Bilateral TKR Nothing is Going to Stop Me Now!

[SuperSnapper]

Just popping into the metric discussion. Here in the UK we still think in lbs and ounces - at least most older people but we measure in grams and kilos now. We still do our body weight in stones and lbs though. We measure in miles but just 26 miles away over the Channel, it's all kilometres. The children in school measure length in metres and centimetres and then they come home and hear people refer to a person's height in feet and inches! It's nuts!

At least our money is metric! Are horses still sold in guineas? Yup and that's £1 and 5p. I did say it was nuts!

 

[vinny]

Going for a PT session this morning as I have not been for 2 months...I want to make certain I am on the right track......I am a fan of kilos as it sounds so much better to be 92 kilos instead of 202 lbs....

Vinny

 

[vinny]

@SuperSnapper and @ljrfrm and I like stones even more...14.4stone now we are talking!

 

[ljrfrm]

@vinny LOL on the weight!! I wonder how many stones I gained from this surgery? @SuperSnapper Sounds SO confusing! I hadn't realized you measure in miles!

 

[SuperSnapper]

@ljrfrm And when horses race we measure the amount they run in miles or the lead by the length of a horse

Nose
Short head
Head
Short neck
Neck
Half a length
Three-quarters of a length
One length

or any of the descriptions above!

 

[Threads]

@vinny - you are right, that's one you have to be reeeeeally careful with . Canada is such a mix of both the Imperial system and the Metric system, it's ludicrous! We were in the process of as complete conversion as possible and the U.S. was heading that way as well. All it took was two elections - one on each side of the border to put a kibosh on the process. We were farther down the path, so we ended up with a crazy mix. However, the grandchildren are taught totally in metric and our children were as well - but they grew up having a foot in each world. A lot of cars sold in Canada have kilometres in large numbers around the speedometer, with miles in smaller numbers. So, crossing the border makes the switch easier.

Glad to read you're out on the golf course - life is looking good for you!

Just read further down the thread and saw that you were headed for PT today. I'm sure they will have a crown ready for you as the king of BTKR recovery! Give us a report please to let us know what's possible!

 

[Threads]

@SuperSnapper - it is nuts! You're as mixed up as we are. You have the additional measurements that we don't have like your gas oven temperature. If I see a recipe and it calls for Gas Mark 4 - I have to find a converter to tell what that temperature is! I'm winding a warp for my loom at the moment - it's measured in yards and epi (ends per inch) because my warping mill was made for the NA market. However, when it meets my loom, which is Dutch and therefore metric, I have to do some conversions so that the cloth I weave will turn out the way I want it to.

I love your description of the horse race - I guess that probably where a photo finish first came into use! You'd need it for a short head!

 

[Threads]

I think I'll go for stones as well - sounds heavier and lighter at the same time, I'll take the lower numbers any day. Especially now that my appetite has returned :-(

 

[Threads]

@ljrfrm - did you get your snow day? I hope that your OS can give you some answers or send you in a direction where you can find them. I know my OS is a brilliant surgeon but I wonder how much he actually knows about the recovery process when it isn't book perfect and especially when it doesn't relate to the surgical site directly. Sort of like a GP when it comes to nutrition - I would never go to mine for advice on diet, that's how I ended up going to my naturopath.

I thought the relation of cycling to IT Bands interesting and worth a shot. Have you started drawing up the plans for your pool yet?

Be kind to yourself and up close and personal with your recliner until you can get advice from him.

 

[vinny]

@ljrfrm And when horses race we measure the amount they run in miles or the lead by the length of a horse

Nose
Short head
Head
Short neck
Neck
Half a length
Three-quarters of a length
One length

or any of the descriptions above!

Yes @Threads and @ljrfrm and @SuperSnapper and they run Furlongs whatever a furlong is

 

[ljrfrm]

@Threads Schools were closed today but I was supposed to report at noon. I had planned to take the afternoon off anyways because I have the oven repairman here now (Hallelujah!) so I ended up getting the whole day home. I just enjoy my recliner for awhile!! I considered going to the gym - but went out and shoveled snow instead. I took it easy but did it all myself. Granted we didn't get too much - but at least I did it and got some exercise. My knees feel about the same so I think I'll survive.

I am making plans for my pool now - if you have a spare water treadmill, please send it my way!!

 

[ljrfrm]

Yes @Threads and @ljrfrm and @SuperSnapper and they run Furlongs whatever a furlong is

I think that's a long haired dog or cat??

 

[SuperSnapper]

How's this for confusion!!!!!!!

