TKR One Year Update: problems cycling

[LoveGiants]

@KarriB - I hope Cutch digs out of his slump, he's a great player.

@Floridagal - The Masters!!! How fun! I really want to go to the Masters some year. That would be a blast.

That's Dakota, our golden doodle. She's a little over two years old and is our sweetie. She's a love bug—truly the sweetest dog I've ever had and a total Daddy's Girl . She went to the groomer Friday, but I still need to trim around her muzzle.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

Nice haircut, Dakota. I so miss playing softball, but my running days are long gone....I'm going to try to get back on my bike and be happy if I accomplish that! Nice hubby to take you out-I'm so glad you got an outing. You really are doing well; I don't think I went anywhere but the doctor for a month or longer after my TKR, and this time around it was a while too. Today was my first actual big outing as it was an hour plus to the RV place, and we were gone from 7:30 this morning until around 3:30 or so looking at trucks and trailers plus eating lunch/dinner at an actual restaurant. I wouldn't be surprised if you lap me in the not too distant future.

 

[KarriB]

Just going out for coffee or breakfast helps to feel normal.

 

[LoveGiants]

@lovetocookandsew - are you getting a camper? We had a Tab and took it to Utah and Colorado. I loved the quality, design, and overall fun of the camper, but it was too small so we sold it. I can spend *hours* at an RV dealer/show looking at everything. I love looking at space usage and design of campers and motorhomes. The retro styles are pretty cool.

I loved playing softball, but I could never run well because of my knees, even in middle school.

@KarriB - it sure did. We might go look at the new Fiat 124 this weekend just for fun. Yeah, we look at cars for fun (this funny little thing is driving a manua—love itl!! )


I got my cane today. I tried it and can tell that me knee and leg works harder with it than the walker. I'm not sure when I'll make the switch, but will use it around the house a bit. I'm trying to find the right balance of strengthening/moving forward and not doing too much.

My OS gave me a prescription for tramadol, so hopefully I won't be such a space cadet during the day. I'll use the Percocet at night.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

We are looking at RVs and trying to decide what works best for us in the long run. For the next few years we'll take it on vacations, but when my husband retires, we plan to take it all over the USA, so it needs to be big enough to live in, yet not too big to deal with. Because we don't have a truck, we are also looking at those. We looked at some used RVs, but they were used hard and put away wet, so it's likely we'll buy new. It's a pain to decide, but we'll figure it out eventually.
My OS gave me a time frame for transitioning from a walker to a cane to unassisted-what did yours have to say?

 

[KarriB]

I can't look at cars, I'd want to purchase a new car e every time I looked at one. I bought my 2003 Accord and didn't go into a car dealership until last June when I bought my Altima. I love looking at cars on the road though.

Somewhere in the library there is a chart on how to use Tramadol with Tylenol. I'll look for it and post the link.

 

[LoveGiants]

@lovetocookandsew - We'd love to travel a lot when we retire, too. A friend of mine has a 35' class A that she loves. Looks huge to me. My favorite trailers are Lance, so nicely made. Every used RV we saw at a dealer was a mess and nothing I'd want.

I haven't had a follow-up appointment with my OS. I'll have to check the documation to see if there's any info there.

@KarriB - I'm a car nut and corrupted my husband


I thought my nurse said to not take Tylenol, is that due to the baby aspirin? Or could I have misunderstood her and she said Advil (ibuprofen)? Can I take the Tylenol/tramadol combo during the day and a Percocet at night? I'll have to look that up. @Josephine - can you answer that for me? Thank you.

 

[newlybionic]

Here is the tramadol/Tylenol chart made by Josephine.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

We looked at class As and class Cs, plus trailers and 5th wheels. We love the 5th wheels, but also love the trailers we saw, so are not yet sure what we'll do. But we plan to buy a truck first that will haul both types, then get an RV. Because new trucks are expensive these days (although my husband would rather buy a slightly used newer truck that has low mileage, if we can ever find one), and the RV is also expensive, we won't make a hasty decision, but will take our time deciding. I'd go for a used trailer if we found one that was in really great shape, but that'll be hard to find, too. Since I always take really good care of my things, I really don't want someone's used and abused truck or RV. That's why we generally buy new cars rather than used. We did see the perfect 5th wheel yesterday; the price was in our wheelhouse, it was beautiful, the kitchen was huge and perfect, it had tons of space and storage and I think 3 or 4 sliders, and looked like a house. But it may be too large to store here. Lots to think about and decide.

I see my OS in about 3 weeks-I don't think a miracle will happen by then, although it'd be nice. If you don't have any info about walker/cane, etc, can you email him to ask? That's what I did since I didn't have that info in my paperwork and if he told me after my surgery, I sure didn't remember...lol.

 

[LoveGiants]

Here is the tramadol/Tylenol chart made by Josephine

Thank you! That will be very helpful.

 

[LoveGiants]

My friend has had a few RVs and said she'd opt for a bit shorter with more slide-outs for her next one. I can see how a 5th wheel would work well for you because they usually have the biggest kitchens and living rooms. I've seen some with islands! I wish we could store one here.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

I agree-I'd rather have one around 30 ft with at least 2 sliders. But we both really loved the 5th wheel that looks like a house and has tons of space. The kitchen was perfect and I think it has a large island. A large living room isn't that important to us as we rarely stay inside on vacation, although our favorite one has a huge living room. We'd use the awning and have an outdoor living room under it. We like to eat outside, sit by a campfire, go rafting, etc. But if we traveled for a year or more, we may like a large living room when the weather keeps us inside.

