TKR Celle's Left TKR

[Celle]

I felt sorry for him, too. He was guilt-stricken. That's why I only screamed a little and I didn't abuse him. He's a good guy!

 

[marmora]

Good Afternoon Caryl (12 noon Dublin)
@Celle

Lovely to hear that you are feeling better and getting sleep both at night and napping during the day.

It will lovely to look forward to having your family and grandchildren with you and hope that while it will be great to have the excitement, that you will still have a chance to rest and ice.

Take care,
Cathie

 

[cjf1222]

@Celle and @Jozilla. Thinking of you both in these early days of healing. I'm glad you are both doing a bit better. Before my partial I had no clue a knee replacement was so horridly painful. The partial was lots less painful than totals and I just hope it lasts.
@marmora I had no idea you had trouble with DVTs! Scared. Glad yours was ok Caryl as that's one less worry.

 

[Celle]

Thank you, @marmora and @cjf1222 .

Just the thought of a DVT is frightening, even though so few people have long-term consequences.

 

[Pumpkin]

Glad you were cleared of a DVT, they are no fun.
How are you doing otherwise?
Rest up, your Son and family are arriving soon.

 

[Celle]

Today is ten days from my TKR.

I feel a lot better today - lots of REST, ICE, ELEVATION and REGULAR MEDICATION are working!

I'm not worrying about how much I sleep, as I am happy to just lie, watching the TV and drifting off for an hour or two. I guess that, over 24 hours, I have had about 9 hours' sleep, but all in short bursts. There are some interesting travel programmes on TV in the wee, small hours of the morning.

Last night I fell asleep while watching a programme I liked, but I missed the end of it and woke up a couple of hours later. That's OK, because I'm sure it will be repeated again some time this week - and my brain is still not entirely normal, so I probably won't even remember watching it the first time. I can't concentrate long enough to read a book yet.

My knee looks less swollen. I can see my kneecap for the first time since the surgery. A lot of the swelling and bruising have drifted south and now my shin and ankle are glorious technicolour. This, too, shall pass!

I have no idea what my ROM is, but it looks to have improved just a bit. I remember from last time that it improved in fits and starts, as the swelling went down, so I'm not going to even think about it for a week or two.

Tomorrow, I'm going to watch a DVD of the children's movie, "Frozen". I've seen it before, so it won't matter if I miss parts of it. I've also recorded the cartoon movie, "Brave", which has a brave young girl as the main protagonist. It's a good antidote to all the conventional Disney princesses.

All for now. More tomorrow>

 

[Pumpkin]

I have no idea what my ROM is, but it looks to have improved just a bit.

I ignored my ROM, and it is better than before my revision.
Thanks for the update,
See you tomorrow,

 

[Island Girl]

Celle, I'm happy to hear things are improving for you. So sorry you've had so many difficulties.

 

[Celle]

Thank you @Island Girl

I really don't think I have had any more difficulties than most people. Everyone seems to have something that worries or bothers them.

Because of my bleeding disorder, I do bruise more than most people. My OS was, quite correctly, being super-cautious in wanting me to have the scan to exclude a DVT.

I expect to have normal progress from now on.
It will take as long as it takes!

 

[Ellejay]

Hello @Celle,
I just wanted to pop in to say hello, you are sounding very positive, I'm so pleased that all is going well for you. Don't overdo things once your family arrive, it's easy to do.. I'm sure you are looking forward to it, have fun xxx Lyn

 

[Jaycey]

@Celle you are doing great! So glad you are getting some much needed rest. Thanks for keeping us updated!

 

[marmora]

Good Morning Caryl @Celle

Happy Sunday to you, resting, icing ,elevating and watching "Frozen".
Storing up on rest before your family arrives is what you need to do.

Take care,
Cathie

 

[Celle]

It's 11 days today since my TKR and already I'm getting impatient! I have to keep reminding myself that 11 days is a drop in the ocean, compared to the year that full recovery takes. Yes, I'm not the most patient of people! I've reminded so many other people and now it is my turn to be reminded. I think I should look up my previous thread, about my Revision, just to remind myself that I wasn't ready to run a race by this stage then, either!
I'll be careful not to compare this TKR with the previous one if my recovery proves to be slower.

I did sleep reasonably well last night, waking every two hours or so, getting up to the bathroom, taking medications on time, and then going back to sleep. New Zealand moved onto summer time (daylight saving) at the weekend. Everyone else's time clocks are still out of kilter, but mine was whacky anyway and I've hardly noticed.

When I woke up this morning, my lower leg looked less swollen, although it's still bigger than the right leg. By the time I'd had my shower (unassisted, ) it was swollen again, so back to bed I came. At least the cats appreciate having me in bed. They both want to lie half on my chest, and they have had a couple of spats over whose turn it is.

