TKR Holly is bionic!!

[beachlily]

SO GLAD to hear you are doing so well We LTKR "chicks" are a tough bunch

Now keep icing, resting, gentle stretches, more icing, elevating and you will be on your way to a great recovery!

 

[Jacky48]

Hi Holly, I'm glad to hear that you are dealing with life on the other side! And the man with the TEDs idea is fantastic! A nice leg and foot massage before putting them on sounds ideal! Then he can peel our grapes before serving them to us under a shade tree! I sense a business venture coming on!:th_heehee:
I hope you enjoyed your family! I'm sure they were happy to see you home!:wubroses:

 

[1ELISEA]

How are you sleeping? I'm doing pretty well with it - but do have the alarm set to get me up and take meds every 4 hours. Going to try and just let myself wake up when I need them tonight. Could go good - or go awful...

Hi Holly
My sleeping pattern is now strange. It seems once I get to sleep I wake up every 2 hours, almost on the nose. When I wake, I take a pill as it got out of hand the other night when I didn't have a set schedule. I've only tried it last night, but it seemed to work in controlling the pain for me so hoping it continues.

 

[kneeper]

Sounds like you are off to a good start, Holly.

 

[Jazyb]

Hi Holly

Congratulations on your new knee and well done on making it over to this side . You sound as if you are on track for a straightforward recovery - good for you! I can relate to your story on the stairs - I had a mental battle with them for a couple of weeks (they were the enemy!) but we soon get over this and move on. Take care and keep us posted.

 

[pmonroe]

Hi Holly!
I had PT the morning I had staples out too! Fun! Sounds like you're doing great and making fantastic progress. I'm still waiting for the rest of my steri strips to come off so I can go to the therapy pool. That will be a real treat.

 

[HollyM]

Hi Holly!
I had PT the morning I had staples out too! Fun! Sounds like you're doing great and making fantastic progress. I'm still waiting for the rest of my steri strips to come off so I can go to the therapy pool. That will be a real treat.

Yeah - I think it'll be good to have the staples out - and why not wear me out?! HA - it's all good. :DOH:

I too - will be looking forward to getting in the pool. That is my comfort zone - as I'm a lap swimmer. I can't wait to get back in the water for my continued recovery. I have told myself all along that the water will be my salvation in this. I know what it can do for a person - gently, so I can't wait! hope your strips come off soon!!

 

[pmonroe]

Yeah - I think it'll be good to have the staples out - and why not wear me out?! HA - it's all good. :DOH:

I too - will be looking forward to getting in the pool. That is my comfort zone - as I'm a lap swimmer. I can't wait to get back in the water for my continued recovery. I have told myself all along that the water will be my salvation in this. I know what it can do for a person - gently, so I can't wait! hope your strips come off soon!!

I hope they come off soon too, but they are stubborn little dudes! Now they are also starting to itch!

 

[Morning Glory]

I'm looking forward to getting my staples out this week, they're really annoying. My doctors orders say no steri-strips. I don't know why, everyone else seems to get them. The PT put them on by mistake last time and they took forever to come off! Getting the staples out is pretty easy, just little pinches. And my doctor used over 90!! Looks like the same amount in this knee too.

 

[Jacky48]

Holly, it sure does feel good to looking forward to doing something fun again, doesn't it! Soon you'll be able to do it all pain free!:yes 4:
Wow, it seems so long ago that we were still on the anticipation side of knee replacement and now we're on the recovery side and progressing every day!

 

[Ditzzeechick]

Morning-

My OS sent me home without any bandaging on my knees. When I got to rehab they wanted to bandage, when they removed my staples, they wanted to steri strip. I declined both. The people who had steri strips on their wounds skeeved me out because they get dirty fast and were hanging off, they complained about that piece but the PT/Nurses insisted they needed them. I don't understand how something that is dirty, hanging off of your knee is supposed to encourage healing. Anyway...it's a choice I'm glad my OS didn't make and I adhered too.

If I remember correctly Josephine had commented a few months back about docs discontinuing the use of steri strips....

 

[karmigirl]

Holly,

I had staples and no steri strips, I am allergic to them. No problem here with healing, staples out on day 14 and then I had a choice to cover the incison or not. Most of the time it was uncovered.

 

[HollyM]

Good morning!

Just thought I'd stop in with a quick update over the past few days. Things are good! I'm happy with my progress and each day I am seeing something to be happy about.

