Questions galore! & Second Thoughts

[Jesse for the Fight]

Hello, just wanted to add a different perspective on the sleep thing. First, I also wiggle and flail around a lot during the night so what saved me was having a hospital bed, with the touch of a button I could move my legs into a bend position then a flat position, move my back up to take some of the pressure of the lower back or move my back totally down and my legs way up over my head ... and I didn't even have to wake up to do so because it was at the touch of a button! You can rent hospital beds for pretty darn cheap.
But what I found the most surprising, partly because I couldn't sleep on my side for months after my hip surgery, was that by week two I could sleep on my side for several hours at a time. It got a little achy during hour 3 and I had to flop from side to side but as a fellow side sleeper I was really happy I could do it so early in the game. I've read that a couple other people could sleep on their sides just fine as well. If you have a high threshold for pain and the knees permit, you may be able to as well!

 

[Jsankowski]

I love this little guy 'cause he reminds me of the last time I rode my bike, fell off and couldn't get up, had to wait there in the street till a neighbor drove by and helped me! But doggone it, I'm gonna get on that bike again and ride it. So there!

Yes you will ride that bike I have faith in you!!!!!!

 

[Jsankowski]

I was feeling that way too, with a touch of I need to get rid of this and that. Now, Janis and her OAA (Over Achievers Anonymous) self has pushed me a weetle bit out of my comfort zone. I know I won't have as much "do-ability' time after my next surgery before I have to return to work. By "do-ability" I mean, when you actually have the ability to DO the things that you see needing to be done. lol So I better get to something on my "mop" and bucket list.

Lol that describes me OAA and CONTROl FREAK! this will be me at PT ... well maybe ... but I promise to follow the Bonesmart Mantra Josephine! I don't want Josephine to wag her finger at me! Actually, now I have a reason to de-clutter before it was just an option and I was lazy!

 

[Jsankowski]

what I found the most surprising, partly because I couldn't sleep on my side for months after my hip surgery, was that by week two I could sleep on my side for several hours at a time. It got a little achy during hour 3 and I had to flop from side to side but as a fellow side sleeper I was really happy I could do it so early in the game. I've read that a couple other people could sleep on their sides just fine as well. If you have a high threshold for pain and the knees permit, you may be able to as well!

WooHOOO there is hope!!

 

[VancouverUSAgal]

Yes you will ride that bike I have faith in you!!!!!!

I hope so 'cause I enjoyed it. It probably won't be for awhile (next summer?) because I'll have to get the balance back I've lost from sitting too much and toddling around (or lumbering as my son teasingly says) and rehab, but let's hope we all get back to a lot of the things we've given up as our knees worsened.

 

[Bionic woman2]

I promise to follow the Bonesmart Mantra Josephine! I don't want Josephine to wag her finger at me!

Hahaaaaa! Me neither. Be afraid.... be very afraid. Seriously, we know she knoes what's best and she means business! :iagree:

Actually, now I have a reason to de-clutter before it was just an option and I was lazy!

I know, me too! I've decided after I recoup from my night out (which I will cover in detail on my thread.. it should be hilarious) I'm gonna do one thing a day. I'll have about 15 days to do this, so I should have some things taken care of. The problem is gonna be the common areas where I clean up and my boys immediately clean down. Can't STAND THEM sometimes! Oh, and I'm a control freak too when it comes to certain things. The good news is Knee surgery will knock some of that outta ya! When you have to have someone else do stuff for you the way they do it... you have to grin and bare it w/a please and thank you.

 

[ditzy dinah]

I feel how pregnant women do when they start to nest to prepare for the baby's arrival.

Yes Janis that is spot on! I feel just like that...having to get things super organised and prepared. However I have not gone as far as you have...you've done a great deal of really positive stuff.. I admire you for it! Looks like you have inspired all of us! Last weekend when hubby was off on a cycling jolly with his pals I had a bit of a clear out and clean up of our bedroom, but I only managed 2 bags for the Charity shop, not 6!! Well it was something..I fight hoarding I really do...all of my drawers are overstuffed! You are working so hard at all of this, how are your knees holding up?

I did a LOT of that in the last year since I retired.

Yes! that is just what I am planning for my retirement...which should be coming up soon...haven't quite decided, thought I should wait and see how I feel after this op before I commit myself. I've got so much to clear out..it will take ages, so I won't be bored...I'll become the Queen of the ebay sellers!!

I'm gonna get on that bike again and ride it. So there!

Go Girl!! Like it or not, I'm going to be doing that too! My DH has already got a new bike lined up for me...he just can't wait to get me up on that saddle!!

Wish me luck

Good Luck with the de cluttering!!

 

[ditzy dinah]

I've read that a couple other people could sleep on their sides just fine as well.

Oh I hope so Jesse...that would be just great!

but let's hope we all get back to a lot of the things we've given up as our knees worsened.

