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Revision TKR Never give up, keep trying, don't settle - that's me, Bonnie

Re: I am on the other side now friends!

I understand where you are at. I lost my 19 year old cat to a stroke 2 days before I had surgery...and then lost my niece's boyfriend in a atv accident 5 days after my surgery. My cat, I will miss and I am so glad she was in my life as long as she was. Mikey and Jhannin were going to get married this fall...I thought I was cried out with the cat but I have had a whole lot more with Mikey's passing. I say my prayers when the pain gets bad and just ask for strength for me and for all who have been affected by this. I figure at some point the tears will stop but until then I just always have a box of kleenex....If I wasn't supposed to cry, God would not have invented tears.
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Gabby, I would gladly take your hug! Everybody needs a hug sometime they are the best medicene. Waiting for my son now who will drive me to PT in a bit. I sure hope that I don't hurt as much as I did yesterday after PT! It is true, I am lonely I would love to be cuddling on this couch with Molly and my blanket, the emptiness in the house is the worst. I love dogs and I will always have one, there are many wonderful shelter dogs out there that need a good home so once I am able to take care of a new baby I will. Thank you for your kind words...when is your surgery?

Bonnie
RTKR
3/28/11
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Carousel66, that is very strange that we would have not only the state but the date in common of the passing of your Dad's! My Dad was a WWII Vet, his funeral/grave was/is up at the Willamette National Cementary. What part of Oregon are you in? I grew up there moved to Texas after I was married. My Mom and sister/brother in law live there, I visit several times a year...maybe one day we can meet!

Bonnie
RTKR 3/28/11
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Hi Bonnie,
I grew up in Beaverton
My dad is buried up at Skyline Memorial in the West Hills of Portland.
My dad was 79, he lost a battle to Cancer. I know live in Woodburn, just about 45 min away. I was lucky enough to spend the last 2 weeks of my dad's life up with my folks at their house, he was able to die in his home of 38 yrs.
it is a very very small world!
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Carousel66,
I was born and grew up in NE Portland, went to Grant High School. Later on my parents built a house in the West Hills , West Linn. My Dad loved that house and never wanted to leave...he got his wish, went to sleep at home with all the family around him and never woke up. I remembered what a pretty day July 29th was and thinking of how lucky he was as we all were to have him pass so peacefully at home on a beautiful sunny day! He would be very sad to see what I have been going through now, so I am glad at least that he does not need to be worrying about me now.

Take care, Bonnie
RTKR 3/28/11
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Bonnie,

I am so sorry for your loss! Our pets are part of our families and it is so hard to deal with losing them.

I hope that you can get your pain under control for your leg. It is hard when you are dealing with both physical and emotional pain at the same time!:console:
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

As you folks know, I do not have pictures of my wife and children hanging up behind my desk in my classroom; I have pictures of my dogs---both past and present. I love my dogs more than I like a lot of people!

I agree with Josephine and jerseychick; you are attempting to do too much, too soon. I know that you have run marathons and want to run them again; therefore, you will understand this analogy. This recovery is like a marathon---maybe perhaps an ultra-marathon. The more you do at this stage of the "race", the further behind you get. In track, you listen to your coaches about the pace of the race, etc. The same thing holds true here; please listen to what these wise ladies are telling you.

Rest; Ice; Elevate!!! Rest; Ice; Elevate!!!

The more you do now, the less your body will allow you to do tomorrow, and the greater the frustration rating.
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Bonnie, by now your pain is more manageable. But, I sometimes took my Oycodone 5/325 every three hours in that first two weeks--just so that I did not have that hour in between.

then, I did start taking a pill every two hours and that did the trick for me. I did not want to take a larger dose since i am sensitive to meds and did not want to be sleepy. (I was learning to knit while I was immobile and wanted to concentrate!!).

