TKR KathyH New Knee

[speccybecky]

Hope the tramadol helps Kathy. I quite enjoyed letting my husband do the weekly shop.....did him some good to see where the money goes! A colleague at work used to spend hours straightening her hair in the morning but has let it go curly and it looks great and saves er hours!

 

[Roy Gardiner]

I had wine with every dinner while I was in the hospital. Didn't hurt me a bit.

Exactly so. My favourite red wine gives me absolutely no bad effectsh.

With the Cryocuff, fill it's bucket with ice (crushed for preference) then top up with water. You can then fill two bags twice, lasting a couple of hours, before it's too warm -- then just repeat the process.

 

[Dhare63]

Love your comment about becoming part of the furniture! Very funny!

I think I have an imprint of the upholstery on my recliner now replicated on my bottom! But, that's okay, I earned it!

 

[kneeper]

Just catching up--congrats on being on the recovery side!

 

[Jazyb]

Hi Kathy

I have been wondering how your hubby did with the shopping?? My hubby was always sent off with a list and always came home with all items from the list - he didn't ever deviate from it ..... all very boring. I would ask him where are the treats and he would reply he only bought what was on the list ..... I soon changed that!

The Cryo-Cuff - I still say that big solid blokes of ice, cold water and ice cubes filled to the brim is the best way forward.

The advice above about travelling and ice packs is an excellent tip. I did that travelling back and forth to physio.

How are you doing sleeping at night? Keep up the good job you are doing Kathy; the next few weeks will pass in a haze and keeping a diary is a great idea, I wish I had kept one.

Take care and have a restful night xxx

ps Dawn I love your idea of travelling Bonesmart buddies .... count me in :iagree: We would soon be offering our helpful comments to Ray

 

[KathyH]

Hi Titianlady, I'm taking aspirin for the blood thinning and if I remember rightly I have to stop taking them next week, at 14 days post-op. Woohoo, wine with your meals whilst on morphine - how cool is that.

Hi Jacky, sorry to hear you had previously lost your hair. As you quite rightly say, we should accept what we have. Why do us ladies always want the opposite to what we have? We would never hear a man say "ooh, wish I had straight blonde hair"

Hi Rita, I got my Tramadol from my GP yesterday. He said to me to try and start weaning off them in a couple of weeks. Yeah, well I will just wait and see how I feel in two weeks and judge it from there.

My daughter brought all her gel packs round yesterday and were promptly put in the freezer. Then when ready, I put a tea towel round my knee, put one gel pack under my knee and another one over my knee, then secured them with the cuff from the Cryo Cuff. Boy oh boy what a huge difference that made! Such an improvement! And when I got up to have a walk around it felt so much easier. I am so happy with that

Last night one of my best friends came to see me and stayed for three hours. It was so lovely to see a different face and to have different conversations. My spirits were really lifted. And this morning I woke up with a much better attitude. I am sleeping well of a night, which must make a helluva difference.

Onwards and upwards....

Kathy

xx

 

[Jaycey]

Hi Kathy, sounds like you are doing just great. Keep up the good work! You are a lucky one to be able to get that much needed sleep. Happy healing!

 

[KathyH]

Hi Jo

Sorry, missed your post when I wrote the one above. As I say above, I am sleeping well, which is a real blessing in itself and I am grateful for that. I'm a miserable so and so when I'm tired, lol.

Aah, I think that was my problem with the Cryo Cuff - it wasn't filled to the brim with ice. That will be remedied now!

And the shopping? I made a definite list as in 'butter (Anchor, not light)'. What does he come back with? Two tubs of Utterly Butterly "because they were cheaper". Domestos bleach - "I bought this cheaper one and it does say it's thick bleach"! etc. etc. "If we want to go on our cruise next year, every penny counts". Needless to say, I will be ordering my shopping online from next week. In fairness to him though, he was within the budget, so suppose I shouldn't really moan. He is trying - very trying

It's our 39th wedding anniversary today. Woo, can't believe it really

Kathy
xx

 

[noddy]

Hi Kathy,

I have just logged on to see how you are getting on. Keep your chin up, the first couple of weeks are bound to be tough - put your feet up, relax and let someone else do the work. A cruise sounds like something to look forward to - we returned this week from a 2 week P&O cruise in the med on Oceana and loved it!

 

[Dhare63]

Good morning Kathy, what a nice report. Glad you figured out the ice situation. Having ice all around the knee has helped me a great deal, and hopefully it will help you as well.

It was nice that your friend was able to come by and spend some time with you. One of my best memories was after I had my ACL repair done, I was having a really bad day. I was housebound, had an argument with my hubby, and was in pain, just feeling sorry for myself. I called one of my best friends and was crying in the phone. Not long after that, she showed up at my house, came up to my bedroom, and we spent the afternoon in my bed, watching movies and eating chocolate. We laughed, we cried, and it made it possible to turn the corner and get well!

