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TKR luvcats recovery box

I, on the other hand, whine copiously when it is below 60 degrees....I grew up in Iowa.
Cold and snow...dirty 4 letter words. Hot and wet....desirable items with fewer letters.
50 degrees...time to move closer to the Equator.
Pickleball at 7 pm at 98 degrees with 60-70% humidity.....YIPPEE! I am IN!
Hmm....I guess that is why I live in South Texas.
 
Ladies, this thread seems to be going off track a bit. Please can we remember that the main topic of the thread is luvcats' recovery, not your recoveries, not Florida, and not the weather?

There's a thread in the Social Room about weather.
 
@Pattikakes We are so looking forward to it. It's been a long time since we went.

@marieltha I take 'Tramadol 200 ER' which means 200 is the dose and ER is extended release throughout a 24 hour period so I only have to take it once.

@Poctdb I'm glad you love South Texas. Someone should and it definitely wasn't me! I had enough trouble with Houston and College Station, and frankly I moved as soon as the opportunity presented itself. I liked Albuquerque with an average humidity of about 20%. lol

@Celle I totally started it! lol. I was rhapsodizing about the lovely weekend and how it lured me into doing too much! I am really sensitive to weather systems. And I'm looking forward to my next recovering being during more temperate months so I might actually be able to get my walking in outside instead of doing laps in my living room.
 
My massage was as lovely as I hoped it would be. She loosed up things that were out of sorts from learning how to walk in a new way, not minding my posture with my new knitting project, and my shoulders which like to hold my stress and tension up around my ears to I can get to it later if I need it. All better!

I did get my prescription sorted out after a few more phone calls.
I was also able to pre-fill my post-surgery pain meds. A much more generous dosage than last time so I expect things to be much easier with better pain control. I just have to hope that I can get the hospital to authorize the same dosage.

Today I'll go have my hair washed. I'm hoping by the time it needs washing again I'll be able to stand long enough to go back to doing it myself.

Other than that, I have extensive plans to lay about with my leg in the air. The swelling is better after a few hours of serious elevation yesterday, but it's still more than I want and I believe I'll get out some ice as well. I had plans to get together with a friend but I had to cancel. I'm so tired. My outings over the weekend probably wouldn't have been too much on their own, but on top of prepping for the next round it was too much. I keep forgetting I have No Stamina.

I only have a very few more prep things to get done. Make a few more ice packs and put one more round of cooking into the freezer. And then some last minute laundry so we're as caught up as possible going in. 6 days to get all that done should be no problem.

Other wise, I'm looking at a restful long weekend.
 
I’m glad to hear the prep work is almost done for your new knee #2 next week. It’s exciting to think you’ll have them both done and will be feeling great soon. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers as you go into surgery. :flwrysmile:
 
You are so organized!! I was like ok I'm home...now what??
Although I did go into a laundry frenzy beforehand, now that I think about it. My kids got very frustrated with me hounding them for every last sock :heehee:
I hope it's all smooth sailing for you!!
 
@Steelergal Thank you!
@Ladyala My beloved takes excellent care of me, but nurturing does not come easily to him, and generally the household tasks are my responsibility. Everything I can do to make things easier for him benefits both of us.
Before the first surgery I was so stressed about the unknown that I did everything I could come up with, and everything I read about here to prepare in advance. This round I'm much calmer. lol


As planned, I did duck out and get my hair washed yesterday and pick up my meds for post surgery and then I went back to bed and put my leg up. I almost took a nap, but the fates were strongly against me. I was almost asleep when the cat came in and was needy. I sorted her out and was almost asleep when my phone rang. Sigh. Turn off the ringer. Drifting...drifting and then Beloved started in on a work call which wouldn't have bothered me if I'd been asleep, but at that point I just gave up. Obviously it was a cosmic plot. After lunch I spent an exciting afternoon in my recliner with an extra pillow under my leg. My recliner doesn't elevate quite enough, but it's much better than having my feet down.

Today is grocery day. As it is the Friday of a the Labor Day holiday weekend, the store will be insane and when I get home I'll be lucky to have enough energy to make lunch, let alone anything else.

I'm starting to be a bit down about the next surgery. In the long term, yes, it will be fantastic to have it done and be able to make real progress with PT and go back to exercising and gaining strength, and it's the last major hurdle before Disney! woohoo!

But in the short term, I am not excited about going back to pain and more exhaustion and basically going back 2 months. sigh. It must be done. I'll be glad when it's over.
 
Question for those who have had RTKR. About how long was it before you felt like you were up for driving? With the left all I needed was to be off the heavy narcotics. I know every knee and every person is different, but I'm looking for some basic idea.
 
@luvcats, I started driving at four weeks after surgery - just around town. I was still taking one Norco before bed but felt very able to navigate safely. Independence is a great thing!
 
It was seven weeks for me before I felt really comfortable to drive.
 
I drove a short distance around 7 weeks, but am really getting much more comfortable driving at 9 weeks

I made sure I was off daytime opiates before attempting to drive though

As you say....everyone is different!! X
 
I am going to ask my surgeon for guidance about when to start driving again, at my first post-op appointment with him next Wednesday. I am in the middle of my 3rd week, taking pain meds at bedtime only, but I don't feel quite ready for it yet if that helps. But maybe not too much longer. Luckily my sweetie is willing to drive me places.

I know what you mean about feeling down about the next surgery!! My surgeon is willing to do my left knee as soon as he and I think I'm ready. But right now the thought of going through all this again is less than appealing. I think that when my right knee has recovered more, so that I have confidence that it can at least bear my full weight, I'll be more enthusiastic about it.
 
