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TKR DogLady: Reinvented.

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Wow Maggie, you have been through the ringer! Good for you for grabbing the bull by the horns and releasing yourself from the grips of bureacracy. I hope your house is complete shortly so your babies can come home. Have they healed well from their scuffle?
Smart of you to get the cleaning people to come in and clean up after the contractors. Contractors are never known to clean up after themselves.
I'm glad to hear that your knee is doing well! Your good knee is probably reacting to the extra it had to do while your new knee was out of commission. Hopefully soon it will settle down.
That's quite a trip you have planned for Oct.-Nov.. I hope all goes well for you there. Good luck with the flights!:thumb:
Stay well and stay positive, soon you will be with your pooches!:friends::flwrysmile:
 
Hi Maggie-Lee,
You've had a rough time - so sorry about that - but now it looks as though things are swinging in your favour.

Plan to take it easy and enjoy your dogs.

Look forward to your overseas trip later. It might pay to ask for wheelchair assistance at the airports - I've just flown from NZ to the UK (last Saturday). The plane rides were OK, but those airport corridors are long!!! My new knee rang the bells at airport security, so I had to be wanded and patted every time.

Best wishes,
Celle
 
YAY!!!:yay: Maggie your babies coming home is the best for all three of you!! Soon you'll have wet noses everywhere!:puppysmooze:
Enjoy, you certainly waited long enough!:friends:
 
Hi everyone...Jacky and Celle in particular
Pups are home and have been asleep since they walked in the door. So I'm still kinda missing them! :-) But very good to have them back. I missed dog smell....smells like home now.

I'm doing okay. Pain meds only at night....but still sleeping only about 2 hours at a time. Got rid of ROM brace. Managing on 2 crutches out of the house and NO CRUTCHES in the house for most of day.....just go back to one crutch in the evening when it gets sore and tired. Wonder if I am pushing that too hard and need to move more slowly. I'm hoping to drive later this week. My OS cleared me to travel in October. Planning to take crutches and ask for lots of assistance. Its a long, tedious trip involving 14 airplane changes in 2.5 weeks. So I need to put everything in place to take it easy so I last the entire trip.

HOpe all of you are well and moving forward.
 
My dog came home too after we had been on holiday without her it was only two weeks but I really missed her. I am so pleased to hear things are looking up and you are feeling a bit better enjoy the doggies and the cuddles once they wake up
 
Hi Maggie I'm so happy to hear that your babies are now home. :puppysmooze: Before you know it they will be waking you up with their wet kisses! :puppysmooze: It's great that you were released for your Oct. travels. You might want to practice using just a cane/walking stick. It might be more comfortable for your travels. That's a lot of plane changes so it would be a good idea to use the skycap from terminal to terminal. I hope you get more sleep soon.

Stay well and stay positive! :friends:
 
DogLady said:
I missed dog smell....smells like home now. ....I'm doing okay. Pain meds only at night....but still sleeping only about 2 hours at a time. ..... Managing on 2 crutches out of the house and NO CRUTCHES in the house for most of day.... My OS cleared me to travel in October. Planning to take crutches and ask for lots of assistance. Its a long, tedious trip involving 14 airplane changes in 2.5 weeks.
Click to expand...

Well, my goodness, you are going to be busy in October. 14 plane changes!!!! :shocked: I would ask for assistance at the gate if some are short turnarounds. That must be some trip; you'll have to share some of the photos with us. Hope it is to someplace warm!

The two hour sleeping is so familiar. After 12 weeks I am sleeping mostly through the night; which is a good thing as I've started back to work. It does take awhile to get back into the habit of getting to bed at a decent hour and getting up rather than lying in bed. But it will happen for you.

No crutches! You go girl! That is fantastic! I still keep one in my car even though I haven't used it for awhile. Never know when I may need it so will probably keep one in the car for a bit longer.

