Bilateral TKR Luisa's road to recovery June 10th, 2013

[gazelle7777]

Feeling better bit by bit. Went for a short walk and had a visit with a friend. Pain is more manageable, sleep still illusive but I am getting used to it. Hoping all my buddies are doing well!

Glad to hear you are feeling better! Sounds like a nice day! Yes...this sleep thing is very hard on me too. I took a hot bath this afternoon and feel into a nice deep sleep for about a half hour. Sure was nice!

 

[Lmarshall]

Blue day today. Had very erratic sleep last night on and off. Didnt finally wake up for good until 4pm. I was awakefor hours in berween naps. Hubby has a gid awful toothache and between the 2 of us, its just a bad day. Hoping his visit with oral surgeon brings some answers...im worried about him.

 

[MissJ]

Luisa
I hope your hubby gets some answers on his toothache tomorrow - ugh! I am imagining the two of you tossing & turning in the night...

And I agree with Gazelle - the universe is looking out for you regarding the delayed interview.

Re: Walking - There was a period about a month out from my surgery where I tried to go for a walk every day. I finally gave up because for me, walking caused lots of swelling and discomfort. Now, 4 months out, walking feels MUCH better and now I'm building up my strength. Each of us does this in her/his own way.

Keep us posted!
j

 

[harplayer]

Luisa,
Praying for your hubby and for you! Hoping for answers and relief from pain for your husband...and for good rest tonight for you both!
Sending love, Harplayer

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[new knee in June]

Dear luisa,
I hope your husband feels better today &you both get some well deserved naps through out the day
Take care,
Diana

 

[new knee in June]

Dear luisa,
Where are you ? Thinking of you & hoping everything is o.k did you have your interview yet ?
Diana....June sunbeams

 

[Lmarshall]

Hi everyone! Sorry, i have had a busy couple of days. Hubby went to 2 oral surgeons before finally getting diagnosed with TMJ yesterday. He starts steroids today, which will hopefully help because so far juscle relaxers arent making a difference. I amgoing on the job interview today. I got a call yesterday afternoon for the reschedule. I continue to worry too much about how long this last setback will take, only because I am reallyhoping to get this new position. I know they do have quite a few candidates, so I am thinking it will take at least a week for tgem to finish interview and decide.

I went for an evaluation yesterday for anew PT place that offers aquatherapy. I need to make appt with my primarydr to get clearance. I hope to start therapy by friday ir monday.

Sleep is awful for me. Ive gotten into a terrible sleep pattern, not falling asleep until somewhere between 3 to 5am. I then wake up so frequently, sometimes taking an hour between sleep shifts and I end up not getting totally awake until 3pm. Hoping oncei start therapy again, iwill be for ed to get moving earlier which eill in turn help my sleep pattern alittle.

Well im off to slowly get prepared for this afternoons interview! Thanks for all your support!

 

[bottomshollow]

Lmarshall. Luisa, have you considered asking your GP for a prescription sleep aid to take for a short period of time to get your bio-rhythms back on track? I know that Tim (referee) did this and it worked for him. Just a thought.

 

[Lmarshall]

I have an appointment to see her tomorrow, and I will ask her. She is so rstrictive with medicationsthough, so Idoubt she will give me anything. She will probably be upset to hear I am still on pain killers, knowing her. I had a run I withher pre surgery, and want to switch doctors, but havent gotten around to it sincethe surgery.

 

[Lmarshall]

Well.....interview went very well, at least I thought so. Answered some what if type questions, some job related questions, and I onky stumbled slightly on 1, but redeemed myself. 5 different interviewers were there, each asking 3 or 4 questions. Each candidate answers the same questions. Since I worked as an adjunct faculty already for 2 months prior to surgery, I hope to have 1 leg up on the other candidates. Im guessing it will take a week or two for them to decide. Its a city job, and everything runs in slow motion. Iput my application in mid may and interview just happened, so you get the idea! The longer it takes, the better. Gives me time, since most would need to give their current employer at least 2 weeks notice. Im hoping to get to mid september since I think I really need another month to recouperate.

Another positive note, I was approved for 9 more therapy sessions. I start my hydrotherapy this friday! Im excited to get back to it...I missed it these past few weeks.

 

[new knee in June]

Good morning luisa,
So glad to hear from you your interview sounds like it went very well. Good for you
I believe puffin is starting aqua therapy tomorrow. It sounds heavenly I added 2more therapies
For next week ( for stairs & gait ) then I am done I go back to work Monday night...I am so
Happy I am a little bored here at home
Your sleeping pattern is that off a night owl, I hope your doctor can help with some meds
Your poor hubby, I hear t.m.j can be painful. I hope he feels much better with the steroids
I will say a prayer for you both....
Diana....June sunbeams one day at a time......

 

[Lmarshall]

Well of course, as I suspected, my GP would not give me an rx for any sleep aid. She said I was already taking "narcotics" ( my vicodim) and wouldnt prescribe me another. So, here I sit at almost 2am wide awake.

I am trying to stay more active, going to the dr, going to cosctco, but only walking through parking lot, I used the scooterin the store. Later on in the day took a short walk to my girlfriends house for coffee. Hubby insisted on walking me there then coming to walk back with me. Hes a sweetheart, but im feeling alittle over protected by now.

Tomorrow I start aquatherapy. I wasevaluated the other day and got clearance from my GP. im looking forward to i

 

[MissJ]

Luisa
Keep us posted re: the interview. Are you interviewing for an adjunct faculty position? I guess I didn't know you were an educator!

I'm also eager to hear about the aquatherapy. Getting in/out of the water is an adventure but oh! it feels good once you're in. Also getting my suit on and off is a longer process than it used to be (lots of sitting/standing practice).

I'm sorry to hear about your sleep. Mine too is erratic. Our GPs could not be more different; mine's sort of an over-prescriber sometimes. He recommended an antidepressant for my sleep (short term) - I'm skeptical.

Was thinking of you on Wed. when I had a teary spell. I cried every day from about week 4 to about 2 months - this was my first cry in three weeks! Progress comes in different forms.
Take care
j

 

[Lmarshall]

MissJ I am an occupational therapy assistant....COTA for short. I work with special ed preschoolers. Before surgery, I got a contract position (adjunct facukty) in the occupational therapy dept of the community college, where I graduated. The position istechnically called "lab technician", but the role is setting up materials and assisting the professor teaching the hands on part of the occupational therapy assistant program. I love this job! I had many student while working at my preschool job, doing their ibternships. This is how I came to this path. The position I interviwed for is for the full time position. Its a City job and very competitive. I made the short list and interviewed in front of a comitee. With any luck and help from God, I will get this position, and after 10 years will be able to retirewith a pension....my mainconcern!

I went to my first aquatherapy session. Its basically a tank that has a treadmill built in. Getting in and out was relatively easy. You step up into an empty tank partition, and they seal the door shut. Vacuums pull out water fromthe largetank into the small comoartment you are standing in, tben they open tank door and you step in the tank. They close door, and vacuum pulls water to completelyfill tank again. It felt like I was 100 lbs lighter in there. Did 10 min of walking on treamill, then abt 15 minof gentle basic leg lifts etc. Afterwards, PT did regular table top stretching. He says mycalves are tight and I have weak quads. He also worked on scar release for a short time. I am being VERY proactive abt not getting stretched too hard, based on thelast quad tearihad. I would prefer to be more prudent with stretching and take my time. He already mentioned MUA of which I said....I will not be doing that any time soon, and I strongly feel my ROM will return. This quad tearset my left leg back at least 4weeks, and I remember my extensionsS improving right beforethetear, so im confident it will return given some time to decrease inflammation.

 

[MissJ]

Luisa
I'm glad the aquatherapy went well! Isn't it nice to be weightless? As for weak quads...a co-worker who had BTKR told me that she couldn't lift her feet at all in the first 3 weeks post-op due to weak quads. My own right quad didn't "fire" for about three months - now finally it's kicking in.

I like seeing the word "confident" in your post.
j

 

[boydmom]

Luisa,
I got caught up on how things are going with you. I am so glad the interview went well. Maybe that will help in your recovery knowing that is behind you. It sounds like you are seeing improvement again. I am sure it will continue. Don't let your new pt bully you into too much. At this point you know what is best and how to do this the right way.
Sorry to hear your dr. won't give you any sleep aid. I have one and take it every few days. I can't take it all the time because then it won't work. I have been back at work for a week and two days now and sleep is still hard at times even though I am very tired. I ran out of my percoset and needed it night before last really bad, but hadn't had time to get my prescription filled. I made sure I got it for last night and that helped so much. I slept all night without waking up once. I was so tired though, all I wanted was to go to bed. My foot, ankle and leg are swollen again, so I am going to try to keep them up this weekend as much as possible. I have had 2 and 1/2 days of children and will start a full week with my kids Monday. It has gone about as well as I could have expected.
I hope your husband is improving. That must have been terrible to have both of you down at the same time.
I look forward to hearing more good news the next time I check in again.
Geunita

 

[Lmarshall]

Missj...I really have been feeling much more positive lately. Even though I still have pain, I definitely see improvements. I did it before, and I can do it again.

Im glad to hear youve gone back to work Geunita. I hope to be able to work in a month. I know how much progress can be made in that much time, so I feel more hopeful about it now. I actually started downgrading to tramadol instead of vicodin during the day. So far it seems to be working ok. I know my drs will be looking to cut back on the vicodin sn
Oon so im trying slowly to cut back on that. For whatever reason tramadol is easier to get. Im assuming its not as strong.

My husbands sister passed away last night. He will be flying to NC for 2 days next week. Ig will be the first time hes left me alone since thesurgery. My only concern is letting my dogs out 4x a day. I have 3 steps and they tend to charge outside. Ill have to be extra cautioud
S!

 

[boydmom]

Sorry to hear about your husband's sister. I am sure you will do fine for a few days by yourself. It may make you feel more positive when you find out how far you have come and what you are able to do. I have two dogs and have had to adjust to taking them out the front door instead of going down my big set of steps to use the backyard. I am happy to say I can now do the big steps at least once or twice a day. I noticed you were posting at 1:00 am. I hope that gets better for you. I take Tramadol when I need something during the day, but I found that I couldn't sleep if I took it at night. Luckily my dr is not as worried about drug prescriptions and gave me more percocet for night. I am spending this day with my feet in the air and doing very little. I am happy to say my foot looks almost normal right now. Good luck on your own.
Geunita

 

[harplayer]

Sending you hugs....

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[new knee in June]

Dear luisa,
I am so sorry to hear about your sister-in-laws passing. to you & your family. I do hope you are
Feeling better everyday
Please watch out for those they can charge to get out, so please be careful.
Thinking of you always,
Diana....June sunbeams ....hugs being sent your way