TKR Brownie's Good, Bad, & Uglies

[kneeper]

Good to hear from you. Sounds like a good holiday plan. take care.

 

[Jacky48]

Oh Marianne, it's so nice to hear from you again! I'm happy to hear that you are making progress, you deserve that and much more! It's wonderful to hear that you are going to be a grandma soon, how sweet is that!

It sounds like you'll have a wonderful thanksgiving with your loving family. I've heard of many people doing the take out thanksgiving dinner, and they all had good things to say about it, so enjoy my friend!

Here's wishing you continued progress in your recovery!

 

[Toothfairy]

Hi Marianne, I have just caught up with your post.
I am delighted to see that you are finally starting to feel better.
Hooray. Not long now till your grandchild arrives. That will be such a wonderful experience.
Take care and keep us updated,
Hugs, Toothfairy x

 

[daughter stalker]

Hi Brownie51,

I am happy to hear you are doing better! You sure have been through more than your share of issues. Prayers to you, sweetie! Keep us posted on your recovery when you get a chance.

 

[NightQuilter]

Marianne! I'll give you a call - glad you are back. Bonesmart has started to not notify me again! sigh. In any event, my own week has been rather painful. Whole story in the Weight Loss & Healthy Eating thread; suffice it to say I fell on my head and it has retriggered nerve issues in my neck, head (duh!), shoulder, and arm.

Costco food tends to be good - I think that would be a winner. Ralph's, Pavilion's, and Albertson's also do them - did Pavilion's once when out in the desert for T-Day - very good. The comment about spicing up to your liking is sage (couldn't resist the pun!).

 

[Brownie51]

HAHAHA of course Lynn would add a pun, sage/turkey so funny! I need to read about your head, oh no, I'm sorry in advance and will check it out. But at least you are still funny, not to make light of a head injury though.
Well yesterday my daughter (yeah, so happy she could take me and meet my lovely doctor) took me to my OS. Cast removed. All I can say about the condition of my leg is that it had scales like a fish and weird spikey hairs all different lengths. I felt like I wanted to go to a fish market and have them clean it for me. I want to post my xrays but you all know I have tech issues! But the xray looks scary. I think most folks will say it looks like I need a plate and screws to put my leg back together but my doctor (and my Texas son) thought the xray was great and I think that Josephine will like it as well.
So I now have a boot. He says to wear it all day and all night. It feels less snug and less stabilizing of my fracture. The OS said the bones are still moving, that's why the xray looks the way it does. So I think I would actually feel more comfortable with a cast but being able to take a shower with no apparatus is wonderful. My care giver comes today and I am going to have her give me a pedi and help get the bottom of my foot exfoliated.
Back to dr. stuff. He is letting me go to PT. He was non committal about driving so I take that as a big yes! (left leg affected). He didn't say no, like last time. I can barely get around on crutches but now I can put 30 pounds of pressure on my leg which is just about a toe tap so I need to practice with crutches and walker to get stronger. He said I would come back in 4 weeks and then be able to walk bearing weight but with the holiday my appointment ended up Dec. 9. That is okay because it takes me to just one week short of 3 months which is how long my doctor said I needed a cast/boot. So that is good with one exception! My grandson is due on Nov. 21. So I am hoping I can be built back enough to be able to go to the hospital and help as needed albeit on crutches. It is just 3 weeks from now so I really need to build back my muscles.
Now the fun part. My daughter and I went out to lunch at R and D (I think) diner in Santa Monica. It was so awkward because I was so klutzy with my crutches. So they put me at the handicap bar, big enough for Mandy and me. It was so neat to be out with my daughter. Then I insisted we go to a baby store. Mandy found a place called Giggles that was just down the street. Luckily it's a small store with upholstered rockers around the store. This is the first time I have been to a baby store! So I went around once then had to sit and my daughter brought me things to look at. I was so happy. I would have been more happy if I had take some pain med or brought some with me! It wasn't really pain though exactly but brief blitzes of pain and just so uncomfortable. So it was a relief to get home and be able to get comfortable. I went right to sleep, so exhausted. Before all this lunch, doctor and a little shopping would be NOTHING!
So my report is good! I felt so depressed this am, don't know how to explain it but basically thinking I can't get my house cleaned up myself or get out and about comfortably. I am tired of my life the way it is now and it's really gotten me down. Luckily I know this is normal because so many of you have expressed the same kind of feelings with similar situations when things have gone wrong. I would just love to do my own grocery shopping and stand up and cook. Sitting in a wheel chair with my eyes at counter level is no fun. But I am so close to being done with this. I should be happy I am so close to the end... instead of feeling bad about still not being able to walk and function too well. Acchhh! Mind games! I need to focus on the near future!
Thank you all for hanging in there with me. Going to post this and then try to get my xray posted.
XOXOXO!!!!

 

[Brownie51]

Josephine here it is! CRazy how the bone forms. Dr said the new bone cells are so far from the tibia bone because the bone is still moving around. Yuck! My lower leg is swollen a little and he said it will change over time but looks like I'm going to have a bit of a CANKLE on my left leg!