"A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, or 10 chains. Using the internationally accepted conversion ratio that one inch equals exactly 25.4 millimetres, one furlong is 201.168 metres"

And horses are still measured in hands!

My head hurts after all that - just glad it's not my knee! In fact my knee is wonderful at the moment not quite sure what I have done to deserve it! Housework this morning, sitting at a desk all afternoon, out to a meeting tonight for 2 hours and it feels great. It's just the rest of me that's tired out.

Happy sleep everyone.

 

[vinny]

Ah..it's crystal clear to me now....

Vinny

 

[Threads]

@SuperSnapper - oh wise one of all things weird and wonderful in the measurement world - who's hand is used as a standard for measuring horses?????

I should have added, from now on I will measure my walks in furlongs - sure to impress others when I tell them how long I've walked!

 

[SuperSnapper]

I think it was any old man! Just an average man whose hand was about 4 inches across. So horses are measured from foot to wither by moving the hand up and counting the hands. Not very exact. My knowledge comes from a horse mad girlhood. Pretty sad really as I read everything I could find but my parents never had the money for a horse or even lessons. I've only ever been on a horse twice.

Funnily enough, my niece is married to a lovely man who trains horse for a living. She is an excellent rider too and helps with the training so I kind of keep in touch with National Hunt racing a bit through her but I never win anything! My great niece, her daughter, is living the life I would have liked. She got her first pony when she was 2!

 

[Threads]

Well, Mary @SuperSnapper, what's stopping you now! Add horse riding lessons onto your Bucket list and away you go. You could plan a real western Canadian adventure - horse back riding in the Rockies and camping along the way! You could sleep under the stars, build a campfire and cook a meal on it and then sit under the stars and play your guitar until it's time to climb into your sleeping bag. Of course, if you don't play the guitar, you'll have to learn that too
A bit of a different adventure than your Bodensee bike trip.

 

[SuperSnapper]

Gosh! I did think about riding lessons some time ago but never did anything about it. Hmmmnnn... Food for thought there.

But the guitar ... nope. Not musical at all. I tried to learn the piano. It was a disaster. I joined a choir. That wasn't much better either. I am also rubbish at pastry and my Yorkshire puddings always sink!

 

[PuppyLove]

I know I'm joining the conversation a bit late, but although we weigh ourselves in lbs, for medication calculations we use kilos, and some of the micro preemies I worked with were weighed in just grams!

Thanks for all the encouragement about work. I was just offered a FT position as a hospice nurse with a very small company. The hours are supposed to be very flexible, and I think I'll get along well with the other nurse. I'll also get to do some marketing work ( my "first" degree from college). I feel really good about it, and I hope it works out!

My knees have been really noisy this week, and a bit more achey ( due to weather?). I've also had what seems to be RLS at night. I'm down to just taking Motrin occasionally. I should admit at this time that I've slacked off on exercising lately, unless laundry and home DIY count! I was hanging new bedroom doors and learned how to route doors for hinges, and also learned that using a wood chisel is not one of my talents. Thank goodness my hubby is multitalented!

 

[Threads]

Congratulations, Chris @PuppyLove on your new job! It sounds perfect and fits in with what you were looking for plus a bonus of being able to use your other skills. (and I don't mean hanging doors ) It takes a very special person to be able to work with the beginning and the end of life - I admire you immensely for being able to do it. I couldn't, I've gone through it too often with friends and as being the only one available for our elders when their time came. My SIL's sister is a specialist with preemies in a large hospital and loves her job.

Sorry to hear about what you suspect is RLS. I've had that for years and hoped it would disappear after surgery. No such luck. However, if you have a health food store nearby that carries some health care products, you might be able to find Restful Legs by Hyland's. It's a homeopathic remedy and was recommended to me by a friend years ago. It really works for me. I brought some into rehab and they had to run it by the pharmacist to see if I was allowed to keep it, I was ;-) Actually, I order it online now to save a few cents. I just Googled it and you can order it on Amazon.com and it looks like Walmart might carrNothing else touches my RLS - not even oxycodone when I was on it - I thought that interesting. I'm off everything now except Tylenol, so we seem to be doing well.

I'm still going to the pool, this week I went 3 times. I don't need it for my ROM but I guess prior to surgery some of my hip muscles got tensed up and now need the work. I also have to get my quads stronger. How are you on stairs? I'm not there yet, especially coming down. I went downtown today to have tea with former colleagues and one of them commented right away that I was walking straight and not limping anymore. She hadn't seen me since the surgery. That's always a good comment to hear!

Right now my left leg from the knee down constantly aches. I'm hoping that's just a phase I'm going through.

Good to hear from you, Chris, with such good news!