Anybody else up?

[beachcomber]

Oh, good grief. Here I sit at 3 months KR, wide awake and in pain. I took my pain meds hours ago--- almost time to take them again and they didn't help at all. I guess I "overdid" it again these past few days and it is catching up with me. I also forgot to take my anti-inflammatory meds (prednisone and diclofenac)yesterday morning so I guess I might be having a spike in inflammation that is just showing up now.

It's been an interesting few days.... first a loong week at school (teacher) then a wonderful day at the outlet mall and walking at the beach on Saturday (owie-owie but worth it!) then Easter with dinner drama when my oven element caught on fire. Really--- it was the element itself on fire. Looked like someone was welding inside my oven with my ham and scalloped potatoes! Sparks flew out into the kitchen when we opened the door. Freaky! Had to finish dinner in the microwave... sooo not the same.
Today I drove 80 miles with my son to visit his grandmother who is in poor health--then back again. It was good to see her (has been months) but the driving/road vibrations have taken their toll on my recovering back. It hurts like hell tonight and nothing seems to be helping it (ice, heat, pills, etc.). The good news is that I sailed up(and down) two flights of stairs into her house, alternating knees just like a normal person!

AND the smoke alarms keep going off. Just that little occasional beep.... we changed the batteries but they keep going off. Finally put two of them in the refrigerator where we can't hear them anymore. There are still 4 operational ones that aren't beeping so I don't think we actually have a smoke/fire problem.... just gremlins....

So.... wasn't that interesting? I thought I was past these little midnight sessions. Guess not quite.

I hope none of you are actually awake to see this. I am wishing you sweet, pain-free dreams. I am wishing the same for myself.... soon!

 

[kath]

Beach,
I am here, in pain, wide awake. What a weekend you have had. At least your kitchen didn't catch on fire and no one was hurt. You really did it big time, walking on the beach was probably one of the hardest and the ride in the car. But at least you got to do all those things.
I spent Easter Sunday all day in bed or in the bathroom with no luck. Crying in pain, just a miserable day for the most part. Yesterday was a bit better. Today a little better, but nothing solved. I just dealt with things better.

I can't remember how to start a new thread, I know it is right in front of my face, can you help me?

 

[kath]

Hey and the crazy daisy fire detector things???? I had the same problem last year. I went so crazy with them, got a ladder and disconnected 2, I couldn't take it. We lease a house from the college that I work for and I had the guys come over and they put all new ones in, one in each room, all new batteries and guess what, next day they started it all over again. I took out all the batteries and now they stopped, but I forgot to put all new ones in. Think I had to put something in there though to block something where the batteries where, had one of the college guys do it. I have 2 in the house that function. Thanks for the reminder in a weird way, I am going to have them look at these things.

 

[Josephine]

Finally put two of them in the refrigerator where we can't hear them anymore. There are still 4 operational ones that aren't beeping so I don't think we actually have a smoke/fire problem.... just gremlins....

Well now, that's a very useful place for a fire alarm!

 

[Skeet]

Sorry to hear you didn't have a good night. It's a good reminder for the rest of us that just because we start feeling better (which does seem to happen at ~3 months) we are not yet fully healed and we still need to watch ourselves. I hope you are feeling better soon. God bless you.
Skeet

 

[beachcomber]

aaaaah...... just back from the "spa". I think it was the first time I ever left PT feeling better than when I got there! I finally caught a few hours of sleep after taking a second bedtime dose of vicodin. I think I am getting "habituated" (is that the word I want?) to them because they sometimes just don't help like they used to..... Last night I was really wishing for something stronger.

After my pool therapy we did my favorite e-stim--- They hook my knee and back up to the dual channel machine and zap the pain away. I lie on my stomach and they put this mammoth heat pack on my back and an ice wrap around my knee and I just sink into relaxation. Best 20 minutes of my week! I really hated to get up.

This is my spring break and I finished up all my obligations yesterday and just plan to take it easy for the rest of the week. Putter around the house, do my taxes, and rest, rest, rest.

See ya here!

