TKR I Made It To the Promised Land

[izzie]

Hi Diana -- Just checking in on your and hoping you are feeling much better. The nausea thing can really take it out of you. It's hard to do any work on a computer when you're not feeling well. Just know that we are all thinking of you and wishing you all the very best! Glad to hear you got your nails done! You'd be upset with me ... I cut off all my fingernails (they'd grown a little too long) and still don't have any color on my fingers or toes! Oh well, next month I will be attending my Son's graduation from Basic Training -- that sounds like a good reason to get a mani/pedi right?
Take good care of yourself, you're in my prayers and I'm sending you lots of healing light and hoping you feel super good very soon!!!

 

[bichonmom]

Hi Diana! I'm so glad to see you are doing well! I've been following your posts since I came on in May..my TLKR is scheduled for June 19..so I'm really glad to see an encouraging post like yours..Will continue to follow your progress...

 

[new knee in June]

Hello Everyone,
I had 1st PT today. She is very nice & told me to start bending my knee ( I was keeping it straight)
& having my family lift my leg for me Physical I am fine, mentally that's another story I have come to the conclusion that my family can't do anything right I cried all day because my husband didn't fold a blanket
He just threw it on the bed (I was trying to pick up before PT came).
I asked my son to bring out the trash (in the kitchen) he brought it out to the curb ( barrels) trash was still in kitchen. I basically called my husband a slob, before he left for work. He said he would try harder
tomorrow...now I'm sitting here because of the way I treated him. This Sucks.................
I don't want to sugar-coat anything & this is the way I feel today
Sincerely,
Diana

 

[referee54]

no need to sugar coat things---we are here for you--vents, rants, or just frustration---

Physical I am fine, mentally that's another story

Remember that the pain meds also wreak havoc with you emotionally, and your body is trying to heal and you, psychologically, can have some ups and downs.

Your family understands, and things will get better---slowly, but they do get better---hang in there!

 

[My way]

I'm not trying to make light of your feelings so please don't take it that way. Here goes....(Wanda takes a deep breath and says) Sounds normal to me! Your'e at that point in recovery. From what Iv'e read here everyone goes through a time like this. Heck, when I have a bad day I get on the poor me, everyone else in this family gets to do what they want or can't anyone do things without me having to ask kick! My family is great, very helpful and caring so I know how bad you feel for lashing out at them.Your family knows what you are going through and they've forgiven you already. Give em all a big hug, Tell them your sorry and you won't do it anymore till the next time.

 

[referee54]

Heck, when I have a bad day I get on the poor me, everyone else in this family gets to do what they want or can't anyone do things without me having to ask kick!

I believe that this a big part of it---we have lost our independence and have to depend so much on others---and they can, more or less, come and go as they please.

My Thanksgiving after my BTKR was rotten---my family went to my mother's and had a great time---I stayed at home and slept, etc---but I felt left out. The pain meds, the isolation, the lack of independence and the necessity to rely on others---all contribute to this. I would simply go stand beside my front window, look out, and watch the world go by...

 

[puffin]

new knee in June
I think in these early post-op weeks small things take on gigantic importance - we are early in the healing process and it is bound to be up and down

I am also feeling sorry for myself as the bruising and swelling is so painful and also as I am trapped upstairs as I managed to get up here on Friday but have not been able to contemplate managing it every since so I am dependent on family for everything - I cannot even get my leg over the side of the bed....

I think that the not sleeping is also getting me down

Take care Diana

 

[Hopper]

Diana - remember how I felt too! Did I cry! Big big hugs.
It's four weeks for me now and I think I'm just coming out of crying so easily. But ....I'm still a bit shell shocked by everything to do with the op and the recovery if I'm honest.
Next week will be better than this one. I do know that!

 

[gazelle7777]

Hello Everyone,
I had 1st PT today. She is very nice & told me to start bending my knee ( I was keeping it straight)
& having my family lift my leg for me Physical I am fine, mentally that's another story I have come to the conclusion that my family can't do anything right I cried all day because my husband didn't fold a blanket
He just threw it on the bed (I was trying to pick up before PT came).
I asked my son to bring out the trash (in the kitchen) he brought it out to the curb ( barrels) trash was still in kitchen. I basically called my husband a slob, before he left for work. He said he would try harder
tomorrow...now I'm sitting here because of the way I treated him. This Sucks.................
I don't want to sugar-coat anything & this is the way I feel today
Sincerely,
Diana

Diana it must be the pain pills. I told my husband he was a bad nurse today....his face just fell. I felt horrible and was taking it out on him. It just is so hard for others to do things as we would. Our world as we know it is different and that makes it harder along with the pain to deal with.

 

[My way]

Hi Diana, I just want to check and see if your mood has lightened today? It seems like everyone was in a funk yesterday. You, Puffin and Lavender and now Gazelle oh my.....I guess it's all part of the show but it's one part we can do without. Well I guess this too shall pass. Just another bump in the road

 

[Hopper]

Yoohoo Diana - I'm thinking of you and hoping today was better than yesterday? If it wasn't you can yell at me!
Big hugs.

