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Revision TKR Lovetocookandsew’s long road to recovery

We have indeed come a long way, @pumpkin . I know from what you've said that you are doing amazingly well. I have yet to even go out-well, except for the ER which isn't exactly an outing, and am still using my walker. But this week will see the walker go into the garage rafters, and the cane come out of the back of my car. I'm too funny when using a cane-I can't use it correctly, I have to use it in my right hand for my right knee. My doctor always chuckles at me because he shows me how to use it in my left hand yet I go right back to my right hand. We'll see if the PT can get me to use it correctly.......There was a lady who was at the rehab the first night I was there, it had been 3 weeks since her surgery and she was going home the next day. She was walking around with almost no limp and without a cane or crutches. I'm amazed she was that far along now that I'm almost at 3 weeks and am still using this walker, and will still be on a cane for a while. I have been going outside around my house-but I think I need to work more to get rid of this old folks walker (lol). When I say that my daughter always asks what I mean by old folks...I tell her when I'm 95 she can call me old and not a minute before.
Thanks @Jozilla @bottomshollow and @JustJeff I appreciate all your support, encouragement and kind words.
 
Sorry to hear about the ER visit. Glad you're improving now.
Have you got a small cooler bin (chilly bin, esky) that you could put some ice packs in and have them beside the bed at night time? That way, you'll have some ice packs handy and can replace the warm one without having to go back to the kitchen. I used to do that, so that I didn't have to wake hubby in the night. (Poor dear, he was tired from being a housewife while I was laid up! )
 
That's a great idea, @Celle. They stay cold enough all night in the cooler? Cool beans...I'll have hubby set that up for me tonight. Thanks so much! Yes, my poor hubby has been housewife, gardener, cook (well, cook is a loose term here...lol) nurse and contractor these past weeks, so I hate to wake him at night too.
 
Well, they don't stay as cold as they would in the freezer, of course, but they are heaps colder than the one that had got warm on my knee - and they still felt good!
 
Quick little anecdote: I told my pt that I didn't need the walker anymore and walked over to the apparatus with no support. She immediately got that doe in the headlights look and was seriously afraid that I was going to take an immediate header on her watch. So she immediately ran to get a cane and quickly fit it to My size. She gives me the cane and I start walking with it, spinning it. I asked her if we're gonna put on a show. I'm sure she didn't pick up on the Garland/Rooney reference and snatched it away, declaring I didn't need anything. That was the last time I used the walker. :)

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I am sticking with the walker for a few more weeks. Will be using crutches for outside and to go to outpatient therapy for a few more weeks. Asked OS if delaying the transition walker, crutches, to cane would be a problem, he said it would not make any difference. Just staying on the safe side with this revision.
 
For some reason my OS wants me to skip to a cane from the walker and not use crutches. If I can, I'd prefer that anyway as crutches hurt my hands, plus I'm not really that stable on them and have fallen while using them in the past a couple of times. I think being on the safe side is always the better option, pumpkin. I'm just anxious to have use of at least one hand when walking. But I'm not going to rush it either-if I'm not ready for the cane, I'll stick with the walker as long as I need. I have taken a couple of steps in the bathroom without the walker where I have plenty of surfaces to catch myself if I wobble, and haven't had a problem, but when I tried to use the cane a few days ago in the garage, I was a bit unsteady so I'm taking it slow.
@JustJeff that's too funny. I totally got the reference.....is my age showing? :heehee:
 
I wonder if I'm not walking normally on both knees but it looks good because both are new. :)

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Jeff,
Sounds like you are walking very well, if not the PT would have pointed it out to you.
Love the story of the twirling cane, you can only do that if you are steady on your feet.
 
Hi all. I've had a pretty rough week. Caught some kind of nasty nasty flu bug that totally did me in. Finally feeling a bit better tho quite weak. Resting and icing is all I'm doing, but the good news is I went from my walker to my cane today:yahoo:The swelling in my knee has gone down quite a bit and my ROM today showed it. I measured in at 105. I have fully come to the conclusion that resting and icing is much better for healing and getting my knee flexion and extension back than doing a ton of PT. I've had very gentle and minimal PT all this time and my knee is doing quite well. Thanks Bonesmarties for all your help, care and advice! I couldn't have done this without you. I love this forum!
 
I'm really sorry to hear that you've been ill - but very glad to hear that your knee has benefitted from the enforced rest! :)
 
Thanks, @Celle . I had a much better day today. I cannot believe how much that virus took out of me. It didn't hurt the progress on my knee any, but I feel like I've run a marathon just walking to the kitchen and back. I have to lie back down after only a few minutes walking as I'm weak and shaky. But that will pass soon I'm sure. It's hard on a body to already be recovering and not at full strength and then get hard hit with a bug, especially as we get a bit older. But I have pretty much retired the walker-so that's a good thing. I actually think I'm more stable on a cane as the walker gets easily caught in the floor differences between hardwood and the carpeting, or on the deck, etc. My PT gets a kick out of me on my cane-I don't use it on the opposite hand from my TKR knee-I use it in the same hand. She says I'm strongly right handed....lol. I've never been able to use the cane in my left hand for some reason. Hubby had gone back to work last Monday, only to have to come home and tend me as I became so ill I couldn't function alone. So, today was his first full day back at work-and my first day alone. I did pretty well, walked and did my exercises. Made my own lunch (just a microwave meal-but I did it myself...lol) and folded a load of laundry that hubby washed and gave me to fold. Sitting around sure is getting boring now-that means I'm well on the way to mending. I'm still taking it slowly-my knee is quite a bit smaller now than it was before the surgery! My CPM should be getting picked up soon-but I ordered an exercise peddler that should be here any day now. All in all, my health is on the mend, my knee is getting better and my spirits are picking up also. :flwrysmile::happydance::egypdance::spin::dancy:
 
I'm glad you're starting to feel better!
 
Glad to hear you are on the mend from the flu, and your knee is doing great too!:flwrysmile:
 
Thanks @pumpkin I hope all you mothers had a wonderful Mother's Day! My daughter came and cooked for me-what a blessing. We had parmesan crusted chicken breasts, quinoa and brown rice, and a salad from the lettuce in our garden. She's a new cook, but is coming along nicely and will be a really good cook one day. Got to spend time with her and our granddaughter, so it was a nice day. I also straightened my bedroom today, and dusted while sitting-so only dusted as high as my Swiffer duster would reach...lol...I stood a couple of brief times but didn't want to overdo so made it a quick dust this time. I's amazing how quickly the dust accumulates; it's invisible to my husband, but I couldn't stand it anymore. Hubby also changed my sheets-always soooo nice to crawl into clean sheets. It's so wonderful to have the walker behind me and use the cane leaving a hand free, but I am still pretty weak and have almost no stamina. I sure hope the energy and stamina come back soon-panting after getting a drink or a snack is really a pain-but as always, I am patient. I can't run a vacuum yet-even our lightweight Shark-it's not the weight, it's the activity, so my room isn't as clean as I'd like, but it's bearable now. Little by little I'm recovering; if I could just sleep more than a couple of hours total at night (30 minutes at a time at best before waking, then it's hard to go back to sleep), I might get some more energy back. But I understand it's part of the recovery and I know that this, too, shall pass. How are some of you other recent bonies coming along? I hope you're coming along nicely.
 
Don't forget that fighting the flu bug will have drained some of your stamina too. It's still very early days and all your body's energy is concentrating on healing, so there's very little left for anything else.

I think there's another reason why we feel so drained in the early days - it prevents us from overdoing things, and so lets the knee get its much-needed rest. Don't worry about the vacuuming yet - the sky won't fall if you don't do it.
 
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