TKR gr82cu2 Hello new knee, it's great to see you!

[gr82cu2]

Nurse said it was not appropriate,

Pffffftttt! It's my leg, I'll write what I want on it. Obviously not anything vulgar.

About an hour ago I took one 7.5/325 Norco and she pushed some anti nausea stuff in my IV. Not sure why because I've never been sick with anesthesia or pain meds. Codeine bothers my tummy a little but it's more like burning than upset. Don't feel even a smidge different from having the meds

Also, I reached down and put my hand on the gel ice pack in my knee wrap and it wasn't even cool anymore I tell ya, you have to be your own advocate so much of the time. Sheesh! She changed it right away for me. I'll just have to keep an eye on it. Got up to go pee pee again. It was a bit easier than the first time. They told me I can put my foot on the floor but not put weight on it yet so between my right leg and the walker we got 'er done.

 

[lorl]

Right on!!!
Way to go, I actually told my OS after , he said he would have thought it was fun, control freak nurse!

My daughter in law is an artist, might take her along and have a real work of art greeting the OS

Love hearing your news, great story, good luck with the ice saga - does that sound like a movie...
Luvlorl

 

[gr82cu2]

My daughter in law is an artist, might take her along and have a real work of art greeting the OS

That would be so cool! I think most of them would appreciate it, especially a little humor. I am no artist but I can draw a smiley face with it's tongue sticking out, haha!

I just got off ebay where I purchased a Donjoy iceman. It was a buy it now and is located in Indiana where I am and will be delivered by Saturday at the latest. It looked very clean and in good shape. I had a lightbulb moment and remembered I've had a $93.55 credit sitting in my Paypal account so I used that and forked over another $1.45 and it's mine, all mine!!

Ok, so latest medical news.....my bowels are making noise, LOL! Whoopeeeee!

 

[gr82cu2]

@lorl When is your surgery scheduled? Put the date in your signature sweetie so we can keep track when we see your posts and wish you well.

 

[gr82cu2]

Sorry for all the notifications, I'm bored to tears, haha! Here is my dinner. I ordered roast turkey breast, whipped potatoes, stuffing with gravy and green beans. The chocolate cake for dessert was super yummy. I saved it for later. I wanted Thanksgiving dinner since I'm so thankful for this surgery. I hope haha!

 

[dtmbf]

I actually didn't like the ice machine - didn't think it was cold enough and it was chock full of ice & water! I found large bags of frozen peas were the way for me to go. After they've thawed and refrozen a couple of times, they are really icy & last for a long time. I used 3 at a time - each side & top of knee & then under my knee I up a large flat sheet of blue ice. 11 weeks later I'm still using the peas.

 

[gr82cu2]

9:15 pm. Just received a Lyrica tablet, an extended release Morphine (little frightened about that one) and a stool softener. I think my leg is beginning to awaken a little. I can now move it a little bit and it is tingling more.

 

[Jozilla]

Your meal looks delicious! Sounds like your pain will be controlled too! Take it slow you will are on your way!

 

[gr82cu2]

Ok, yesterday's roundup. Surgery day, Tuesday July 29, 2014. Ortho Indy Hospital. Dr. Joseph Randolph.

