TKR luvcats recovery box

[luvcats]

And I have to say that Virginians(Tidewater, anyway) in my opinion come as close as probably possible in our patch of North America to the Canadian outlook . Take a bow.

That may be true, but I don't really live in 'real' Virginia. I live up in what is called the "DMV" which means DC-Maryland-Virginia. Mostly the DMV is one giant suburb of DC in many ways. The population is very different from the rest of VA and it's a lot more liberal up here. I think we've lost much of the southern charm we should have.

I did not see that article about yellow cars. How lovely. I actually live in Alexandria, although not in the quaint old town. It is a pretty good place to live.

@Carole4815 I think you not needing so many frozen meals has more to do with your attentive Sweetie happy to bring you lovely things. My Beloved mostly has to work and isn't much of a cook, so I'm really glad I made what I did, and I probably should have made a few more.
I recently tried to interest my grandmother of 86 in watching things on YouTube. If you can't find something of interest to listen to on YouTube, especially if you search TED talks, you should have someone check to see if you are actually dead. lol
I am not usually one for TV, I prefer to read. But my brain will not focus long enough for a good real book. I drift to much and can't keep things straight, which is normally never a problem. Streaming TV and Movies lets me drift more. My watch list is very eclectic.

@Ladyala I've been dosing the itch with a little otc hydrocortisone to keep me from scratching. I was waking myself up in the middle of the night scratching my leg until it hurt, so I was desperate. I really hope taking the staples out will help things.

Being highly sensitive is a difficult life path. But I think it increases what we have to give, even if it means we need stronger boundaries than most. I can't imagine having to mediate among squabbling siblings. All siblings are by definition squabbling in the teen years I think!

 

[luvcats]

It is just like me to renew my membership in the ODIC as soon as possible.

Yesterday I thought it would be good to practice for today while I had Beloved's full attention. I went downstairs when I got hungry for lunch. My practice paid off, the stairs are not a problem, although I can still feel stiffness in July as I hit the maximum bend.

We figured out how I can get myself out of my recliner. This is where the weakness in my left leg is an issue. It is difficult to know exactly how much I'm using the new knee until its already engaged and it's too late.

I made my own lunch. Where 'made' means ordered takeout and put it on a plate by myself. But I also put away several days worth of leftovers, and I'm pretty sure that is where I crossed the very faint overdo line.

Oops. Bother.
I also spent longer sitting in my recliner that doesnt elevate my leg high enough for longer than I should have. I just felt so good to be in normal for a little while.

But last night newbie ached and twitched in the best ODIC fashion. Good thing I still have plenty of drugs. I got decent sleep, although really weird dreams.

Just for kicks, I went back through the early days in this journal to see when I started doing more. The difference between Monday and Wednesday makes a difference. Last time it was day 11 before I tried to do things and day 15 before I tried managing my lunches. Today is only day 12. I think those extra days will make a significant difference.

So today I will need to rethink how long I stay downstairs. I will need to get my own lunch, but I can prepare more sitting in my chair. I may eat and come right back up.

PT comes this morning. My leg is super extra swollen and sore, so we shall see what I really do.

Homecare nurse is supposed to come and take out the staples. I am very ready for that. I'm still very itchy.

 

[marieltha]

Newbie is a cute name for the newbie

 

[Carole4815]

It is just like me to renew my membership in the ODIC as soon as possible.

How crummy. We have all done that from time to time, but it is so discouraging when it happens.

Yesterday I thought it would be good to practice for today while I had Beloved's full attention. I went downstairs when I got hungry for lunch. My practice paid off, the stairs are not a problem, although I can still feel stiffness in July as I hit the maximum bend.

That's wonderful! You should definitely pat yourself on the back for navigating the stairs without a problem. I would take it for granted that July would protest the bending a little bit. Still, I am envisioning you sailing down the stairs with relative ease, although I'm sure it probably feels a little more difficult than that. I am in week 5 and still haven't even tried stairs because I don't have any to try. I do step up onto or off of a curb between the street and sidewalk when necessary.

We figured out how I can get myself out of my recliner. This is where the weakness in my left leg is an issue. It is difficult to know exactly how much I'm using the new knee until its already engaged and it's too late.

Eek. That sounds tough and I can't imagine how you can do it, but I am glad you can.

I made my own lunch. Where 'made' means ordered takeout and put it on a plate by myself. But I also put away several days worth of leftovers, and I'm pretty sure that is where I crossed the very faint overdo line.

This is what my retired sweetie has been doing for me. He goes to get take-out for lunch (only), and brings it to me on a plate. I'm on my own for dinner but at least I always get a reasonably nutritious lunch. These days I feel able to go to the restaurant for lunch about 1/3 to 1/2 the time which we enjoy.

Watch out for that overdo line! It just never seems to make sense where it is. For me, at first, it was somewhere between putting laundry in the wash and transferring it to the dryer. Now that some time has passed I can do all of that at once, but wow, you wouldn't think that transferring a small load of laundry to the dryer would ever be overdoing! My knee said it was (at that time).

Oops. Bother.
I also spent longer sitting in my recliner that doesnt elevate my leg high enough for longer than I should have. I just felt so good to be in normal for a little while.

To me normal is worth it, and it may have been for you too. We need to nurture our mental well being along with the physical IMO.

But last night newbie ached and twitched in the best ODIC fashion. Good thing I still have plenty of drugs. I got decent sleep, although really weird dreams.

As long as they weren't dreams about knees....

Just for kicks, I went back through the early days in this journal to see when I started doing more. The difference between Monday and Wednesday makes a difference. Last time it was day 11 before I tried to do things and day 15 before I tried managing my lunches. Today is only day 12. I think those extra days will make a significant difference.

That is TERRIFIC!

So today I will need to rethink how long I stay downstairs. I will need to get my own lunch, but I can prepare more sitting in my chair. I may eat and come right back up.

PT comes this morning. My leg is super extra swollen and sore, so we shall see what I really do.

Homecare nurse is supposed to come and take out the staples. I am very ready for that. I'm still very itchy.

Ugh, I must say I don't miss having PT and Homecare nurse dropping by.

Your recovery from the #2 TKR is going wonderfully! Terrific progress, whether it seems like it or not from your point of view. But you seem to be doing better and better. I am so happy to read about it which is why I felt the need to respond to your whole post.

 

[luvcats]

That didnt go nearly so well. Last time when my staples came out everything was nice and sealed. This time the skin was very puffy around the staples from irritation, so they needed to come out, but there was a little bleeding and it is definitely not beautifully healed.

The homecare nurse applied what steri strips she had, and then dressed it for overnight and I'll be calling for an urgent appointment tomorrow when they open. Sigh.

I am not happy about this. It makes me very nervous.

 

[Carole4815]

Oh my! I am sure it will be OK until the morning, but still, that's so unnerving. I had heard that if the skin grows over the staples, there can be some bleeding when the staples are removed. Maybe that is what happened. Hoping for the best.

 

[luvcats]

No, I had that happen last time, where the little staple holes bled. This is definitely an incision that is not sealed.

I'm just glad it only happened after hours and not on a Friday! Lol

 

[Carole4815]

That sounds serious! If it starts bleeding a lot, you might want your Beloved to take you to the Emergency Room. I hope he can be with you until morning and does not have to be away at work or something. Take care. I am hoping for the best.

 

[luvcats]

No, just a little seeping. I'm confident it will be ok until morning. Emergency might not know enough about what they are seeing.

 

[Carole4815]

Well, just as long as you are not losing too much blood then waiting does sound best. It's hard to tell exactly what is going on, from the internet; you know how that is. Sorry if I over-reacted!

 

[luvcats]

Dont be silly! Its wonderful to have new friends who really care and also know exactly what I am experiencing.

I expect I am also over reacting. I used my usual app to send pics, and the doctor wasnt nearly as concerned as the homecare nurse. She's the fussy sort, so she might be over reacting, but I dont know enough to have any judgement about it.

I am really terrible at waiting.

 

[Carole4815]

That's encouraging that the doctor wasn't too concerned! Wonderful idea to send him the pics.

Waiting is tough, but we bonesmarties are tougher. You'll get through this.

 

[Jockette]

I am really terrible at waiting.

 

[Ladyala]

Being highly sensitive is a difficult life path. But I think it increases what we have to give, even if it means we need stronger boundaries than most.

I wholeheartedly agree!! It can be rough but I wouldn't change it for anything. My hubby & I joke that I have all the empathy he only has a smidge of it. We definitely balance each other out in that way lol!!

I'm sorry you ended up on the ODIC & your staple removal didn't go so great. I hope you get a good night's sleep & all goes well with the dr tomorrow. Waiting is hard, I'm not great at it either.

 

[Didot]

Hope it settles overnight. It’s these small things that can really seem major with this process. Especially given we know so little about what to expect.


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[Celle]

That didnt go nearly so well. Last time when my staples came out everything was nice and sealed. This time the skin was very puffy around the staples from irritation, so they needed to come out, but there was a little bleeding and it is definitely not beautifully healed.

The homecare nurse applied what steri strips she had, and then dressed it for overnight and I'll be calling for an urgent appointment tomorrow when they open. Sigh.

I am not happy about this. It makes me very nervous.

I know it's disappointing that your skin incision isn't completely healed - that's probably due to the swelling - but there's no need to be nervous about it. All the layers of tissue beneath the skin are held together with sutures. your wound isn't going to burst open.
Closing surgical wounds: how is it done?

After my revision TKR, my leg was so swollen that the sutures in the upper three inches on my thigh came apart on Day 2 and the skin had to be re-sutured under local anaesthetic. Nothing bad happened and I now have a neat little scar that is just a little bit wider in that area.

 

[luvcats]

Thank you all for your support.
@Celle Thanks for sharing your story. That helps.

I wasn't too bothered until the nurse started making a really big deal. I figured steri-strips would do the job for a few more days and that would be fine. But she was dissatisfied with the number of strips she had available to her. She called the doctor's office and spoke to the on-call person who said I should come in tomorrow. But then the surgeon got my pictures and thought it was fine...

At this point, the nurse may have done more harm than good. She's got Beloved very concerned, and that's that. He won't be happy until we've seen someone live. With all the warnings we got about my extra infection risk because of my size on top of the life threatening post surgical abscess I got last winter, we aren't super rational on the subject.

Now I just have to manage until I can call the office at 9.

 

[Celle]

Just the few steristrips the nurse had would have done the job.
Ill never understand the US obsession with covering the entire length of an incision with steristrips. It's completely unnecessary.

 

[luvcats]

@Celle There is an awful lot that I dont understand about the way the US chooses to do things, and I was born here. Having lived in a number of other countries, I spend a lot of time shaking my head. And reading research from other countries.

 

[Celle]

There is an awful lot that I don't understand about the way the US chooses to do things, and I was born here.

I think much of it is done to cover themselves against litigation.