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

[Lmarshall]

Oops lol ON SATURDAY.

 

[Pamx2]

I crossed a very busy manhattan street (we purposefully wentin a suare to cross more streets) and sat in thepark for 5minutes before retur ing.

WOW...that is SO WONDERFUL!! You can't beat getting outside and enjoying the sunshine!! You'll find that doing simple normal things once again can make you happy with joy!

 

[new knee in June]

Dear Louisa,
Your posts are wonderful and you are doing great. You have such happiness at all you have accomplished
And we are so happy for you.......
Hugs to you, please keep posting it,s great to see your progress through your eyes
Diana........sorry I spelled your name wrong.....I,ll get it right one of these days

 

[OnTheRoad]

Luisa, I have finally caught up to you. You are doing awesome with the BTKR. I went in the OR one hour before you and came out 7 hours later-I had a mild cardiac complication (for which I was too drugged to care, haha). All is well, I am grateful to have done the surgery. You have accomplished so much and are doing awesome. You have gotten wonderful benefits from the rehab center. I cannot view your videos either but I am amazed you took them. Are you home yet ?? Your first home shower will feel lovely. Keep in touch and just ride those emotions. I have had them !! None today, 3 yesterday though. I just tell my husband.....it's because I'm a girl Sunbeams rock !!! Dawna

 

[Lmarshall]

Thanks ladies! I will try to get my daughter to help me post the videos. Its one of me walking with a walker, another of me doing stairs for the first time. I can honestly say I am so proud of myself....and I reallly dont remember saying that very much.
Dawna, I reread about your cardiac complications....how scary! Being looped can def be a good thin. How is ur heart now? Did they get to the problem?
I will b home saturdzy afternoon. Im hoping I can raise my leg high enough.

 

[Lmarshall]

Its my last night in rehab. Said goodbye to my wonderful therapists today and thanked them from the bottom of my heart. Amazing how close you get to thtese once strangers. My husband came today to visit and to take most of my things home. Amazingly, I get to take the cryo cuffs home with me. Shower chair, commode and wedge are waiting for me st hone. My daytime nurse came to say goodbye tonight.. she was one of my saviours here. There were some not so good, but these wonderful ones, that I now know by name will be forever in my heart. I cry as I write this not because I am sad to leave them and move ob, but because they are part of the reason my journey has been so positive. I have one more nurses aide to say goodbye to at midnight who has done so much for me. Countless sbed pans, help with booties, nights tgat she helped me get happy thru tears, and lately just so much encoragement seeing me walk to tge shower on crutches before helping me into the shower stall to assist me in there. How can you not grow fond, loving towards the very peopke that help you become whole again. The journey may seem short to some, but it seems like an eternity while you are living it. To these people ii must name, not for them, but for me...Chris mmy PT, Amanda mt OT, Liliya, my nurse, and Sidonie my patient care tech, I could not have done it without you. Chapter 3 awaits me tomorrow....

 

[gidem]

Wow, you are going home- how wonderful. I hope I have just as positive experience as you did. You are definitely moving in the right direction.
Congrats on the return home.

 

[Ready]

Best wishes on your move. Those people certainly have seen you through thick and thin. Have a good rest on your last night there.

 

[Jacky48]

Luisa, you sound wonderful! I had a very good experience like you did, in rehab. It does make a world of difference, when the people that help us when we're down, care about us enough to give us the best care that they could. All those wonderful people play a huge role in our recovery progress. I am so glad that you are doing so well! I know you will enjoy being home kiddo!

 

[Dulcimer Diva]

BUT THE BEST NEWS is I am going to rehab tonight! Its in this same hospital, brand new state of the art place (redone 2 mths ago). Its called Rusk institute. I will stay somewhere between 5 to 7 days.

Did you know (even before the renovation) that Rusk is THE top ortho and neuro rehab clinic in the US? Even better than RIC (part of Northwestern)! The list of celebrities and athletes who've rehabbed there is a Hall of Fame in itself. You're in outrageously good hands!

 

[Dulcimer Diva]

Thanks Ready, Imhoping to spend the summer recouping and geti gmy exercise in. The dog I saw the other day was cor anyone. Same with thevisit today. Ihavemy own3 goldensso im glax tohavethecan e to spend time. Canutell meds are amking me sleepy and cross eyes???

LOL--been there, done that (tells me it's time to sleep or nap). Probably doesn't help that you're using a phone or tablet--typing on them makes anyone seem addled!

 

[Lmarshall]

WOW did not know that Diva! I knew it had a great reputation, which is one of thereasons I chose my OS. She is affiliated with NYU Hosp for Joint Disease, which is where Rusk is (INTHE same bldg). Im home, lying in my own bed, and should be happy, but feeling a small bit of melancholy. It feels alittle scary being out here without supervision. Isnt that odd? I guess just another blue moment :(

 

[Dulcimer Diva]

Rusk is where Christopher Reeve, Patricia Neal, Bo Jackson and Sen. Mark Kirk (who finished up at RIC) rehabbed. It is the standard by which all other top-drawer rehab facilities are judged. If I had the option of getting my surgery in NYC (my old home town), that's where I'd rehab. (And if it were safe to fly this soon post-op, as nice as Alden is I'd ask to rehab at Rusk even if it's out of network and I'd have to sell my guitars to cover the cost). My cousin flew from FL to have her BTKR (one of them a revision of a failed TKR in Philadelphia) done at your hospital and then rehabbed at Rusk.

 

[Lmarshall]

It makes me feel good thats where I rehabbed. Chris, my PT was incredible. Im afraid I wont find another like him. Feeling pretty blue tonight, wondering if I will continue to improve at home. Im also commiting to not smoke again. Being in rehab took option out of my hands. I am armed with my e cigarette and trying hard to not break down. Hubby smokes so its super hard but im doing it! Just overall...a tough first night home.

 

[boydmom]

Hey Luisa, this is boydmom, Geunita your long lost twin. I had wondered about the unusual post, but just let it go. Our coloring is similar and are short colors really are. I am 53 too. I hope your first night at home is good. It is a little scary doing it on your own, but it it is also nice to get some control back. My rehab was great, but there were the little things like control over my meds, and getting my blood pressure taken every morning at 6:00, that made me want to be at home. I missed my dog too. Good luck tonight.

 

[Lmarshall]

Hi Geunita! You are so right about it being scary out here. I didnt like not having control but part of me is worried I may not do as well at home. Could just be my nerves, my bles, or getting used to not smoking at home.. I havent smoked obviously since in the hospital and I am really doing my best not to go back. I hope tomorrow seems brighter than tonight...feeling melancholy or something :(

 

[gidem]

It must be a bit daunting to go from the safety of a hospital/rehab to home. It must suddenly seem so quiet. Just drink in the peaceful atmosphere and you'll find the "familiar" - comforting. I know you do fine.
Welcome home!

 

[suzyblue]

Hi Luisa, glad to hear you are doing well, you will be fine at home I have been home since day 4 and all is good, I just continued to do all my exercises at home and are getting around fine.
Keep up the good work.

 

[Dulcimer Diva]

I was soooo glad to go home last year--2 hrs. after getting dropped off & set up, I got bored, called a taxi and went off to thee Old Town School of Folk Music for my monthly songwriter circle. Had to borrow a guitar (had to keep one hand free for the banister and the other for my cane) and keep my leg propped, but I did it. The rehab facility I was in last year was primarily for the elderly, some of whom were cognitively impaired and some hospice patients. The food was horrific, like prison food (and I can tell you a bit about prison food, having volunteered writing habeas petitions at a Federal pen. as a law student and then having to do hearings as an IL Atty. Gen. at Stateville prison--I don't know what was worse, the near-strip searches or the food). The nurses' aides weren't CNAs and at night they were few & far between. Meals had to be taken in your room unless you could carry a tray in the buffet-style cafeteria. Small gym with little equipment--the big gym was for outpatients only. The only way I'm going back to that place is either as a visitor or a paid entertainer.

But this place--Alden North Shore? It's like a extended-stay hotel/luxury college dorm with all amenities included plus physical therapy, nurses, meds, and activities. The only reason not to go to the dining room for meals is if you don't feel well or don't want to get dressed early in the morning and socialize--so this "night owl" gets breakfast in bed. My therapists are great--OT pushes me only as far as I want her to and has a wicked sense of humor; my OT is doing a great job of strengthening my upper body and working on my balance. (Got the ADLs down pat--but I still need to demonstrate I can safely boil water or microwave something before she'll certify I'm ready to go home). As much as I miss my family, three kitties, kitchen and deck (and MSNBC) I'm not ready to leave--and tomorrow's the day I find out if my insurance will let me have the full 2 weeks or kick me out on Tues. or Wed. Every time someone "graduates" to home we feel like we've lost a friend--and more often than not we trade contact info to stay in touch in the real world. I'll tell ya--I wouldn't mind not having my vitals taken constantly or my day starting so early, but I'm a tad apprehensive about coordinating my meds (not just "AM/bedtime" any more) and figuring out my warfarin diet on my own. Would be nice for me to call the shots as to when my visiting PT arrives, but I'm bound by their schedule. And it's nice to have my meals served on elegant china--at home I'll have to eat it where I cook it. All in all I will miss this place.

But I hear you about the smoking. I've never smoked, but my son did for 12 years and my husband has a few cigs every night out on the deck or porch. Can't stomach the smell of cigarette smoke, nor its residue on hair & clothing (both mine & the smoker's). My singing partner, who has smoked for 50 years, is using nicotine inhalers prescribed by his quit-smoking counselor (more accurately, the counselor's supervising shrink) as well as electronic cigarettes. No smell, he still gets his nicotine (in gradually declining amts.) and nobody gets the tars. He doesn't have to go outdoors to "smoke" and it still feels like the real thing to him. And I don't have to sit next to someone who smells like an ashtray for 500 miles a day! You quit while in rehab--if you're having trouble staying smoke-free at home, you & your husband might want to go this route. It'll be easier on you, and your husband won't have to feel like he's being deprived. My singing partner is urging my husband to try it. (My son is now fine with chomping celery or carrots instead of smoking).

 

[Lmarshall]

Diva, that is exactly like I feel about the rehab I was in. For the most part, a lovely place, really nice people, had a roomate with the same surgery as I, and the food was really good. I joked with hubby all the time that I was eating better than he was! Lol

I have been on the patch while in rehab and now using an e cig, but not loving it. I will try a new brand I heard tastes similar to my old brand to see if it helps.

Thanks for the support all....day 2 home should be a bit better...feeling an upswing to my mood.