Become an Insider

TKR Pheebs52 Recovery Discovery Journey May 22

Oh, that condo sounds amazing! And you can walk to Main Street, too. With a coffee shop. :roseshwr:

When I read what you wrote about your landscaper, I thought he probably was working his knees hard. What landscaper doesn't? That's a lot of walking, and probably lots else. It's good to hear he's getting better, but I'm sure his long hours and hard work have slowed his recovery.

Tell Mistah there will be no more vertigo! You and he must be healthy so you can enjoy the first next stage of your HEA.
 
Did I miss something? Where did you eventually decide on? Last time I noticed you were considering more than one state, weren't you?
 
Welcome Back! I was reading some articles about Medicare in the latest AARP magazine - stressful to read about all the options and decisions and I still have a few years before I have to sign up. I'm thinking that preparing for, and navigating, retirement will be a full time job - HA! I hope all will be good with getting the second knee done - will you be on Medicare then? Vertigo - ulk; DW gets it occasionally and it is debilitating - I have had to assist her with the Epley maneuver. Congrats on the condo decision - sounds delightful! And a good plan to get some assistance with the purchasing - hope all goes smoothly throughout the process. I've been a bit swollen and stiff lately - as I turned the corner some headwind to slow me down a bit, I expect. I worked it harder last Thursday to break my 10 mile time in spin class - I can't control my inner competitiveness I guess. That combined with a lot of outdoor preparation for winter aggravated the knee. Feels better today though. Your landscaper reminds us that this is indeed a long journey :bored:.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Congrats on making the real estate decision. I think the condo sounds amazing and the walks through the woods will be great! Here's to a positive outcome and good health!
 
Just stopping in, I love reading your recovery thread @Pheebs52! I am curious too where did you decide to buy at? I love your TKR Tough shirt, you look lovely in the photo :)
 
Thanks guyz! If all goes well, we are moving to Bethlehem, NH, which is quite far North, surrounded by The White Mountains. It's gorgeous, the town is adorable, and it's close to my family members and one set of lifelong friends. It also has good proximity to a decent little hospital, about 5 miles down the road. I've already checked their services and they cover every health issue I've had in the last 10 years, lol. There is good shopping in the vicinity of the hospital and even better shopping an hour down a scenic road. So, it's convenient despite being "In the Woods," so to speak.

@kmak81230, I had been grazing through all the Medicare stuff for the last 6 months or so, but when it's time to bite the bullet, you really need an entire bottle of Tylenol and perhaps an adult beverage or two. In this area, there are just too many choices, many of which seem similar, but on further research, are not. Why the offerings are different from state to state is beyond me. Why we need so many offerings (over 100 here) is beyond me. The bottom line is really medications; which are covered and which are not. Of course, all of this is subject to change, hopefully for the better, but, who knows? And yes, Knee#2 would be done under Medicare. I would not have that done at the little hospital up north despite them having an Ortho Dept. I would either come back here and have the same surgeon or go to Dartmouth-Hitchcock in NH, a state of the art, Level One Trauma Center affiliated with Dartmouth College and with a great reputation. It's about 90 minutes south of where I'd be living, so do-able.

Geez, I'm really sorry to hear about the return of your pesky knee pain, but as you said, it's probably just been overworked. Or, the moon was full or you slept *wrong*....right? Mine was also a bit covfefe most of last week, but it improved a lot on Sunday (no idea why) and so far, it's remained relatively *happy.*

@SusieShoes, yes, the landscaper spends many long hours on his feet on all kinds of terrain. I'm certain he has overworked that knee from the beginning and it sounds to me as though he also had very aggressive PT.

There's a coffee shop, two restaurants and a bakery with homemade donuts, 3 antique stores, a community theatre, and the Post Office all within walking distance. .....uh-oh on the donuts, eh? Naturally, I tried the donuts and they were divine.:)

I agree, no more vertigo or any other nasty medical surprises for at least a year, right? He was really down for the count, so for once, I got to play Nurse! So far so good today....:fingersx:

@SpaceGirl, what a sweet thing to say, thanks!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Good to see you, Pheebs. I was about to send a search party. Had hoped you were just so busy having fun with no knee pain, but getting stressful chores out of the way is almost as good, right? So glad you got the Medicare thing taken care of - I've loved having Medicare - though not the original process of signing up for it (though it was easier than doing the paper work for my teacher's pension). :what::shrug:. I spent a couple of weeks being extremely puzzled, but it's made the process of going to the doctor a snap - and I've been lucky with the drug plans too.
Your new home in NH sounds idyllic. I love the idea of a path to walk to town where like at Cheers, everybody knows your name. I hope the purchase goes through just the way you want it to.
Hope your knee has settled down so you can enjoy the excitement of the changes that are coming. Hooray for retirement dreams coming true! :yahoo:
 
I wish someone had encouraged me, when I was just starting out in my 20s. to look for a gorgeous, adorable place where I really wanted to live! Short-sighted me, I just looked for the best job I could find. As my New Zealand friend has said many times, vistas nourish the spirit. Unfortunately, vistas are few and far between in mid-Michigan! We have only to drive a couple of hours to get to Michigan's vistas, but living them daily would have been more to my liking; and when DH decides to retire, we will be looking for something similar to your retirement home. I'm sure Boston has been good to you in many ways (cool city!), but I am thrilled for you that you are going to be moving to a place surrounded by beauty and good friends/relatives. Your spirit will be so nourished, you won't know what to do with it!:roseshwr:

I'm glad that the medical situation there will meet your needs. That can be one of the thorniest issues: there are many beautiful places that are too far from medical help, or where there is sparse help available. It sounds as though you've found a lot of other good things in Bethlehem, including shopping, entertainment, and donuts! Oh, my! My DH would love the walking trails and the ability to walk to "amenities." He would definitely be topping off his walks with those donuts!

