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Bilateral scheduled for Sept 29. Glad I discovered this forum!

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Hi @meewee. I love your point #1 - you sure have your priorities right!!! Since you are ahead of me - you'll have to report to me on that one when you find out the answer.

Question #2 - go to the very top of the Bonesmart page and you'll see a mini tab bar on the right that will have your Bonesmart name on the left of the bar. If you click on your Bonesmart name it will give you a drop down menu with lots of options. One of them is Avatar. Click there and you'll be taken to where you can link one of your photos to your Avatar. Just click on "custom avatar" and then you can choose a photo from your computer or tablet. Let me know if you have a problem setting that up.

Also, remember that you will need to start a new thread in the recovery area so we can follow your journey after Monday.
 
Thanks! It sounds easy enough. If I can't do it now from my iPhone, I'll try it on my office computer tomorrow. Haircut today, check.
 
What I learned during my journey? PATIENCE. You can not rush the process. Your body has it's own time frame for healing. Do not compare your journey against anyone else's! Listen to you body. If it hurts too much STOP. Feed you body good nutrition during this time, get extra rest and look forward to a new wonderful life free of pain and misery!
My healing journey is below to click on to to give you an idea of the first year in my recovery. Best wishes to you on your journey!:SUNsmile: Joan
 
1) how long before you could sit in the hairdresser's chair for 1-1/2 hour?

color-only-lasts-six-weeks,

I used this healing time as a time to GET REAL with myself. I cut my hair super short, and let the grey?white come out. I quit coloring after 30 years of denial that my hair was WHITE!:egypdance: You should be able to go to the hairdressers by the 6th week or maybe earlier. :SUNsmile: Joan
 
We bought this modest two family house in the spring and it came with a hair sink in the basement! If only I could get down the stairs, I'd be all set.

Take care this weekend. Keep busy.
 
@Jane B. - I have an appointment to get a perm (maybe I should add a blue rinse as well) :heehee:. I have baby fine hair and not much of it, so not being able to wash it daily, makes me look like DH who is totally bald!
 
So glad it's Friday! Finished up work and left a fairly clean desk so that's a huge item to check off my list. Now I'll have the weekend to pack and make final preparations at home. We'll spend time with friends on Saturday, family on Sunday.

I'm to arrive at the hospital at 8:45 Monday morning and am the 2nd surgery of the day for my OS. I forgot to ask if he does stitches or staples but other than that I'm as ready as I can be. I'm ready to trade these knees! Even though I can still walk fairly comfortably, stairs are painful, gradual downhill slopes are almost impossible, flexion is about 90 left and 110 right, and it is very painful to try to sleep. So this will just get worse and I'd rather have the pain of recovery than the pain of deterioration. Following this forum is incredibly valuable. I am grateful for the honesty and sharing.

@Threads I can't seem to post a photo from my iPhone so will try it on the ancient home PC tomorrow. Otherwise I'll ask a Grandkid to help me out post op.

Thanks for your concern. Take care everyone and do something enjoyable this weekend. I'll start a recovery thread and look forward to hearing your updates as well.
 
@meewee
Great attitude meewee and sounds like a relaxing, no stress weekend!
All the best to you on your surgery.
Looking forward to hearing about your recovery on the other side!
:SUNsmile:
 
Maybe go to the movies, Meewee, and see something fun. You seem like you are in great shape, though, and don't need my advice!

And you are correct. I don't even think of the arthritis/AVN pain any longer. That lovely middle of the night roll over in horrible knee pain is gone. Recovery pain IS getting better, and hopefully will continue to get better.
 
Good luck on Monday Meewee! Enjoy time with the family. I was busy right up to the day of my surgery, left a clean desk at work, went grocery shopping, had my bags packed, neccessities for recovery at home ready. Day of surgery I shaved my legs since I was certain I would not want or be able to shave them for awhile. The only thing I forgot about was getting to the hairdresser for a cut! Four weeks out of surgery, I still haven't shaved my legs and my hair is a mess! Lol! Well most likely take care of my legs tomorrow since I'm starting outpatient pt on Monday and have my followup appt with the os on Thursday. My hairdresser has offered to come to me if I'm really desperate.

I have two ice machines and I've used them constantly since surgery. I think it really helps with keeping the swelling down and managing the pain. After PT, it feels wonderful to wrap my knees and turn the machines back on.

At four weeks i feel like I'm getting back to my normal self. I go six hours on my pain meds which has made a lot of difference in my alertness. Like you, I also work from home and think I could manage putting in a couple of hours each day at this point. Big problem is that my boss would really love that but he will want more than a couple of hours even if he agreed to it. I'm going to see how the outpatient therapy goes, how long i will need to ice afterwards before I commit to going back. I've been approved for 12 weeks but I'm not sure I can last that long. But my priority is to have a successful recovery and I do not want to jeopardize it by going back to work to early. I also don't want to set myself up where I have to juggle my pt appts with work demands. In the past, I've allowed work to take priority and I refuse to let that happen this time.
 
MeeWee, best of luck tomorrow

Tomorrow is 13 weeks for me (6/29/14) and there is no doubt any longer that i'm glad i did BTKR

Clearly the first few weeks are no fun, but once you can get in and out of the car (with someone else driving) you find you enjoy moving around, real life moving around, not just the exercises. At week 6 I was able to drive by myself, and that's a huge boost of happiness.

My knees still feel swollen and odd, but I drive, walk, and have a life that is not constrained by my knees. Oddly, my very arthritic ankle is happy now that the knees were replaced. An expected side benefit

Bring an extension cord to hospital and rehab center so that you can charge your phone, kindle etc and have them by your bedside.

One New Years Eve you'll be week 13, where I am now, and i'm confident that you'll be celebrating a great decision

Keep in touch
 
Thanks everyone! I'm packed and ready to go. I'll post on the recovery side as soon as I'm able. This is such a great community. Thank you so much.


BTKR 29 Sept 2014
 
Maggie, today is 24 weeks since surgery, and I'm glad I did it.

There is NO joint pain, and i'm pretty much not aware of the JOINT. I'm not on any painkillers, not even tylenol. I had two weeks of inpatient rehab and 30-40 outpatient visits, and they were necessary. Range of Motion is good and other than getting off a low soft couch, or off the floor, i'm in good shape.

However, the muscles a few inches about the knee, on the front side, still feel swollen and tender, and it feels like i'm wearing knee pads like a carpet installer would wear. Not painful, just a very odd feeling. When I ask Dr or PT about this the answer is a surprising "it takes a full year until everything goes back to normal". I have 6 month followup next week and maybe I'll get more information

Now I'm pretty content with where I am, but nobody ever once suggested that it takes a year to fully rehab.

The way I see if is that if I didn't do surgery I'd have had another 24 weeks of degenerating knees, rather than 2 miserable weeks of rehab, followed by progressively improving motion.

Good luck
 
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