Become an Insider

THR JoeKnows Recovery

I still find golf very baffling but there is always something for everybody, I believe, @JoeKnows. Plus, if you really get to ride around on those cute covered little carts, swilling cold drinks...maybe I could be convinced it’s not a terrible waste of time! Hope you get iced and relaxed before wife picks you up. Guessing life at home with two active little ones is a bit more active than your boring office. And congrats on not having to go to court tomorrow.
 
Not even 3 weeks yet, right?
Hope you feel better this evening and please try to EXERCISE your patience!
I get that it is difficult to hurry up and wait...you've been doing very well.
Keep the faith, my still recovering hippy pal!:) :-) (:
 
Thanks @Mojo333 - I'm coming up on 4 weeks. Working is not ideal, but being away isn't really a viable option for me right now and it's not that bad. Took Tylenol this afternoon for the first time in a while, probably because I got distracted and forgot to ice. Starting to feel like I need to do something active, but I'm still going to give my IT band time to calm down.
 
I feel like I've taken a baby step backward lately - though the issue with lifting my knee seems to be improving still, my muscles are complaining a bit more. This seems odd, since I haven't been doing the bike or significant walks. It makes me wonder if the minor exercise was helping the muscles even though it seemed to irritate my IT band... maybe I'll work the bike back into my routine, just for shorter periods of time and see how that goes. Nothing else has really changed - still icing all day at the office.

I'm sure it could also be the way I tend to sit at work - I try to sit leaning back, but when I'm reading something on my screen I tend to sit with my elbows on the desk and my feet under the chair (sort of how one would sit on a sport bike). I'll try not to do that today and see what happens. We may end up getting convertible standing desks for the office, which would be great as well.

My incision also seems more tender to the touch than it was before - no sign of infection or anything like that, so I'm thinking it's probably just the nerves waking back up. It's just mildly annoying, especially since my favorite brand of boxer briefs have a seam that intersects with the top of the incision, haha. I can't wait for the last few steri strips to come off - tomorrow will be two weeks since they've been on, so I think I'm allowed to pull them off (they're mostly hanging on by a thread anyway).

I just realized my last few posts aren't particularly funny... I guess trying to dig my way out of the work backlog has sapped my sense of humor, haha. I'll try to work on that too.
 
@JoeKnows

Two Lawyers walk into a bar. One says “I’ve had a rough day! Have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law?” No says the other. The first replies “if something can go wrong it will”!

The other man replies “Have you ever heard of Cole’s Law?”

“no!” Said the first , “What is That?”




“shredded cabbage! answered the second.
 
Hi Joe, There will be ups and downs, great days and not so good days.

I recall being totally unaware of my incision area some days, then completely aware of it on others due to some odd sensation or discomfort.

As for the steri strips, if they're really hanging by a thread, consider lathering your hand up in the shower and gently rolling them off.

What about walking as exercise, just for the time being? A 30 minute walk each day, 15 mins one way, then turn around. Or two fifteen minute walks a day?

One month (Saturday for you) seems to be prime time for Post Op Blues. You're feeling better but not able to completely jump back into life. Be gentle on yourself. Think of the assault your body has been through. As boring and difficult as it gets, your body is healing just as it should. Help it along, be patient, you'll get there.
I hope today is a good one for you! :yes: :SUNsmile:
@JoeKnows
 
Today is better. I think the stress of coming back to a mountainous backlog of work might have some physiological effects. I couldn't sleep this morning - I rolled onto my operated side, which felt fine on my hip but bugged my incision, and then couldn't get back to sleep around 4 a.m. So I just got up and went to the office. I've managed to make a little headway, and my hip feels better. I know that correlation isn't the same as causation, but I feel like making progress at work helps my physical recovery somehow.

Aaaanyway, I'm quite tired now, but I probably would be regardless of the hip. I think I'm going to book another massage.
 
You know why Eskimos always wash their clothes in Tide?


Cuz it's too cold outTide!:groan:

Just try to find a balance.
I was back to part-time 5 1/2 weeks after bilateral! Way too soon..but the thought of me not keeping up what I work so hard for was worse on me mentally.
Take some real Down Time when you feel satisfied all is not going to hell in a handbasket without you.

Hope you are resting!:)
 
I can understand feeling better physically while accomplishing things at work.
It's hard to lay around in sweats, feeling like a big bump on a log. It drove me crazy
I think anything that brings back some normalcy to our lives lifts our mood. You just have too take it very slow. I do feel that you are conscientious that way which is a good thing.
Hope you have a peaceful evening!
@JoeKnows
 
Well, you are certainly ahead of me in terms of your recovery @JoeKnows, but I have to say that I am finding sitting for any length of time extremely tiring. It really wore me out last night sitting for a couple of hours at our dinner table with friends, even though I'd slung on an ice pack and had my foot on a small stool underneath the table. Is there something about sitting which triggers fatigue? I am certainly inclined to think so. But if the upside of going to the office and sitting too much is that it's worth it to you mentally, to be doing SOMETHING then perhaps it's worth the price.
 
@Barbaraj I tend to agree - maybe I'll set a reminder to get up and walk.

@Mojo333 I won't lie, I am positive that it would be better for me not to be working from a physical standpoint. But my impatience combined with the particular situation at my job makes it worth it in my mind still. Without getting into specifics, this is a critical time for me to be present, and it's not really that bad - like maybe an afternoon coffee bad, not a Norco bad.
 
I’m headed back to work next week, at the 6 week post op point. I anticipate just coming home, grabbing ice packs, and reclining fro hours afterward. I can’t really put it off for many reasons, like you said... it’s partly me, and partly the nature of things in general. I’ll head back on 2 crutches, then have the fracture checked to see if I can go to 1 crutch.
On another note, at 4 1/2 I thought my limbs were falling apart, that recovery was sliding backward, and I was not a happy camper. A few days and very gentle exercise later, I’m moving well—-slowly, but well.
Patience is not my forte, but I/we have no choice. Be good to yourself.
 
I rolled off the remaining steri strips this morning (very easily). The very bottom of the incision is kinda red, but only in a small circle around what might be a stitch popping out - same thing happened at the top when that strip came off. I don't think my skin likes them... I'll see what it looks like tomorrow.

I know this is shocking news for everyone on here, but turns out I still get tired out if nowhere. Left work early today to just relax. I think I'm starting to walk better when I try without the cane, but hard to say. My quad still feels like a newborn deer to some degree.

Totally random question for the men on here - how long did it take before your leg hair grew mostly back? I feel like it's growing very slowly. Not that I mind, just odd to have one leg with short hair. I think I should have just had them shave both legs so I'd be even, haha.
 
Just shave everything... problem solved

Seriously though I didn’t even notice this at 4 weeks out. Too busy focusing on other things
 
JoeKnows said:
how long did it take before your leg hair grew mostly back?
Click to expand...

Probably depends on how hairy of a guy you are. I'm at 11 weeks+, and it's catching up to the rest of my leg. However, both times I noticed that it kept growing even while covered with the large piece of mesh that was basically glued to my leg.
When it came time to rip that thing off, it took a TON of little baby hairs with it. :bawl:
 
Haha! As you know, kids notice (and recall) EVERYTHING and more!
You can be having a discussion with your S.O. and they'll actually correct you for repeating something incorrectly all while engaged in some childish activity of their own :rotfl: What's it like to have that newish, fresh uncluttered brain? Too long ago, I don't remember!

Your body is using all of its energy first to heal the assault that happened with your leg.
While energy drain is annoying, I tried to view it from the perspective that my body was doing exactly as it should. I decided to be thankful and grateful for that, which ultimately gave me comfort and allowed me to relax about it all.

I hope you get the rest you need this weekend, Joe. Have a good one!
@JoeKnows
 
@JoeKnows Gotta love kids...they just say what they see, bless their cotton socks!! LOL!! I had the opposite problem, and as a female was so stressed about having hairy legs at my two week check up!!! My male physio, that I know well, told me to get over it! I did, with the help of a long handled shaver. I probably had stripes, but most of the job was taken care of!! :heehee:

As for the energy drain, I'm only three weeks out and just a tad older than you, LOL. I went out for lunch with a friend yesterday, my first social outing. Came home and slept for two hours!! I can only imagine what going to work is like :mcoffee:. You have a busy life with a young family, so rest is hard to come by. Leave work early and get those power naps in before the family gets home, as you've done before?
 
@Alitm - Napping is getting harder to come by, but just sitting and reading in my recliner (with a quiet house) helps. If only all of this darn work would do itself, haha.

On a broader note, my IT band is calming down - today feels like a normal step forward after my baby step backward, haha. I should tape that recovery chart (with the squiggly line) on the back of my hand to remind me that it's just how this goes. Feeling overall good though. I'm glad I did this thread, because it helps to look back a week and realize all the little improvements that I didn't even notice.

Last night I was showing my wife that my ROM / muscle strength has improved. It basically went like this:

Me: "Hey, look, I can do THIS now, and THIS, and..."
Wife: "You're going to hurt yourself, knock it off."

She basically embodies the spirit of this board, which is for the best, haha.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Staff online

Members online

Total: 908 (members: 6, guests: 902)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom