Organist - RTKR in April

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Organist

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I don't think I've already started a thread. Thanks, Jamie, for the reminder to another newbie.

As I've mentioned on the "surgeries scheduled for April" thread, I'm having RTNR surgery on April 10th.

I've (for as long as I can remember) had problems with sprained ankles. Every time we went on vacations to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina (every summer), I'd end up spraining one or the other ankle. I'm proficient at wrapping ankles, but these days with the pull-on ankle braces that's not necessary any longer. It wasn't until the 90's that I had a few incidents of "missing a step" while carrying a full laundry basket into the garage where the washer and dryer were located. Since then I've had rotator cuff / torn tendon surgery on my left shoulder (2004), arthroscopic surgery on my right knee (2005), and rotator cuff / torn tendon surgery on my right shoulder (2010). I've managed to skip a year between the shoulder and the knee surgeries this time.

My hubby and I are in charge of the music at our church. I'm usually the organist, but we're both organists. He's the choir director and cantor, and plays the Irish whistle on hymns sometimes. He will be substituting on the organ after my surgery (April 10th). The surgeon's office offered to schedule me for a week earlier. I about choked :gaah: and said, "I am NOT having surgery during Holy Week ! April 10th will be fine." So the Tuesday after Easter Sunday, it is. :thumb:

I'm assuming that my first unreal expectation about recuperation was that with my surgery on a Tuesday, I would maybe be able to play the organ at church 2 Sundays later playing manuals (keyboards) only, and not the pedals. . :th_heehee: Now I have NO idea when that will happen. We can arrange the hymns and service music so that I can play them on the manuals, but being able to sit at the organ bench even with my leg propped up on the "designated spot for propping the right foot on the organ" for the entire service is a different matter.

Another member (I don't remember who) mentioned something about finally being able to go to the Sunday service and stay the entire time. I don't remember how long past surgery that was possible.

Meanwhile for pre-op time, I'm still mall-walking -- very slowly walking, concentrating on NOT limping as the pain builds, and sitting down on one of the many benches periodically to slowly flex my leg and knee so that I can walk a bit more. I call it meandering rather than mall-walking. I also have been exercising with 2-lb weights to strengthen my arms. My hubby (Liam) and I have been exercising regularly since the first of the year, and have both lost some weight. We plan to keep this up for the rest of our lives -- healthy eating and exercise.

Next week is my pre-op visit with the surgeon, along with appts with the anesthesiologist and the coumadin person. Then the "total knee replacement" class is the first week in April (which won't clash with any of the Holy Week services).

Meanwhile we're going to do some fun things before the surgery date and initial recuperation period. Tomorrow, being the 23rd we're going to meet a couple of good friends at the Biltmore Estate (Asheville, North Carolina) for lunch. It's our luna-versary. Explanation -- we were married on the 23rd of June (part of the words in an Irish song that we like). So we figure that the 23rd of every month is our luna-versary and a good excuse to celebrate with lunch somewhere. :friends:

Then Saturday, we're going to a Lúnasa concert in Asheville. We're fond of our Scottish and Irish heritage -- along with other cultures that are mixed into our backgrounds.:thumb:

Sunday evening our church will be having an evensong service with an an area a capella group called Pastyme that will be leading the service and singing. We will have times in which we can sing some of the service music with them, but Liam and I will be able to participate without our usual responsibility.

Then Monday (26th) - or maybe Tuesday - we'll go somewhere for lunch to celebrate my birthday. It would have been Monday, but it looks like we'll have a funeral at the church that day - an unexpected death in our church family. As for birthdays, we've developed the attitude that birthdays (celebrating that we were born) should be celebrated longer - a birthday week - at least. We have a friend who celebrates (he says) all month, and says that his birthday month is Scotts-mas.

Maybe I'll use :dancy: when I'm ready to play the organ again. :loll:

Thanks to the leaders of our merry group for starting this wonderful gift of a forum, and to all of you for your encouragement, suggestions, warnings (not to do to much too soon, etc.), humor, etc.
Becky
 
Great post, Becky!!! I'm glad to see you're doing things to get a bit stronger and also a lot of fun things in preparation for your surgery. You wisely recognize that it may be a while before you will be reaady to attempt a full church service or playing the organ. But, you WILL do it all again. I'm excited for you to get on down recovery road. It's not much longer now!!!
 
Hi Becky and welcome to our Bonesmart family! It sounds like you have a full and fun-filled life, I can assure this will only get better with your new knee! It may be a while before you can sit at the organ for any length of time - sitting is probably the most uncomfortable position for the first few weeks after surgery as you leg just wants to be elevated and iced!! But, it will get better and within a couple of months you'll find you can sit for longer periods. There's always someone online to answer your questions and to chat to since we're spread all over the world! Hope all goes well for you.
 
Jamie & goodasnew,

Thanks for the welcome and the encouragement. I'm ALREADY finding it difficult to sit in church on Sundays. As long as I'm on the organ bench, I can flex my leg back and forth as far as necessary, and prop my right leg up on the organ bench when I'm not playing anytime soon. But it's getting worse as the days pass.

We had an evensong service Sunday evening with a local a capella group leading everything. I didn't have to do ANYTHING, and sat in the transept (the side alcove area toward the front of the church. I could still sing and support the congregation's singing while still out of sight of most everybody. There happened to be a padded folding chair there, so I used that to elevate my leg. After 30 minutes though -- at this point -- NO position feels comfortable and the pain increases. It's VERY frustrating.

Holy Week is next week and we have the Palm Sunday service, a Maundy Thursday service, the Good Friday service, and the Easter Sunday service. Then there's the Thursday night "vigil" in which various members sign up to "keep vigil" (praying) in the church for one of those hours. Liam and I usually stay in the church from 6 to 7 am and then go for breakfast afterwards. I am planning to carry one of those little floral-type pillows that you use on couches to put under my knee. I will be able to get up and walk around when that helps. Even if we weren't the church musicians, the coming week is still an important part of who we are and how we live our faith through the seasons. I enjoy playing the organ too.

I'll definitely post when I'm able to -- at least -- go to church. Also when I can adjust the music and just play the manuals -- without the pedals. Then when I am finally able to play the organ using the pedals along with the manuals -- that will be a big celebration for me. Even then, I won't be playing any of that "fast-and-furious" music that has your hands and feet going in all directions for quite awhile. lolol

On a lighter note, we've been celebrating a few things -- including my birthday today. :ccheers: So we're going out to dinner this evening. Maybe we'll go up to Pisgah Inn (on the Blue Ridge Parkway) later this week for lunch. They're finally opening for the Spring-Summer season. We like to tell people that they should celebrate birthdays for at least a week. :dancy: Soooo, between getting everything ready, we're relaxing whenever possible and taking things one day at a time.

Thanks again for "being here".
Becky
 
Happy Birthday Becky!!

You're right, birthday celebrations should last at least a week - enjoy!:dancy:
 
You are proposing a very ambitious schedule with a bum knee! Please take care of yourself and don't feel guilty if you must bow out now and then to lie down and ice/elevate your knee. At least you don't have very long to wait now!
 
Thanks, Jamie.

I had all of the pre-op appointments Thursday afternoon. That was VERY draining, but everything should now be in order. I carried my list of questions/concerns to the surgeon who answered all of them and told me that if I had any more questions -- to call the office. The hospital people said the same thing. Since we seemed to cover the usual concerns, I probably won't need to call. It's good to know that I can though.

Also I have the knee replacement class this coming Tuesday. I'm usually OK sitting on the organ bench for the services. I have plenty of room to move my leg and knee, flexing both legs regularly, sometimes resting it on the organ bench itself, other times resting it on the "prop pedal" for that purpose. As for the hour of vigil, if I need to do so, I'll stretch out on a pew. It's just for an hour, so it should be OK.

Thanks for the advice. I'll follow that whenever my knee reminds me to listen to you.

It's DEFINITELY not long now -- a little more than a week. The time is going by soooo fast. :dancy::hairpulling::sigh::sleep::thumb::wub2::yahoo:

I was going to add the one of drinking wine, but couldn't find it. Maybe we can go to the pub sometime this week and have an Irish coffee instead of a glass of wine before next weekend.

Hope that you all have a wonderful weekend.
 
It won't be long now soon you will be on the road to a pain free life
 
Sounds like all systems are GO and you have a good team.
 
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