TKR Progress Report Mazza November 1st 2013

[Mazza]

Well, Christmas Eve and just over 7 weeks since the RTKR. Thank goodness the worst part is now behind me and there is everything to look forward to for the New Year and more healing.

A special treat last night when I tuned in to our local TV news station and saw my own husband performing with his barbershop Chorus. This was recorded a few weeks ago and I had no idea that it was being shown as I switched through the channels!

My husband, carer and best friend is in the foreground of the first photo which my son managed to capture from the recording

 

[Celle]

What a great surprise for you to see your husband and his chorus performing!

Have a lovely Christmas, Mazza!

:mer xm::santa sleigh:

caryl

 

[RunA42K]

What a fun surprise for you Mazza! You and yours have a Very Merry Christmas:mer xm::merry xmas:

 

[chestnc]

Good morning and Merry Christmas. This is a beautiful photo of husband and his group. So glad you caught that while changing the channels. You sound like you are doing well. Continue to progress well, and ou and your family have a blessed Christmas. :ereindeer::mer xm::kitty chris:

 

[lainie]

I've been following your progress since your first post and am so pleased that you have progressed so well. I'm 10 weeks post op now and am doing really good, however in the last couple of weeks I've learnt that I need to slow down a bit and remind myself that I'm still in recovery mode. It's amazing how quickly I forgot that I've had major surgery and that I should be taking it easy but with Christmas functions, shopping and work I've managed to overdo it and my knee has been quite swollen and sore. So the next few days are days of R & R.

So a little reminder to anyone, who's been following Mazza's posts as I have, be kind to your knee and in turn it will be kind to you.

Happy New Year to all

Lainie

 

[Mazza]

Thank you Lainie. Yes, just coming up to 8 weeks and although I can do most things, the leg is still not quite my friend, as the surgeon asked me when I last saw him LOL.
I've been doing more and more walking, steadily and surely, but I do find that by the early evening the knee is warm and aches, but I also get niggly pains in my butt and back of leg; nothing I can't sort. Progress seems slower now compared to about week 4/5 and that is frustrating as I still want to be able to walk downstairs without flinching (just in case it hurts) and get around doing other things. I must continue to be patient and I know that every week will make a big difference from now on.
One of the best things I have found is that I can again sleep on my stomach or either side, which is a bonus from being stuck on the one side with the TKR on top!
A very quiet Christmas Day with a wonderful Skype connection with family in Florida.
Today is Boxing Day and we're not doing much at all apart from preparing food for visitors tomorrow and then more chillaxing in front of the TV. A lot of bad flooding across the country and more to come according to the forecasters.
Best wishes to all BoneSmarties xx

 

[Celle]

Still making good progress, Mazza!

Glad your Christmas Day went well. We , too, had a good Skype connection, to our family in Delhi. we saw our grand-daughters open their Christmas presents and they sang us a song about Santa getting stuck in the chimney. Skype is such a blessing!

Enjoy the restful days and have a Happy New Year!

Caryl

 

[Mazza]

What do I actually "do" to attend the party?

 

[chestnc]

Hi Mazza, it has already started. Just go into the social room and open up the thread headed by administrator Josephine. You can add comments, photos, tell what you are doing on New Year eve, tell what you are preparing for New years eve, any special drinks you making. It has already started. I want to post some photos when I went in, but I need to be on my desktop and right now I am working on my lap top. Go in enjoy yourself. It is set up so nicely.

 

[Mazza]

Happy New Year, Knees & Hips to all Smartie Members

I have just passed the nine week marker and I'm pleased to report that life feels fairly normal now.

Although my TKR still feels stiff at time, especially walking downstairs, I no longer need to use a stick and feel quite good for the major part of the day. From about early evening onwards I feel a bit tired especially if I've been on my feet a lot during the day, but that's nothing new! Always a good way of getting out of cooking the evening meal or washing up (joking!). I'm actually undertaking the major part of daily housework without any problems.

My TKR moves well and sometimes I almost forget it so moving around normally does help with the exercise in a natural way. I'm not experiencing any discomfort apart from twinges in my butt/hip area on occasion and of course kneeling down is a definite No, No.

Anyway, I'm pleased with where I'm at and once the tight feeling around my knee lessens, I know I will begin to forget the agonies of the first couple of weeks.

On another note, my neighbour had a hip replacement last Monday and she is home, walking with one stick and is in no pain at all. I'm so pleased for her and we have been able to share notes!

 

[Celle]

Hi Mazza. Happy New Year!

That's a good report and you are making excellent progress.

That tight feeling around the knee tends to linger for quite a while and it will disappear so slowly that you will hardly notice it going, until one day you realise it's gone! I can finally kneel on my new knee, 2 years after surgery.

My daughter and her husband are looking for a new house in the Winnersh/Wokingham/Bracknell area, as they need to up-size to make room for the little girl for whom they hope to become Special Guardians. There's no immediate rush, but their little 2-bedroom house will be too small for a family. They'll still need to be within easy commuting distance of work, in Reading.