• Woke up at home at 6:30 after a decently restful night, took blood pressure med and sniffed the coffee fumes. Those don't wake you up!!
• 7:00 hit the shower to sanitize and wash and style my hair. Got dressed and put things for hospital in a large tote bag. Wandered around house wondering what I was forgetting. I forgot my living will but they didn't seem concerned about it when I got here. I guess they thought chances were slim they would put me in a vegetative state.
• 9:00 - 10:00 We hit the road and arrived at hospital to check in at 9:25. Waited about 15 minutes and was taken back to surgery prep area. Had to remove all clothing and undies and get gussied up in one of our lovely American hospital gowns. Wished I had moved to Ireland where they have lovely soft ones! Once dressed in butt showing gown, Dr. Randolph popped in, marked my knee and assured me all would go well and not to worry. I once again, for like the umpteenth time, gave registrar all personal information again along with photo i.d. and insurance card. RN came in and put in my IV and again, for the umpteenth time, went over all meds and supplements I take and made me swear on a stack of bibles that I had been off them all for at least 2 weeks. Next came two anesthesiologists, one after the other. The first one was going to be the one to do my nerve blocks and the other was in the operating room in charge of making sure I stayed asleep without putting me permanently to sleep
• 10:30 received nerve blocks. They use an ultrasound to find the nerve bundles so they can do whatever they do to deaden them. Was told it would last 10-16 hours. I'm currently creeping up on 20 hours and I'd say leg is about 50% awake. More towards my foot, less towards my knee & thigh. They sedated me for this procedure but trust me, I was wide awake. Laid around back in a dark corner until....
• 12:00 noon. They were running about 30 minutes behind but finally took me to the OR at noon. Everyone introduced themselves. They got me transferred onto the OR table, slapped an oxygen mask on and the anesthesiologist said "this medicine works pretty fast" and boom I was gone, gone, gone.
• 1:45 I was in recovery waking to someone say "Janet your surgery is over. Everything went great." So sleepy! They monitored my vitals and let me have some ice water. I had been told they kept people in recovery from 2-4 hours but my vitals were great so they sprung me out of there at 2:15. Yay! On my way to my room. I scored a one bed room. Double yay!! Shortly after, my nurse Kristen and her assistant Tasha came and introduced themselves. Very sweet, loved them both. Then Kent showed up with my tote bag of stuff and we got settled in. The nurses checked on me now and then through the afternoon. Helped me potty, etc. No pain meds yet. Leg is completely dead so no pain really but I'm not liking the dead log leg feel. Probably better than the alternative though. Kent hung out with me till about 4:00 and I sent him packing. I was fine and let's face it, hospitals are boring. He was relieved I told him it was fine to go. Besides I wanted him to go home and check on Tucker and make sure he ate something. I was on here talking to you all and ignoring him, LOL.
• 6:30 before shift change at 7:00 Kristen brought me one 7.5/325 Norco tablet. I didn't really need it but they wanted to get some pain medicine in me before the nerve blocks wore off. She also brought more anti-nausea meds.
• 7:00 shift change! My new night nurse came to check on me at 8:15. Her name is Lois (my mom's name) and she is an absolute angel. I was so happy because every time I've been in the hospital overnight I got Nurse Ratchet, I swear. Not so with Lois who is very sweet, caring, understanding and just an all around lovely person.
• 9:15 Lois brought me a morphine tablet, a stool softener and Lyrica for nerve pain. By now my foot was starting to wake up. At 7:00 I had been unable to even wiggle my toes. By 9:15 I could wiggle my toes and barely move my ankle. Between 9:15 and midnight my leg was waking up more and by midnight I could slightly bend my knee. Around midnight I tried to flex my quad muscle and had a fairly sharp pain just off the outside top corner of my knee cap. The bottom of my foot was tingling like crazy, especially when the automatic foot squeezer thingy did it's job every 15 seconds or so. I was a little scared of taking Morphine. I've seen it make people kinda crazy. My reaction? Nothing, nada, zip! Not even pain relief.
• 10:30 Lois brought me another 7.5/325 Norco tablet and we talked about my hope for some sleep. Generally narcotics keep me awake. Not restless or agitated, but awake. It's so irritating when you need them for pain control but they don't let you sleep. I was wide awake!
• 12:00 midnight. Lois brought me another bag of IV antibiotics, changed my IV drip bag and some Restoril for sleep. She said if I didn't fall asleep in an hour she would give me another one. Potty one more time so if I do fall asleep my bladder won't wake me up before Lois' planned return at 4:00.
• 12:00 midnight - 1:45 am. Um, sleep please???? I just could not get comfortable on my back. When I lay on my back and begin to fall asleep and relax, my soft pallet falls back into my throat, I start to snore and it wakes me up every time. Went through that ordeal a few times and finally decided I'd try to get sort of on my side. I managed to get fairly comfortable and finally fell asleep at 1:45 for a whole 90 minutes.
• ........more on today, tomorrow Sorry this is kinda long but I want it for a reference later when I have my right knee done.

 

[bottomshollow]

@gr82cu2, you are now an

! and what a great re-cap of your first day---and very lucid, too, for a gal on drugs .

Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[icep707]

Great news , I knew you would do great. Your hospital stay sounds like mine, surprisingly well. In fact I didnt want to leave so early. One thing caught my attention, when you said you felt like you didnt need a norco. Weather you feel you need one ot not, take it ! Stay ahead of pain . On schedule all the time .oh , be sure to disinfect that ice machine if its used , particularly the pad !! Also Hold your nose and drink prune juice , you will need all the help you can . Keep up the great work , Iceman

 

[Jazzy4564]

@gr82cu2, I haven't been online in the last few days but wanted to pop in and see how your surgery went. It sounds like everything went extremely well. I'm impressed that you were able to get a step by step timeline down of everything that happened. They would tell me what meds they were giving me and I was like "yeah, whatever", lol. I had a catheter in so I never had to get up to pee which was nice. I have only been using my ice machine at night and the gel packs I had from my previous scopes during the day. It's just easier for me that way. I hope you continue to feel better and better and get to go home soon. Take care!

 

[Lovestoread]

@gr82cu2, what a positive report! So glad everything went so well for you (not that I had any doubts!) I'm like you. Can't sleep on my back at all. Not even after abdominal surgery. Also like you, the meds keep me awake, even the ones that are supposed to help you sleep. Hang in there, though. As long as you keep on top of the pain, the rest is minor stuff. You can do this! Isn't it wonderful to have this behind you? Get through this one, then on to the next one!

 

[Crow22]

@gr82cu2 Wow honey, it sounds like you are doing awesome, and I gotta agree with the others, you are quite alert! You give me a lot of Hope and courage for my Monday surgery. Continue to heal and know we are all sending you lots of love and healing light.

 

[tiredwife]

@gr82cu2 How are you doing? Staying on top of the pain? Wiggling those toes? Did you get staples or stitches?

 

[marmora]

Hi @gr82cu2
The start of your recovery journey and you have several of us with you !
You will work out your own ice therapy, either ice packs or the CryoCuff and cooler. I am using the Cryo Cuf ( the hospital gives the cuff on discharge / but had to buy the ice cooler and tubing myself).
As always, ice,ice,ice and elevate and rest and more rest.
Pain goes up and down and again stay on top of taking them on time.
Early days,.. Take care.

 

[kneeper]

Congratulations on your successful surgery. Sounds like they're taking good care of you.
I agree to disinfect the cryocuff and also use a thin towel over your skin.

 

[lorl]

Hi from down under, another sunshiny day here in Sydney. How good are yr posts for us still on the " dark side"
So encouraging, the more details the better. Love the photos of yr thanksgiving dinner. Bit hard tho I am seriously working at loosing weight. Maybe post operation I will have a glorious " pig out" . Right now it is all sensible lettuce leaves and small portions.
Praying that you keep going from strength to strength. Luvlorl

 

[gr82cu2]

***Edited at 5:30 am to add the rest of the night's events. Suffice it to say I slept like a log and woke up without log leg! Yay! I could swing it around on the bed all by myself ***

Wednesday July 30......the day after surgery. I'm told (now, after the fact) this is usually the worst day and it WAS!! Whaaaaa!!!

Wow! Today was an awful ordeal! Once the nerve blocks wore off completely I was in excruciating pain. Awful, awful! I'll start today's report and add or edit later. It is 7:00pm here with lots of the day left to get through. Today my RN is Sheena and the tech is Tassie. Love them both! I have to say the nursing staff here is awesome and johnny on the spot when you need something. I've never waited more than 2-3 minutes when I ring for them. I had a lovely omelet, yogurt and fresh fruit cup and coffee for breakfast. It was tempered by a lot of tears but still very yummy. Dinner was meatloaf, some great mac & cheese, cole slaw and a veggie plate of fresh celery & carrots with Ranch. I ordered the chocolate cake again for later. It is soooo good! I sure have no complaints about the food here other than you cannot order between 6:30 pm and 6:30 am. So, to continue from when I left off last night at around 3:15 am.