 

[Dulcimer Diva]

Hi, Diana,

You have a free pass from housekeeping for awhile--any PT who expects you to have straightened the place up before she gets there is truly clueless. Meanwhile, can you get a 'scrip for Zofran or Emetrol syrup, or steep some ginger and sugar in hot water (or drink some good artisanal ginger ale)? The latter settles my tummy every time. Your husband means well and wants to be there for you, even if he's at sea about how to do housework and caregiving.

I would give my eyeteeth to have Bob around all day to even throw a blanket at me--he only grudgingly agreed to take me to the hospital tomorrow and it will be like pulling teeth to get him to stick around instead of driving the 20 miles each way to the South Side (in a dangerous storm!) to see his patients and get back to me after surgery. He committed to cover for his colleague the next two weeks who is trying to get his parents out of Libya, so I doubt he'll even drop by every night before I'm asleep. My housekeeper, who was my rock last year, has a very sick husband now who is battling the aftereffects of chemo and radiation on top of his brittle diabetes, and I truly believe family is more important than work so I wouldn't dream of asking her to run herself ragged trying to visit me. My son will be out of town tomorrow through Monday--when he bought the nonrefundable Bonnaroo festival tickets he'd forgotten my surgery date. And my best friends have their own family crises. No way I'm going to pay an arm and a leg to have a total stranger stay with me (nor would I trust one to)--so there's no way I can be discharged to home since I will be alone most of the time.

Believe me, my own lovely new backyard deck with grill. trees and chirping birds, my fully-accessible kitchen (designed last year when I knew I'd be having TKR two years in a row), big TV (with satellite DVR) and musical instruments to play beats the pants off a tiny brick patio with traffic whizzing by, a tiny TV screen with limited channels (and a roommate I must try not to annoy), arts & crafts and "memory games" with my fellow patients, and eating even relatively decent institutional food. But that's what I'm stuck with for the next two weeks.

For both of us (and anyone else getting or coping with their new knees right now), remember: THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

 

[puffin]

Hope that you are doing a little better today Diana

 

[eastside85]

Hi Diana - so glad to see your surgery went well and that pain was easily managed! You are such a trooper, and things at home will get better soon. I was also quite impatient with the imperfections of family trying to help, and had to just be happy they were there for me, after all, they don't know what we are going through, and I can confirm that the medications influence mood very much.

Keep up the good work and wishing you all the best for speedy recovery - you go GURRLLLL!!!

 

[new knee in June]

Hello Everyone,
Day 7........I have come to the conclusion that my pain meds & not being able to do anything
has brought me down I have contacted my GP & he has prescibed an anti-depressant ( Celexa 10mg.)
So far so good I really hate yelling at my husband, he really is great
As far as physically I am doing wonderfully, I can do all my exercises ( there's one that kills ) & it's the 1st one I do. I can cook for myself, do dishes &get around Tomorrow I will be getting my staples out & hope I can get more bend out of my knee
I don't want to brag but, my pain is very minimal & I have no swelling, so it does happen icing & elevating
religiously & continuing on my road to recovery
Hope everyone is doing as well,
Diana

 

[My way]

You must be so pleased and pleasantly surprised with your progress!!! A co worker of mine has said her mother had a BTKR and didn't need any pain medication! I took that statement with more than one grain of salt but, she may have been telling the truth. I hope to be so lucky. I have a very high pain tolerance so here's hoping. Poor hubby. Oh the burdens men have to bear in life. Putting up with us harpies during the rare times we are the ones who are out of order. Just think of what we women go through when they have a bad cold. I remember looking at my poor darling and then looking long and hard at the pillow during such an episode! They really do try their best I suppose and that's why we feel bad when we lash out at them but sometimes we do need to vent. I'm sure he understands.
You're doing great! Now just don't start thinking you are ready to host another party!Do take it slow!

 

[denpucc]

So glad things went well with you! Keep us updated.

Hugs
Denise

 

[puffin]

Sounds like you are making fantastic progress

 

[Hopper]

Glad you are doing so well and just want to remind you not to get the dusters out yet!
Icing and elevating makes such a difference.
So many people have said to me that surgery and anaesthetic can make you feel very low and give you the blues - you know it knocked me sidewards. It's four weeks since my op and I'm much more cheery now. I've never felt as low in my life as over the last few weeks. Being unable to do much is very disorientating in itself. Quite nasty.
I think you may well find you pick up steadily in a little while and start rollicking about with the Warriors, cabanas crew, partying and generally entertaining us all again.
But for now I'm sending you some bigs hugs and a hopper promise that things will get more cheery soon.

I smiled at your son and the trash - I was shrieking at my son on FaceTime because I could see the dog in the background rolling around on my cream wool rug. Poor boy is over the Atlantic and his mother is still throwing Wobblies!

 

[Dulcimer Diva]

Sounds terrific, Diana. Antidepressants can really help your analgesics work better besides lifting your spirits.