PKR "A textbook perfect recovery..."

[jeano]

Back from my first follow up with the OS. Stitches are out and as far as the OS is concerned, I can pretty much do whatever I want, including PT on my own if I want, but he was agreeable to writing a script for me to go twice a week for another 4 weeks. I reminded him that I need to regain enough strength/agility for me to be able to get on my horses using the mounting block setup I use now.

The PT is on board to rig a mock horse there using one of the lift tables--I'll come up with a stirrup and a strap to attach to my PT steed and I can do a simulated mount under hopefully controlled conditions. That's a few weeks off.

For today, a session on the bike with more resistance. With the sutures out and the bandage off it was MUCH easier to pedal. We added some squats and leg presses to the equation today, too, and the knee feels good. I am icing, elevating and taking it easy for the rest of today!

 

[kneeper]

Seems a little early for squats, but I like that the PT is willing to help you get prepped for your horseback riding.

 

[NetballKnees]

Hi Jean ... I so love reading your posts. You are an inspiration to those of us BS-ers who are struggling to maintain positivity all the time. (Actually, I do hesitate a bit before saying BS anything, because here in Australia, the initials BS mean a male cow's excretia )

Sitting here elevating and icing, I read of your ROM of 116 and dream of that day, which I am sure will come eventually. Currently mine is at 70 and I am 6 weeks out .

Take Care Jean and I hope everything continues to go smoothly for you and roll on in its proper timeframe.

Ellen

 

[jeano]

BS means the same thing here in the States as it does in Oz, makes me chortle.

I expect the holiday will give my ROM a challenge--I am trying to be diligent about resting, icing etc but have a house guest and of course want to be up and doing. Tuesday at PT I managed 117 without the PT pushing--and was told "you've earned your ice!" They always end the session with a lovely ten minute rest with the leg up and a fine big frozen gel pad tucked around the knee. Nirvana. After all the exercises I did I gave my PT a look and said, lets see, if I'm at all stiff and sore when I come back Friday you're going to blame it on whatever I do on Wed and Thursday, instead of all this stuff you pilled on me today. He nodded and said, Yep, it'll be because of what you did at home. I expected some residual pain in the quads from the squats and presses but it hasnt happened yet. The knee is fine, no swelling, actually a LOT cooler now that the stitches are gone and the bandage isnt holding heat in.

Today I grabbed my cane and went out to check on my horses--its a third of a mile approximately to make the round trip to the barn from my house. No problems with the knee--I iced before and after. Just having the durn sutures out has really helped make it feel more flexible. I will fit some stretches in around the food preparation and feasting (we are eating the holiday meal a day early, in part because my DH and I dont eat meat on Fridays and we want those leftovers on that first day when they are best.) Plus my cousin will still be here to help eat them on Thursday--he's heading home on Friday. Before anyone jumps up and squeaks about doing too much, the turkey is already cooked (smoked at a BBQ joint) and only needs sliced, and the menu is simple (two casseroles and some greens) and my cousin is doing nearly all the heavy tasks. We will only be four at table. (I am supervising, basically, not that he needs it as he is an excellent cook. We've been preparing meals together for going on 50 years.)

Happy Turkey Day to all. This year in addition to my other blessings I am thankful for a good surgery and a recovery well begun, improved sleep, and a right knee that doesnt have to compensate nearly as much now as it did before the surgery. I am grateful I dont seem to need much in the way of pain medications. I am thankful for a good surgeon and for cute, earnest PTs who blush when a 60 year old babe like myself gets on the teeter board and comments about swiveling the old hips. Life is good.

 

[crystals5]

Have the best holidays

 

[jeano]

Happy Black Friday one and all. I went to PT this morning then hubby, my ancient mother, and my cousin and I had lunch out before sending cousin on his way. This meant I got shoehorned into the back seat of our car for the ride home--my 89 year old mama and my 6'1" (and all legs) DH are less able to ride crossways in the back than yours truly, now a whopping 18 days post-op.

I had thought PT would be crowded but there were only about 6 of us gimps there and with 3 PTs we had lots of attention. More squats, leg presses, teeter board and such and then time for the dreaded heel slides and the Measuring Of The Flexion. Knee felt a little tight (and extension was a bit off) but I managed 122 for flexion. ONE HUNDRED TWENTY TWO after two days of overstanding, overeating, and underresting with my loved ones. WOOOOOOOOooooooooHOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo!!!! I'm guessing the icing and elevating I managed to squeeze in somehow helped the cause. I am working on cutting back on the Tylenol (need to save my liver for wine and beer). Sleep continues to improve.

My PT said "you're going to get discharged soon." He would like for me to get to 130 but "You're already where you need to be to have a functioning leg."

 

[referee54]

The PT is on board to rig a mock horse there using one of the lift tables--I'll come up with a stirrup and a strap to attach to my PT steed and I can do a simulated mount under hopefully controlled conditions. That's a few weeks off.

For today, a session on the bike with more resistance. With the sutures out and the bandage off it was MUCH easier to pedal.

That is really good news---doing "Sport specific" exercises. It is great to read that yo are getting closer to hopping back on the horse and doing what you love to do!

That bike will also be a big help. it will help keep your knee loose and will allow you to slowy build up strength and stamina.

 

[referee54]

ee felt a little tight (and extension was a bit off) but I managed 122 for flexion. ONE HUNDRED TWENTY TWO after two days of overstanding, overeating, and underresting with my loved ones. WOOOOOOOOooooooooHOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo!!!!

Congratulations!!! That is awesome!!!

I am working on cutting back on the Tylenol (need to save my liver for wine and beer).

I feel the same way!!

My PT said "you're going to get discharged soon." He would like for me to get to 130 but "You're already where you need to be to have a functioning leg."

Remember---it is not all about the #'s---it is about doing what you love to do! You are doing outstanding!

 

[jeano]

I'm pretty happy with how it's going. Yesterday I was flat exhausted after seeing my cousin off. Taking it very easy today since we will be going to church this evening and running an errand or two such that I'll be unable to ice and elevate for going on 3 hours. My riding buddy visited today and we discussed strategies for getting me horseback again--I told her the PT had (I'm sure in jest) suggested I just bring my horse to their parking lot and buddy's eyes lit up. I dont own a trailer but she does and I know for a fact she'd be on board to haul my mare to town if for no other reason than to mess with people. My gelding would have a meltdown if he were unloaded into an urban parking lot. The mare would view it as an opportunity to mooch treats from all and sundry.​

​

I'm not too worried about specific numbers, myself. I have more or less decided I'll not do more today than the few minutes on the pedal exerciser I did during buddy's visit, plus the walking I'll get when we go to town. Tomorrow I'll hit all my PT exercises and will be on my own in the house most of the day while the DH goes to visit HIS ancient mother. Monday we have dental appointments (yes I have my antibiotics ready to take) and I'll get shoehorned into the backseat again if my ancient mother comes along for the ride and a trip to the grocery store.​

​

No PT until next Wed now that I'm down to 2X week.​

 

[jeano]

So, I am now 22 days postop and DH is back to work, so I will be doing the morning chicken chores and other critter tasks, as well as driving myself to PT tomorrow. Where I anticipate getting a finger-shaking lecture since I will be stiff and sore if yesterday and today are any indication.
Yesterday I had some good milestones out of the way, was able to use my elliptical over the weekend with no problem, went about 14 minutes or so, comparable to what I’ve been able to do on the bike at PT. Also I can now get in the passenger side of the car (left in the US) by sticking the operated leg in first more or less like a normal person, as opposed to the Crip Way—inserting posterior first and buttwalking backwards until there is (barely enough) room to raise the Bad Leg and swivel it in while cursing any little bump on the foot.
All well and good, but we had dental appointments (yes, I took my prophylactic antibiotics)
yesterday and needed to get some groceries while in town, plus get mail and ice for the polar cube and this all translated into roughly 5 hours without icing and elevating and the Knee Was Not Amused. In hindsight letting the DH push me around the humongous grocery store (2nd largest Kroger in the entire Southeastern US, not a small store, so it takes forever to do the whole place) in the wheelchair with front basket was NOT the smartest option. I was hobbling by the time we got home and actually gobbled up my half Lortab leftover from week before last.
　
That put me in a lovely haze until bedtime, so I figured to prolong the nice rest by taking a phenergan for bedtime sedation. Which lasted until 330 this AM, which was right around the time DH got up for his day. He was a good Ice Sherpa and charged up the polar cube for me and I went back to sleep, unfortunately that meant close on another 8 hours total without the knee being elevated. (I understand the knee is Boss but I do Not Sleep on my back, therefore the Knee gets a pillow between it and its sister so they don’t fight while I sleep on my side. Tough noogies, Knee.
I got on the mini-bike for a few minutes and will spend most of the day icing and elevating. No more lortab at least until after PT tomorrow—I have to be able to drive!

 

[Roy Gardiner]

Great thread, thank you.

sainguinous

Not often I have to look up a word, but that's a goody.

Think about it, we exchange pain and misery for MORE pain and misery. Then we congratulate ourselves for having overcome BOTH sets of pain and misery, then live in anticipation of the NEXT episode of pain and misery as the next knee goes, or a revision becomes necessary, so that we can again repeat the process.

And when the High Wizards of the BTKR see this they confer amongst themselves with great concern and make great debate and discussion and then they laugh and they laugh and they laugh.

 

[jeano]

The DH aka Ice Sherpa was expressing consternation via email that I was having "so much discomfort yesterday and today". Well, duh, explained jeano--progress is not linear, the knee got more sitting than it liked, and less ice and elevation than it liked, and the weather has changed six times since yesterday, and all that damaged soft tissues has a lot of 'splainin' to do to the rest of the Knee, which is now coming to terms with that chunk of steel and plastic in there.

Considering everything that's going on its flat amazing to me that for the most part arthritis-strength tylenol and ice are keeping me as comfortable as they are! And one half of one lortab every once in a great while.