My OS observed me in his office quickly and repeatedly move my right leg as though I were hitting the brake quickly. When I could do that to his satisfaction, he suggested I carefully practice (w another driver in the car) doing this in the car, first in the garage/driveway, then on a quiet, no kids street close to home. Sorry, but I cannot remember how long it took.
 
I drove at 7 weeks out. My first try, I took a friend with me just in case I felt unsafe, but I did fine.
 
@luvcats
My OS got all parental on me when I told him I was driving with the left leg at 11 days. (Arms crossed and frowning)

He said that studies show your braking speed is compromised regardless of the leg involved. He said 4 weeks was the earliest that driving should happen and he would rather have 6.
He left me with “If you drive before 4 weeks and have an accident, your insurance company will cancel you.”

I increased my following distance, and stuck to the neighborhood with no interstates and was fine....but I would have less confidence that early on a right knee.
 
Carole4815 said:
I am going to ask my surgeon for guidance about when to start driving again, at my first post-op appointment with him next Wednesday. I am in the middle of my 3rd week, taking pain meds at bedtime only, but I don't feel quite ready for it yet if that helps. But maybe not too much longer.
Click to expand...
I should have added, that my gut feeling is 4-6 weeks would be just right for me. I wouldn't want to drive on the Interstate or in heavy rush hour traffic after 4 weeks, but maybe just over to Walgreen's four or five blocks away in my quiet residential neighborhood.

But who knows? This is just guessing based on how I feel about it right now, at 17 days.

Also I don't yet know if my accelerator foot would twitch unacceptably or not, if I got a cramp or zinger.

And finally, I need more time as a passenger so that I can be looking at things far away; when I went outside for the first time on Tuesday, I noticed that my eyes aren't used to focusing on things far away any more after sitting in my den for almost three weeks.
marieltha said:
My OS observed me in his office quickly and repeatedly move my right leg as though I were hitting the brake quickly. When I could do that to his satisfaction, he suggested I carefully practice (w another driver in the car) doing this in the car, first in the garage/driveway, then on a quiet, no kids street close to home. Sorry, but I cannot remember how long it took.
Click to expand...
I love this OS's way of figuring out when marieltha is ready to drive! I'm going to try this in my driveway a few times before I ever go anyplace, and also back in and out of my driveway between the street and the garage a couple of times.
 
Thank you all for your responses about driving times. I will let Beloved know that six weeks seems likely for back roads driving, but we'll have to see how it goes. I already hate the freeway, so I'll probably be slower to take that back.

Carole4815 said:
I know what you mean about feeling down about the next surgery!! My surgeon is willing to do my left knee as soon as he and I think I'm ready. But right now the thought of going through all this again is less than appealing. I think that when my right knee has recovered more, so that I have confidence that it can at least bear my full weight, I'll be more enthusiastic about it.
Click to expand...
When we scheduled the second surgery it was based on the idea that on average, people are able to do most of their day to day tasks by 8 weeks. I'll be nine weeks tomorrow. I'm very glad I didn't go any earlier because I'm just now feeling confident doing stairs leading with the bionic knee. I'm glad I had plenty of time to practice and gain some strength. You had a whole extra level of challenges with your knee, so you'll likely want more time to get your leg back to good function before you tackle the next one. My left leg had completely forgotten how to do most of it's jobs, and it wasn't nearly as bad off as yours. On the other hand, you don't have the stair challenge in your living situation. It's all an adventure, right?

Yesterday I got the rest of my new ice packs ready and did a major shop. Other than last minute shopping for fresh things on Tuesday and keeping up with the laundry, my task list is about done. I hope to get a few more things in the freezer, but that comes from meals I was cooking anyway.

Now Beloved and I can have a nice relaxing long weekend before we dive into round 2. We are thinking a Romantic Comedy marathon in honor of our 20th anniversary, which will be Thursday when I'm in the hospital. Our real celebration will be at Disney!

I got my call from the hospital. My surgery check in is set for 11:30 on Wednesday. It's suddenly much more real.
 
@luvcats - I started driving at three weeks around town and then back to work driving the LA Freeways at four weeks. I haven't been on anything but Tylenol and ibuprofen since day 5, so the OS said I could drive whenever I felt strong enough, however it is usually 4-6 weeks. Though it doesn't hurt me to push on the pedals, the muscle that holds the foot in a flexed position gets sore which I think causes the knee to get a little mad. Plus, my seat position in the car has changed from my normal position to a more "extended" position while I work on my flexion. I am now coming up on six weeks and driving is getting a little easier by the day.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will be thinking about and praying for you next week!
 
Thank you @FitGal ! All prayers, blessings, good thoughts, and everything else gratefully accepted.

Pets always know. My Neeka, senior cat of the house, spent last night in my bed. This is not normal for her, usually she prefers her beds, or her daddy's office chair. But when something emotional is going on, she's always on our bed. She slept with me almost constantly during my first 2 weeks of the first recovery. Apparently she's on call for stress management already.

Yesterday we went out for a moderately nice dinner to mark our anniversary. 20 years. Completely unbelievable. Our actual anniversary is the day after surgery. And our real celebration will be at Disney. We talked about the importance of appreciating each other. It seemed appropriate after all the various surgeries we've both had.

Tonight is my first hibicleans shower. I dislike that stuff intensely.

In other good news, the swelling has finally let go of my left leg. Which caused me to realize I need to do more stretching of the calf and hamstrings now that my calf is a lot smaller in circumference. I can do that.

Unlike many people, I did not ever lose my appetite from the trauma or drugs. I was actually really disappointed. lol. Weight loss is an ongoing struggle and I'd hoped I'd get a bit of a boost from the surgeries. No such luck. We sturdy peasants aren't phased by such things. :giggle: It's been a struggle to not gain weight while I can't do my preferred water walking. If I'm lucky, now that the swelling has released another layer, I might be back to my pre-surgery weight just in time for this one.
 
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