A new knee and Medicare for my birthday!

[lovetocookandsew]

@beachy Last time around I made a lot of dishes and casseroles, etc, ahead of time with instructions on how to defrost and cook written on each one. Those were great, but I found we wasted quite a bit as I wasn't eating a lot. So this time I made some navy bean soup, chili, veg. beef soup, tomato soup, etc. and portioned them into vacuum bags, but after that I made mostly individual "TV dinners". I did those by making things like turkey, chicken, roast beef, ham and whatever else I made for dinner over the last month or two, making a lot more than we needed, then putting individual portions of the complete meal on heavy duty paper plates. I froze them, then placed them in vacuum seal bags, suck and sealed, labeled and put them back in the freezer. This way, if hubby's hungry and I'm not, he can get a plate out for himself, or I can have soup to his marsala chicken, etc.

I also smoked two large pork butts and made a ton of pulled pork, which I portioned into dinner sized vacuum seal bags. Those he can use for tacos, burritos, pulled pork bbq sandwiches, etc. He can't cook worth a darn, but he can do that much.
If you don't have a vacuum sealer, now would be a really great time to buy one as eating fast food or similar every night is not only unhealthy, it gets old really fast. Plus you'll probably save enough not buying fast food to pay for the machine.....
Btw, my hubby only cooks eggs and frozen sausages, both of which I hate, and pancakes, so I'd starve if it were left up to him, or be fed a non-stop diet of Mexican fast food. He's amazing at remodeling kitchens, but can't cook worth a darn.

 

[beachy]

Thanks @lovetocookandsew …..Love love love the tv dinner suggestion. Definitely will do that! I can't eat fast food. Wil save all these great suggestions from you the other ladies.
Good luck with your revision!

 

[beachy]

PS....I think I'd choose a remodeled kitchen over cooking skills anyday!

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@beachy Me too............ And he recently gutted and remodeled mine completely. Hubby did all the work himself (I designed it and helped where I could). The only thing we hired out was the new floors. He can do those but we had new floors laid in a lot of the house so we had someone do those, but he did all the nice new baseboards after. He did all the plumbing, electrical upgrades, appliance and cabinet installations, counter tops, etc. It took a long time but he got it done.

 

[Jockette]

I have a small freezer and I don’t like to cook anymore, though I did a lot when I was younger.

I stocked up on canned soup (@lovetocookandsew, I can hear you say ).

I was ok if we only had sandwiches or even cereal. Whatever was easy!

We ended up getting a lot of dinners from friends, that I wasn’t expecting, and they brought enough as if the whole community was coming! So we had plenty of food for while.

 

[beachy]

I'm sure I won't starve, but I can't afford to lose more than 10lbs. I look like the walking dead and feel about the same with post op weight loss. I know the weight will come back, always does. From past experience I cant choke down much after surgery, but I wasn't as prepared as now. Lots of great replies and ideas from everyone so thank you all for that!

@lovetocookandsew ugh...we just had a new kitchen reno and think of much $$$ you saved having your hubby do the reno!

 

[SusieShoes]

What did all you post op folks eat in those first few heavy drugged weeks? Did you have any appetite at all? Any suggestions?

I loved the hospital food, but that in my rehab place was awful. Not tasty at all. And then by the time I was home I had the worst nausea. No appetite at all. It was all I could do to choke down graham crackers and gatorade (and yes, that combo is as dreadful as it sounds). After two weeks of that I'd lost weight. My personal doctor ferreted out that I was having a bad reaction to iron pills I was taking post-op. Once I stopped the iron pills my appetite gradually returned.

You may have less appetite, particularly if you take narcotics. If you are concerned about weight loss, indulge in high calorie favorite foods! Just be sure to feed your healing body with lots of protein for the repair work. Protein drinks are a great way to get a protein boost. A healthy diet of fresh fruits and veggies is good for your digestive tract and to provide vitamins. Also drink plenty of fluids.

You will want to have a favorite light snack available to eat when taking your pain meds. Your stomach will be happier with something in it.

 

[SusieShoes]

So where did you need pillows.... with your LD or only on the recliner?

I only used the pillow with the recliner in the early months. After I retired the Lounge Doctor, I used the pillows in bed: between my legs when side-sleeping and under my knees when on my back. Now I hardly ever use them. The healing knees go through several stages before becoming completely free of wanting a little support.

 

[Laurenkate]

Yes, I'd take a husband who could re-do a kitchen over one who can cook any day too.

We had new flooring put in last week so that was my opportunity to clean out the freezer and get rid of all the tin foil mysteries in there so I have lots of room for bags of Sonic ice (best stuff in the world). Cheap, great for ice bags and ice machines and wonderful to let sit out so it gets a little softer to chew on (hopefully my dentist isn't reading this).

Another thing we did before my last surgery was make a big Target run to load up on all the things like laundry detergent, trash bags, etc. We have a very small house and very little storage room so it was crowded in the utility room but that was helpful (shopping isn't my favorite thing). Never really figured out how to use a cane and push a grocery cart so it was really nice when I started getting out to not have to haul heavy things into the house.

