TKR luvcats recovery box

Yay on the article!! I'm so happy for you...congratulations!

I got headaches on the single release Tramadol, which I was taking before my back surgery last summer. I hope you adjust to the switch quickly!!

How did the winter storm end up in your neck of the woods? We're still having mild and dry autumn, with 20 degree nights (but we had a very damp cool summer, which isn't normal for this part of Oregon!) I'm wondering how our winter will end up!?
 
Thanks all! Doing a lot more writing is one of the many things I'm looking forward to as I have more energy and chronic pain isn't sucking my life out.

Is anyone else cold? I mean unusually cold. I know the shift to winter is always hard, but this year the house is the same temperature as always, and I have all my same winter clothes, and I am constantly wearing a sweater indoors. I even made myself a not-hat to wear. I hate hats. Is it a post-surgery thing? Or one more way in which my expired warranty is making life complicated? lol

Yesterday I managed 30 minutes of pool walking! That was quite exciting. It's really weird though. With the pressure of the water around my leg, I could actually perceive it as my knee swelled a bit. That rubber band feeling. Interesting, but weird. My hip is sore today, but the knees seem fine.

The Tramadol taper is still annoying.

23 days to Disney.
 
Is anyone else cold? I mean unusually cold.
I bet your body is concentrating so much on healing those two knees, that you are more sensitive to the cold. Icing also makes you cold, too. I had my knee done in June. During my recovery it was in the 90s, but I had to go outside to get warm. Once I was able to cut back on my icing, I wasn't as cold, though still more than usual.
 
Is anyone else cold? I mean unusually cold.

I'm not usually cold, but definitely feeling it in my feet since surgery. I'm sure it's from icing so much, but my doc said that swelling in the knee can cause poor circulation. I was having issues with numbness in my foot for a few weeks. That's better, but both feet are colder than usual!
 
my doc said that swelling in the knee can cause poor circulation.
Thanks for passing that on. I'm not actually icing all that much these days, so that isn't it for me.
It's probably mostly systemic exhaustion.

Yesterday I wound up carrying more of the grocery bags than normal into the house. I think I was doing ok until one particularly heavy bag. That one was a mistake. I may be icing this afternoon.

But I still feel well enough to be helping with the holiday lights. Mostly I sit and straighten cords and double check everything is working, so it's not all that strenuous for me. I steady the ladder in the one place it's not quite stable. Nothing big.

I may finally be done with the pillows under September at night. I cut back to one about a week ago and that was working fine. Then last night I apparently kicked it out from under my leg. I'll try without again tonight.
 
I also have been colder than normal, however, I still ice throughout the day at least 4-5 times, so I just thought it was the icing. It could be that my back and knee are still using extra energy in this healing process!
 
Ok. I guess that was too much helping with holiday lights. Today is ow. There will be ice and tylenol.

But the front lights are up and they look really nice. We won't turn them on this early out front, unless someone else on the street does... Next weekend we'll put the light up on our back deck and start enjoying them right away.

The cold was really hard on them too. My whole life I've always worn skirts in every weather. I don't even own anything else. But I may need to take up wearing leggings underneath for another layer. My legs were so cold yesterday. For the first time in my life really. It's strange.

I love the lights, so the soreness today is definitely worth it.

I'm having a lot of trouble with headaches. Almost certainly from the tramadol taper. I'll be glad when my body gets used to this level. I really need to be off them so I know how my knee really feels about things.

I'm also having trouble with November. I am not emotionally ready for it to be Thanksgiving. Last thing I knew, it was June! lol
 
The cold was really hard on them too.
Beware of the really cold weather. I had an awful learning experience last winter. It got to -13 degrees and I had to go out and shovel some snow to make a pathway to my woodstove. I was out only about 30 minutes, but my new knee started to ache. After coming back in that thing hurt for at least 2 hours. Next time I'm going to wear lots of long johns under my pants!
 
I'm hearing there is even more reason to start a BS side business for those of us who knit!! We can knit leg warmers or just knee warmers and donate them to those of us in the colder climes!!! I haven't ever tried them, but I can start with a prototype that will be a grand experiment! :rotfl:

Kidding aside, I was out helping DH a couple of weekends ago and temps were single digits. I could have sworn that the coldness was coming from the inside out! That titanium seemed to get cold before my flesh and bones :what: I obviously moved inside quickly and didn't ice until things felt normal-ish!!!
 
@luvcats I totally get that we can't wrap our heads around November; I was hit with the Spine Surgery for July 1st in mid-June. I had my fall in the snow at the end of February and spent all that time in restless pain and fear about what I had done and when would it be fixed (could it be fixed?) Then July through October in a recovery mode for different body parts!!