Caryl

 

[Josephine]

That's excellent, Mazza. I'm truly delighted for you

 

[Mazza]

@Celle Thanks for the booster Caryl. This morning my knee (just to the upper outside) is feeling quite uncomfortable and very tight. I did more stretching and bending than usual yesterday and so probably overdid it! Husband doesn't know that I climbed up on a stool and then the worktop to clean the top of the fridge/freezer

Fancy your family looking around the area you mention for new housing; I grew up in Bracknell. frequented and still visit Wokingham as I have family there and lived and worked in Reading until we moved here. Wokingham can be quite expensive but is a lovely area to be. Both Winnersh and Bracknell are very overbuilt, but both have surrounding countryside that is enjoyable and are all within easy reach of the motorway. Had they thought of looking Thatcham direction? I also lived there and travelled to work in Reading. Prices are a bit lower and again it's surrounded by green belt areas, Kate/Pippa Middleton's family live just up the road and there's a direct train route into Reading.

I think yesterday's bit of over enthusiasm with cleaning is taking its toll today, so I will RICE again today.

Best wishes to all

 

[Celle]

Hi @Mazza
OK. So you overdid it a bit and your knee gave you a message. Join the club! I think we've all done that. It will be all right, because you are taking notice of your knee's message, and doing all the right things to allow it to recover. (And maybe - just maybe - you might not push it quite so far next time?)

They're getting a bit tired of the house hunting and might let it rest for a while. They saw one house that they made a first offer on, and then found out that it was in an area of Winnersh that is prone to flooding and that they would not be able to get insurance for it. So they withdrew the offer. I told my daughter your suggestion about Thatcham. Thank you.

 

[Mazza]

@Celle I've taken it easier today, unless you count a walk twice around our local park with the dog. I think it's only about a mile all in. Then I have to admit I "cycled" 5km on our static bike but with the tension loose. I just felt that the muscle needed a workout, but I've spent the rest of the day making up a photo album of our grandchildren's portrait photos (mainly school ones) from since the five of them were born. It's something I've been meaning to do for ages and the weather is so bad it was a great opportunity. I'm trying to get more organised before the better weather might arrive.

I personally wouldn't recommend Winnersh and don't even think about going North of the Thames in Reading as it's SO expensive. We used to live in the area called Tilehurst where they are older houses but more for your money. A lot of them have been refurbished over the years which makes them potentially desirable at an affordable price. I'm sure your family know what they're looking for; good luck to them from me.

 

[Mazza]

I've just realized I will be 10 weeks post surgery on Friday! To celebrate I am having Cortisone injections in my wrist (De Quervain's Syndrome) and possibly the sole of my right foot because I have a Neuroma there. Both of these conditions are now giving me more pain than the TKR!
I've had to wait this long as steroid injections were a No No too soon after the operation. What a wonderful way to spend an anniversary, but at least it will include a visit to the centre of the City of Bath which is a wonderful place to be I sense some retail therapy coming on!

 

[Celle]

@Mazza I'm glad you had a quieter day. Your knee will thank you. It's good to have some quiet things to do inside when the weather is bad. Don't forget to put that foot up! And ice is good, too.

My "kids" already live in Winnersh and they like it, so that's why they started looking there. Currently, they are in a little, 2-bedroom house, which is only 8 years old, the middle house in a block of three. It's within walking distance of the station and the supermarket, and they look out onto the green belt of the M4. Sometimes, they even see deer in the little woodland there.

 

[kneeper]

Walking around the park--great report Mazza.

 

[Celle]

Enjoy your day in bath, Mazza - except for the injections. Remember not to overdo it when indulging in retail therapy!

(The "kids" have made an offer on a house in Wokingham and the offer has been accepted. Nice area, 4 bedrooms, in a cul de sac.)

 

[Mazza]

@Celle - That's wonderful news about the house in Wokingham; all fingers and toes crossed that everything goes through to plan.

I didn't go to mad with the retail therapy, but my daughter took me down to Bath so that I didn't have to travel back alone. We had a really nice few hours just darting in and out of shops that we don't see in our very local area. She was thrilled to find a biker jacket (very smart fitted one) at a bargain price and perfect fit for her size 8 frame (oh, memories!)

The cortisone injections were very uncomfortable but I lay there reminding myself of the post TKR surgery and reminding myself that nothing could be that bad. He injected my middle finger joint and the wrist tendon; I think there might be some improvement today (48 hours) and just pray it will continue as it has been very debilitating. Unfortunately he wouldn't inject the Mortens Neuroma without an MRI being done first. As that is the same leg as my TKR it's a real shame as it doesn't help with my walking.

So TEN weeks post TKR and here I am trotting around shopping centres without even a stick. I even went into our local town with my husband yesterday and we mooched around the charity shops having delivered a whole pile of things that we decided to get rid of. Towards the end of the outing my leg was aching and feeling a bit uncomfortable (more toward my groin and butt than anywhere) but it was good to be out.

I do notice that I can actually cross my legs when sitting now, which I hadn't been able to do for a very long time pre-surgery, but when I find myself doing it I uncross them in order to straighten the TKR as it's still early days yet.

So on the whole I'm feeling very much back to my old self and every week makes a big difference now. For the past two days I haven't experienced any pain in walking downstairs either, so exercise and retail therapy has done it good