Become an Insider

TKR Lovetoread's Recovery Thread---She is home already!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Mine has been wonderful! He took a week off with both of my surgeries, and went back to work today. Couldn't have done it without him. He always gets my ice machine ready for me....even refilling it in middle of the night. He washed all the floors on Saturday, and even tackled the grocery store on a busy Saturday afternoon. I gave him a pretty decent list this time and he didn't even have to call me and ask where to find something! His birthday is the end of September. I definitely owe him big time!
 
My surgeon has been nicknamed "Mr. Personality" (insert sarcastic font) by my husband and myself; however, that being said, he certainly did a good job on me, and I love my P.A. with whom I deal the most. I did manage to get a couple of smiles out of my surgeon, and once he even made an attempt at cracking a joke, so I think he was trying.
 
"Mr. Personality," I like that. Seems that I've had my share of doctors that cold have that nickname. My surgeon actually talked to me twice last Tuesday. Not for long, but checked to see how I was doing anyway. He did come and talk to my husband after both surgeries, which did kind of surprise me. We were told that quite a few doctors simply phoned family members afterwards. Truth be told, I would much rather have a surgeon with the expertise to do the surgery than one who was friendly. (Both would be nice, but that's almost asking too much.) The nurses and residents were absolutely wonderful. Virtually all my questions were answered by them. They were very friendly and bent over backwards to get things for me.
 
I did not mention it before, but my surgeon called me three times the first two weeks after surgery. He just has a very bland personality and I am very talkative and out-going.
There is this one exercise he demonstrated before surgery. He showed me again at two weeks and made me go thru it again today. He wants me to do it three times a day for three minutes each time . It is very uncomfortable. You in a chair,slide operated leg back as far as you can, and then use other leg to draw it back even further. Then you slide your body forward in chair so weight is on knee. Hold three minutes. Everyone this one?
 
I remember you saying the doctor had called you...that's really amazing! The exercise you described is one my first home therapists had me doing. At first I was told to hold for 20 seconds, using the timer on my phone. I couldn't make it to 20 most of the time. Towards the end of therapy I was holding for a minute! It does get easier!
 
When he pushed that knee back I wanted to hit him! I have decided he did a good job on surgery, but I will look to the PT for rehab! I think Jo is on the money when she said doctors who have never had a TKR do not know anything about recovery!
BTW, how are you sleeping? I k now you said that was a problem for you.
 
Don't worry; I absolutely will not be mad at you. One thing I learned on this web site is that everyone is different and responds in different ways. I really don't think I can go wrong going to Rush, no matter what the outcome.
Your poor daughter; it would break my heart if my daughter called herself "damaged goods"; hopefuly with time and love from family and friends she will change her tune quickly.
 
Carolina girl said:
When he pushed that knee back I wanted to hit him! I have decided he did a good job on surgery, but I will look to the PT for rehab! I think Jo is on the money when she said doctors who have never had a TKR do not know anything about recovery!
BTW, how are you sleeping? I k now you said that was a problem for you.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, the doctors have not gone through the recovery, or, for most of them, the surgery. I remember at my pre-op class the nurse did tell us that she had never had a replacement and therefore really couldn't tell us exactly what recovery would be like. I was impressed with her honesty.

I actually was sleeping pretty well last week, but the last two night haven't been good. I spend the night moving pillows around it seems. I normally toss and turn all night, so since I still do that, I have to keep re-arranging all of my pillows. I might try not using the pillows tonight and see if that helps.
 
I understand about the sleeping. I've removed the pillows the last two nights, and can't appreciably tell the difference in sleep. I just have to change position too many times. Most of the time, I do go right back to sleep, but still those multiple awakenings take their toll. I am able to sleep on my sides and stomach if I get my knee just right, but unfortunately it still doesn't last long til I awake and have to realign.
 
Thanks Karyn. I really started thinking the other day about you canceling your appointment at Northwestern. I'm sure you know the feeling, though.....what if she doesn't like it as much as I did?? I know I've told you before that you won't see much of the good doctor himself, but everyone else will spend as much time as you want/need with them. I do call with questions and have never once been made to feel my question was stupid or that I was wasting their time.

