Revision TKR Lovetocookandsew’s long road to recovery

[Cococay]

This is so wonderful!! You are found doing so incredible! I love how you listen to your body and let that guide you!
I look at where you started post op day 1 to now and I’m so happy for you.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@Cococay Thanks! It's been a very long and slow slog. But, I'm getting there. My recovery from my revision almost 3 years ago really was a breeze compared to this recovery. I'm at 10 weeks and am not where I would like to be, but am moving forward, so progress is happening, just ever so slowly.

 

[sistersinhim]

Driving, yay...freedom! I know you are tickled pink. I would be!

 

[Layla]

Hey @lovetocookandsew
Just catching up here and it’s all such good news! I’m happy for you.
No cane, driving, shopping, I understand you're going slow, but hey...it’s progress!
Hope you have a nice weekend!

 

[Pumpkin]

Congratulations on the driving!
Every milestone gets you closer to recovery.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

Well, I found out yesterday that vacuuming is out for a while yet. We've been playing catch-up on cleaning around here as hubby tries but doesn't see the dirt as well as I, so when he cleans he only gets the obvious stuff. I've been doing the lighter tasks, and he's been doing the hard stuff such as floors, tubs, shower stall floor, vacumming, and so on. But yesterday, I thought I'd try a little vacumming as every floor had been vacummed and/or mopped except the master bedroom, so while hubby was doing the dinner dishes I thought I'd give him a break and do the last bit of vacumming needed. But, it was not successful as the motion required pulled on the muscle in my thigh every time, which made my leg miserable, so that chore is out for the time being.

But the good news is I was able to do a decent share of the catch-up with no adverse effects, and our home is back to it's normal and immaculate state. That's one of the many things I dislike about recovery; the house being less clean than I like. We were going to hire someone to do all the catch-up but I didn't like the way they differentiated between tasks. Some things came under the "normal" cleaning category, but things I consider "normal" they considered deep cleaning and so doubled, or tripled, the fee. Things such as dusting baseboards and blinds were considered deep cleaning, which I think is nuts, but scrubbing toilets and tubs is considered normal. I just wanted someone to come in and clean whatever needed cleaning, especially since nothing was really that dirty, and there is no clutter anywhere to have to work around, etc. So, we decided on principal to just do it ourselves, a bit at a time, over the course of a couple of days.

All in all, I'm almost at 11 weeks and am doing much better. I still need to be careful not to overdo, and need to be careful so as not to start up the pain again. I still can't sit in a chair for any length of time, nor can I get up from a seated position unless I have arms to push up from, or it's at a higher height. So, I still have the toilet riser on the toilet, but all the rest of the aids are back in storage, except my cane which is in the closet and will only come out if/when I need it occasionally.

My leg is still quite swollen, a lot more than it was before the surgery, (and it was pretty swollen back then) and I have to admit to wondering of it will remain this way, as it did after my revision. I hope not, but so far it's not showing any signs of the swelling receding, so it's starting to make me wonder.

 

[Pumpkin]

Kim,
You are making good progress, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Is the awful pre op pain gone?

A lymphedema therapist may be able to help with the remaining swelling once you are healed.

 

[sistersinhim]

It is so good to read how well you are doing. You've certainly been through it and are due a good outcome!

 

[lovetocookandsew]

Is the awful pre op pain gone?

Thanks, Chris and sisters.

While I'm not 100% positive yet, I think it's gone in the upper leg. I've been on OTC pain meds basically around the clock, as when I don't take them, it is still pretty painful, and they do help with a lot of the pain now that it's gone from agony to just hurting. I haven't noticed it yet in the morning before I take some, but I also don't do a lot right away that would previously cause it to flare. But it seems like it's gone. Before the surgery, when I took an OTC, the awful pain lowered a little, but wasn't even close to being gone, and I haven't noticed it at all even once so far, which leads me to think it's gone, rather than being covered up by the other awful pain. I'm not going to call it case closed yet, but I'm close to that place.

The lower leg ache is still there and doesn't seem to have changed, but I can't tell if that's from the original cause or from this surgery. Time will tell on that one too.

 

[FCBayern]

Glad you are improving albeit not as fast as you'd like.