 

[Jockette]

Never really figured out how to use a cane and push a grocery cart

If you’re pushing a grocery cart you don’t need a cane, the cart is basically a walker.

My husband built us a house 31 years ago. It was a lovely log cabin in the woods. It had the best kitchen ever. We lived there 21 years. It broke my heart when we moved far away and had to sell it.

 

[beachy]

@SusieShoes I remember reading about your iron yuckies. I remember feeling pukey when taking them with pregnancies. Hope I don't need them. I was figuring on the protein drinks and other sources of low fat protein. And I can't eat much wheat without being in the bathroom all the time....TMI. However, that could be the desired effect to counteract the narcotic constipation. LOL And I have a "compromised" pancreas so I have stay away from high fat foods. Not neurotic about it, but have to watch it. That's why I was asking for suggestions and got some good ones!
Understand now about the extra pillows. Thought you used them WITH the LD.
Thanks!

@Laurenkate Hubs loves to make sure all that stuff is stocked up! He LOVES the local Costco. I have to go with him since we're only buying for 2 people to reign him in. He would rent a storage unit if something was a good deal. "Hubs, it's only a good deal if you use it." "Beachy Darling, paper towels don't go bad!" (I added the Darling part)
We won't live long enough to use 3,000 rolls of paper towels Or 100 gallons of salsa. But, we could use the paper towels if the salsa spills. Welcome to my world. I just found these emojis! Fun!

 

[beachy]

The Snowbirds have migrated from Florida to our beach town. They are all here now, the migration is complete. Yesterday we joined up with several at the pool. It's not quite the scene from the movie "Cocoon" but, that pool scene did come to mind LOL. There are 4 'birds who had TKRs. 2 are sisters. 2 others had both knees done though not at the same time. Happy hour was a gabfest about knees. It was very comforting. They all had good recoveries and are pleased they had the surgery. Hubs got an earful and I'm happy he did.
I'm hoping to have my date in October within the next 2 weeks.

 

[beachy]

Clarification
Hubs got an earful about their recovery....not a negative earful. He learned a lot.

 

[SusieShoes]

They all had good recoveries and are pleased they had the surgery.

My family and that of Mr. Shoes has eleven knee replacements between them. Mom and sister had both, at different times like your snowbirds, and Dad had bilateral like me. All are happy with their knees. Only one of them had a problem and that got solved so that she is now a happy camper also. It's quite comforting having so much positivity in the pipeline!

 

[beachy]

They all had good recoveries and are pleased they had the surgery.

My family and that of Mr. Shoes has eleven knee replacements between them. Mom and sister had both, at different times like your snowbirds, and Dad had bilateral like me. All are happy with their knees. Only one of them had a problem and that got solved so that she is now a happy camper also. It's quite comforting having so much positivity in the pipeline!

@SusieShoes Wow! Eleven! You must have had a lot of understanding within your family about the surgery.

 

[beachy]

They all had good recoveries and are pleased they had the surgery.

My family and that of Mr. Shoes has eleven knee replacements between them. Mom and sister had both, at different times like your snowbirds, and Dad had bilateral like me. All are happy with their knees. Only one of them had a problem and that got solved so that she is now a happy camper also. It's quite comforting having so much positivity in the pipeline!

Is there a way to reply from iPhone without quoting the entire previous post?

 

[SusieShoes]

I don't know much about the iPhone app. On my iPhone I use the website (I learned in the hospital while in recovery that the website suited me better). Maybe someone else will come along with a better answer!

 

[Jockette]

I use my iPhone all the time. But I come to Bonesmart via the internet on my iPhone. I don’t have any problems.

 

[Jockette]

I live in a 55+ community and lots of knees have been replaced here. I must be the first one who hasn’t had a textbook recovery. I definitely am the first one with a partial.

I have gotten very little compassion for my less than stellar recovery.

One woman asked if I’d done pool therapy and I said yes, but I didn’t do very well with it. (I tend to be too honest and talk too much) The look she gave me was a mixture of shock and disapproval.

The biggest shock for me about this recovery is how much anyone and everything voiced an opinion of how I was doing, or should be doing, and I often didn’t “measure” up. (Literally and figuratively!)

My “favorite” was my friend who’s husband and his knee replaced. 2 weeks later she’s telling me how I should bend my knee. 2 weeks and she was an expert, and she’s never had a knee replaced. (I was 4 months post op )

I hope your group is more compassionate.

On a good note, they took turns bringing us dinner the first week or so. They were very nice to me then, I was in the “normal” first week of recovery.

 

[beachy]

I’m logged in with the website now not app and hope that does the trick!

@Jockette love all the times I’ve been told to do over and above the PT you get as outpatient. “It will hurt but you have to do it or your knee will be stuck”. I nod and say ok it. I’m thinking heck no!