TKR Hopefaith's Ups and Downs of Recovery
- Thread starter hopefaith
- Start date
United Kingdom
dogwheels
post-grad
Yes, I am with @Mai5ie on that one. Ages ago, everyone found it hilarious when I reported on my thread that the physio had told me to ditch the crutch as I was 'flapping it around like a handbag'.
@hopefaith - could you not get some sticky gems (I like the tiny pearls the best) on eBay and have them delivered, to save a trip to the craft store? They should come quickly because they would go in a letter sized envelope. Or perhaps break down some old costume jewellery and glue it on? Another really quick thing is to buy some washi tape - (they have such beautiful designs) you can bind odd shapes really easily with it, and do stripes, diagonals .... Make sure its stuck down and then put a coat of PVA over it, just to seal it. Sorry, you can tell I am a craft addict. Do let us see what you create! Gosh if you lived next door I could just pile the supplies over the fence to you - I do have quite a bad 'craft habit'. Hee hee!
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@hopefaith - could you not get some sticky gems (I like the tiny pearls the best) on eBay and have them delivered, to save a trip to the craft store? They should come quickly because they would go in a letter sized envelope. Or perhaps break down some old costume jewellery and glue it on? Another really quick thing is to buy some washi tape - (they have such beautiful designs) you can bind odd shapes really easily with it, and do stripes, diagonals .... Make sure its stuck down and then put a coat of PVA over it, just to seal it. Sorry, you can tell I am a craft addict. Do let us see what you create! Gosh if you lived next door I could just pile the supplies over the fence to you - I do have quite a bad 'craft habit'. Hee hee!
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OP
OP
hopefaith
post-grad
@dogwheels I want to scream! loudly. I just finished a post to you, and went to someone else's name and the poof fairy came down and swooped YOUR post away. That happens to me about 1 time every 2 days. ( I wonder from the higher ups why this happens.) So, I LOVE the idea of ebay. I hadn't thought of ordering that way. (and believe me, I have ordered a few things, for my son's upcoming wedding.) I also love the image of you piling supplies over the fence 
I love the visual for the laughter, neighborly, fun. I am also a craft person, but the fact I haven't used Washi Tape kind of counts me out, eh? Look forward to your next venture. Is your daughter just moving out recently? Is that hard for you?
~~hopefaith
I love the visual for the laughter, neighborly, fun. I am also a craft person, but the fact I haven't used Washi Tape kind of counts me out, eh? Look forward to your next venture. Is your daughter just moving out recently? Is that hard for you? ~~hopefaith
OP
OP
hopefaith
post-grad
@Nana moon 27 yes, it is so much more fun being a grandmother than I ever imagined. I am "Nana". I always wanted to be called Nana and it has stuck. I miss him terribly. They live about an hour away with traffic. They don't come up here often. "very busy". Are you continuing to breathe, feeling like you are getting the oxygen you need? I am so sorry that your asthma got so bad. My goodness, how scary. So, if you are having trouble breathing, you are not able to quickly get to an Emergency Room (I know in the UK it's called something else.) to get relief? I just don't understand that. The panic I felt with mine was immeasurable. How is your knee/leg? I only dream of gardening. I had so many plans, and then life happened. We only had a "bit of earth" but had so many fun things to do. I love gardening, so I know where ever I land, I will be in the dirt somehow. Afternoon it is for you as my day is just starting. Now, I always count on my fingers to figure out what time it is there. :D
~~hopefaith
~~hopefaith
OP
OP
hopefaith
post-grad
Good morning all. Knee update. (like it's been more than a day. 
) My incision is so tight. Is this the tight band you all talk about? It is so uncomfortable. Is the knee waking up? I cannot believe it needs to wake up anymore. My goodness. My madam Olivia has been talking loudly for 6.5 weeks. What more will she say to me?
I hope all of you are doing well. @JustJeff you sound like things are just moving along pretty well. What about your sleep? Is that going better? You had mentioned scar stuff at night (I think) I don't want anything touching it and turning at night just upsets everything.
@chestnc I think of you often. How are you getting along? When is your trip to Panama? I may have missed the dates. I wish for you days of feeling more like yourself and not so fatigued. That is an awful feeling. I truly know about some of that.
please have peaceful days. (peaceful inside and out)
~~hopefaith
) My incision is so tight. Is this the tight band you all talk about? It is so uncomfortable. Is the knee waking up? I cannot believe it needs to wake up anymore. My goodness. My madam Olivia has been talking loudly for 6.5 weeks. What more will she say to me?I hope all of you are doing well. @JustJeff you sound like things are just moving along pretty well. What about your sleep? Is that going better? You had mentioned scar stuff at night (I think) I don't want anything touching it and turning at night just upsets everything.