@kmak81230, I read the same AARP Medicare articles, and it's not a Kneerah situation. I'm not looking forward to doing what Pheebs has just done. At least we have her to use as motivation. If Pheebs can make it through, we can, too. Especially with an adult beverage! Or maybe several.
 
Where has Miss Pheebs been? I'm ready for a knee update. I'm thinking you've passed me in regards to an almost normal knee. :heehee:
 
Hello Smarties! I've been AWOL mostly due to wading through retirement paperwork and trying to purchase the condo. I am now just a few days shy of 6 months post-op and I am feeling pretty darned good. :yes!: I wouldn't classify it as 100% healed, but I'd say perhaps 75%? Both knees stood up to 3 hours of a shopping marathon over the weekend and I was able to keep pace with Mistah! He's a rather fast walker, so this was a huge victory! I admit to being a bit stiff afterwards, but really, nothing to complain about that couldn't be fixed by sitting for awhile in my super-comfy recliner. :-)

I still have some lingering back of the knee pain and don't really know what that's all about, but it isn't sufficient to stop me from doing anything I'd like to do; yay! It still feels swollen a bit back there to me, and also feels like it inhibits my flexion a bit, but, I could be wrong on that score. I think I'll go back to Gary this week for a flexion measurement just out of curiosity.:-) I will see the PA at the surgeon's office on Dec 1st, so perhaps he will have some insight into that last stubborn spot.

The numb area is still there on my lateral side, but it's much less intense; whoohoo! It's like a ghost of it's former annoying self; I'll take it! In summary, I feel good, and believe things can only get better and better from this point forward. I ride my bike every day, walk some days, do more stairs intentionally, but that's about it for exercise.

Perhaps the biggest victory is I am not thinking about my knee 24/7! In some respect, I think I've just become used to how it feels, which, while not exactly natural, isn't too bad, being a vast improvement over what it was, and I am most grateful for that. By Spring, I should feel like a brand new me and will hopefully be living in the brand new condo! Fingers crossed, 'cuz there have been some frustrating delays on that end.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving along with good health!
 
So good to hear from you and that you’re doing so well!

I understand the hassles with real estate , we sold and bought a house 2.5 years ago and it was not a pleasant experience. We’ve sold 4 homes in our marriage and this last one was the worst!
 
Last edited:
Hiya, @Pheebs52!

It really sounds like you are doing wonderfully well! I don't remember much about the Medicare paperwork; we just went with simple. A, B, D and a supplement. I understand Medicare has up to a Part H which makes my head explode.

Is the sore spot on the back of your leg a tight hamstring? Gary might be able to work that out.

Keep us informed of your adventures, they are inspiring to those of us following behind :) :-) (:
 
Yippee! Good to hear from you and great to hear a good report. When you described your back of the knee area I was thinking it sounds exactly like mine. Part of mine is the muscles I've been stretching daily, working on getting the extension but the swelling area (which I too believe inhibits) is from a Baker's Cyst, I believe. I have one behind each knee and that is where my swelling goes and sits (or sticks out lol). Sounds like you're doing really good.
 
Yup - I still have the back of the knee mostly stretching feeling - there's probably an acronym for that but it escapes me - HA! So glad you are doing so well. Hope the condo purchase becomes less troublesome from here on out.
 
Last edited:
Hello Smarties! I'm just dropping in to offer an update and some hope to those who may be struggling right now. I passed my 8 month Kneeversary 2 weeks ago and at that time, was heavily involved in moving from our house to our retirement condo! Yikes, what a lot of work, and we aren't quite done yet!

Finally, at long last, right around the 8 month point, I had stopped noticing my knee or even really thinking about it at all; what a fab surprise! I had literally just found the light at the end of the knee tunnel, when....BAM! I experienced one of every TKR's worst nightmares by making a foolish move that resulted in slipping on ice and crashing right onto the shiny, new knee; pffft! Trust me, the knee met the pavement, hard. So here's a warning to all Ugg wearer's....don't! Ugg's have zero traction on ice. If I'd been wearing my good winter boots, I really don't think this would've happened. The good news? The implant is STRONG! The muscles around it, well...they took a beating, but it seems to be improving slowly with the old ice and rest routine.

My formerly very stubborn flexion has continued to increase despite this incident. I was measured by PT around Christmastime, with 120 degrees and haven't been back since, but I know it's higher than that now.:-) My guess is it's around 130 at this point, and if that can happen to me, it can happen to anyone!

Best wishes to all who are going through this very long, often perplexing and painful journey. You too will *arrive.*
 
Great to hear from you, Pheebs! Glad you didn’t do any worse damage in that fall!

I don’t have Uggs, but I do have a pair of suede clogs that I was afraid to wear last year but am doing ok with them this year. But I won’t wear them out on snow and ice.

Enjoy your new home! I love our retirement home that we’ve been in for 2.5 years now.
 
Well @Pheebs52 - I figured you were cross-country skiing to the north pole or something. Good to hear from you -- so sorry to hear about the fall - hope the tissues are healing and you don't have any more after effects. Congrats on the finishing the condo move. You've mastered what we all fear - a fall on the new implant :yikes:. Of course once you master something you never have to do it again :ice:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 561 (members: 0, guests: 561)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom