TKR Hello from the UK!

[Mutley]

Pat99 you crack me up! I thought I recognised your user name from the S&M website! Moving house is scary but I also have to move a cat, tortoise, 2 chickens ( although 1 is looking a bit dodgy. Could be broody, egg bound or on her way out!) 2 large Weimaraners, 2 fish tanks, a rabbit...oh yeah, and the husband A farm or small holding sounds FAB...the reality of today's house prices is a LOT SMALLER

 

[patient 99]

I crack you up! You leave me speechless <chuckle>. I'm presuming that Weimaraners are fish, but from what I'm learning about you, they could be just about anything. May the force be with you.

 

[Mutley]

Fish??? I WISH! They are German hunting dogs & have to say I LOVE THEM...when they are asleep They give you a reason to get up in the morning...but aren't happy unless they get 2 good walks a day of at least an hour or so each walk I've been managing one walk a day for the past 1-2 weeks. Husband is off on a trip at the end of June so I've got 3 weeks to be in perfect health to manage 2 walks a day...watch this space!!!

 

[1ELISEA]

The walking goal is fantastic Mutley!
I will be watching your space for the latest updates.

 

[patient 99]

Fish???

I might have known. But if they had been fish, they would have been big and mean with teeth that could bight through your TKR in one. Mutley don't you think a very ignorant element has crept into Bonesmart? Fish indeed!

I'm off for my daily walk round the park shortly. Its humiliating watching people lap me not once, but again and again. There are not many flat areas in East Sussex (not sure about W. Sussex), so I drive to the park which is level and walk around the lake. I used to do it holding my husband's hand, but I think I was using his hand as a comfort - a bit like my walking stick. So now I do it solo. It comes to us all in the end <wink>. Pat99

 

[turtle68]

Talking about good English food, we had dinner at some English friends lqst night,and it was deliciou - roasted pork, roasted vegetables, and potatoes. Had some good American wine too.

 

[turtle68]

Mutley, what's this about moving. Well, we're doing the same thing Signing a contract on a new homee in an over 55 community, and now have to get house ready t list and sell. I feel bad because my husband's going to have to handle so much of it, but then we've moved many times when he was working, and I've handled all the details. So let me know what's doing on with you Mutley. I haven't been on all weekend so I must have mussed something. Hope you're having a good day.

 

[Mutley]

Pat99 how did your walk go this morning? At least your making yourself get out & do it so that's a good thing! I encountered quite a few soldiers hiding in the woods while walking the mutts this afternoon. That means putting them on the lead until we're past them & trying to hang on to they're leads for dear life! Last night was the best nights sleep I've had in the last 6 months Uummmm, beer, wine, sleeping tablet...coincidence??? WHO CARES! IT DID THE TRICK! What was also unbelievable is the fact I got out of bed this morning & my 1st thought WASN'T my knee! I'd love to say that maybe I'm turning another corner but that would be foolish so I'll just accept that today has been so much better than previous days...and here's hoping I get MANY, MANY more of them!

 

[Mutley]

Mutley, what's this about moving. Well, we're doing the same thing Signing a contract on a new homee in an over 55 community, and now have to get house ready t list and sell. I feel bad because my husband's going to have to handle so much of it, but then we've moved many times when he was working, and I've handled all the details. So let me know what's doing on with you Mutley. I haven't been on all weekend so I must have mussed something. Hope you're having a good day.

Hi turtle68!
Your dinner with friends sounded gorgeous! You can't beat a nice bit of pork if it's been cooked properly You also can't beat a decent bottle of American/Californian red
Yes, we are moving! We have sold our house & we're moving out of the area & down to the South Coast. Time to have a complete change & try & enjoy a bit of life without all the stress that goes with it. We've found a place that we love & our offer has been accepted but these people now need to find somewhere. Meanwhile the chain just keeps getting longer! I'm not getting too excited as it's still early days & anyone can pull out if contracts haven't been exchanged. When I get the key to the door & the removal van is sitting outside with all my furniture then I will believe it's really mine
There is certainly loads of paperwork to keep me quiet in the mean time! Good luck with selling your house too

 

[patient 99]

today has been so much better

Hi Mutley@turtle68 So good to hear a bit of good news. A few weeks ago if I got a good day I got so overjoyed thinking this was it, plain sailing from now onwards. Of course the roller coaster that is our recovery, meant that a good day was followed by a bad day. This threw me into a complete depression. It was like manic depression. As I get the hang of things a bit more I've learned to take a more calm approach.

