every couple of years, to clean out the damage he has done to his knees.  A torn meniscus is next on his list of things to fix.  Oddly enough, there were two guys at the recital with major leg damage.  One even had ropes and pulleys coming out of his cast.  Not sure what their deal was, but Jude, Roy's wife, declared a cap on crutches at six per recital.  By the time we had enjoyed the delicious feast afterward, Ruby was getting a little punchy and slurring her speech.  As we got in the car, she said, "I'll just sit in the back.  Oops!  I just swore.  I said I'll just sit in the back.  I did it again!"  The "s" sound was proving to be a problem for her. :)  But the guitar sound was perfect. I'm so proud of Ruby for being so calm and collected.  It might have been the codeine making her appear so unruffled, but Ruby has calm in her bones.  Now, let's hope all the bones stay in their groove so Ruby can stay in hers.