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

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So sorry to hear of your sister-in-law's passing. I will keep your family in my thoughts and prayers.

I'm glad your interview went well. It sounds like a great position. Good luck.
You are also doing well in knowing how to manage this recovery from the tear. The aqua therapy looks interesting. I should look into something with water therapy.

Have you tried some herbal tea for sleeping- sometimes Sleepytime Tea worked for me. I haven't tried it since my surgery, but it was a good one for prior to surgery.

My sleep is sketchy, too. I have good nights and bad nights. The good nights are when I only wake up a handful of times and can get back to sleep. The bad nights are when I can't get back to sleep and wander the place. lol

This too shall pass...
 
Thanks all. I think ill pass by the GNC and get some melatonin tomorrow. I am sleeping a little longer first round, buti seem to have a hard time falling back to sleep afterwards. My pain is definitely much less and ive gone down from 4x a day to 3x a day, daytime only taking tramadol and nightime vicodin. Im still icing a lot and it does help with the stiffness.

Tomorrow is my second aquatherapy session. Im looking forward to it.
 
Dear luisa,
How are you feeling ? Good I hope :) puffin is doing aqua therapy also, she loves it & looks forward to it.
Is your husband home yet ? I'm glad your pain is better.
Thinking of you always,
Diana :flwrysmile:
 
Hi Diana! My husband hasnt left yet. Hes waiting for a call from his other sister regarding the funeral date. He thinks its on Friday, so he will leave Thursday night and hopefully ge back Sunday. I definitely rely on him too much, so ithink once I get through these few days, ill feel more independent and able bodied. He tends to be overprotective and I have gotten used to being too babied at home.

I have had 2 sessions of aqua therapy so far and really love the weightless feeling! I look forward to going tomorrow again. I have been taking it easy in the water, knowing you can hurt yourself by doing too much at one time. Slow and steady is mynew motto . Pain is decreasing daily and I find mysekf forgettibg to reacnfor pain pills!! Is this what it feels like to recover?? Walking is still challenging since im still stiff and it obvioysly hurts more when we walk on it.

I had to share something sooooo funny. If you go to google game apps, there isan app in thetop sudgery games section calledknee surgery! OMG it is hysterical!!!! It takesyou through a virtual knee surgery as the dr. You MUST download and try it. Its FREE and so realistic!! Let meknowwhat you think after you try it, my husband and I were absultely stunned playing this game. My daughter ran across it and shared it with me.
 
Since I tried to edit and cant seem to on my tablet, I wanted to correct where to find the game I mentioned. Top surgery games , knee surgery on google games. Sorry abt all my typos.
 
HI Luisa and everyone on the thread,
I had my BLKR surgery July 1 so I am just over 7 weeks out. I have been watching several threads and feel as if I know you all! I did post before my surgery and started a thread in the early days of my recovery. Although I tried, it never took off. I really would love support and to be in touch with you all. We have so much in common and would love the friendship. I live in Westchester, Ny so I am close to you, Luisa. I am familiar with your area. My sister lives in Great Neck and I have several friends in different parts of LI.
My recovery I guess has gone well. I had my surgery at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt Kisco and was inpatient for almost 2 weeks at Phelps in Tarrytown. Good experience at the hospital and rehab. right now I have a 117 bend in my right and about 124 in my left. I started driving just yesterday and it feels great to have some freedom again! I, like many of you have been on an emotional roller coaster and my family( I have a great husband, a 16 yr old son and a 13 yr old daughter) although very supportive have really been thrown for a loop by it. I feel really bad that they see me crying so much! My sleep is haywire too. I started taking a tylenol PM and I have been sleeping better.I am cutting down taking my pain meds because I know it is the cause of my crazy emotions. I still medicate just more spread out and I do take them when i know I need them like before going to PT . I ice and elevate A LOT. My surgeon has me on Celebrex 2x day. I am also on iron, a multi vit and a stomach protectant.
My son, while I was at rehab got hurt and will be going for surgery to get his ACL in his right knee repaired tomorrow. It is ironic and very unfortunate that that happened to him and now he needs knee surgery after what I have gone through.That is the main thing that I am dealing with today. Getting him through the surgery tomorrow and then recovery from his knee surgery. I know it will be ok. I have to have faith that it will all work out.
I have a question about aqua therapy. I have been going the past three weeks for PT and it is ok but I want to do aqua therapy too. I went yesterday to a new facility and they did an evaluation. I am waiting for approval to make my appt. Do you guys do both land and aqua therapy or do you do just aqua? How long are your sessions? Thanks for the info. I look forward to communicating with you all and sharing our recovery progresses!
Barb :)
 
Hi Barb

My kids are similar ages, 15 and 12 and even though it has been hard for me to have them see me cry either in pain or randomly due to the emotional roller coaster, I do not see it as detrimental. I think it is showing them the true nature of your pain and the difficulty with a major surgery. There were many times they saw me cry on the other side due to my knees locking up or being unable to move due to the pain. Seeing myself as a "super mom" who is always on the go, it is humbling and a whole new experience for me having my kids take care of me. My 12 year old daughter is a great therapist helping with exercises and just seems to know when mom needs a hug :) My son who is 15 has taken over as just knowing when things need doing. By the time we are all through this experience, they will be well on their way to being self-sufficient - laundry, house cleaning, dishes and so many other things. The husband gets the joy of doing all of the errands, grocery shopping, child shuffling, etc. Definitely a work in progress....

Stacie
 
Hi Barb and Stacie,

That common mention of crying and roller coaster is a similarity with all recoveries it seems. My crying has decreased dramatically, I suppose because my recovery is taking so long. I had the quadriceps tear last month that set me back a few weeks, so I am traveling a road I already traveled before. No sense continuing to cry, since it hasn't really helped me much. I am just trying to focus on my therapy to improve to be able to get back to work. Its been a struggle with pain, b ut I think Ive finally gotten over the worst of it. I am still very sore, and my ROM is not good due to the set back. but I keep trudging along.....hoping eventually it improves. Things are complicated by the fact Im waiting for a call to see if I have gotten the new position I interviewed for. If I get it (fingers crossed), I would need to hurry and get better....hence my anxiety. I try to keep it out of my mind, but it does creep back and my worries begin again. I have read many wise words on this forum, but truly, PATIENCE is the biggest word...so easy to say, hard to live with, but I am learning.

My kids are older and not here with me, so I don't have to worry about taking care of their physical needs (as mothers we always worry about them tho). I do have 3 large dogs though...that luckily hubby has been caring for full time since the surgery (and caring for me!)

Barb...you are lucky you have started driving, I am not there yet, maybe another 2 weeks!
 
I havent been on in quite a few days, so I came to update. My husband was gone for 3 days for the funeral. I did fi e at home alone, my biggest challenge letting the dogs out, sincei have steps to get them I and out. I did just fine, but was very careful. I showered alone, again being very careful. I went out with friends to keep busy and get exercise. I overdid it on saturday, but rested yesterday and am doing great today.

My aquatherapy is going verywell, and am now including regular exercises on machines and mat. The therapist that stretches me noticed a great deal of romi provement as well as strength since last week wednesday. I was super pleased to hear her say that. I did notice the improvement since I amnowback to walking with only a cane, but felt good to hear her agree. I have been working hard at home with mt leg lifts andextension stretches,

I have made it to the final round of interviews for the position I have been waiting on. To orrow I interview with the chairperson and am 1 of only 2 candidates that made it tbis far. I should know very soon if I have the position! I am hopingto be able to postpone my start date to sept 23rd, which gives me a full 3 weeks more of recovery. Im confident I will be able to improve enough to do this job. WISH ME LUCK!!!!
 
Hi Lmarshall here you go GOOD LUCK++++++.........I was going to say "Break a Leg" but on this site that's not such a good idea! :rotfl:

Seriously, I wish you well in your recovery and with the job.
Wanda
 
Dear luisa,
Just catching up with you :) you sound wonderful & aqua therapy sounds great. So happy you are 2
Finalists for this job :happydance: fingers crossed you will be hearing some good news soon !!
Then to have 3 weeks to prepare....you will do great :egypdance:
Good thoughts coming your way.....
Diana :SUNsmile:
 
I GOT THE JOB!!!! Still unofficial since president of college needs to sign off, but its really semantics at this point. I should have my acceptance letter after meeting on sept 4th. Start date is still being negotiated. Id like to start the 23rd but if it means getting the position I will in starting the16th. Luckily, this job is much less physical than my previous job giving therapy to preschoolers. Also, I believe they will give me some leeway since they already know me (I worked as an adjunct for 2 months) and they know I had surgery.

I am SUPER EXCITED!!!
 
Luisa,
Way to go girl, so happy for you.... :dancy: :egypdance: :happydance: :yahoo:
:friends: :friends: you so deserve this !!!!!!
Diana :flwrysmile:
 
Thanks Ladies! On the recovery end...Aquatherapy has been great. I start off PT by doing the underwater treadmill for 10 min then underwater exercises, then some work on machines and mat work. Ends with some stretching. My ROM has improved a lot in the past week and my gait is better. Im finally back to walking with only a cane. I need to keep working on endurance at this point, which is my main concern in going back to work. Ive made so much progress in a week, so Im hopeful that 3 weeks should give me enough time to be at a better place.
 
Congratulations on getting the job! You have had lots of transformations happening at once. Obviously you're doing well with recovery too. Yay!
j
 
Thanks MissJ I am still waiting anxiously for the acceptance letter to come in my email/mail. Even though I received the oral offer, I know its not "official" until then. They are meeting with the president of the college tomorrow for the final formalities.

I saw the surgeon today and she gave me a big thumbs up! Says all is going very well and I don't need to see her for another 3 months. She stressed I will have ups and downs for the first year after recovery. She signed my clearance to go back to work for September 23rd. I hope the job doesn't need me to start sooner, only because its so difficult to get anything in writing from them if I don't actually have an appointment.

I had a very long morning, going to the surgeon, stopping by m y old job to get them to sign AFLAC papers for an extension on my disability (shhh I haven't given them my resignation yet), then going to therapy. I am completely WIPED OUT. I have been pushing myself alittle bit, increasing my aqua treadmill in speed, increasing my speed on the bike since I can now make full speedy rotations, so by the time I got to my leg lifts with 2 lb weights I was struggling (its usually easier for me). So I took it slow with the lifts and asked her to go very gently with the final stretches at the end. I must keep working on my endurance though, so I feel the need to push alittle bit more each time I go.

Im walking with only a cane now, and often times leave it here and there. My gait is not where it should be. I feel like a pregnant woman waddling. My sister came over early this morning, stopping by before driving back to Washington DC (she was visiting her husbands family closeby). Its the first time I have seen her since surgery. Funny to hear but she said to me..."Hey Lu...you are walking almost better than you were before the surgery" I guess I have lost site of just how difficult it was for me to walk pre surgery. It put things in perspective for me! Yesterday I helped hubby with some major house cleaning. Of course he did the brunt of it, but it was the first time I actually helped with any kind of housework. It felt good to be useful again. Slowly but surely, I feel like Im getting my life back!

Every day is bringing me closer to my new "normal".
 
Way to go girl! We'll all get there in the end. :)
Wanda
 
:friends: Dear luisa,
Congratulations on the job :happydance: I know you will be ready by sept.23 ....
My os discharged me today...don't have to go back till next june :egypdance:
You are doing so well, especially with your set back. I'm really proud of you :friends:
Take it easy in pt, save some energy for your new job :heehee:
Diana...June sunbeams :SUNsmile: .....watch us soar.....
 
Congrats on the new job Luisa!!! Sounds like you are coming along quite nicely now!
 
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