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

[Braunzie]

Well, missed updating yesterday as I got home and was quite tired.. But.. session went well. Went kind of forward and backward in ROM.. Went from 94 to 99 in flexion, but went from 9 to 10 on extension. Oh well.. I'll take the 99!!

Doing well this am.. got up, got dressed, walked around with the crutch for a while, did some exercises, went downstairs to feed our kitty, made coffee.. iced a bit, got up again, walked around more on the crutch, did some minor 'pick up' around the house.. (the benefits of having one hand free with the crutch!), made the bed in the guest room in anticipation of my daughter and boyfriend coming in tonight.. then went back to bed to ice and get updates on my friends here in the forum.

This is one of those days I know I need to really be careful.. feeling good.. (rare!) AUGH!!! don't want to do too much, but there is so much to do!!! I will proceed with caution.

Happy Friday, everyone!

 

[cpd599]

All caught up, lol ! I like your style Braunzie. You give me hope, atleast. I'm sure it will get better, but everything seems to hurt more. Like you said...even when there's progress. Be watchin ya.

 

[Braunzie]

@cpd599 - It will definitely get better!!! Coming up on 3 weeks, it is significantly better than week one and early week 2! haha.. Much less pain and more mobility.. but still progress seems so slow. Hopefully you have good support (besides what you find here, which is great!) at home. That has been really helpful for me. When I get discouraged, it helps to just hear from people who can see it how much progress you're making..

I'll be watching your progress as well.. looking forward to it!!

 

[cpd599]

Thanks. I'm bummed out because my wife is going back to work Monday, and she's my biggest supporter. We've both had our times of being there for each other "In sickness and in health", but I have others willing to help. How are you doing with meds ? I have cut back a little, but don't want to too soon. PT suggested less icing also, so now pretty much just after PT and after CPM machine. How many hours are you doing on machine and to what setting ? TTYL

 

[Braunzie]

@cpd599 - I was bummed when my husband went back to work as well. At the same time, I think it was a way for him to get more rest. When he was home, he was only taking care of me, but trying to catch up on all his "projects" or "to do list items" (Not honey-do, by the way!! hahaha!) He WAY over did it and was exhausted by the time went back to work. It's great that you have others you can call on to help when you need it..

I started cutting down on meds about the middle of week 2. I've been taking oxycodone, ibuprophen and Tylenol. Started out taking 3 oxy every 4 hours or so.. Then started taking just 2, then going to every 5 hours and now down to just 1 every 5 hours or so.. Was also taking the ibuprophen to schedule to help with the swelling and the tylenol to augment the pain med. I've been afraid to reduce the meds too quickly.. Not afraid of taking what I need for pain.. (more afraid of pain!!!! ) ( Also, I haven't had ANY negative reactions to the oxy. A lot of people say they feel loopy, or in a fog, or sleepy all the time.. I've been feeling pretty "normal" outside of just dealing with my knee. Lucky, I guess.) With the reduction of meds, I've been doing well so far.. also trying to be careful not to do "too much", but "just enough" when it comes to PT.. both at home and at the PT office. Will continue to cut out the oxy, and just use ibuprophen and tylenol as the norm.. of course saying the oxy if and when.. ok WHEN I join the IODI club again..

So.. today was a pretty good day. Went on a walk with both crutches (needed extra confidence) outside around the yard, on the lawn, with my husband - checking out the garden and the fruit trees, green house and blueberry bushes.. Took about 20 minutes or so.. Took it slowly and carefully, but it was very nice!!

Later in the afternoon, I was doing my PT exercises, was on my stationery recumbent bike, gently going back and forth with the pedals to the point of pressure, but not pain. For some reason, I stopped paying attention and inadvertently let the peddle come backward with my affected knee and it went ALL THE WAY AROUND. YOWSERS!!!!!!!!! THAT was NOT good! It hurt quite a bit, reinforcing the fact that my knee is not ready to do that kind of thing, but no apparent long lasting pain.. (guess I'll wait and see what tonight and tomorrow bring.. ) Note to self: PAY ATTENTION WHEN ON THE BIKE!!!

My daughter and boyfriend are visiting for the weekend, so I spent much more time in the recliner in the living room than I have since surgery .. (bed is just easier, since everything is all set up).. That was nice to have a bit of different scenery.. We then had a nice dinner that my daughter made, with 2 of our other daughters and son in law.. Nice family dinner (that I didn't have to make - or clean up after ) But now I'm kind of tired..
Looking forward to a good night's sleep. Wishing everyone well!!

