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TKR Braunzie's Journey on "The Other Side"?

Yes, how did your husband do? Competitive BBQing seems like a bizarre sport to me. I have no idea how it works. All I've seen is acres of BBQ trailers, a great party atmosphere, and I wonder how those judges pick a winner and who eats all that meat.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
Thanks, @SarahJane - I'm fortunate enough to have two of my daughters living with this summer. One just graduated from nursing school and is finishing up her clinicals while living at home. She'll likely go back to Portland once she get her official status as RN in a couple weeks. My youngest daughter is 18 and she'll be leaving to attend the University of Portland that last week of August, so it will be just me and my husband at that point. As it turns out, I didn't really need to bother anyone to help in the middle of the night while my husband was gone.. but you're right, the peace of mind having someone here just in case was very nice.

But you've been by yourself since one week past surgery? I'm VERY impressed! Hopefully you have someone coming in to help with some things?

My husband actually ending doing quite well in the competition.. He was first place for brisket, second place for pulled pork and 3rd place for BBQ ribs.. PLUS, he won the apple pie contest!! He was completely whooped by the time he came home. He cleaned his equipment, jumped in the shower and was snoring in bed by about 4 pm.. Very tired, but extremely happy puppy!! :egypdance:
 
WTG!

and yes, I have had some people come by to help out. I don't know where I would be without them. So far, I haven't gone a day without someone here. Laundry was done on Tuesday and put away on Wednesday by two very generous people. Also on Wednesday, someone from church was going to be in my neighborhood. She called, offered a half hour of help, and the litter box was clean. (Luckily, I have an indoor/outdoor cat, so the litter box doesn't need daily attention.) On Friday, her sister called and volunteered to clean the litter box. Of course, I said yes, thank you, so she came over. She put dishes from the dishwasher away as well. Tuesday someone is driving across town to clean the bathrooms and kitchen.
 
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Just read your thread from start to finish. I think you're doing great! Few ups and downs, few wobbles and some patience-testing but nothing out of the ordinary. Like you, I ran before I could walk and ended up overdoing things at about the 2 week mark. Got back on track after a few days of resting, icing and elevating. Now we need to continue slowly and steadily and try our best to be patient. Keep it up!
 
Two weeks post op today. Got back from PT this am and I'm WHOOPED! No more PT for me today! Came home, went right to bed to elevate and ice.. and take my pain meds.. (was just a bit late and that had me worried, but they seem to be kicking in OK..) I measured 94 / 9 which is an improvement over Friday.. :yes!:

My husband made a number of comments today that he can really tell I'm improving. He was sincerely encouraging and pleased. That was good to hear and made me feel good. After really pushing during the session, I was resting with ice at the PT appointment with my husband sitting next to me and he started talking about my NEXT surgery (Yes, I'll likely need the other knee done as well).. Though I LOVE him to death, his timing was not exactly the greatest and my eyeballs started leaking.. :cry: I think I'm just a bit emotional anyway today. Two weeks, admittedly making progress, but it just seems like it is going to be FOREVER before I can really "just get on with it"! I know I'm probably not experiencing anything that most EVERYONE in this forum has experienced. And for the most part, it really has been going well. I have to keep remembering that the time will pass and in the end, I will be better off than before the surgery.. definitely! :yes:
 
94/9 is great for 2 weeks! I'm at 107/0 at 4 weeks. I'm whooped too after PT today. I was v emotional at 2 weeks, had a day when I cried at everything. It does feel like you'll never be back to normal but you will, the success stories on here tell us that we will get there and it will be so worth it when we do. As for the next knee, like you I will need my other one doing too and when the time is right we'll have the wonderful support from the great people on here then too. Keep up the good work!
 
I'm 5 weeks out and at two weeks I listened to my PT and trying to get into bed (very high up) I squeezed my quad and boom! Lifted my leg up onto the bed without relying on my left leg. The next day I did it to get in the passenger seat of the car. Nobody helped me and I didn't have to use my sock to pull my leg in. Small victory but it felt great!

Claudia


Braunzie said:
@Slainte - I can see how that would work! I've been using my good leg as what seems to be the equivalent of your cane. I put my good leg under the ankle of my operated leg and .. heave ho! :heehee: hahahah! I'll have to try the cane. It might be a bit easier!



And tomorrow is another day! Night all!!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, @Raffs! I so appreciate the encouragement and support. I know in my head it's just a matter of time.. and you're absolutely right, the stories in this forum are proof of that. And the folks, like yourself, make all the difference in the world in helping to get through the challenging times. Thank God I found this forum! :yes:
 
Couldn't agree more! Hope you're having a good day?
 