Today I graduated from full-length, underarm crutches to a pair of elbow/forearm crutches. The underarm crutches were mine, a relic of the time my PKR failed when I was on holiday in Canada. The elbow crutches belonged to our son, who is an amputee. They're his spare pair. I bought new feet for them before I went into hospital this time.

Our son has just been round, to get his Dad to drive his car home, while he (son) rides his motor bike. He left the bike here when he moved house a few weeks ago.
Yes, an amputee can ride a motor bike - although his mother dearly wishes he wouldn't!
When he lost his leg, his therapist asked him what was his ambition for the future and he replied that he wanted to ride his bike again. Since it wasn't a bike accident that caused him to lose his leg, what could I say? It just proves that an amputee can still lead a normal life - and that mothers will always worry.

So, back to the TKR: tomorrow, after the shower, I am allowed to remove the wound dressing. The wound has dissolving stitches and it's already got a waterproof spray dressing on it. There's been no oozing at all since my GP's nurse re-dressed it.

I have to limit my time on the computer, as it's not comfortable using it in bed and I don't want to sit up for too long. So, I'll sign off now and post more tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone who has sent encouraging messages.

 

[Jaycey]

Sending you buckets of patience @Celle ! Early days my friend.

 

[Celle]

Thank you @Jaycey .
I'll send you the same, next week.

 

[marmora]

Hi Caryl, @Celle

Good Morning in Dublin at 09:00 am and Good Evening at 20:50 pm in New Zealand,
Very good update and your progress and inspiring story about your son and his determination and goal to ride his bike.

Yes, even though we know it is slow and and advise others to be patient, when it comes to ourself, we want recovery to go faster.

Hope that you had a good Monday, mine is just starting off for my morning walk.

Keep recovery in comfort,
Cathie

 

[Jane B.]

My oldest son lives in Mainland China. He is flying back to China as I type. This time he came for an extended visit to the US and bought a motorcycle with all the safety jackets, boots, pants, etc. When he was young, I told him if he got a motorcycle I'd come and run over it with a huge truck. I meant it too. But he's 42 now, what am I going to do?

As to finding patience, good luck. To paraphrase Ms. @jeano, our lives now consist of The Knee (or in the case of bilaterals Two Knees), without end, amen.

Maybe a timer for the cats to take turns?

 

[Celle]

Hello all,
@Jane B. - my son will be 41 next month. As you said, what can a mother say? He has to live his life the way he wants to, so I worry silently. Compared to his life ten years ago, he is doing well.

Today, Tuesday here in NZ, started off not so well. I've been trying to cut down on the anti-emetic medication, as I take two different sorts, each three times a day. So I missed out the 4 a.m. dose. Not such a good idea! By 7a.m. I was feeling sick and then I vomited . So, back to the full doses and now I feel better again. I guess I will not be able to cut back until I have reduced the dose of Tramadol, which I am not ready to do yet.

After a (very) late breakfast, I had my shower and then John helped me remove the dressing from my main wound. My OS said I could remove it today. There's been no oozing or bleeding and the suture line looks good. It's mostly scabbed over. I expect the scabs to fall off in a week or two. I've left the dressing on the puncture wound, an inch or so below the main wound. That's where the computer instrumentation was screwed into my tibia. One of the holes was leaking a lot last week, so I'll leave the dressing on that for another week.

I'll ask John to take a photo of my leg later today and I'll try to post it tomorrow.

The cats have reached a truce. They each have a cuddle first thing in the morning and then they are content to lie beside me, each on her own folded blanket. I think my grey cat (who is quite insecure and rather nervy) missed me while I was in hospital and when I came home she wanted me all to herself. It was almost as if she was standing guard over me. I'm glad she's got over that!

I can finally concentrate on reading , so I'm half way through the latest Lee Child book about Jack Reacher - "Personal." It's an exciting read, just what I needed. As long as I have a book to read, I don't mind doing very little else, so I'll be able to without getting impatient..

 

[Pumpkin]

Sons and motorcycles seems every Mother goes though the motorcycle stage. My poor Aunt, when her son purchased a motorcycle, my Uncle decided he needed one, now she had 2 people to worry about. Only lasted a year or two and they both went back to cars.

A shower, bandages off, cats settled in, and a book to read, life sounds good.
Hope you get the antiemetics sorted out and your tummy settled down.

 

[Celle]

OK folks, here are the knees!

The left knee (on the right, just to confuse us all) is 12 days old.

The right knee (PKR in 2000, Revision to TKR in December 2011) is 2 years, 9 months old.

My knees will never be pretty, but I hope they will both be functional - the right one is already.
I'm way past the age of wanting to flash my legs around anyway!