Good idea on the groceries, ordering ahead. This time in prep for my surgery, I shopped like a maniac, filled the pantry and freezer. It looked like I was preparing for a hurricane!

Happy anniversary today, wishing you another 39 years!!

Have a wonderful day,

Dawn

 

[1ELISEA]

Congratulations on your wedding anniversary!
That is quite an accomplishment!

 

[KathyH]

Thanks Nancy, I think the combination of the Paracetamol and Tramadol is just right

And Roy, have got the icing right now I do believe. Put a 4 pint bottle of water in the fridge overnight. In the morning pour this cold water into the Cryo Cuff bucket and fill up with two small bottles of iced water plus iced gel packs so that the water coming through is really cold. Wrap a tea towel round my knee, one ice pack under the knee, one over the knee, wrap round with the Cuff and then fill the Cuff with the icy cold water - perfick

Thanks Jacey and 1Elisea.

Steve, believe me everyone else are doing all the work and will carry on letting them do it for a while - won't hurt them and then perhaps they'll appreciate me more when I am back to normal again (was I ever normal ). How wonderful that you've just come back from your cruise. We're booked with P & O to go in August next year round the Med for two weeks too, on the Ventura. There'll be six of us going altogether. I hear the drinks are very expensive. Might have to smuggle some in my suitcase Any tips you can give?

Dawn, just wish I'd planned more with the meals beforehand, like making and freezing things like bolognaise, shepherd's pie, etc. Oh well, we'll survive. My Mum made us the most delish chicken and vegetable soup last night. Tomorrow she is coming round to cook us a roast dinner. She's 81, but you wouldn't believe it. She doesn't look her age and she has always had more energy than I've ever had. She looks after my two young grandsons in the week and she plays bowls twice a week.

Kathy
xx

 

[noddy]

Hi Kathy,

We really enjoyed the Cruise and I am sure you will too. We thought drinks were fairly reasonably priced considering that you are a captive audience - a pint of beer is around £3.00 and bottles of wine start from about £13.00. You dont need to smuggle drink aboad as you are allowed to keep your own drink in your cabin. We bought some alcohol for the cabin at the first port we stopped at so that we got it at duty free prices (1ltr Gordons Gin and 1 Ltr of Smirnoff vodka for less than £18.00).

A few other tips for things to take -

Multi plug extension lead (there was only one socket in the cabin)
Sunglasses - its very bright at sea
Good books for days at sea
Extra coat hangers if you have a lot of clothes
You can take your tablet/laptop but the internet is expensive on board and very slow. Cheapest way to purchase is Through a package before you start the holiday. A few weeks before you leave you can enter a 'Cruise Personaliser' on P&O website and buy internet packages, book excursions, buy gift packs etc etc - you log on using your booking reference.

Anything else you want to know - let me know.

 

[Limpin'Lizzie]

Hey, Kathy.....you won't believe this, but today is our 39th wedding anniversary, too!! What a coincidence! I've got a yucky cold, so we'll be getting carryout! I hope you can enjoy your day. It sounds like you're doing very well.

 

[Debbie_joints]

Wow, it is my brother and his wife's 39th wedding anniversary today too. Must have been a good year.

 

[Nyland]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Kathy and LimpinLizzie!!!

 

[Jacky48]

Wow Kathy, things are looking up for you! Happy 39th Anniversary, and a cruise waiting in the wings to boot! What a treat to look forward to! Just think by August next year you'll be all recovered and ready to kick up your heels!

Just think of those wonderful genes your mom past on to you, plus she sounds like a peach coming over and cooking you both a nice dinner.

Have a great anniversary day!

 

[speccybecky]

Happy anniversary! We re at 38 years this year. We had a cruise at 30 years ...it was great.
Kathy, was still taking some tramadol at 3 months.........
Sleep must make a great difference.

 

[Simone]

Congrats on the anniversary. I am sure you are glad the surgery part is over with and that you are in recovery mode.

 

[bassplayer]

Isn't it amazing that when we have no choice but to sit here on our bums, we can see exactly what we do do around the house. I'm not talking just about the housework cleaning, but the little things like putting the washing up straight into the dishwasher (instead of onto the sink), putting coats away into the cupboard instead of leaving them on backs of chairs, fluffing the cushions on the sofa, etc. The list is actually quite endless. I can see now how fussy I am about all these things and I'm not really what you call houseproud. For anyone who is houseproud and has to go through this, it must be tortorous (spelling?). All very interesting.

Kathy
xx

Hi Kathy,

For months I have been looking at clutter piling up and just didn't have the energy to put things away. Each item means carrying it somewhere and coming back, and it was just too much for me...until this week! After 3 months following my 2nd TKR I suddenly have the strength to do it and it has been quite a relief and fun to finally put things away! Or should I say start putting things away...there are still "a few" piles of stuff I need to deal with.

Bottom line: Rest is best!