My thoughts on Housekeeping:

Vacuuming too often weakens the carpet fibers. Say this with a serious face, and shudder delicately whenever anyone mentions Carpet Fresh.

Dust bunnies can evolve into dust rhinos when disturbed. Rename the area under the couch "The Galapagos Islands" and claim an ecological exemption.

Layers of dirty film on windows and screens provide a helpful filter against harmful and aging rays from the sun. Call it an SPF factor of 5 and leave it alone.

Cobwebs artfully draped over lampshades reduces the glare from the bulb, thereby creating a romantic atmosphere. If your spouse points out that the light fixtures need dusting, simply look affronted and exclaim, "What? And spoil the mood?"

In a pinch, you can always claim that the haphazard tower of unread magazines and newspapers next to your chair provides the valuable Feng Shui aspect of a tiger, thereby reducing your vulnerability. Roll your eyes when you say this.

Explain the mound of pet hair brushed up against the doorways by claiming you are collecting it there to use for stuffing hand-sewn play animals for underprivileged children.

If unexpected company is coming, pile everything unsightly into one room and close the door. As you show your guests through your tidy home, rattle the door knob vigorously, fake a growl and say, "I'd love you to see our Den, but Fluffy hates to be disturbed and the shots are SO expensive."

Don't bother repainting. Simply scribble lightly over a dirty wall with an assortment of crayons, and try to muster a glint of tears as you say, "Junior did this the week before that unspeakable accident...I haven't had the heart to clean it..."

Mix one-quarter cup pine-scented household cleaner with four cups of water in a spray bottle. Mist the air lightly. Leave dampened rags in conspicuous locations. Develop an exhausted look, throw yourself onto the couch, and sigh, "I clean and I clean and I still don't get anywhere..."

 

[lovetocookandsew]

Pretty funny, @FCBayern .

I think you'd likely be shocked if you came to my house. What I call dirty, is still pretty darn clean...lol. People can drop in any time as my house is always ready for company. I'm one of those whose house is beyond clean all the time-not because I'm anal or OCD about it, but just because that's how I like it. I guess I'm a June Cleaver throwback, or maybe I just grew up in those times and that's how we did it...who knows. Even all my drawers, cupboards and closets are sickeningly organized. I've never even had a "junk drawer".......it would drive me nuts. When people stop by, the most oft repeated comment is, "Your house looks like a model home".

However, if you were to go into my husband's shop, you'd see a different story. He's not as tidy as me, although he's not a total slob by any means. If I need something that's somewhere in his shop, I send him out for it-navigating that clutter would cause me broken fingernails and stress! Right now I do have a few areas I need to tidy a bit-like my shelves in the garage, but I'm waiting to get my laundry room and extra kitchen cabinets from Ikea bought and installed before I do those as there are a bunch of things stored on them that will come into the house after we get the new cabinets.

I'll post a couple of pictures. I took them a while ago, but nothing has changed, and everything still looks exactly the same. I didn't switch from fall decor to winter decor this year-I wasn't up to doing it so left it all out and I'll switch to spring decor soon. We're going to Ikea on Friday to get cabinets, living room and dining room drapes, plus some decor. I still need to add a lot of decor around here, but eventually I'll get it done.

 

[FCBayern]

You have a very beautiful home. We are currently renting for 6 months at a time before deciding where we want to build or buy for sure. After 33 years of owning our home, living in someone else's house with their furnishings is pretty weird.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

Thanks!

That would be weird. We stayed in a rental cabin for two months last year between the two houses; this house was still being built, and we had sold our old house. It was strange to not only rent a place to live with someone else's furniture, but it was a tiny, tight older cabin and was not much fun. But we got through it, and did enjoy the hot tub there, so much so that we're going to add one here. It's not something I want to ever do again, but we do what we must. Friday is the one year anniversary of our moving into this house, and we hope to see many, many more.

You'll find your home soon, and be glad you took the time to look around first. We were lucky to be able to take our time and find our home, buy it and then eventually sell our old home so as to not have the hassle of owning two homes. We did debate selling the old home the following spring, or keeping it as a rental, but decided we didn't want either hassle, so just sold it and moved into the cabin until this house was finished. It meant three separate moves as we moved into the cabin, then moved to our daughter's house for a short time, then moved into the new house. Some of our stuff was in a moving pod, some was in a storage unit, some was in our daughter's garage and some stuff was with us in the cabin. It was a complete pain, and we didn't even bring any furniture or decor from our old house with us-we sold or gave away everything and started from scratch here.