Of course, DH got up the next morning after outpatient hernia repair, fixed his own breakfast, and the next day dug a ditch about a quarter of a mile long on NO pain medication. That was a few years before the heart valve replacement. As soon as he was off the ventilator he got out of bed and tried to find his clothes because he figured it was time to go home. He would be in pain and not know it--I had to tell his nurses to give him his pain medication despite his telling them no thanks. You'd love to be wired like that.

 

[jeano]

At PT today I was back to 116 or thereabouts--my PT wasnt even going to measure when he saw how creaky I still was (but from my perspective, it was a lot better than yesterday.) Last night I actually slept with the ice machine on. PT also endorsed the weather (warm and rainy after cold and blowy, then alternating) as a contributing factor and counseled me to only work on stretching and light ROM on my off day tomorrow. He's confident I'll get last week's stellar ROM back.

I was pleased with the 116, to tell the truth. I bought lots o' ice while out (first driving since the surgery) and popped half a lortab when I got in. The dogs are frantic because they just KNOW I will take them for a walk but it's not happening today. I can still get in and out of the car easily, set the parking brake with my left foot, and climbed the stairs to the back porch this morning after letting the chickens out. In other words, its a functioning knee if a mite touchy right now. The bike felt good this morning and I will use my little pedal-er this afternoon and tomorrow to keep things loose. For right now, icing, elevating, medicating and resting!

 

[Mazza]

My "DH" usually says, "More peas dear?" We laugh about whether the day might dawn when we would forget what the bags of peas were used for and actually eat them!

jeano You should become a comedy sketch writer! I have had a rotten day today, but was so cheered up by your memoires

 

[jeano]

Road Bump on the Road to Textbook Perfection
My Ice Sherpa and Reason for Living went to work (at an Army hospital 70 miles from home) yesterday and promptly had a stroke. Got emergency stabilization courtesy of the Army, shipped to a primo Neuro Center and is doing fine wih possible discharge this AM. Going to see him now. We'll get back to knee recovery as soon as we can.

 

[bottomshollow]

Wow! jeano, life can really throw us some tough curve balls. So glad to hear he's doing well now.

Both of you take care, keep us posted, we care.

 

[kneeper]

Best wishes to Mr. jeano (aka ice sherpa). (((jeano)))

 

[jeano]

Thanks, well wishes much appreciated. As one might expect, given my sterling example, the Ice Sherpa is having a Textbook Perfect Recovery from his stroke. He has, near as I can tell (and remember I've been an RN for 35 years) no neurological deficits to speak of, having at this point a walking gait considerably better than mine, clear speech, excellent comprehension, good manual dexterity, expresses himself coherently, and isnt blanking on words and names any more than he was before this. He set a land speed record for getting out of the hospital and his time wouldve been a good 8 hours shorter if it hadnt been for a nearly comical series of glitches at hospital, none of which seem to have been anyone's fault. So now he has plenty of motivation to take medications for his cholesterol.

When it was determined that he could go home Friday evening his attending physician beamed at us and told the Ice Sherpa "Good news, you'll be normal after this." I couldnt resist texting that pronouncement to his friends and siblings, who without exception responded "Wow, that'll be a big change!"

While I am grateful and relieved that the Ice Sherpa survived, and will be off work until January (meaning he can resume his Sherpa duties) his flitation with the Death Angel did have an impact on my knee. I was barely recovered from last Monday's shopping expedition when he pulled his stunt on Thursday. I didnt have the best night's sleep and then Friday meant about 4 hours in the car, a lot of schlepping through the gigantic medical center, and a total of 14 hours or longer with little elevating and less icing of the Knee. And I have been paying for that neglect since. Hopefully another two days of rest betweeen now and my next PT appointment will help toward regaining some of the lost ground. I am getting good relief from ice and taking a half lortab at bedtime, and my usual tylenol dosing, but I am nowhere near as good on the ROM front as I was nearly two weeks ago.

Good news is we were both so tired yesterday that we managed not only to nap in the afternoon but then went on to sleep nearly 10 hours last night.

 

[referee54]

I am very sorry to read of your husband's stroke, but I am also very delighted to read that he is well on the road to recovery with no ill effects!

Good news is we were both so tired yesterday that we managed not only to nap in the afternoon but then went on to sleep nearly 10 hours last night.

When I was a little boy, I hated the naps that my mother made me take. Now, naps are one of the greatest things ever invented by mankind.

 

[jeano]

We are back from PT and various other errands and I am under a wonderful velveteen/Sherpa fleece throw (come to think of it, my own personal Ice Sherpa has whitish, curly fleece on his head, hmmmmm) sent by a friend in CA who prescribes them for everyone who naps, gets ill, and has cats--pure delight when a knee is getting iced beyond all recognition. PTs all got caught up on why I missed last Friday. My pet PT was horrified that I'd been Overdoing and went easy on me today. Flexion is back up to 120, with extension again zero, so I have in fact regained lost ground. Today is my 60th birthday.

Told the Ice Sherpa that the fact that he stuck around for my birthday more than makes up for the fact that he didnt get me a card!