@chestnc I think of you often. How are you getting along? When is your trip to Panama? I may have missed the dates. I wish for you days of feeling more like yourself and not so fatigued. That is an awful feeling. I truly know about some of that.
please have peaceful days. (peaceful inside and out)
~~hopefaith
OP
OP
hopefaith
post-grad
@Mai5ie I get what you are saying about flapping the crutch. (hee hee) and I "flap" at times, but I feel secure with it and my quad strength isn't where it needs to be, so I will flap away for awhile and use it to ward off busy rushing people at other times. (and decorating the silly thing is just killing me, so I need a pretty flapper.)
OP
OP
hopefaith
post-grad
@71Beetle I just lost my post to you! I had a 2006 white beetle. Oh how I loved that little car. I would still have it if I hadn't had a crash in it. Yeah with the crutch I make myself walk very straight and do the whole heel strike which has helped my extension famously. How do you keep up with a 5 yr. old after surgery? I hope you have lots of others to help. That's not always the case though, is it? So nice for you to stop by.
~~hopefaith
~~hopefaith
dogwheels
post-grad
Hi @hopefaith - first things first, the incision site will be a bit of a pain as the nerve endings that have been severed during surgery all sort of knit together and start sending messages to each other again. However, at about the point you are now my scar felt very tight, and when I did my heel slides you could see the skin puckering and pulling across my thigh. Also the top and bottom inch felt very bruised to the touch. Cue scar massage ......... My PT did some very vigorous scar massage, and managed to instinctively find all the areas that hurt the most ......... and massaged them hardest!! OUCH! Since then, every morning after my shower I 'have a go' at the scar - it is amazing that even with my inexpert circular massage just on the scar area, the area gets all tingly and less stiff. I suppose it is increasing the blood supply to that bit. Rather immodestly I have to say it is really looking good. Still slightly tender top and bottom, but otherwise fine. When I saw my OS at 6 weeks he said the scar was at the Cornish Pasty stage (ie crimped pastry edge), when I saw him 2 weeks ago he said I was at the purple-ish fading stage - and sure enough I now have patches in the incision line that are perfectly healed and barely visible. I cant wait until it is all like that. My husband had to take back his initial comment on the incision, when he said it looked like it had been cut with a knife and fork. It is going to look really good ........
Now on the real important stuff ............. crafting! Do have a go with Washi tape, its so easy to use and really fun. I originally bought some just to neaten the underside edges of my decoupage items - then I got hooked. I covered several miniature wooden birdhouses with it. They are waiting for me to put hooks in and mount them on a board, to be a cute key organiser. I'll post a pic for you later. There are some amazing projects on Pinterest. Good old eBay - I don't know what I would do without it, craft supplies straight to my door
As for my daughter, she bought her own place about a year ago. It is only 5 mins away in the car, she likes this area and didn't want to be too far from us. We are very close, and I am grateful that we get to see her quite a bit That said, we are used to being apart - she was away at Uni for some time as she did 2 degrees and my husband and I lived abroad for 3 years. However, we text, phone and email frequently - and have regular trips together, shopping, holiday, theatre ......... She currently has a spa break, a market trip, an antiques fair and a holiday to Washington DC planned for us, as soon as I am feeling good and ready. That sure is an incentive!
Enjoy your day today
XX
Now on the real important stuff ............. crafting! Do have a go with Washi tape, its so easy to use and really fun. I originally bought some just to neaten the underside edges of my decoupage items - then I got hooked. I covered several miniature wooden birdhouses with it. They are waiting for me to put hooks in and mount them on a board, to be a cute key organiser. I'll post a pic for you later. There are some amazing projects on Pinterest. Good old eBay - I don't know what I would do without it, craft supplies straight to my door
As for my daughter, she bought her own place about a year ago. It is only 5 mins away in the car, she likes this area and didn't want to be too far from us. We are very close, and I am grateful that we get to see her quite a bit That said, we are used to being apart - she was away at Uni for some time as she did 2 degrees and my husband and I lived abroad for 3 years. However, we text, phone and email frequently - and have regular trips together, shopping, holiday, theatre ......... She currently has a spa break, a market trip, an antiques fair and a holiday to Washington DC planned for us, as soon as I am feeling good and ready. That sure is an incentive!