As for my daughter, yes, it broke my heart when she said that. As a mom, you just want to fix things for your kids. It doesn't matter how old they are. When I talked to her on Sunday she was in a great mood. Hadn't heard that in her voice in a couple of months. She has signed up for some advanced scuba lessons and they start Thursday. She did express concern that her hobby is so expensive, so with her birthday coming up in three weeks, we told her her gift from us would be the class and some new equipment that she'll need for deep-water dives. Of course, then I'll worry about her when she's diving!
 
Brithael, that's exactly it! Those little snatches of sleep aren't the same as sleeping for a good stretch of time. You never seem to get to that "restful" sleep. To make things worse, I have some cervical spine bulges and when I'm on my side, either one or both of my hands go numb. I've never been able to sleep on my back. I've always been a stomach or side sleeper, but unfortunately can't seem to get comfortable on my stomach yet. I'm optimistic that I'll soon fine a way to get comfortable. I was just getting to that point after knee #1, now I'm starting all over again! Starting next Wednesday I'll be getting up at 4:15 again for work, so this problem had better resolve itself fast!
 
Your kids are always your kids; I don't care how old they are. My daughter and her husband went through a rough patch in their marriage when they had been married about 5 years. We helped them through the tough parts by not taking sides and supporting the marriage as something that has to be worked for. Luckily, they were able to work through their problems. They just celebrated their 22nd anniversary and are very happy. It doesn't always work that way, but I'm so happy that it did since our two amazing grandchildren (aren't they all?) were born after their rough patch. I know that your daughter will find that special someone out there. Tell her to marry her best friend; she'll never go wrong!
 
Glad your daughter and son-in-law were able to work things out. We were hopeful at first, but as our daughter started opening up to us little by little, it became obvious that it was better that they split. We had no idea about some of the stuff that was going on, but as much as I hate to see her so miserable now, I think she made the right choice. Because of what he told her over the years, her self-esteem is at an all-time low. I'm hoping she'll be able to meet some new people. I give her so much credit for making herself go out a few times a week to things like karaoke with co-workers, board-game nights at places on the north side, and trivia nights at other places. She says they're all "geek" things, but she enjoys them and is meeting people.
 
My husband's sister was in a marriage where her self-esteem was damaged like that. It took her a while, but she emerged victorious and is in a very loving and supportive marriage now. With your support and her attitude, I'm sure things will go for the best for her as well. And tell her, "geek" things are the best! I am an unabashed geek, and so are my husband and children.
 
I know she'll get there eventually, but everything is so new and raw right now. She is my "geeky" daughter and I'm proud of her for that! I know we've mentioned it before, but she's my WOW girl! She met her new roommate through her online gaming. Another gamer friend is coming in from Cedar Rapids, IA in two weeks to do things with her. If I'm not mistaken, that's also where she met the people she sees at the "board game" nights she goes to.

The other day she said she felt so bad because she hasn't been there for me with my knees this summer. I told her that she needs to take care of herself right now. As soon as I'm able the two of us are going outlet mall shopping. A little retail therapy is just what the doctor ordered for both of us!
 
Gamers are fun people. We had a get together in February of about twenty people in our guild who are in the area (Chicago, Iowa, Indiana.) We all went to Medieval Times. We had two couples stay overnight at our house, and one couple stayed at my son's. None of us had met before except online. It was a great weekend, and we hope to do it again.

You two will have a great time together once you're well and truly recovered from your lost summer.
 
She's going to some gamer convention or something in California in November. Same kind of thing...has never really "met" these people, but is looking forward to it!
 
She is probably going to BlizzCon. I'm jealous. It would be a lot of fun!
 
I think that's what it's called. I know she said it sold out almost immediately. She's staying with people she's never met. I try not to worry, but it sounds like this is a great group of people, right? (Can you tell I need your re-assurance??)
 
I can only speak from my experience. The people we know online and who we've met in real life have been great people. We belong to a very special guild called Alea Iacta Est (also known as AIE) that has thousands of members but very strict rules on being family friendly and supportive. I would trust anyone from my guild. I'm sure your daughter has had significant online time with the people she's staying with and knows them as well as you can without actually meeting them. When you play a game over time with someone, it's pretty easy to tell if they're a jerk or not. I'm sure she'll be fine and have a wonderful time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Members online

Total: 1,740 (members: 1, guests: 1,739)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom