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TKR 11/11/2014 - my recovery journal

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Nice work, congrats!. I'm 3 days behind you with my recovery so it's nice to read of your progress. Keep up the good work!
 
@sandbar525 great progress and your PT sounds perfect. It's so important to feel comfortable with a physio and have confidence in your treatment. Hope your meds issue gets resolved quickly but it really does sound as if you are well on the way to making a good recovery.
 
Day 7: Word for the day is "swelling". Left leg still very swollen and so it makes everything a little more difficult. I've spent the day icing (front & back) and elevating so it would be great to see some progress tomorrow. This was my first day on my own and I've done just fine. Have done my home PT exercises twice so far and will do them one more time before evening. To recap they consist each time of 4 heel slides (holding for 30 seconds each time), raised leg on yoga block for extension (5 minutes, goal to work up to 15 minutes), quad sets 10 times for 5 seconds (goal to work up to 30 times). The whole routine takes about 15 minutes right now. Meds the same every 4 hours (alternating 4mg dilaudid and then 2mg dilaudid plus 625mg tylenol). Seems sufficient to keep ahead of the pain. It's been cool to be creative with my walker to transport cyro-cuff to kitchen for more ice and gave me a real sense of accomplishment when it went off without a hitch! :) Primary areas of swelling are to the outside just above the knee and to the inside just below the knee. I tried massaging those areas last night to soften them up and I think it might have helped a bit. My sister is stopping by on her way home after work to feed the cat, scoop the litter and change the sheets on my bed (such a sweetheart) and then will sit for a visit to check up on me and make sure I got through the day OK. :) Tomorrow I have an 8:00 appointment at the anti-coag clinic for another finger stick to see if my INR has gone down. I'm hoping it has but I'm confident she will figure it out. Hope everyone had a good day and is moving into a restful evening. Hugs all around!
 
@sandbar525 Glad to hear that you are doing well! Yea! for your first day home alone! :yay: It sounds like you are staying on top of things. Good luck tomorrow with your appointment. Less than a week now for me until the big day! Thanks for the updates!
 
@eldon You will be on the other side in no time. Remember to follow the Bone Smart mantras to the letter and that there is not such things as too much ice! :)
 
I worked on my pimples (muscles) loads as they were like rocks, but once they started to go down it was a huge diff. Every thing I did was checked out by physio as I used a lot of my old sporting stretches. Good luck with everything

Legin THR Sep 14
 
@Legin I just wish I could get the swelling to go down. This is the most uncomfortable night I've had so far since I've been home.
 
I will be honest it took 8 weeks for it to go down much but mine was bad he admitted he couldnt disslocate hip at first my whole leg was covers in bruises inc fingerprint bruises.
One wee step at a time. By most most uncomfortable do I interpret little sleep. I was same so cat napped loads but spoke to dr re help to sleep as all meds were im waking hours. Josephine has a chart for meds which include night wish I had seen it at time. BUT no matter how uncomfortable you feel now it does get better. Suddenly silly things are like WOW, other day I did first heel raise I was whoooping it up as a milemark then I managed to take sock off first time in 9 month s, was singig Nigel has got his sock of hip hip hoooray. Yup bad news how I am on here is the real me as well, poooooor pooooor world.
It will get better @sandbar525 I promise and aftr eons working with kids I never make a promise unless its guaranteeed

Legin THR Sep 14
 
Not a problem shout if you ever need anything well that's within the realms of ogre capability. Hmmmmmmmmm narrows it down quite a bit. - checks book doing stuff made very very simple

Legin THR Sep 14
 
@eldon Following you so I can see how you do, just had my knee done yesterday at 8am, first case of the day so felt special, LOL!! Hoping that the wait time goes fast without too much concern!! Will be watching for your recovery next week.
 
Hi all! I am loving reading all of your thoughts and experiences! I can't describe how valuable your words are to me. Hearing about your recovery makes me feel like I can actually do this. 6 more sleeps. It seems like forever away but time will fly. I feel really ready. I have a few things to do around the house and some grocery shopping but that's pretty much it. It sounds like you're doing well. I'm really happy for you! Are you able to sleep in bed at night or is somewhere else more comfortable?


Sent from my iPod touch using BoneSmart Forum
 
@sandbar525 - I am tracking right with you. Same med schedule and it seems to be helping. But, oh the swelling. I get the most out of my PT first thing in the morning before the swelling starts to take over. I also spent yesterday icing and elevating - and watching hours of Dancing with the Stars on demand. My hubby thinks I am dreaming of going on the show with new new body parts. And maybe that is true. Would love to move that gracefully again!

I hope I can at least assure you that we are in the same boat! Have a good day. Hugs.
 
LaxMom said:
But, oh the swelling.
Click to expand...

LaxMom said:
also spent yesterday icing and elevating - and watching hours of Dancing with the Stars on demand
Click to expand...
You are doing the right thing---icing, elevating, and taking it esy.

While I did not watch DWTS---I did watch hour and hour of reruns on TVLand----Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Munsters, and The Addams Family.!

Whatever gets you through the day!
 
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Day 8: Thanks so much everyone! @LaxMom I think we are running somewhat parallel. Must admit to having a pretty crummy evening last night. It was the worst since I've been home. Couldn't find a good position either in bed or on the couch in the living room and couldn't get the pain below a nag. Hoping for a better day today. Did have my anti-coag finger stick this morning and INR is 2.1...yippee, finally in range. Don't have to go back to the clinic until Friday. Only thing on my agenda for today is rest, ice, elevate and take meds on schedule! :) @Shellbell I feel very lucky in that I've been comfortable in my bed since coming home. Only hiccup was last night when I couldn't get comfortable anywhere. Oh how I wish the swelling would go down. I guess this is where the need for patience starts to kick in. Well, I think I'm going to try for a little snooze. Hope everyone has a good day. I'll check in a little later. Hugs all around! :)
 
@sandbar525 Great new on your blood test! You are one of the only people I've read about who have been comfy in their own bed after surgery so whatever you are doing I am going to do it too! Hope your swelling goes down really soon as I know it is very uncomfy. Hope you've had a better day today. Sending you a hug for across the Pond.
 
@SuperSnapper I really feel very fortunate to be comfortable in my own bed. My set up is pretty simple. I use a reading bed rest (the one with arms) and an additional pillow at my back. Then I have the 3 pillow wedge set up (per the BoneSmart photo). I'm there pretty much of the day except for trips to bathroom and kitchen and very short walks around the house a few times a day to help loosen things up. I nap on and off during the day as my body dictates. When "bedtime" comes, I switch out the bed rest for another pillow. Move the pillow wedge down closer to the foot of the bed so I can lay flatter and there you go. Of course I don't sleep through the night since my cell alarm is set for every 4 hours for pain meds but it's working out pretty well. Thanks for the hug and here's one right back at you! :)
 
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