Revision TKR Chocolate at midnight<

[Nana moon 27]

Hi @Dabber

That's great news about the heart scan. If it was a CT like I had a few months ago, while you're having it done there is a doctor having a quick glance for obvious abnormalities. Then like you squint goes off for further analysis. Mine was fine thankfully.

Childbirth was bad. All three times but my TKR post op,pain for me was worse. I had forceps delivery with my eldest ouch.

Lovely to hear good news for you Sue. I'm so pleased thing are looking up a bit now x x x x x

Love Nana moon 27 xoxox

 

[Nana moon 27]

Oh sorry @Dabber

Sue, I also meant to say how wonderful about the opera. I was too excited at you having good news about your health. Sorry!!! I've never seen Carmen. I would like to some day xxxx

Love Ann xxx

 

[Dabber]

@nana moon, yes looking forward to the opera. My abdo/pelvis CT scan was fine in the doing, but I'll find out the results at my haematology appointment with the consultant on 27th. My heart scan I think I'll find out whenever, rang the GP today, but it won't come through to them.
I am so dizzy, have been for a year and now I can't really go out on my own, I have to hang onto my Dh's arm. No-one has any idea what it is, anti-dizziness tablets haven't helped so back to the GP. Physio is being arranged for my knee.

 

[patient 99]

Hi Sue, It doesn't seem to get any easier. The dizziness sounds particularly debilitating. I hope you get to enjoy Budapest. When do you go? I didn't bother with disability assistance at the airport, but I took notice of it. It seems to work extremely well - both at Gatwick and in Spain.

Remember you mentioned the mobility scooters that they have in Benidorm. Well they now have tandem scooters. Everybody uses them - disabled or not. Being Spain everything is so casual, so you can park them anywhere. They can even go up quite steep hills. Now why don't they have them in Tunbridge Wells/Chester is what I want to know.

As always my warmest wishes are sent to you. xx

 

[dogwheels]

Hi @Dabber and @patient99 -

Ha ha - I love the tandem scooters and wanted to buy one for my Mum as I cant trust her to jet propel herself around solo. She would end up in all the wrong places and run over unsuspecting people. I thought we could have such fun together bombing around the shops. I looked into it but sadly you cannot use them in UK due to vehicle licensing - you are effectively a vehicle carrying a passenger. There's a whole lot more to it, but that's the gist. Boo hiss! You can use them on private estates though, so probably somewhere like Centerparcs would be exempt - just not on public roads. BTW I solved Mum's problem by getting her an 'assistant controlled power chair' - I don't have to push, just switch it on and steer from the rear!
I told @Dabber that in a park in Budapest they had electric scooters, proper wide base scooters but with a motor. They looked great fun ........... perhaps???

@carol - Glad you liked the Big Brush. I only mentioned it cos my daughter bought me one as part of my birthday present as I am SO lazy with blow drying. Now Half of BS are buying them!

@Dabber - so hope they manage to find something to control the dizziness - that must be horrid. As if you haven't got enough to contend with.
I have a whole battery of cardiac tests coming up - scary stuff, only ever had an ECG before. My cardiologist will be supervising so I am hoping to get answers immediately. I have everything X'd that things are as they believe them to be, and that the ***** frequent palpitations I have been having recently are gastric rather than cardiac. He wants me tested to be 100% sure. I hope my knee is in tip top form as along with an echo etc I will be having a treadmill test! Urrghh ....

Take care

XXXX

 

[patient 99]

Glad you liked the Big Brush. I only mentioned it cos my daughter bought me one as part of my birthday present as I am SO lazy with blow drying. Now Half of BS are buying them!

Hi Chris, it just goes to show the power of advertising. I wonder if we are missing a trick. Instead of gossiping, perhaps we should be flogging stuff. Have you heard the one about 7 antique dealers on a desert island with one antique item - they all made a living. For BS the obvious one has to be shoes, but there's probably money to be made in second hand pedals, weights, sticks, books and even reclining chairs (thinking big <grin>). I'll run this past Josephine. I bet she thinks its a great idea

I have a whole battery of cardiac tests coming up - scary stuff,

I can well imagine. When does it all happen?