 

[beachcomber]

I have no idea why Scott put them in the refrigerator. But at 1:00 AM I certainly wasn't going to question him about it. He was the one climbing up and down the ladder checking the alarms and chasing the beeps while I was sitting in my recliner icing my knee and trying to calm down my back with a heating pad.

Well now, that's a very useful place for a fire alarm!

 

[JenniferG]

Ah Beach, it sounds so good. My knees are very stiff & sore today and my hip is sick of the cane and back hates this chair and sitting all the time. Oh, am I complaining? On the up side, While I was moving from room to room I stubbed my toe on some thing. remember that bone shattering pounding that went thru you anytime there was a jar to your leg? Yeah, didn't happen, gone. : )

 

[beachcomber]

Complain away... you've earned the right! I don't know about you--- but the biggest surprise to me was all the OTHER body parts that hurt after my KR. I expected my knee to hurt... but I didn't have any idea about the ankle, hip, other knee, etc. It makes sense... I understand the inter-connected part.... but I just didn't expect it to be such a big deal as it has been for me. And it was just another of those things they "forgot" to tell us!

It IS so encouraging to notice that at least the "old hurts" are gone. We know the rehab is gonna hurt for a while, but it WILL heal and get better. Those "old hurts" were never gonna get better with time or by themselves. And now they are history! Cool, huh?

Take it easy and pamper yourself. You deserve it!

 

[Doug]

You put your fire alarm in the refrigerator?? I can see me doing that and forgetting to tell my wife...She opens the door,it goes off, she wet's her drawers, I deny any knowledge of it and blame my son.
Really though, I had a smoke alarm that kept going off, new batteries, kept going off. I fixed it. I took it out into the garage, laid it on the work bench and hit it it with a hammer..Never made another noise..I seem to have a temper issue sometimes.

 

[Josephine]

 

[beachcomber]

I think they are "possessed". Putting them in the 'fridge is the first step in the Smoke Alarm Exorcism.

Second step is new batteries. (even though they are hard-wired....)

Third step is banishment to the garage for the final hammer "treatment".

 

[JenniferG]

The hip bone is connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone is connected to the knee bone, the knee bone is connected to the...
I start outpatient PT next week and I get the sense that it is a little "harder" than pre-op/hospital/in home.

 

[beachcomber]

Well---- you are on THEIR turf now and they have all their "tools" handy! That can be good... or bad, depending on your point of view. I called my PT "Attila" and threatened him with a voodoo doll a few times! Let HIM lie awake with sharp pains in his knee for a few nights! LOL!

Seriously, they have your best interest at heart although sometimes it is hard to remember that. My best advice is to work hard and TRY to relax and BREATHE. I actually used my old LaMaze breathing techniques to get through some of it. And remember to take your pain pills soon enough before you go so they are working when you get there.

My experience was that my knee usually continued to hurt significantly later that day, but by the next day my pain level was down again--- until the next session. I worked very hard on my home therapy regime and was lucky to regain my ROM fairly quickly and easily.

Good luck!

 

[Doug]

Jennifer, See if you can take an Ipod and listen to your favorite music..Try counting and concentrating on the numbers as they are working your leg..If it was real comfortable, we wouldn't all still be talking about it..You have to push it. It hurts to varying degrees but you can and you have to get through it so you can reap the full benefits of what you just went through...You'll be fine.

 

[Skeet]

That's why I loved my PT. She had soothing music playing, fountains in every room, and her half lab/half great dane dog who is as sweet as they come. It was very relaxing just to enter the front door. She also had a private practice and I was the only patient there during my time so it was very quiet.

 

[JenniferG]

skeet, what was her name? The dog I mean.

 

[Skeet]

She has an Indian name but they call her Kay for the first syllable of the other name, which I cannot remember. It means "buddy" in one of the American Indian languages.

 

[Doug]

Great Dane and lab mix..I bet that was one big dog.
I got chased by a great dane once. I had to jump into the bed of a truck and climb on the roof to get away from it.

 

[Skeet]

She is big, but not much larger than our lab - both of whom are tall and long - 90 lbs a piece. She is just the sweetest thing, and let's you pet her while you are being worked on or icing down. Loves to be snuggled.