Getting a good night's sleep really does work wonders. Are you both able to sleep on your right and left sides as well as lying on your back?Pat99

 

[Mutley]

That's a good attitude to have Pat99. At least that way your not going to be disapointed! It's the only way I've managed to cope but did take me a while to get my head thinking like that too! I can sleep (well, sometimes sleep!) on either side but have to swap sides continually during the night as either the knee is sore or the thigh is. I normally have to use a pillow to put between my knees or to rest the leg on. There is NO WAY I can sleep on my back, hence that's why I really suffered from lack of sleep in those early days...weeks...& months...! I can even lay on my front for a bit now

 

[turtle68]

HI@Mutley & patient 99 I will keep this brief tonight tonight as I am really tired, but it's a good tired. It's been so hectic. Our new home will be about 45 miles from where we live now. It's a gorgeous place with full amenities, indoor and out pools, fitness center and on and on. Of course, we have to sell the house we're in before we can move, and it will take 4-5 months for the house to be built. Kneewise, it has held up surprisingly well. I've been walking a lot, and the stiff knee thing seems to be getting better, although I'm still going to keep that a day at a time, but definite progress has been made. ROM seems to be better. Anyhow, nitey nite and I will try and post more tomorrow.

Hugs, Dorothy

 

[patient 99]

There is NO WAY I can sleep on my back,

That must have been tough. You mentioned lying on your front. My PT keeps asking me to do that so that he can do some of the exercises. But I resist. Its a head thing. I imagine all that pressure going onto my knee. Not to mention my boobs getting in the way. Its the same when it comes to the idea of trying to get up from the floor. I don't go there. Apart from not being able to lie on your back, do you have any physical/mental no go areas?Pat99

 

[Mutley]

The lack of sleep nearly drove me to have a mental breakdown Not many Doctors would see a neurotic, blubbing patient at 7pm on NEW YEARS EVE but mine thankfully saw me It is LOVELY laying on my front! I get to really stretch out & it MENTALLY makes me feel like my leg is much straighter than it really is! Fortunately I don't seem to have your problem of an ample chest area getting in the way! I think your just boasting about your assets Give it a try but place a soft pillow under the knee to give it some gentle support.
Don't even mention trying to get off the floor I'm like a lumbering hippo as I had a fusion of the big toe done last year & it's amazing how that hampers me when the toe doesn't bend! Other than that I'm game for giving anything a try

 

[patient 99]

Boasting about my assets <chuckle>. They'd come out well on the extension count, but rather than straight out it would be straight DOWN - life's a complain. Can't promise to try lying on my front, but will think about it.

Again I'm about to show my ignorance, but what exactly is a fusion of the big toe and why was it necessary? I most definitely believe you when you say you're game for giving anything a try. Dorothy and I are waiting for a message to say you will be off line for a while because you are hill climbing. Pat99

 

[Mutley]

Osteoarthritus Basically the big toe is fused together then plated & screwed as there is nothing Else that can stop the bone on bone pain. Unfortunately the 1st time I had it done it FAILED...BADLY :-( I reckon it was down to " trainee surgeon" error. I was left with a fracture that wasn't discovered for 4 weeks & a wound that continually bled for quite some weeks. The pictures I have aren't pretty! Anyway, had it done again last March but had a bone graft taken from below my knee to put inbetween the 2 toe joints to encourage them to fuse. They also put in a bigger plate & remembered to actually tighten the screws properly Thankfully it's been a success this time! Hill climbing! Well I did have a few steep inclines on my walk with the dogs this morning! That's probably why I'm suffering this afternoon

 

[patient 99]

Hi Mutely, you really have been threw the mill. You should give yourself a pat on the back for continuing to stay upbeat. I'm surprised you didn't sue the trainee surgeon.