 

[dogwheels]

Hi @patient 99 - oh yes the power of advertising! I mentioned my new brush @marmora gave a review, instructions and her recommendation ...... several have now bought it, so we think Babyliss owe us some commission.

As for 'Bonesmart Bargain Trading Company' - many moons ago I happened to innocently mention on here that once my knee was fixed, I was going to build a large bonfire and put 'the ugly straight backed geriatric chair, the hideous perching stool, the embarrassing raised loo seat, the vile sensible shoes, the crutches, the boring foot stool, and the 'knee book' all on it and dance round it with glee'. Josephine bless her heart took me seriously, I repeat: Me? Seriously? She said that many people lacking in funds could benefit from these unwanted delights, rather than me destroy them. Well for starters I wouldn't be allowed to have a bonfire where I live and secondly I am always giving stuff away, but it got me thinking. I looked into donating the stuff to the Red Cross or similar, but for (you've guessed it) hygiene, health and safety and standardisation, nobody will take it. Our local charity shops are only interested if things are new or have a designer label, preferably both. So the state of play is:
Ugly dark brown upright chair is now in hubby's redecorated study with a nice manly cushion on it and looks fine. Perching stool has been adjusted to just the right height for my electric piano and is lighter and easier to move about. Raised loo seat with arms is still in our ensuite as we threw away the old one and have not been able to find a suitable replacement, the other version on a stand is in the garage draped with boating stuff, and will be brought into use when my Mum comes to stay at Christmas. The shoes were binned, the stool went to Mum and I have hidden away the crutches, Cryo cuff and book as 'insurance' against a repeat performance. Much the same way as I kept my daughters pram and cot as insurance that no little brothers or sisters put in an appearance.

Tests are in about 10 days. Que sera sera. But if findings say a gastroscopy is necessary, I am leaving the country. I am quite tough but my single gastroscopy experience several years ago, with no 'assistance' was beyond hideous. I'd give birth again 20 times over rather than go through that again. Happy days!

Glad you had a good time in Benidorm. Typically I've already looked up your Skechers recommendation -I love the furry version for Winter!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

XXX

 

[Dabber]

Oh, I love it all Carol and Chris.
I've had almost every test known to man (and woman) now, gastroscopies galore, endoscopies, colonoscopies, worse far worse I won't mention (OK urodynamic), BONE MARROW BIOPSY (worst thing they do without GA) treadmill, the nuclear test, cath lab with the loop recorder implant/pacemaker implant under local.....
BMB, worst procedure on the planet.
You have my utmost sympathy @dogwheels.

 

[Pumpkin]

Sue, every orifice on my body just clamped down reading about all those tests you had!
Glad they are all over.
Now you can around town.

 

[Dabber]

@dogwheels Freecycle might be a place to pass on mobility aids or whatever. I returned my crutches to the hospital, but I didn't really have anything else as our loos are quite high. I bought a soft footstool from Laura Ashley and I've kept that, I also have a new ergonometric computer table, chair and footrest and a variety of walking sticks. I still use a walking stick from time to time. We went to see the poppies in London yesterday and because I get dizzy and so on, disabilities that are invisible, I use a walking stick so I can get a seat on the bus etc....generally I take sporty collapsible ones out, I wear support hose too for a day out.
You can have items on loan from Red Cross.
I do hope you don't need the gastroscopy, they're not pleasant, having said that the last one I had wasn't bad at all, the doctor who did it was very skilled and quick and they are absolutely lovely in the unit I go to. I choose not to be sedated but you can be and the secret is to really relax and breath gently so the gagging reflex is minimalised. The treadmill I found strange, I got very dizzy and although they found that unusual nothing was done about it at that time. The test wasn't as bad as I anticipated though. I don't know what will come next, I had an implanted heart recorder that was removed and replaced with a pacemaker, now I have Beta blockers and anti dizzy pills, and so it goes on. I'm repeating myself I'm sure. I had all sorts of heart tests.
I'll look up the Skechers shoes, @patient 99 I only wear flat Hotters at the moment, I have a vast array of Hotter shoes. I've ordered a pair with a small heel for Budapest, in the hotel only! The thought of tandem scooters is indeed scary, with the uneven pavements in town.