What has also been a major pain was that within a month of moving here everything shut down, so getting this home furnished has been a major hassle. Between the shut downs, my leg finally getting too painful to function much, and then the surgery/recovery, I've had to do what I could to furnish it. I have been able to actually do a lot, but I still have a lot to do. We seriously had nothing from our old house, furniture or decor-wise, except what's in my sewing room, as we decided nothing fit this house either in size or style. Our old house was 1100 sq feet and built in 1956, this one is 2600 and change. We had 3 very small bedrooms and two tiny baths there, here we have 5 bedrooms and 3 full baths.

let us know when you find your forever home-and we want pictures! I've enjoyed the couple you've shared so far, keep 'em coming!

 

[Cococay]

Your home is amazing! I’m in a very teeny weeny town home. The furniture and the way you have it set up looks so cozy- —- I’m happy you have a home you love. Will you put a hot tub outside or inside?

 

[lovetocookandsew]

Thanks, @Cococay

We'll put the hot tub in the backyard, close to the house. We were in a teeny tiny home, and it was just too small. We have six grown kids, ten grandkids, and now are great-grandparents, and there was barely enough room at our table for four people. Even with the two of us it was cramped, so we decided it was time to get a larger home. We do love this home, and plan to stay here the rest of our lives, or at least for as long as we can.

How are you doing today? How's your pain level, etc?

 

[lovetocookandsew]

Well, I hate to admit it, but I am in the ODIC tonight. In my defense, I knew going in I'd end up here. We decided today was the day to go to IKEA as we had to order our cabinets for the laundry room and the extra ones for the kitchen. We have to wait for all of the parts to come in that are on back order, then when the parts that weren't in today come in, we have to wait for the installers, then we have another long wait for the countertop installers to install the quartz, so we really needed to get started.

We can't change the flooring until the cabinets are in, and the cheap carpet they used is totally matted down everywhere we walk regularly, and looks awful. Plus, one of the transitions is shredding away from where they butted it up against the kitchen flooring, so the sooner we replace all the flooring, the better. We knew going in that we hated the flooring that came with the house, so planned to replace it asap, but between the shut-downs and my bad leg, it just hasn't happened.

I walked around the store a lot as sitting in the wheelchair they have there was more painful than walking, so I used the wheelchair until I couldn't stand it anymore, then walked. Now, I'm in a ton of pain, but it'll be worth it in the end.

I suspect tonight and tomorrow will be a bear, but I'll just grit my teeth and get through it. The upside is that even all this pain isn't as bad as the post-surgery agony, so I'll survive it.

 

[djklaugh]

@lovetocookandsew May the ODIC loosen it's grip on you quickly! You know the drill - ice and elevate and rest! And here's to a new look for those areas you just can't stand right now Renovations of any kind are a PITA but totally worth it once they are done. Been there, done that , got the nice kitchen and bathroom to prove it ;)

 

[Cococay]

I think the only way to know if you’ve over done it as you recover is by trial and error. Now you know that was to much so next time you can make sure not to do so much.
I’m so glad it’s still better then that initial post op pain though.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@Cococay I actually knew ahead of time I was going to pay for the outing, but really needed to do it. I had planned to do it last spring, but the store closed for some months, then by the time it reopened, I was in too much pain to shop.

Renovations of any kind are a PITA

I'll bet your kitchen and bath are beautiful!

The good thing is we don't have to remove or gut any cabinets, which we had to do in the kitchen and bathroom of our old house. This is a new house so we just need to add cabinets in the laundry room, since they didn't include any with the build. Plus, we're adding a couple of lowers and uppers to a naked nook area in the kitchen. We will have to have the carpeting and floating floors removed to have the new flooring installed. We knew ahead of time we would be doing this so had them put floating flooring in the kitchen and entryway so it won't be a major deal to have those and the carpeting removed. The PITA will be moving all the furniture.

 

[Cementless]

@lovetocookandsew, I am just now reading your thread. I don't know where to start reading but I need to know what strut graft surgery is? I will be giving an update on my 28 month + knee revision soon.