Yesterday was a BIG day for me. Got up, made my own breakfast, made my bed and then made my own lunch! Was able to figure out how to carry my plate from the kitchen to the living room to eat (our table in the kitchen is too high-pub style height). Sort of pinched my crutch under my armpit and swung it forward carrying the plate in that hand. It worked!

Anyway, after lunch my husband and daughter took me over to my PT appointment. My PT guy-John, is wonderful - has a great sense of humor and we make a good pair. He got me on the bike and I spent about 10 minutes rocking the pedals back and forth as far as I could go. Then we did some exercises and then he took out his "machine". Got this evil smile on his face and started laughing when he announced that he was going to shock me! :hysterical:HA!! Seriously, it was an unusual experience but I laughed through it all. My quad is still sleeping and this is suppose to help wake it up. He even put the electrodes on my husband and daughter on their arms and showed him what the current does to the muscle. It was good for them to see/feel what I was going through. Had some success - but we have a way to go. He sent me home with a portable version that I use on my leg a couple times a day for 15 minutes each to stimulate the muscle.

Then we headed out and over to the OS office to have my staples removed. Through all this - of course I totally forgot about my pain med and was an hour behind when I took it just before my OS appointment. Oh well...The PA came in to take out my staples. She told me that it felt like a "mosquito bite" - LIAR!!! :arghh: It hurt. That was the most pain I have felt through this entire event! Seriously. I looked up at her 1/2 way through and said - That is NOT what a mosquito bite feels like. I think she knew I was pretty ticked off. Wish she'd have been honest about it. My daughter kept rubbing my back and husband was telling me how good of a job I was doing. I got through it - but it did hurt and my advice to everyone is to be certain you are not going through it without meds like I did. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB...:hissyfit:

I haven't had any real bruising on my leg - was totally expecting it. My incision looks GREAT! Flat, thin line and I think it will heal up beautifully. I'm really very pleased with it.

Still can't do those stairs. Wish we had railings - then I know I could do it. But, I can get down them via my rear end with someone holding my leg.

I'm sleeping pretty good - but am wishing that I could sleep on my right side. I can sleep on the left. The right is uncomfortable but hopefully within a few more days I can accomplish that too. I have a bad back - so sleeping on it is difficult and I'm quite stiff when I get up. I'm sleeping for about 4 hours a stretch, wake up and take meds - go potty, reposition leg and go back to sleep. I am not napping during the day since I'm not tired. I'm really starting to feel much more alert and more like myself every day. It's a great feeling.

Have a wonderful day friends!

 

[Jacky48]

Holly, Great report! Sorry about the mosquito bites were not what they were suppose to be. It was really nice that your hubby and daughter were able to be there for you! It's always nice to have a support group! I wish you continued success going forward in your recovery!

 

[Morning Glory]

I'm glad to hear you're doing so well!
Sorry the staples hurt like they did. I didn't feel much when they took them out of my right knee, hope the left does as well. I can't wait, they're driving me crazy and I want to get rid of this bandage! It usually winds up down around my ankle when I walk, a lot of good that's doing me.

 

[HollyM]

How long was YOUR quad asleep???

Hi.

I'm feeling a bit frustrated with the sleepiness of my quad muscle. Each morning I wake up and hope that overnight it woke up!

We are using electrical stimulation to try and wake it up - and I was actually able to do about a 2" heel slide yesterday unassisted - but this is a SLOW road...

If you quad took a while to wake up - wondering how long it was for you?

Thanks!

 

[Mimi]

Re: How long was YOUR quad asleep???

Holly you are doing well with the 2" slide. My quad took almost 3 months before it really worked. It was real slow due to an infection and then really bad swelling in my whole leg. But with time and lots of patience , it came back. Keep working on it and it will come back when it is ready.

 

[skigirl]

Re: How long was YOUR quad asleep???

holly, I think it took a couple of weeks of e-stym before it really started working again. It will happen, don't worry. Kelly

 

[Josephine]

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[kneeper]

Then we headed out and over to the OS office to have my staples removed. Through all this - of course I totally forgot about my pain med and was an hour behind when I took it just before my OS appointment. Oh well...The PA came in to take out my staples. She told me that it felt like a "mosquito bite" - LIAR!!! :arghh: It hurt. That was the most pain I have felt through this entire event! Seriously. I looked up at her 1/2 way through and said - That is NOT what a mosquito bite feels like. I think she knew I was pretty ticked off. Wish she'd have been honest about it.

Maybe if it was a giant mutant mosquito! :skeptical: Sorry it was so painful. Mine was pinchy, but except for one stubborn one, not very painful. My PA was very careful and I think, skilled.

Glad you're doing well otherwise.