If your rom is anywhere near 90, just ditch that cpm. you will do enough exercise in pt that you will never need the stupid thing. They are just a waste anyway--you are better off doing ankle pumps and leg lifts on your own. Kelly
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Thanks Bonnie,
Funny coincidence my Dad collected canes. It started with "sword canes" and then evolved into this big collection of all kinds. With my issues I have to use a cane and I have been using his ( not the sword ones- hahaha). But sometimes I think did he know something I did not? He left me canes with fish on them, flowers on them, dragons, just weird... but maybe he knew I might need them. Also I think your Dad knew you where there. When I got to the hospital, my Dad was brain dead but his heart was still beating. I held his hand for hours, and I think he knew I was there, I think he squeezed my hand. On pain meds everything seemed so hard to comprehend. He called me the night before and told me he loved me. I said I loved him too, and I could not wait to see him in the morning... I don't know if he called to say goodbye.
Anyway, I know it is a painful recovery but it sounds like you are doing well. I did not get to 90 for months. Always athletic in my life before, getting nowhere with ROM did drive me crazy. But the first day the bike went all the way around, I was so happy. I felt like I really was moving forward. I hope you have a GREAT recovery.
Parla
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Bonny - from personal experience and from reading stories of others here, the PT challenge for people with athletic backgrounds is a unique challenge. Training for an event and PT BEFORE surgery are very much alike - you work hard and put strain on muscles and tendons and as long as you don't injure anything you GAIN. On the post side of surgery it is much different. On this side you are healing wounds. On this side you don't gain with pain and strain you LOSE. It is a difficult transition to make; I know it took me a while to get it. On this side you need to work smart not hard. Smart meaning finding a way to gain some flexibility but allowing tissues to heal and not cause inflamation. It is against all of previous experience and to make it worse most PT's and others don't understand your mindset going in. I don't know how many times I heard from people concerned about my recovery that they knew I would do well because they know I worked hard to train to be successful in athletic endeavors. Well I liked hearing that and I took it to heart. I did work hard and trained hard in PT pre-surgery and it helped immensly. I also did the same Post Surgery and it hurt my progress immensly. So I learned from this site and from my own knowlege of physiology that I was able to apply to this unique situation and learned to be smart on how I approached the recovery side. Just wanted to share this with you and hope you find the right path to gaining the function you desire.

Kurt
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

I promise everyone I am listening to you and I am not doing too much! I spend most of my day on the couch looking outside to the beautiful Spring we are having here. I know when you first met me, I was all about running...get better so I can run. Now all I want to do is get better and if running is still in my future I will find it again. All I want now is to be pain free. I'd like to go for a leisurely walk in the park where I used to run. I am not going back to work this school year, I am taking care of me instead. I need time to heal and mourn for my sweet Molly. I might have used the CPM just once this week on Monday morning and for only one hour, today is Thursday and I have not used it since. I have had formal physical therapy 3 times this week per doctors orders. I feel good at PT, I like being there, they remind me all of the time that this is a marathon...not a sprint!! On the PT days I have a lot of pain set in LATER in the day. This is how it did with PT after my scope surgery in November until I got over the hump. Last night I woke up in bed at about 11:30 pm, I had so much pain I just did not know what to do with myself so I just cried! Pain pills were supposed to be at 1:00 am, I stuck it out till 12:30 am then took them 30 minutes early. This morning I called in my pain pill refill to the pharmacy...I do have one refill. I wanted my husband to be able to pick it up after work today so that when I ran out tomorrow when I was home alone I would have them here otherwise I would have no way to get them. As result...I had to have a lecture from the pharmacist this morning. I guess she has never had her knee replaced and been up in the night crying with pain and no sleep! Anyway...lecture was done and my pills will be ready fr my husband to pick up after work! I expect to feel better over the weekend because I will have a 3 day rest from PT and my kids will probably come over and distract me! ;-)

Bonnie
RTKR 3/28/11
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Sorry to be so blunt but you need some combination of the following: stop PT, stop what you are doing at PT, increase your pain meds. Just my opinion.
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Take it easy---if you are going to PT three times a week, you need to rest the other days and every time in between. Let your body heal.

ruppbike has great points---this is not like training for an athletic event---this is the opposite. I used to play college football (decades ago) and I remember how hard we would work during the off-season and in-season, too.

"Smarter, not harder" is also what I tell my students---you need to listen to your body and pace yourself. Working too hard will not get you to the destination any sooner. If "mechanics is muscle memory", does it do anybody any good to work harder and do it wrong? You will get there, but you will get there when your knee allows you to, not through your work ethic.

Find your comfort zone and stay within it; the harder you work, the more behind you may get.

I would also call your ortho and see if he can prescribe something else for the pain if this is not working---you also may be simply doing too much, and your body may be attempting to tell you that.

Many of us athletes (I hesitate at using the word "former"--we still are) are like thoroughbreds who are trained and have the mindset to work hard all of the time. Heck, even now, when I get on my bike, I have a difficult time just riding at a nice, slow pace---I want to know how far, how fast, etc.

You have to fight through this idea and understand that you have to force yourself to relax and take it easy. Easy does it---i have used the term "marathon in the past, but that also brings to mind a race which is timed. This is more like a journey that has a definite destination, but you are traveling with the attitude that you will stop when you need to stop, rest when you need to rest, and move forward when you need to move forward; you will get to your destination, but nobody should be keeping track of the time involved.

This is like a sporting event where nobody keeps score!
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Well said Tim. Moderation and pacing ourselves in this driven goal orientated society is hard. But this is a healing time and we do need to let our bodies heal.

Bonnie listen to your body and you will hear what it needs. A good point was made about not agrivating the inflammation. The best thing you can do for your progress is to control your pain. Do not let anyone put you on a guilt trip about your pain meds. It is because of them that you are able to do your range of motion and PT. They will aide your progress and help you with the pain of the day and excersize.

Nights seem to be the worst but you have been up and down during the day and you still need pain medicine then too so you can rest and heal.

You mentioned a shelter dog. Once when I lost a special pet a new cat came here and moved in on me. I found out that it belonged down the street but they said they did not want him and told me to keep him. Sweet little Razzie taught me that a new pet is the best medicine for the heart. They are not the other pet but teach us love from a new little personality is special too. I hope you are able to soon welcome a new pet into your life. Maybe even an older dog that would be easier to handle would be a good fit. They certainly need homes too and often get passed by for a puppy.

Hope each day gets better for you physically and in your heart! Hugs to you.
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Seriously...did no one read what I said in my comment of 12:44 pm today? I said that all I am doing is spending my day laying on the couch, I am not going back to work, I am taking care of me. I am not off to the races, if I have gone to PT it is because my doctor has prescribed that for me 3x per week, that is my ONLY activity of the day on the days that I have it. Other than PT it is all rest!

Bonnie
RTKR 3/28/11
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Oh bless, Bonnie! Isn't it frustrating when people miss a post? I read it and saw that actually ruppbike had posted about the same time you did. I had no idea why the other two posted in the same vein.

I thought your pharmacist was an idiot! I'd have something to say if mine lectured me like that.
But it seems apparent your meds aren't quite doing the job. I can't remember what you are taking but they obviously need to be adjusted or even changed. This period is tough enough without ineffective pain meds.
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Josephine, at first it was 2 Oxycodon every 4 hours now I have Hydroco/Apap 7.5 - 500 Take one or two every 4 to 6 hours. I take 2 every 4 hours! My pain returns every 3 hours and takes 1 hour to start working.

Bonnie
RTKR 3/28/11
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Then it's not suiting you. Some drugs just don't work ons some people. I've known times in recovery when I've given a patient two lots of IV morphine and it never touched the pain by even one point.

Ask your surgeon (or better yet, your GP) if you can switch to something else. I found Tramadol was a very effective pain med (for me) especially when taken with acetaminophen. I would take between 50/150mg of Tram and 1,000mg of acetaminophen every 4 hours up to 4 times per 24hrs which is the limit for safety. I could often go 6 hours during the day but never during the night. I timed it to take the last dose about midnight but would have to take another at 4am. Night times are always worse and tragedy is, no-one knows why.
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Sorry for perhaps beating this drum too often and loudly on your thread Bonny. Maybe I am talking to myself as much as to you and others. I catch myself wanting to do more activity than I should and I say, "you can't, you just told others not to." I hope you get your pain meds setup so you can rest.
 
Re: I am on the other side now friends!

Rupp, you are a character! :th_heehee:
 
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