Luckily, for us, Thanksgiving is just one of my daughters and one of my grandchildren (my daughter is auntie, as his mom and dad are working Thanksgiving night!) All the rest of my crew are at their in-laws or in the Navy, unable to leave at this time! So we are going to smoke a turkey breast and grab Costco potatoes and pumpkin pie!!! I'm not sure what to do with this time on my hands :whistle: Maybe more knitting!!
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We have started "staging" all of Christmas decorations as DH has always had a propensity for multiple lights and a nativity scene and a huge star of Bethlehem!! Today we have a large wreath we are putting up on the outside of our entrance to our log home, which is about 5 ft in diameter....so I will have to help! I may be saying 'ow' this evening too!?

I'm sorry to hear about the headaches! I wil PM you with something that has helped me.....with my headaches.

Happy Sunday and enjoy your lights!!
 
I was out only about 30 minutes, but my new knee started to ache. After coming back in that thing hurt for at least 2 hours.
Isn't it bizarre that being outside in the cold hurts, but icing when warm makes it feel better?
I'm definitely going to be looking into leggings.
We can knit leg warmers or just knee warmers and donate them to those of us in the colder climes!!! I haven't ever tried them, but I can start with a prototype that will be a grand experiment!
Brilliant business concept!! :loll:

Our family is all pretty far away. I'll pick up a few pre-cooked things at the store and we'll mostly ignore Thanksgiving this year.

I had a very off weekend. All my knitting went wrong. I didn't sleep well. September aches from too much light-hanging. I feel very out of sorts. I think because my year mark is coming up.

See, last year for my birthday, which is the 1st week in December, Beloved gave me his cold. Husbands are sharing like that. He got better. I got bronchitis. Which caused me to cough so much I developed a strangulated hernia. December 16 last year I had emergency hernia surgery in the middle of the night. A week in the hospital. In early January I was back in the hospital with a massive abscess, and then I got to stay longer to deal with the blood clot I got. 17 days in the hospital later I went home on IV antibiotics for a month. I had a plastic mesh used to repair the hernia and when those get infected, it's about like when a knee replacement gets infected. Very. Very. Bad. It was late March before I was released from the care of the infection specialist and my hernia surgeon. Then I took the advice of a lot of people I'd met through all that and found my OS and by April I had both knee surgeries scheduled and threw myself into preparations for them. Then July. Then September.

I think it's quite reasonable that my subconscious should be concerned about maybe having another crazy stressful year like that, even though it isn't really reasonable. I've had all the known issues fixed by now. Lizard brain is never interested in facts.

Beloved is also having a very stressful time on a work thing, and that adds to the stress in the household.

Thanks for listening to me whinge. I'm just having an off day. I feel particularly exhausted for no specific reason.

We have started "staging" all of Christmas decorations as DH has always had a propensity for multiple lights and a nativity scene and a huge star of Bethlehem!! Today we have a large wreath we are putting up on the outside of our entrance to our log home, which is about 5 ft in diameter....so I will have to help! I may be saying 'ow' this evening too!

I hope your light hanging went without incident and you are not on the OW list today! Our house in Colorado was particularly well configured for decorating and I always went all out. I do an adorable diorama with play-figures from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and a tiny decorated Xmas tree. Our current home isn't so well laid out so I do a lot less, but the tree takes up a big part of the empty space in our main family room and it doesn't really need anything else. We will put our tree up next weekend. It's...I hate to say fake. Manufactured. That means it can go up as early as we like and not be a fire hazard!

The bright colored lights help me through this dark, low energy time of year.

3 weeks to Disney!!! I'm just waiting to get close enough to figure out what to pack.
 
Isn't it bizarre that being outside in the cold hurts, but icing when warm makes it feel better?
I'm definitely going to be looking into leggings.
I thought that same thing. I iced for at least an hour at a time and it felt great! Not that cold from outside.
 
What a year you have had. And what great walking progress you have made since July!

I keep focusing on the “just body parts being fixed” mantra when I occasionally have that “what if” feeling or when the “am I really still doing/dealing with this” doubts creep in. Then I do something that stretches the legs and makes me feel stronger.

@Carole4815 also mentioned the mood shifts in recovery. Lots of uplifting replies in her thread.

And how can we all not be lightened in mood at the thought of you WALKING up on new knees to hug Minnie?
 
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I think it's quite reasonable that my subconscious should be concerned about maybe having another crazy stressful year like that, even though it isn't really reasonable. I've had all the known issues fixed by now. Lizard brain is never interested in facts.

Beloved is also having a very stressful time on a work thing, and that adds to the stress in the household.

Thanks for listening to me whinge. I'm just having an off day. I feel particularly exhausted for no specific reason.

I absolutely agree with the one year subconscious thing!!! I'm just at the 3 year mark that I mentioned in my thread. In 2016 I got hit with 3 health issues at once. I then went on to have several more surgeries, for a variety of things....my point is I was in a kind of a tail spin, worrying, whining, future guessing, that i was on my last leg! I honestly think part of this recovery has helped me get past that "anniversary" fear!

Never apologize for the off day...we are all human and have the peaks and valleys. I too am exhausted today...had a 7 hour night, so I'm not sure either...no specific reason!
 
My frustration with not being fixed yet led me to make several tactical errors in the ODIC and so now I'm definitely not fixed yet. oy.

I upped the resistance on the elliptical by 1, taking me up to 5. Pre-surgery I was at 15, which still isn't all that much, but just for comparison. And then yesterday I did 30 minutes in the pool, up from 25. I guess on top of lights this weekend, it all adds up.

Today is my last official PT. I will and won't miss it. It's been good to have the supervised challenge, and to do the same things each week and see how much improvement there has been. But it is exhausting and the timing has conflicted with something else I'd like to be doing, so I'll be able to go to that now.

I am so grateful for knitting. Otherwise I would definitely have lost my mind.
18 days to Disney.
 
I get the feelings about PT being finished, it is a time consuming endeavor! If it wasn't for my massages I would reconsider the time spent...on the other hand, I only have 3 sessions in December and I think I have to cancel one, so I am near the end also!
(I won't miss the December massage though :)!)

I have really been happy with my clinic, at this juncture though, I don't want it bothering my recovery and 2 weeks ago it did give me two nights of new night time pain....however there was no pain during the PT. I'm not sure if that was the culprit or not, regardless, I'm blaming the PT!

I had upped my recumbent bike a few weeks ago and had to move it down a few notches...Mrs. D wasn't ready for that yet!

Yes, the knitting is a great hobby to I & E with! This weekend I was working on a hat that has 4 color changes.... I was doing so well, then the most recent row I was on is off by one in the pattern. It takes so much concentration :sad: I just packed her up and said. Not today!!! I'm too tired to try this at night when I'm resting...So maybe Saturday I'll pick it up again!?

It'll be 17 days to Disney when you read this (I think, since you're 3 hours ahead of us on the W coast!)
 
My last PT appointment went very well. He had me do some stair training with a box, but no grab bar just to prove to myself that I can do curbs just fine. Which I absolutely can, as long as I don't overthink it. At least with July. September still has soreness in the quad muscles and isn't as strong. My goal is to start slowly and carefully alternating feet as I go up and down stairs. Not exactly 2-footing it, but something to work up to it.

The best thing was, I asked him if he thought I was ready to be released from PT if it were up to him and not insurance. And he said yes. He also said a number of lovely things about my progress and my diligence, which was nice to hear, since I know perfectly well that I haven't done nearly as much PT at home as I 'should'.

Thursday was the really big news though. On Thursday I needed to go to a shop in Old Town. Which is always crowded and usually has awful street parking. Which it did. I wound up having to park 2 blocks away. Old Town, as it implies, is the historic district and the parking I found was off a street where the sidewalk is the original brick paving so it's very uneven and not at all flat where tree roots and subsidence has made it buckle or fall. So I grabbed my cane, just to be careful, and I parked where I could, and I walked 2 uneven blocks to where I needed to be. And then I walked back, very carefully.

AND I WAS FINE!!!!!!!

It has been at least 5 years since I could walk 4 blocks without misery. I wasn't even extra sore the next day, although I had skipped the pool in favor of this errand. I can walk!!! It was emotionally a very huge moment.

About 2 years ago we got to go to Universal Studios in FL. The whole trip was about going to see the Harry Potter exhibits. I was in a scooter, but getting to the scooter had been a nightmare involving a very rickety wheel chair that I eventually got up and used as a walker because it was so annoying. And once I got to the scooter, I only got up for a meal and bathroom trips. I didn't go into any of the stores or rides. It was still a fun trip, and any fan should go see it because the theming is spectacular,
but I was definitely confined to my chair.

Disney departure is in 2 weeks!!! This time in 2 weeks I'll be in the airport waiting for our flight. We've been watching YouTube videos about the parks to get ourselves really in the mood. And I realized I'd be able to get up out of my scooter and go in all the stores. And the restaurants. And I'll get to see all the theming. And if the lines aren't too long, I could even see the line-theming on some of the rides. I will be careful not to over-do to the best of my ability, but I am so very, very excited. This is going to be the best possible way to celebrate my knew knees!
 
Oh @luvcats what a fantastically splendid report on progress and achievements!! Especially to hear there were no repercussions the next day after your Old Town visit! I am very happy for you.

I can't believe it's only 2 weeks for your trip!! Where has all this time gone?? PT is behind you and you will be packing soon.

Enjoy this Thanksgiving week....
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I believe you mentioned that it was low key for you??
For the first time, in forever, it is only 4 of us, our oldest grandson and his aunt (our daughter from Seattle, but not his mom or dad as they're working!) I'm actually looking forward to this!!

More Christmas decorations over the week/weekend.
 
"AND I WAS FINE..."

@luvcats Congratulations! :yes!:

Glad you took your cane, was safe and enjoyed yourself! Great proving ground, so to speak for Disney prep.
 
I can walk!!! It was emotionally a very huge moment.
Honestly, it was emotional reading about this—in a wonderful way! Congratulations!
And walking those uneven streets! I love Old Town, but not those streets, so I appreciate what an achievement this is.
Disney is so close that the spirit (spirits?) of Mickie and Minnie will be at your Thanksgiving table with you!
 

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