 

[Brownie51]

HI AGAIN-You can see where the bone is missing from the surgery for the osteomyelitis. Apparently that will all heal up okay although it sure looks questionable to me. I asked Dr. about my concern that it looked like my tibia was touching my fibula. He said that is just the angle of the xray. The bone formation and trauma to the area is why my ankle is swollen around that whole area, like a band.

 

[kneeper]

It sounds like you had a great time getting out and about.

 

[Jacky48]

Marianne, I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling yucky at time, however I'm happy to hear that you're looking forward to better days. Enjoy who and what you can and rest the rest of the time. The healing process has begun my friend!

 

[Jamie]

Glad you got the xrays posted for @Jos. She will take a look at them when she returns from a short vacation from the forum. You really ARE making progress now and that is so wonderful to hear. Just don't go doing anything wild and crazy like the limbo or bounding up and down stairs or something......slow.....careful.....healing thoughts are going your way.

 

[Brownie51]

Jamie well honest I didn't do anything crazy today but used the walker and went outside for about 10 minutes, had to go down a couple stairs on my porch. I can feel the tibia fracture area moving too much! And now it's hurting. I will try crutches tomorrow and see if that's better but I feel that I either need to go back to just staying safe in the house and using a wheel chair to get around the house OR to call the doctor and request a walking cast instead of the boot. With the boot now, I feel the tibia separate when I lift up my leg. The boot is heavy so when I lift my leg it kind of lifts up out of the boot just enough for those bones to pull apart. I am sure of the feeling and the xrays reflected the bones were still moving IN THE CAST so it's even worse with the boot. Even laying in bed it happens when I adjust my leg around. I can't get it any tighter on my leg. AGAIN I was given a medium. I might drag the old size small out of the garage and see if that helps. Today a friend of mine wondered why the fracture wasn't treated surgically and I figure there was no way it would be a good idea to operate on a bone that already has osteomyelitis. But wow this is sure not all that stabilized. I need to be really careful!
Watching World Series (why is called World when it's just US?). My team is the LA Dodgers so had to pick a team to root for and picked the wrong one! Baseball is therapeutic!

 

[Pumpkin]

Yikes, you can feel the bone moving around.
I think I wore a cast for 8 weeks when I broke my tibia, never had a boot. Call the OS and tell him the bones are moving around and you would feel more comfortable with a walking cast.
Take care and enjoy the game.
Go RedSox!!!

 

[Janet2012]

Do be careful on that leg! I know your baseball pain, my team is the Tigers. But my friend that was visiting from CO, but is from MA, made a deal with me. Which ever team won the Sox Tigers round, we would both throw our support to for the World Series. Don't forget Canada plays in our leagues! That makes it international, if barely! The players themselves are truly from around the world.

 

[Jamie]

I think maybe you should talk to your doctor about the feeling you have of the bone moving. That just doesn't seem right to me, as I can't figure out how a bone could knit together if it's moving around. I'd like Josephine to weigh in on what you're describing. She's on holiday for a few days. But in the meantime, check with your doctor, okay???

 

[Creeker13]

Glad to hear you had such a good day.... it has been a long tough haul for you. I think about you often and send you healing good will.... Do not be in such a hurry and push too hard. The dust etc. will wait! It isn't going any where.... Let your body have the time to heal completely. I would not do much before the movement feeling goes away... including driving. An accident could lay you up for the birth of the baby. What is 2 or 3 more weeks at this point? This time next year we will both be dancing a jig!
I am not much of a baseball fan but I do listen to the scores on the news.... Ryan Dempster. pitcher for the Red Sox grew up here in Gibsons and played on my friend's son team. I used to watch him play and pitch when he was a kid. My girls went to school with his brothers. Nice to see a local kid do so well!
I like hockey.... but not tonight. My beloved Canucks have just lost to the Detroit Red Wings. Oh well better luck next game!
Nice to see you posting again. Take care and I will talk to you soon.... 2 more weeks until my next knee. Chao for now!

 

[Toothfairy]

Hi Marianne, I hope you can get some good advice about the movement you can feel in your leg. Sounds really unpleasant.
Nothing about this journey has been straightforward. You deserve a bit of good luck.
I am so glad you have got your wonderful grandchild to look forward to. Not long now.
Hugs Toothfairy x

 

[new knee in June]

Hello Brownie,
I was just sitting here smiling, about how you got to go out with your daughter What a wonderful
Time for you. You have so much to look forward to....is this your 1 st. Grandchild ? I hope Josephine
Gets to see your x-Ray when she comes back. You have had so much trouble with your leg, it's common to
Be depressed, but you are on the road to recovery. Try & look forward to the happiness a new baby will
Bring. I hope you do well & I will keep up with your updates.
Diana.....Boston RED SOX win the World Series in 6
Proud to be from BOSTON....get the duck boats ready

 

[kneeper]

yeah, I would check with your doctor. That doesn't sound right.

 

[Brownie51]

Hi Everyone
My doctor even told ME the bone was moving before I had time to tell him. That's why my xray is so strange with the new bone so far away from the tibia. Yuck. Since Wednesday I have decided just to use the wheel chair, no crutches or walker until the bone quits moving. I do leg lifts, slides and generally just moving everything all day long. I'm not putting any weight on my leg. I don't see any value in that until my bones are knit together fully. I need to get conditioned in general but I feel like each time I feel the bone move it's a step back.