I am seeing my PT tomorrow. I think my exercise regime has drifted a bit. What I want from tomorrow's visit is a sharper plan of what I should be doing. I regularly refer to the book `Total Knee Replacement and Rehabilitation by Brugioni and Falkel (I think its the bible for TKRers), but they place a lot of emphasis on pool rehab and stationery bikes. Neither of which are part of my exercise plan.

You know Mutley, I sometimes wonder about the true benefit of all this physio and exercising. Walking your dogs twice a day is probably better than anything. Knee is bad today. Must remember tomorrow could be better. Pat99

 

[turtle68]

HI MUTLEY, AND patient 99, You have been through it Mutley and hope you're having a relatively good day today, and sorry that your knee is bad today, Pat. I had an hour and a half massage this morning where he mostly worked on my right leg doing myofascial release, some lymphatic message. I am thrilled to have found him - it is definitely not your typical massage, more like manual therapy. He explains a lot about the whole body as he goes along, said my right leg is longer then the left. He can't quite figure out the imbalance in the pelvis, but says that might have to do with the pelvic fractures I had a couple of years. I think it would be great if we could all have a session like that before our TKR's so we would understand better what our bodies have been through and the adjustment of our whole bpdy after our TKR's. It was every uplifting emotionally as well as we talked the whole time, and while he didn't know about the Bonesmart Mantra, he prretty much agrees with and agrees that we're all differennt and are going to recover at different paces. Forgive my rambling, butI wanted to to on about a very positive experience. There is hope, and one way or another, we will all be much better off in 6 months and happy we had the TKRs.



r's

 

[Mutley]

Hi turtle68!
Have to say your new house that is being built sounds lovely No excuse not to exercise that new knee with all those fabulous facilities to hand! Glad to hear that your knee has been behaving a bit more positively recently The massage sounded lovely too! Wouldn't mind some of that for myself! Really hope your feeling okay & having more "UP" days then " down" days

Hi pat99!
How did your pt session go yesterday? Do you feel back on track as far as exercising is concerned? It's very easy to think, " Do I really need to be doing these anymore?" But I do believe that the answer is YES! Maybe not as religious as we did in the early days but I know just jumping on my bike most days just keeps the knee moving & I feel even if I'm not gaining anymore ROM I feel like I'm maintaining what I've got. I also did a bit of band work the other night ( was bored while laying on the sofa!) & my groin felt better and my knee felt good afterwards. I've just got to keep it up now! Walking & swimming are possibly 2 of the most natural exercises to continue doing in my opinion Having said that I had a shocking night last night No idea what all this other pain is all about but it didn't put me in the best sort of mood today Anyway, hope your session was positive & you have a clear plan of action for the rest of your recovery

 

[patient 99]

@turtle68le68 Mutley The moderators are probably going to tell me off because I should be in my thread. Instead, I'm in Mutley's thread responding to the message above which is from turtle68. If I'm challenged I will say its Mutley and Turtle's fault<wink>.

Not sure what you mean by `band work'. You are right that we continue our exercises, and I am quite good at doing so. The PT session yesterday went well. I had hoped to do some pool therapy today, but its not going to happen. I went to the leisure centre and whilst they had stairs (not ladders) to get into the pool, the shallow end was still too deep. To do the ROM exercises I need to sit on a chair in the pool. If I had done that, my head would have been under the water - I didn't think this was a particularly good idea. Also there was no rail around the pool for me to hold on to if I had tried to work out without the chair. Back to walking.

Sorry to hear you had a bad night. It really does go like that Up and Down. I got the impression yesterday, from my very nice PT, that he thought I needed to start getting on with life a bit more. I really do hate it when its suggested that I'm not giving 100%. Your little pep talk that we will all be great in 6 mths time, gave me a lift. When somebody who is going through a similar experience can say something positive its encouraging. Off to do exercises. Pat99