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Bilateral TKR Got out of surgery at about 5pm 6/4/2013

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Im so glad hyou enjoyed PT alittle more today! Once I saw progress it motivated to go on. Im afraid I wont be doing as well on my own, decresing therapy, but I will try my best. All my bags are packed, part of me cant wait to blow this joint, part of me is sad /scared to go.
 
Just getting into your case, I was unplugged for 3 weeks. No computers or I anything.
I would agree with these comments. I had to some damage control at my clinic when I return from holiday. The PT I hired to baby sit the clinic had told some of my patients that they were going to probably have to have the knees manipulated if they didn't work harder. My aids went crazy, we don't go there. Getting everyone back to nice and easy, and stay the course. My turtles win more races than the hares.
Remember, life is therapy. Re engage into life the best you can, the motion and strength will come along. Let your PT know what activity you are having problems with and not what exercise. Example: moving from sitting to standing, can you do this activity without using your hands. If you can't, try doing from bed height vs a chair. This will strength your quads and your hip extensors allowing you to walk better.
Best of luck,
David
 
DAY 17

Middle of the night here in Seattle. My usual Can not sleep time of the day. So many good suggestions about dealing with PT! Thank-you for sharing.

Today many of the bills started coming in the mail for my BTKR. I have pretty good insurance, but it looks like we will owe out of pocket about $5000 dollars give or take. The insurance covers about 80 percent after the deductible. I am not complaining, and have a small fund set up to go towards that. I notice there are not many threads on the issue of out of pocket expenses. Perhaps some of you would want to share what you had done and what it will or did cost you. Even with insurance it is not free! The three months I am off are also not covered time off at my job. So it does get expensive if you add in loss of salary.
 
Gazelle...
I haven't received bills yet...but anticipate things shaking loose in the coming week. I have deductibles and copays totaling about $1100.00 for sure...then I will see what else is either not covered or partially covered. I believe that some of the durable medical equipment will be totally my responsibility...and some things will be fully covered as a rental. Hope you were able to get some rest...I was up most of the night...both because of general aches and because of the incredibly hot and humid weather here...90 degrees again today...sigh...stale, humid, hot nights are not good for sleep!
Hugs,
Harplayer RTKR June 4, 2013
 
Hi Gazelle,
Glad you are on the road to recovery! The medical bills are unbelievable to see, aren't they! What an amazing vacation we could have had - but hopefully the new knees are worth it! I am probably about where you are with the bills - about $5000 - but mine was only 1 knee & I am not done with the process of getting it working (lots of other issues!)
As far as not getting paid while you are not working - did you look into short term disability? I was able to receive about 60% of my salary before taxes while I was off. It may be something to look into.
Wishing you the best!
Eileen
 
harplayer I see you are from Michigan. I lived in Ann Arbor for 20 years before I moved to Montana--25 years ago!! I vaguely remember humidity!! We are 70 degrees with no humidity today! Perfect weather for riding bikes.
 
Wow Skigirl! I am only 30 minutes from Ann Arbor! Your weather soundly lovely...perfect even! Too hot for anything here...except a swim in our pool...which is not something I can do yet :-( looking forward to my knee incision healing so I can swim!
Have fun biking! :bicycle1:
 
kneefromhell said:
Hi Gazelle,
Glad you are on the road to recovery! The medical bills are unbelievable to see, aren't they! What an amazing vacation we could have had - but hopefully the new knees are worth it! I am probably about where you are with the bills - about $5000 - but mine was only 1 knee & I am not done with the process of getting it working (lots of other issues!)
As far as not getting paid while you are not working - did you look into short term disability? I was able to receive about 60% of my salary before taxes while I was off. It may be something to look into.
Wishing you the best!
Eileen
Click to expand...

Short term disability... I wonder if it would take years to get approved as I know so many people fight for this right and often times have to resort to lawyers. Sounds interesting....and stressful.
 
Remember that there are two types of disability. One, rom Social security, of course. The second is from your job or private insurance---the latter is much easier to obtain.
 
Thankfully ihave AFLAC.. Short term disability as well as hospital coverage, which
Means I will get a monthly amt plus a one time amount for eachday at the hospital and a specificdollar amt for the actual surgery. I do believe my medicalinsurance will cover most but we did lay out about 300 for the blood thinner meds
 
Hi, Gazelle - It's so good to know you keep doing well. As for PT - well, I do some of it on my own now & occasionally a tear still slips out, mainly because I'm tired of "working." All will be well.