Got my staples out today! Another milestone! :happydance:

My appointment was scheduled at 1:15 and fortunately, my daughter was able to drive me after she worked this am.. In fact, today I was "home alone" all morning. I can't quit maneuver taking a full-fledged shower by myself yet, so did the next best thing - a sponge bath and washed my hair in the kitchen sink. There were still dishes in the sink however from the night before (bummer) so before washing my hair, I emptied the dishwasher, loaded it... fed the birds (outdoors), and was just a wee bit tired.. Once finished blow-drying my hair, I iced while I waited for my daughter to get home, got loaded up in the car, and once we got to the OS office, all the disabled spots were taken, so I had to walk a bit to get to where I needed to be. The appointment went well.. Incision looks goods, got steri-strips over my incision and then he asks me about my numbers.. Told him... 94/9... Was told I should "try to improve those as quickly as possible". Not sure if he wasn't happy with where I was, but I definitely got the sense of "the window of opportunity".. I'll do the best I can... That's all I can do.. and I'm going to do it without killing myself.. (One of the benefits of this forum is that I'm not going to stress about that.. it will come in time.. !! :yes: )

Came home, got into bed, iced, elevated. Figured I should use my CPM machine, did that for an hour and then of course, felt I should at least do one session of my PT exercises. Was able to do most of them OK, except when I tried to do my leg lifts, I got a rather sharp pain on the lower side of the knee that CLEARLY told me my knee was NOT happy with my doing that. (Not sure why that happened, and would have thought I'd feel it in my quad if anywhere...???) I had done so well with it on my PT appointment on Monday, I thought it would be just another exercise. :sorry: Gosh darn it! I broke down in tears. (Probably a bit tired... ) Had a pity party for a bit (got a hug from my husband), pulled myself together and did a couple more stretches and called it good. Went back to elevating and icing and reading in this forum.. :wink:

Tomorrow I have outside PT again.. Not looking forward to it.. but I'll do the best I can do.. (wonder if I'll be able to do leg lifts???)

It will be a whole new day!:)

Hoping everyone had a good day today!! :SUNsmile:
 
That is a great report! Resounding with positive vibes!!

Do not worry about the leg lifts---they will all come around. Those quad muscles ---and all of the muscles---can atrophy rather quickly, but slowly ans surely you will regain the strength and the stamina in those legs. Those muscles, at this stage of recovery, can get very tired very quickly.
 
It was almost 2 weeks before I could do leg lifts unassisted. But I did work on them using my leg lifter. Little by little the leg lifter was doing less while my quads were doing just a bit more, until I eventually realized I could fo them without the leg lifter.
 
You had a big day yesterday, @Braunzie ! I'm not surprised your leg and knee were tired.

Your ROM is just fine! :yay: You know from BoneSmart that there's no magic "window of opportunity" and that there's no need to rush to get increased ROM.
Similarly, you don't need to work hard to get ROM. It's a situation where Less in More - the less hard work you do, the more ROM you'll get. Just a little, gentle exercise is all you need.

Leg lifts will come. Don't worry about them. It's still very early days.
 
At my first appointment after surgery (10 days out) my flex was 75. 17 days later it was 107! All I did was regular but gentle heel slides (I prefer doing them in a chair) - 3 times a day, between 5 and 10 slides each time. I didn't push or hurt myself at all. I had 2 hydro sessions as well which probably helped a bit. So....please do not worry at all, keep gently exercising and you'll see an increase. Mine seemed to suddenly get better overnight. It was pretty exciting! Which shows how exciting my life has been recently :heehee:

I couldn't do leg lifts for about 2 weeks either. I also had that pain too so I just eased off, same as you did. I still sometimes get the pain now but find it eases if I flex my foot. Like @KarriB I kept lifting my leg with the belt from my robe until my quad was strong enough. It was great to see it lift an inch the first time.

You're doing great, the tears and frustration are part of this wonderful journey - as you know I've discovered all too well this week!

Hope PT goes well today. :flwrysmile:
 
KarriB, Rob 68, Celle, referee54, Raffs - thank you all! I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support, understanding and encouragement provided me in this forum. Despite how much my family loves me and tries to help, I just don't think they really "get" what it is to go through this. You guys are great and it means a lot that you take the time to reach out and be there for me.. Hats off to all of you!! :yay:

I'll be back later with an update after PT. Hoping you all are having a good day!! :yes:
 
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