Do you have an appointment scheduled with your OS soon? I saw mine at 2 weeks and again at 6 weeks, then I see him again in 3 weeks, which will be just past 3 months. I'm glad you're able to step down to a less potent pain medicine. I had to stop all meds at 2 weeks this time, and had a rough go for a while. Luckily the pain I have now, while certainly not fun, isn't too bad. OTC pain relief takes away enough of the pain so I can deal with it most of the time. I seem to remember using Tramadol after my TKR at some point, but forget the details. I hope it works for you so you can avoid the stronger meds.

 

[Floridagal]

I've read that you use an assistive devise (cane, walker) when you can't walk normally without it. I am still using a cane when I do an outing for several reasons. It warns people to keep away from me. I know that when I get tired I tend to limp. If I am using the cane I can go much longer with no limp. It's important that you know how to properly use a cane - always hold it on the side opposite the TKR knee and move it with the knee, that is, when the TKR leg goes forward the cane goes forward. I hope this is the too much or the wrong information.

 

[LoveGiants]

Three weeks today!

It is very helpful to look at progress over time, not day-to-day. It's bending more than a week ago, not a whole lot more, but I'll take any progress. I notice it bends more when I'm sitting in a chair than when I'm on my back doing a heel-slide. I stretch it when sitting for a meal. I can really feel the stretch on the inside quad area. It's tight.

I'm able to use the cane around the house. I use the walker when getting up at night and first thing in the morning.

My leg around my knee gets very red when not iced for a bit. The steri-strips on the upper part of my incision came off, but the incision didn't look sealed (pulled a bit), so I put some more strips on, just to be safe. The PT who took the staples out was concerned that it wasn't sealed, so gave me some extra strips. I'm also feeling sore on the outside upper thighs, like someone kicked me. It's not bad, but noticeable.

My husband picked up the tramadol prescription last night. After doing some more reading, the percocet is the opiod combined with 325mg acetaminophen. I'm going to take two 8-hour release Tylenols at 6am and 2pm with my tramadol and take one percocet at 10pm and 2am. That seems to be working well for pain.


@lovetocookandsew - I have an appointment on the 19th. He wanted an appointment at four weeks out, but the fist available was for the 19th. His office has been great when requisition medication, so I'm sure they would be if I needed anything else. I've been very happy with them.

A trailer with comfortable living space will be important for bad weather. We're like you—love to eat outside and be outside, but there are times when it's raining or cold. We encountered that when we were in Colorado in the summer. Our camper's kitchen was outside under a clamshell and I remember making chili in a rainstorm and it was so fun!


Here's a photo of the camper, you can see how small it was! The Wrangler has a 3,500 tow rating, so small and light is necessary. Awesome little camper, tho.


@Floridagal - That makes a lot of sense. I don't want to develop bad walking habits. Your instructions match what I read online. I researched how to walk with a cane because I had no idea! I'm very happy with the cane I bought, per @dianehelen's recommendation. It's purple! and stands by itself, which can be handy.

I hope everyone is healing well today!

 

[dianehelen]

Oh @LoveGiants that is just SOOO CUTE!!!

We took a family vacation years ago,. when my son was about 17, so like 13 years ago. We rented a drive camper and toured Colorado and Utah, it was sooo fun to just drive our dwelling around and stop to cook, or eat, or sleep whenever we wanted. I LOVE Colorado...

So glad you like the Hurrycane, I find it very helpful and sturdy and and supportive.

Sounds like you are doing just great... keep it up!

 

[dianehelen]

always hold it on the side opposite the TKR knee

oh ya and to measure properly for cane height.. the handle should be just at your wrist when you are standing next to it

 

[TML]

@LoveGiants your 3-week checkup looks great! I found at 3 weeks that I could sit on the edge of my bed and dangle my legs. At first my knee was pretty stiff but the more I did it, the better it felt, and the more it helped me with my bend. It's now an instinct to dangle whenever I get out of bed. It helps steady me before standing. Keep up the good work!

 

[Floridagal]

I got excited when I saw your camper. I had a Little Guy but sold it for the Chinook. My brother liked my Little Guy so much he bought a Silver Shadow made by Little Guy. He has a small refrigerator in the back and loves it. He and his wife camp all over with it.

 

[LoveGiants]

@dianehelen - I fell in love with Colorado! It's gorgeous! Moab, Utah was fascinating. I wouldn't want to live there, but can't wait to go back, but not in August because hiking in 100° is a challenge. Thankfully that tiny little camper had a great AC unit.

I read about measuring height for the cane and have it set for barefoot and will check it when I wear shoes. Thanks for the tip! It's a new world for me.

@TML - I just started doing that, too. I find it hangs at closer to 90° than I can bed it doing a heel-slide. Thank you so much for your encouragement.

@Floridagal - That Little Guy was such a great little camper! It had maple cabinets and was incredibly well-made. The downsides is that it didn't have a bathroom, which was a challenge at 2am , especially when the campground toilet is down a rocky hill. The biggest problem was that the sleeping area was too short and I couldn't stretch out and sleep comfortably.

A shot of the inside (the aforementioned chili dinner):


Here it is outside of Aspen, Colorado:


Now I really want to get out and go camping!! Fun things to look forward to!

 

[dianehelen]

When we drive from Orlando to our beach house in St Pete Beach, we drive across I-4 and see this site. Its listed in some travel magazines as one of Americas odd interesting sites. Its sorta known as the Airstream Trailer Farm