 

[busylizzie]

I had a gastroscopy 10ish years ago and I'm waiting for another now. I found the same as you @Dabber, by relaxing and controlling my breathing I got by OK. I didn't have sedation just a banana flavoured local anaesthetic spray on the back of my throat. The nurse commented on my breathing and asked if I was concentrating on my breathing which I was. I had a series of small benign cysts the first time around which they biopsied.

 

[patient 99]

@Dabber @dogwheels As well as sketcher shoes another one that I am delighted with is easyb shoes (www.dbshoes.co.uk) telephone 01933 359 217 email enquiry@dbshoes.co.uk I used to rely on echo shoes, then they seemed less available. I then switched to Hotter. Pretty good for wider feet. But Sketcher and EasyB are something else. I find getting the right fit a bit complicated when ordering from EasyBs catalogue. I know I take a 5V, but some shoes don't come in a V fitting. I phone them and they tell me what is equivalent to a V. It works.

I can't tolerate a gastroscopy. I start gagging as soon as the nurse gets near me. I had an op a few years back and had to go ahead without the gasytroscopy information. They say the more you are subjected to something the easier it gets. Sue you must be able to confirm that with all the tests you've had. So much is in our heads I think. For example I can go to the dentist and undergo very invasive procedures and not bat an eye. But I'm ready to faint if they want to put a needle in a vain or put something up my nose or down my throat. I must stop its making me sick just thinking about it.

 

[patient 99]

@Dabber @dogwheels As well as sketcher shoes another one that I am delighted with is easyb shoes (www.dbshoes.co.uk) telephone 01933 359 217 email enquiry@dbshoes.co.uk I used to rely on echo shoes, then they seemed less available. I then switched to Hotter. Pretty good for wider feet. But Sketcher and EasyB are something else. I find getting the right fit a bit complicated when ordering from EasyBs catalogue. I know I take a 5V, but some shoes don't come in a V fitting. I phone them and they tell me what is equivalent to a V. It works.

I can't tolerate a gastroscopy. I start gagging as soon as the nurse gets near me. I had an op a few years back and had to go ahead without the gasytroscopy information. They say the more you are subjected to something the easier it gets. Sue you must be able to confirm that with all the tests you've had. So much is in our heads I think. For example I can go to the dentist and undergo very invasive procedures and not bat an eye. But I'm ready to faint if they want to put a needle in a vain or put something up my nose or down my throat. I must stop its making me sick just thinking about it.

 

[patient 99]

I didn't have sedation

Respect

 

[Dabber]

I don't know @patient 99 I've come across people who've become needle phobic through chemo.

Shall I detail my next session, it's not going to be an infusion but an injection in the tummy and there's something in the injection that opens up a space so the very viscous fluid can go in......double yuk but if it saves a few hours that the infusion normally takes, cuts down after effects, saves veins and having a cannula it must be worth it!

I have fairly narrow feet and a high instep. I've bought my first pair of heeled shoes for many years, they arrived today, oh nice.....

What else, oh yes, physio tomorrow for my knee. The GP suggested strengthening the quads. Now, what I'm going to ask about are proprioception, thank you @pumpkin and taping. My knee is "spongy" apparently and for myself I feel it's not always connecting movement-wise with my brain. It still swells and hurts a bit but functionally it's got a good ROM and the scar is neat and pale, it just won't seem to settle down.....soft tissue issues? My sad bit is that my lovely physiotherapist has moved on.....

 

[patient 99]

but if it saves a few hours that the infusion normally takes, cuts down after effects, saves veins and having a cannula it must be worth it!

Sue, I can't pretend to understand half the procedures you are having. If anyone had spoken to me about MUAs, proprioception or adhesions prior to my TKR I wouldn't have understood either. I think to understand you have to walk the walk.

it just won't seem to settle down.....soft tissue issues?