 

[Jamie]

Braunzie.....you're doing so well for this early in your recovery! Bravo for you. I like that you're constantly testing the waters to see what works and what doesn't (no more turns on the bike until the "yowsers" factor is a bit lower, though!). That's an excellent approach.

 

[Raffs]

Great update. Good to hear that you're doing so well.

 

[Braunzie]

@Jamie - Thanks for that note. Tomorrow will be my 3 week mark and for some reason I think I should be able to do more.. (I think it's just my personality - I always just want to get in, do it well, get it done, and move on. ) This is such a test of my patience. These days everything I do is SO SLOW.. (Kind of ironic: I have interviewed and hired a a lot of people in my career and one of the "factors" I use for candidate evaluation is how fast they walk. My theory being, if they walk fast, they'll work fast. If they walk slow, they'll work slow... I was thinking this morning as I was coming out to the living room.. I don't think I would hire myself right now.. )

I see my improvement, even day over day, but I was telling my husband it's getting old not being able to just go in and take a shower when I want to BY MYSELF! At the same time, I am VERY grateful the road so far has been relatively without drama.. THAT is good! u

I do have a few questions for folks as long as I'm here:

1) How important is it to continue wearing compression stockings? My doc originally said he wanted me to wear them the whole 6 weeks. (BLECH!) So far, I've just been taking them off to go to my PT / doctor appointments - (and washing them at this time) and then this weekend during the day since we have house guests. At my last doc appointment, I asked and he seemed a bit less "demanding" that I keep them all the whole 6 weeks, saying it was good at preventing blod clots as well as reducing swelling.. At what point does the risk of blood clots go away? (I should have asked him that, but for some reason didn't think to.. )

2) I have been consistently elevating and icing when not doing anything else like my PT exercises, walking around the house, going to PT / doc office.. At what point can I reduce the amount of time I'm doing that? I've also been sleeping at night elevating my knee and keeping it on the ice machine through the night.. Is that still necessary?

Would love to hear and would also appreciate comments, feedback and other's experience from folks in the forum. Thanks!!

 

[Slainte]

Well, I don't know if I am the poster child for knee recovery, but I don't elevate and ice at night anymore. Not sure when I stopped. In the daytime, if I am sitting, I do elevate and ice - it is easy and can't hurt. My PT ditched my TEDS for me on day 5.

Why can't you take a shower by yourself?

 

[Swish]

I never had compression socks after my surgery, so can't comment there.

I haven't been great recently on elevating. I never elevated my foot when I slept at night. I work up at 3 am this morning and moved to my recliner to elevate. Then I iced for a good bit of the morning. I don't have a CM or ice machine. My motion is walking around and I use ice bags.

 

[Braunzie]

@Slainte - don't feel stable enough in the shower yet... We have a built in bench seat that is too low for me to get up from by myself at this point.. (Note for me and my husband -
next time we build a bathroom. Live and learn. ) Hopefully soon.

 

[Slainte]

I bought a round shower stool from bed, bath, and beyond. It has adjustable legs so I made it very tall. It is not big, so doesn't take up much room. Makes all the difference.

 

[Raffs]

Tomorrow will be my 5 weeks mark and I feel exactly like you - why can't I do more?! I think we must be similar personalities - I love to crack on and get things done, tick it off my list and move on. This recovery is not like that..... I also am getting bored of everything taking so long and being so SLOW! I don't have much to offer in the way of advice other than to say you are not alone and perhaps we should recite a "patience" mantra before we get up in the morning!!

I use a non-slip rubber mat in the shower which has really helped me to feel safe. Is yours a walk-in shower or is it over the tub? I imagine the latter would be quite tricky to manage.

I asked the exact same question yesterday re stockings as I'm supposed to wear them for 6 weeks too and am fed up of them. They told me to wear them until my activity level is back to normal but at this rate that'll be in 3 months time so I'm going to ditch them at 6 weeks and make sure I do lots of ankle pumps and rotations when I'm sitting and also get up to move around frequently..

I am also constantly icing and elevating. I think the answer is "when you feel the time is right" in terms of the swelling being gone and your pain not needing it so much. Having said that, I know many members still ice after several months if they've had a busy day and feel that their knees would benefit.

 

[Rob 68]

@cpd599 - It will definitely get better!!! Coming up on 3 weeks, it is significantly better than week one and early week 2! haha.. Much less pain and more mobility.. but still progress seems so slow. Hopefully you have good support (besides what you find here, which is great!) at home. That has been really helpful for me. When I get discouraged, it helps to just hear from people who can see it how much progress you're making..