• At 4:45 Lois came to take vitals and drew blood so the results could be in for the doctor's to start their rounds at 6:00. Based on my report of a pain level of 8 or 9 she gave me two 7.5/325 Norco tabs and helped me onto the bedside commode to go potty. Still just #1 and no #2's yet. Not uncomfortable in that respect yet. I have Miralax at home which I will start once I get out of here.
• At 6:00 Lois checked to see if my pain had decreased at all with the meds from 4:45. Still at least a 7 so she gave me dilaudid through my IV and anti-nausea meds via IV also.
• 8:55 and pain is still a 9 at least. I'm losing it and a bawling baby. The pain is excruciating. I would rate it a 10 but being that is the worst pain you could ever imagine I'm reluctant to do that but who knows what the worst pain ever could really feel like? Worse than this I bet, but I'm not a happy camper. Kent and I both, before even doing the surgery told them that when I'm in severe pain it takes a lot to bring me down and no, I rarely take narcotics so it's not a built up resistance situation. Prior to this surgery the last time I swallowed a narcotic pill was about a year ago. My surgeon insists, even on the morning of surgery when we talked, that his protocol has lessened the need for narcotics by 2/3. Ha! Not on this girl! Not today!
• 10:00 my surgeon's PA, Darrell came by, finally. I think because I was doing so much complaining and crying. Too bad I kept myself up for his expected arrival around 6 am. Anywho, I totally melted down on him, even to the point of yelling which I later apologized for. I was hyper ventilating even. He gave me a sheet which showed after release I would be Rx'd (actually already at my pharmacy for pickup) one or two 5 mg tablets of Vicodin every SIX hours! I said, "you've got to be kidding me!" "Do you not see how much pain I am in? Do you really think I'm going to progress to only one or two 5 mg. Vicodin every SIX hours by tomorrow when I go home!?" Especially since I had been told at joint class that our home pain meds would be based off of what worked in the hospital, yet they sent it to my pharmacy the night before my surgery. He was all like, oh you'll make a lot of progress still today and tomorrow before release. Uh huh, sure thing bud! I was still in horrible pain, even with all I had been given at 4:45 & 6:00 am. So, Darrell left and said he would see what he could do. Within 5 minutes another doctor came in. I have no idea who he was or what his specialty is but he was so sweet and compassionate. I'm sure he could feel my distress. I was a 1st class wreck for sure. So, he left and said he would get it taken care of and low and behold......
• 10:50 my nurse Sheena showed up with two immediate release Oxycodone tablets.
• Noon.....I finally fell asleep which was awesome except I slept right through my next med schedule for 1:30 and didn't wake up until 3:10. This was not good. I was back to bawling and my pain was back to a 9, at least. So, I called for pain meds. Sheena gave me two 5 mg. Percocets and a xanax and finally, my first Celebrex. I asked why I hadn't been given the Celebrex starting like yesterday as I had been told and she said it had something to do with my kidney something or others based on my prior blood test but as of today the reading was ok so I could have it now. Immediately after taking this med I was helped to the big girl bathroom potty, cleaned up a little and brushed my teeth and......
• 3:30 my PT showed up finally even though she said she would be here at 2. I figured she would come at 2 and wake me up, knowing I would have had my 1:30 meds but that didn't happen because nobody checked on me. Kent said no one stuck their head in at my med time so they just let it go I guess because I didn't call for them. He felt awful for not waking me up when he saw how much pain I was in. He apologized for not waking me or going to them to tell them to medicate me. The PT was very gentle and only had me sit on the edge of the bed to bend my knee back and forth about 4 times. She measured my extension at 0 and flexion of 80, up from 70 this morning. I know it would be a lot better but my knee is just so swollen and stiff. She then asked if I wanted to get up and walk assisted by her and my walker for a bit. So, we walked maybe 50 feet, very slowly down the hall and then back. It still hurt like hell but at the same time felt good to get my leg moving some.
• Speaking of swelling and elevation. I've been really bothered by the lack of elevation here. I asked yesterday and was first denied and then told I could have one thin bed pillow under my ankle and calf. It cannot be under my knee because my knee needs to be straight. I get that but here's where I got them again in their seemingly constant contradictions. In the booklet they gave me where they talk about elevation they have a picture of a man laying flat on his back on a sofa with his ankle propped up on the arm of the sofa so maybe about a 6" elevation? His toes are definitely higher than his heart. Guess who was surprised by this? Everyone here!! Grrrrr!! I kept tell them if they could give me good elevation the fluid would drain from my knee area, it would feel better and be more flexible! I was told the one pillow is the only way they have ever done it here. Whatever! So, they finally agreed to let me have 2 pillows under my ankle & calf. These are bed pillows that squish down and even if I'm on my back my toes are not higher than my heart. Also they have told me not to let my leg turn out when laying down or sleeping. My toes need to point straight at the ceiling. Ok, fine. I have no problem with that except it's pretty darn hard to hold your leg in that position, especially when sleeping. It's natural for your leg to want to turn out, when relaxed. So, they finally put the lower bed rail up and folded a pillow in half between my leg and the rail to keep my leg from rolling outward. Oh well, you all can trust me to get some good elevation, on MY terms when I get home.
• 6:50 Sheena came and gave me 20 mg. extended (12 - 24 hours she said) release Oxycontin for break through pain and said to still take my regular meds on time. (I've had about 3 kinds today, so what is "regular"? She said Percoset. Is it Percoset with and s or a c? Spell checker doesn't like either version. Anyway, before Sheena left I asked her about the 5 mg. Vicodin that is sitting at my pharmacy. Should I have Kent pick it up or not? She said to hold off. OS might want to cancel it and change or he might decide to Rx something stronger and still keep the Vicodin for when I'm in worse pain or when I'm ready to step down some on the heavy duty narcotics. I told her I'm not asking for something stronger for fun. I don't like taking narcotics. I don't enjoy some of the side effects but at times like this they are a necessary evil. Whenever I tell a medical person something like that in my head I hear them saying, yeah yeah that's what they all say. It makes me feel like they think I'm a pill popper. I'm a 55 year old homemaker with a lovely family and no reason to abuse anything.
• Shift change at 7:00. Tonight my beloved Lois is back along with Tanja who is a lovely person. I sure have no complaints about the nursing staff. At 7:20 I rang for my regular meds (2 - 5 mg. percoset again) and Lois brought them at 7:45. The delay was because they were still getting their patient updates from the day staff. Tanja helped me to the potty and I got to change into my very own jammies for the night. I'm all tucked in and reasonably comfortable here in bed. Getting out of bed and moving around is a whole other deal!
• At 9:00 Lois brought me Celebrex, Lyrica and a stool softener. I asked Tanja to wake me at 11:45 for my next dose telling her I don't want what happened this afternoon with the hour and a half late meds. She said she would but I set my alarm anyway ;) Right now I'm so sleepy my eyes are closing on me so even thought it is only 9:20 I'm going lights out at least till 11:45. It's hard for me to believe they will deem me fit to go home tomorrow after such a painful day today but we'll see, I guess. Maybe some sort of healing miracle will happen tonight. I have no idea if I will see my OS tomorrow or his PA. I have a feeling it will be the OS because of this pain med issue. Surely he realizes that different folks have different pain and pain med tolerances. Surely, he does! I'm just afraid I won't be able to stand up to him emotionally.
• At just before midnight Lois came and woke me (alarm was going off but I didn't hear it because of ear plugs and exhaustion) and gave me two more 5 mg. Percosets. Around 1 am I fell back asleep. I could have instantly fallen asleep after the meds but my sweet, sweet nurses thought I needed fresh water and fresh ice packs on my knee. It was worth the loss of an hours sleep. I fell asleep hard again until I woke up at .....
• 4:45 when I woke up the the feeling in my left heel that it was on fire. I rang the bell and my angels instantly appeared, took me to the potty, got me medicated, took vitals, fresh ice, coffee and tucked me back in. I'm just now eating that chocolate cake that I was too sleepy to eat last night. Even after sitting on my table all night it is still sooooooo good! Wish I had the recipe, it is so moist.
• Oh, I sneeked a peek at my incision today. It is covered with a white bandage/pad and held in place by my teds hose which I have no complaints about, btw. The incision looks great! He closed me with something called a quill suture. It has like little barbs on it so it can't pull out but is dissolvable. They then coated it in glue so I can shower when I get home. They just said to not scrub or rub it, let the water just run over it and pat dry. The incision is very straight and appears to be narrow, about 6" long I'd guess. I'm very pleased with that so far. So far, I have very little bruising but was warned that could get worse over the next few day.
• Ahhhh can't stay awake! Goodnight everyone! Sweet dreams!

 

[gr82cu2]

Oh gosh, I just now read so many of your comments based on yesterday's report. I hope today won't discourage you. My apologies. Just telling it like it was today and hoping it's just a bump in my road to recovery. Maybe tomorrow will be a turn around day. Lois told me the 2nd day is always the worst. Night night everyone! Hopefully I can give you a better report tomorrow from my home instead of this hospital. Honestly I wouldn't mind staying another day and night just to be sure we have this pain issue under control. Night from a very, very sleepy girl. xox to you all!