Enjoy your day today
XX
JustJeff
graduate
The incision pain is still there, if anything touches it. I went back to elevating on my back and have been sleeping fine (until the next time I test sleeping without it. Thanks for asking. I'm wondering if I need the narcotic pain meds now at night if it's only the incision pain. Perhaps I'll try with just Tylenol tonight.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Thanks for asking. I'm wondering if I need the narcotic pain meds now at night if it's only the incision pain. Perhaps I'll try with just Tylenol tonight. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Nana moon 27
alpha
Hi @hopefaith it's lovely to be a grandparent. I love the name nana. I'm usually Nanny Ann in general or Nan or Nana moon when they're being cheeky. Nana Moon was a sweet OLD lady In a soap over here called Eastenders. If I remember rightly, I may be wrong, so please can someone put me right? She developed either Dementia or Alzheimer's and eventually she died. She was a lovely sweet character in the series, so I guess I should be grateful really! My grand children are 7, 9, 13, 17 and 19 years old. My son has 4 step children by his partner. So effectively I have 9 grandchildren. I get on very well with my sons step,children. Their own grandparents simply have never bothered with them, which to me is unforgivable. On the rare occasions they did visit, they would favouritise one and give her sweets and leave the other three out and so on and so on! Absolutely disgraceful behaviour. I could never be like that.
I've managed today on a bare 30 mg morphine and no paracetamol. I ache but I'm not in pain.
Catch you later
Love Nana moon 27 xoxoxox
I've managed today on a bare 30 mg morphine and no paracetamol. I ache but I'm not in pain.
Catch you later
Love Nana moon 27 xoxoxox
OP
OP
hopefaith
post-grad
@JustJeff I am not sure about medicating for incision pain. Personally, if mine was hurting without it being touched or if it was disturbing my sleep, I would. Reading @dogwheels description of the scars transitions, I really see it is part of the process, but I am VERY protective of my scar. I have a Lab. (well ex. did) whose tail wags RIGHT on my knee. 
did that hurt!!!!
~hopefaith
did that hurt!!!!~hopefaith
dogwheels
post-grad
Hello again @hopefaith - just a quickie, as promised here are my little birdhouses covered in Washi tape. SO easy! Just got to put some key hooks in and mount them on a board.
Get some washi tape and have fun!
![[Bonesmart.org] Hopefaith's Ups and Downs of Recovery](https://bonesmart.org/forum/attachments/005-jpg.22222/ "[Bonesmart.org] Hopefaith's Ups and Downs of Recovery")
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Get some washi tape and have fun!
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OP
OP
hopefaith
post-grad
@dogwheels those are about the cutest, fun things I have ever seen. That is all Washi tape? I cannot believe all the different colours and designs! SO very clever you are! Does it come in all different widths and such? Okay, I wonder if I even need to paint it first. (my crutch)
Thank you for the scar information. That was extremely informative. Mine does look like it was cut with a fork and knife right now....great description. The pastry detail also fits.
~hopefaith
Thank you for the scar information. That was extremely informative. Mine does look like it was cut with a fork and knife right now....great description. The pastry detail also fits.
~hopefaith
jbucks
member
I dont think we have washi tape in the US @dogwheels but I am going to look online
JustJeff
graduate
I'll skip my med during the week. Having fun with the family today to deal with it.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Nana moon 27
alpha
Hi @dogwheels those bird houses are divine. I love them xxxx you are so clever xxxx
busylizzie
post-grad
Hi @hopefaith, thanks for thinking about me. I've had a rough time with an insect bite on my left thigh the end of last week, but it is getting better now. I thought it might stop the surgery on the 2nd but I'm optomistic now and I think it will go ahead. It is my 6 month anniversary today since they removed the knee implant.
Dogwheels little birdboxes look impressive. I've heard of washi tape. I actually bought a few rolls last christmas but didn't get round to using it. It was on offer at a ribbons and buttons site that I use.
You sound as if you are starting to get out and about now, allbeit not for long each time. It certainly feels better than being stuck inside all the time.
Take care, remember slowly, slowly does it.
Dogwheels little birdboxes look impressive. I've heard of washi tape. I actually bought a few rolls last christmas but didn't get round to using it. It was on offer at a ribbons and buttons site that I use.
You sound as if you are starting to get out and about now, allbeit not for long each time. It certainly feels better than being stuck inside all the time.
Take care, remember slowly, slowly does it.
OP
OP
hopefaith
post-grad
@busylizzie I cannot believe you had a bug bite. I am so sorry. If it's not one thing......So glad it looks like a go on the surgery on the 2nd. Yes, SLOW is the name of this game for sure. I walked outside down our housing area and back a total of about 50 yards. I am back in house with knee up and ice. (You would have thought I had run a 8k or something.)
dogwheels
post-grad
Hi @hopefaith - glad you liked the little bird boxes. I am sure you should be able to get washi tape in US as Pinterest is 'a-wash' with it. I've just checked and it is on Amazon.com. And yes it comes in allsorts of colours, patterns, widths, even fabric and lace. You don't need to paint first, just stick it on like sticky tape ... it does have a tendency to lift at the ends a little (oh and you can move it about if you make a mistake). So whack some PVA or similar over it to seal all the ends down, and give it a protective coat all over. Ta- da!
Take care @hopefaith - talk tomorrow
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Take care @hopefaith - talk tomorrow
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