And you are tooooo funny with the dog smell. :puppysmooze: Had me laughing out loud. Glad that they are back home and all is now right with the world!
 
Dog Lady said, "I had my surgery on July 3 so I'm about 11 week or so, but then had a fall with a small split in my femur that set me back by about a month. I'm back at work about 1/2 time....working at home otherwise. I'm impatient with everything but think I'm on track. If I walk around too much or stay upright too long, I have bad nights with little sleep, a lot of heat in my knee and lotsa discomfort. If I behave myself and respect the knee, I'm okay. Its all about how much I baby it. I can walk well without crutches now but am forcing myself to keep using one so I dont overstress my knee. Really tired of this, but just need to sit with it"

[Bonesmart.org] DogLady: Reinvented.
Maggie, I know it seems that this has been going on and on and on for a long, long time. And it has. But it's going to take as long as it's going to take; and that means another three or four months before you begin to feel "normal" again and an additional five or six to be done. TIME & PATIENCE---TIME & PATIENCE ---TIME & PATIENCE. You are going to have to dig down deep inside yourself and find the PATIENCE to allow yourself the TIME to get through this recovery.

Please do behave and respect the knee and follow the BoneSmart mantra, it will make the rest of your recovery much easier on you. Otherwise, as you well know, the KNEE will make you pay. YOU CAN DO THIS!

You've had a lot of additional hardships placed on you and they have not helped your situation at all. And you are doing this alone which has its downside, too. But you've got a world of cyber friends who are on your side and rooting for you, caring for you, and worrying about you. Take care of yourself, keep us posted, we really care.
 
Thanks everyone for all the support and comments. Very helpful. I tend to get busy and not check in often. When I do its usually because I'm feeling impatient and out of sorts. I know I need to be patient....and I'm doing okay with that (okay for me anyway...not a patient type of person). Most days I'm feeling pretty good with it; on the days I overdo it get very cranky and discouraged. Last Saturday and the Saturday before, I had friends over for dinner. By the time I did all the grocery shopping, cleaned the house, and cooked the dinner, I almost wanted to jsut leave it to them and go to bed! Patience & Time. Patience & Time. :-) I met with builders again yesterday...they are taking over my house again when I go away in October. Hopefully by the time I return in mid-November this whole bad experience will be behind me. Good news is I've managed to lose about 10 kg through this process. I'm hoping if I keep this up I can maybe be spared having my other knee done next year. But on the other hand, I sort of think I might need ot just get it over with and move ahead. Really do appreciate all the support from everyone. Great bunch of folks.
 
Hi Maggie-Lee, (Just catching up with you!)
I'm so glad you have your dogs at home with you now, and can enjoy their company.

What Judy (bottomshollow) says is so right! Time and patience - and for a long time yet! Progress is going to be slow, but regular. As the cheese advert says: "Good things take time!"

I'm still in the UK and won't be back in NZ until nearly the end of October - about the time you are setting off on your journey.

I had my replacement TKR in early December last year (almost 10 months ago now) and I thought that I was fully recovered, but I can tell you that spending 4 days looking after 2 little granddaughters (one almost a year old, and one almost three) while their parents are away has made me realise that I am not entirely fit even now!

While the new knee is holding up well, I have lost the ability to go up and down stairs the many times each day that caring for little ones entails (so glad the 11-month-old can climb stairs with me close behind - I would not like to have to carry her up them). My leg muscles are aching by the end of the day and my new knee is rapidly becoming my good knee, as arthritis in the other knee progresses. That the new knee is coping well is very encouraging - I'm feeling no pain there, just in the muscles.

Seeing my grand-babies is ample compensation for my aches and pains, but I'm not as young as I was, so I'm off to an early bed! (I am missing my cats, though! :kittykiss:)

Chin up, and best wishes for continued improvement. :friends:

Celle
 
A little update and assurance needed. I know the response to what I am about to post....but doesn't matter, need to do it anyway :thud:

I'm coming up to three months post surgery and about 6 weeks post fall. All is well and moving forward. Only using a crutch for long distance or uneven surface walking. Otherwise I'm on my own. Going to the pool several times a week for aqua-jogging and working on stairs; stationary cycle in my lounge 15 min 2X day. Physio has said no more than that yet. I can use my new knee to climb stairs but only with support.

The big annoyance is the dang popping in the joint. Every step or cycle rotation, my knee pops just before I get to extension. Driving me crazy and makes me not want to go and do anything. It doesn't exactly hurt but is uncomfortable and creepy. So now I need you to all, please and thank you, come and reassure me and tell me not to worry that is will go away at some point.

Celle...hope you holiday is going well!
 
Has this been happening all along? Because it's actually not that uncommon. Some attribute it to slack ligaments which would fit with your history of surgery and the fall.
 
It was doing it only intermittently and very quietly at first. Now it's persistent and annoying. If I'm going to have a noisy knee, I can cope with that. But I just don't want anything to be coming undone and this popping or clicking being a sign of trouble. I really dont need anymore trouble! Trying to decide if I should go back to OS and ask, but don't want to take up his time or mine if it's not necessary.
 
DogLady,

You should never be worried about taking up the time of your OS if you have a concern about your knee. His/her job is to make sure that you have the best possible outcome.

Of course I can not diagnose the pop from an internet post. The best way to understand this situation is from a good physical exam and x-rays. However, I can give you some ideas. First of all is that it could be normal, just as Jo had suggested. It is very common for the knee to have some laxity when it is bent about 30 degrees. This laxity can lead to a clicking or popping noise. This, however, is not typically painful. The fact that this has become more persistent and annoying is not "direction" that I would want to see if I were your OS.

I did not read through all of you other posts, but I see in your signature that you had a "cracked femur" only about 6 weeks ago. That could surely be contributing to this situation. Again, I just don't have enough info to know this for sure.

Another thought from your post is that this could represent a patella clunk syndrome. The way that it is presenting is somewhat typical for this problem. This is usually seen with a posterior crutiate sacrificing knee replacement, and it occurs when some scar tissue engages the "box" on the femoral component.

Again, don't hesitate to talk to your OS about this and let us know his/her thoughts.

Orthodoc
 
Thanks Orthodoc and others. I called the OS office today and spoke with RN. She said it might just be a usual noise for a new implant and would quiet down if I gave it a bit of time. But she made an appt for Oct 19th. Problem is I leave on Oct 22 for a long tedious overseas trip (5 countries in 2.5 weeks). So if this is 'broken' I need it sorted before I go, or need to find some way to manage it while I"m traveling and working. The cracked femur happened in a fall where my surgical leg rammed into the wall when my feet went out from under me. Very small split into the cortex, so he put me in a brace for about a month to give it time to heal.
 
Doglady, call the RN at the OS office and tell her your problem. At the least she could put you on the "cancel list" so that if someone cancels an appt with your OS, she could call you right away.

At my OS, you can see the PA on the same day. Does he have a PA? If the PA thinks there is a problem, he gets the doc right away. Do, let her know your situation and she what options you have to be seen right away. Kelly
 
Maggie-Lee I agree with Kelly, the PA should be able to see you sooner.
I get a clunk and my OS told me to expect it, it's when I walk mostly and it doesn't hurt. He also said some people lose it when their muscle, tendons and ligiment strenghten and some people have it forever but get use to it and they don't even notice it after awhile.
I wish you luck my friend and a save, wonderful trip. Bring lots of ziploc bags for icing, usually you can get ice anywhere.

Stay well and stay positive!:friends:
 
Hi Jackie,
We don't have PAs in NZ, where Maggie-Lee lives - although Margaret (Campervan) has posted in another thread that the training and use of PAs is being considered. We do have practice nurses, who have been through additional training.
 
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