This seems to be a catch all for everything and as such doesn't seem to mean much. The pattern seems to be that the OS takes an Xray. Says everything looks good, so toddle off and do some more PT. My knee still swells a bit too, and it feels like a bag of spanners - not loose, but when I walk I can feel all the inner workings of my knee.

functionally it's got a good ROM and the scar is neat and pale,

Do you have ROM figures? If you can its worth asking the PT to apply the physio tape for you. It sounds an easy thing to do to put it on yourself, but it takes practice. Oh and make sure the PT uses the right tape. One PT I saw didn't - it made my leg ache.

I'm losing track of time. Have you been to Budapest yet?

 

[dogwheels]

Ooh @Dabber - a lovely pair of shoes that look nice always raise the spirits in my opinion. It will make up for this time-saving but horrid sounding procedure that you are about to have in your tum.

As my knee got worse, the heels got lower on my shoes. But now, because I have this stupid Insertional Achilles problem that has resulted in an award-winning sized bursa, the PT has instructed me to wear not just a small heel, but a proper stonking one all the time. At only 10 months post TKR, I am a little apprehensive as to what my knee is going to make of this development! Still it was an excuse to go shoe buying. BTW - I could only find decent heeled slippers in Hotter's. They have a 'Buy 2 get the 3rd pair free' offer on at the mo.

Interesting what you say about controlled breathing for gastroscopy. Perish the thought I will ever need another, but if I am not a blubbering wreck I will try it. All that singing should help me with breath control - it did when I had my daughter. Had that baby out in no time!!
As for needles - no probs. I used to be a platelet donor, so it was two fat ones in the arm for 3 hours every other week. I used to quite enjoy it, they used to treat you like Royalty - food, drink, TV - nothing was too much trouble. However if you travel abroad any distance you had to be 'quarantined' for quite some weeks ... so I was forever being unable to donate. Then we went to live in UAE - and I stopped. Think I am too old to do it now, but I felt as if I was doing something quite useful at the time.

Hope all goes well with your physio tomorrow.

XX

 

[patient 99]

the PT has instructed me to wear not just a small heel, but a proper stonking one all the time.

This seems very strange. Presumably you are talking about the thicker heel you get on boots? I bet you are going to monitor this closely. The last thing you want is to upset your 10mth knee.

 

[dogwheels]

Yes Carol, @patient 99 - I intend to not overdo it with the heels, and am a tad apprehensive. No big shopping expeditions in the next 10 days! I have worn small heels to go out to dinner recently, but not everyday. You're right, I am glad that boot season is upon us as the extra support around my ankle will help. A chunky, Cuban or square heel is best, so no excuse for buying a vertiginous pair of Mahnolo's!
The reasoning is to put the weight onto the ball of my foot to take the pressure of the bursa in my heel and allow it to calm down.
I have been provided with a silicon heel cup thingy which is deliciously spongy and fits in all my shoes - its amazing how a small thing like that can make a big difference. PT said it would benefit my TKR too as it is shock absorbing for when your heel strikes the floor. These bits of rubber are my new best friends! Bliss.

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you are up to

XX

 

[patient 99]

@dogwheels

I have been provided with a silicon heel cup thingy

I like the sound of this. I've a pair of sandals with a cork sole and it makes a big difference. I'll google the silicon cups and see what I get.

Sue/Chris This doesn't follow on from anything we've been talking about, but I found it interesting so wanted to tell you. There was a programme on the tv the other night about Happiness. I'm interested in most anything to do with psychology. It didn't actually say anything new, but reinforced stuff I was aware of.

The key thing was the importance of positive thinking. They split the group into 2 - positive thinkers and negative thinkers. They were able to show just how much more the positive thinkers were able to achieve physically eg, the positive thinkers could hold their hands in ice cold water twice as long as the negatives. They did other tests to show the power of positive thinking on our mental ability.

As I said, nothing new but interesting. I tend to feel quite negative first thing in the morning - it goes once I've showered and start doing things. I am now going to start counting my blessings at this time of day just to see if I can overrule the bad stuff.