There are interesting comments re: insurance and costs. Because I chose to have a bilateral, I got the 2nd knee at half price, which showed me just how much extra $$ they must make on these things. Likewise, the hospital I stayed at offered me a 20% discount on my bill if I paid within 30 days.

Probably when it's all added up, the surgery, hospital stay & rehab stay will be around $3,000 after insurance. All of my outpatient PT has been covered 100% (either that or I've hit my out of pocket limit for the year--all I know is that I never owe anything).

The "actual" cost of the surgery is staggering, though - I am very grateful for my good insurance.
j
 
DAY. 20 ?

Starting to get hard to keep track of the days now. I am hitting an emotional wall...lack of sleep, deep pain, feeling sorry for myself ...general depression which is not normal for me. I have never had depression or had a problem sleeping until this major event in my life.

I am trying to see the big picture..but right now it is just hard not to feel the discomfort I am dealing with.

I do not want to be a Debbie Downer... But this is reality of my experience. I guess I am at some kind of a wall right now. A funk.

I have PT this afternoon and am not looking forward to it... She always asks me what I did over the weekend...and I feel guilty that I did not spend hours doing PT. it is not the first thing on my mind...to do something that hurts when I am already hurting. I took a shower by myself and washed my hair, I got dressed, and I went up and down the stairs several times. That is the reality of what I did.

Thanks for listening , to those who are reading this and have gone through BTNR, please share, criticism is OK. for those reading this who may be contemplating a BTKR...hopefully my honest emotional and physical trials will help you through your personal journey...and each journey is going to be different.

Thanks again!
 
gazelle7777 said:
I am hitting an emotional wall...lack of sleep, deep pain, feeling sorry for myself ...general depression which is not normal for me. I have never had depression or had a problem sleeping until this major event in my life.
Click to expand...
What you are feeling now---and how you are feeling---is all actually quite normal. The isolation, the lack of mobility, the lack of independence, the pain meds, the frustratingly slow progress---all lend themselves to the depressed attitude.

gazelle7777 said:
I guess I am at some kind of a wall right now
Click to expand...
We have all hit those walls and have wondered the same things. In time, slowly that wall will be dismantled and you will be able to go over it.

I, too, struggled through parts of my BTKR---but I am glad that I had it done. My recovery was much longer than I planned it to be---and much longer than I liked it to be.

Just take it one day at a time---this roller coaster called recovery has its ups and its downs---and you are in those "dark days of recovery"---in a little bit, though, things will feel much better.

Do not be ashamed about being honest with the PT---remember, she works for you, not the other way around.
 
Gazelle...
You are so brave and strong! The feelings you describe are I think, very normal given our circumstances! I absolutely feel so much like you right now...the exhaustion, no sleep, deep aching pain...the lack of independence and feelings of isolation...so very overwhelming! I am so glad that you are my good and true friend on this journey! I want to say again...YOU ARE MY HERO! I made it through another painful PT session this morning :yikes: and now I am being "encouraged" to use a cane! We have to stay strong for each other ...we are all here for you :console2:
Your Buddy'
Harplayer
 
Coming home has left me in a funk as well. Day 14 for me and I am not a happy camper. Gazelle, I understand what you mean about deep pain. It isnt and ouch kind of pain its a deep ache that is always with you, sometimes the buzz is louder than other times. I have been working hard today to stay on top of the pain meds. I was only able to do my stretching once yesterday, and havent stretched yet today, but plan on doin so right before my shower. I have a very early OS appt tomorrow so I want o be ready tonight so we can be there on time. I am hoping (sort of) to get my staples out tomorrow to make me feel like I am taking a step forward. Oh yeah...and NOT SMOKING is also contributing to my current state of mind. Now that I CAN SMOKE I want to but have fought it so far for about 52 hours.

Tonights shower will be the first one home....hoping all goes smoothly!

Chin up girls....we will feel better soon!!!

Luisa
 
If you can continue to not smoke, it will help with your healing, as smoking make blood vessels constrict, so circulation is slowed down........good luck.....you can do it.........
 
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