I'll be watching your progress as well.. looking forward to it!!

Third week was when I really took off. Hope that's your "ah ha" week, too.

 

[Braunzie]

@Rob 68 - Thanks, Rob. Good to hear.. I'm hoping it's my "ah ha" week too.. I could use that about now!!!
@Raffs - We actually have a beautiful 8ft walk-in shower that my husband built when we remodeled our house. The bench is at the opposite side of the shower entrance, and since I can't walk yet without a crutch, the bench it too far in for me to navigate by myself. (I agree that a tub shower would be tough to navigate as well.) I know I could get a shower chair that would help, but I'm hoping within the next couple weeks I should be able to handle it on my own..

I kept my compression stockings off last night, which felt great! Feeling a bit guilty about that, but they are SO uncomfortable.. My daughter, the nurse, is out of town for a couple days, and I'm sure she'll have something to say about it when she gets back.. Will see which wins out in the meantime - guilt or comfort.. ???

Yesterday was an "up / down" day. Got on my bike and was doing the gentle back and forth peddle maneuver, and after about 5 minutes, I was actually able to do a FULL REVOLUTION without the "YOWSER" pain that I had gotten just the day before! I did about 10 slowly, and figured I better not press my luck! So, good milestone!!

Went to get my hair cut, so it was a nice "get out of jail card".. That, on top of the fact that my hair is no longer driving me CRAZY because it was too long, is all good!!!

So WHY, then, later that evening did I have a complete and total meltdown of emotions?? My poor husband was asking me what was wrong between my pathetic sobs, and all I could do was say, "I don't know, I just need a hug".. (which of course, helped.. ) UGH!!!!

Tried sleeping on my side with a pillow between my legs without the ice machine on last night, and it didn't seem like my knee was ready for that, so.. back on my back, leg elevated and icing last night.. I was able to sleep that way and just woke up once to go to the little girls' room and take my meds.. Can't really complain, but I am SOOO looking forward to not having to sleep on my back!!

Feeling a bit better this am, but still a little "wobbly" emotionally.

Have PT later today. It will be interesting to see how that goes.. Will report later. Hope y'all have a good day today!!

 

[PolarBear60]

As for the compression stockings, you just wanted something to feel naughty about, Braunzie. ;)

Meltdown is perfectly normal. Especially in this time window. You'll probably have a few more, but they will subside. (I warned my husband that was likely to happen, and he handled it like a pro when it did.)

 

[Raffs]

I've found that my meltdowns have been after I've done something "normal" like having my hair done or going out for a coffee. I think somehow I'm reminded that I've still got a long way to go before I'm back to being me again, whilst at the same time I'm happy to have lived a little normality, too. That may sound nuts but it may sound familiar??

 

[Raffs]

Couple of other things - in hospital I was allowed to take my walker or crutches into the shower with me - would that work?

I also took my stockings off today when I was exercising - SO nice! Did feel naughty though!!

Well done on the full rotations and hope PT went well.

 

[Slainte]

Full rotations! Very nice. Keep trying the side sleeping from time to time. I can last a couple of hours now before my knee says "enough of that nonsense!" And then I roll over on my back, until my back says "enough of that nonsense!" And so on and so forth. But it is getting better.

I envy you your big walk in shower. I have a 70s sunken shower in my master bath - it is this avocado green tiled monstrosity that you have to step down about 12 inches into. No way that is happening. So am using our main bath, which is a bathtub with shower.

 

[Braunzie]

@Raffs - sounds VERY familiar!
I can try taking that walker or crutches in the shower.. though.. I'm really on the VERGE of being able to walk without crutches, so we'll see how that works out.. stay tuned!!
@Slainte - I will definitely keep experimenting to see how to sleep more comfortably!!! It's all part of "the process", right?? And your mention of avocado green tile reminds me of our kitchen when we moved into this house.. Nice 70's look.. We've since done significant remodeling / expanding, so the house has a much newer look (hence the big shower.. he actually added on the bathroom and converted the old bathroom into a walk in closet... It was a big remodel!!)

So.. Today is my 3 week anniversary of my new knee! (is that all??? hahaha!! - seems like an eternity!!!) PT went pretty well.. My new numbers are 110 / 8.... Pretty happy with the improvement over last time..

Took another walk outside in the yard.. and noticed stairs are getting much easier.. Helped my husband fold some laundry, so starting to feel a little useful again.. (But also noticed how dusty everything is getting... ) Patience!!!!

Pooped out, so planning on elevating, icing and watching a movie..