Absolutely Vancouvergal, after all that's just why we are putting ourselves through this isn't it? So long as we keep thinking ahead to what we hope to gain...hopefully we will stay positive. Next summer is going to be a great one for all of us!!

I'll have to get the balance back I've lost from sitting too much and toddling around

Yes that is me too! I used to love to cycle but that was pre kids....30+ years ago. I don't have the condfidence or the balance now, however hubby has promised we will start on flat off road tracks!

Can't STAND THEM sometimes!

Yes, but you'll miss them when they're gone! My youngest's bedroom is still as he left it just about...I could turn it into a guest bedroom, but I don't...and he's been moved out 4 years..oh how I cried when he went!!!

I'm a control freak too when it comes to certain things

Yes Me too! I guess we all are in our way...but cleaning doesn't come into it with me...can't stand it..someone else can do it, I'd rather cook! Oh I do tidy up, and I potter about...don't like an absolute mess, but when it comes to getting out the scrubbing brush and the floor mop...you'll find me quickly somewhere else! Shameful I know!

after I recoup from my night out (which I will cover in detail on my thread

Can't wait!! Sounds fun!

 

[Bionic woman2]

Yes Me too! I guess we all are in our way...but cleaning doesn't come into it with me...can't stand it..someone else can do it, I'd rather cook! Oh I do tidy up, and I potter about...don't like an absolute mess, but when it comes to getting out the scrubbing brush and the floor mop...you'll find me quickly somewhere else! Shameful I know!

You sound exactly like me. I'll slap an apron on to cook in a minute, but I'm not running around the house with a duster. I'm a selective control freak. lol
I know I'm gonna miss my youngest when he goes away to college. We're like Frick and Frat! The older one will still be knocking on the door for dinner when he moves out, so I will have that comfort and annoyance.

How are you doing with the countdown? I know you and Janis are neck and neck. It will be okay. You guys will be one of us soon and we'll take good care of you.

Running to get ready for my shing-ding tonight. lol

Check in with your guys later.

 

[VancouverUSAgal]

I used to love to cycle but that was pre kids....30+ years ago. I don't have the condfidence or the balance now, however hubby has promised we will start on flat off road tracks!

I don't know how available they'll be where you live, but I have something called a "flatfoot" bike or "re-entry" bike and you might be interested in something like that. It has the pedals pushed further forward than a standard bike (but not as far as a recumbent bike). Because of that, the seat can be closer to the ground (you are pedaling more forward and back and not as much up and down if that makes sense). It's easier on the knees. Anyway, you are supposed to have the seat low enough so that you feet can touch the ground when you're seated on the bike. That is way less scary when you're getting balance back. You might be able to find a similar bike. I love it but unfortunately it's been gathering dust mostly the last few years. It's red and has a basket and I always got lots of waves and smiles when I rode it. Of course, maybe that was because this fat, old lady looked ridiculous, I don't know (don't much care either). Please be sure to report back to us when you're riding.
Linda

 

[Jsankowski]

Yes Me too! I guess we all are in our way...but cleaning doesn't come into it with me...can't stand it..someone else can do it, I'd rather cook! Oh I do tidy up, and I potter about...don't like an absolute mess, but when it comes to getting out the scrubbing brush and the floor mop...you'll find me quickly somewhere else! Shameful I know!

LOl! I am a bit of a pig, cleaning is the laśt thing that comes in my mind. I save cleaning for special occasions ... Like when the President visits ... which is never...or when I am getting new knees! Fortunately, for me that Aspergers OCD husband of mine can not stand a messy house and vacuums, mops and dusts like no ones business! I do love to cook and eat!

 

[Jsankowski]

running to get ready for my shing-ding tonight. lol

Details!

 

[morningstar]

It's possible to learn to sleep on one's back. However, post-op is probably not ideal time. After being a lifelong side sleeper, it wasn't comfortable when I got my CPAP machine (for sleep apnea). What I did was stay on my back as long as I could stand it and then roll to my side. After about 2 weeks, I fell asleep and woke up on my back and that was it - now I sleep on my back. Occasionally if I'm not really sleepy or I wake up and am tired of the mask on my face, I'll throw it off and sleep on my side but I'm always sorry later. I wake up with the shoulder and hip on the "down" side aching terribly and that side of my nose all stuffed up. So, back sleeping has really worked out to be much better for my arthritis-ridden old body. Maybe you'll be too drugged to care! Hoping for the best for you.

Thanks for that and the words are encouraging especially about sleeping on the back.
I have been sleeping on my Left side so that my back started hurting and I hearnated a disc.
I started doing that after I had fractured and dislocated my Left elbow from a flu shot last October and I
got tired of sleeping with the elbow propped up or out to the side.
It is best to sleep on your Left side when you have acid reflux because of where the esopagus is located
and even though I'm on meds for it, I don't want problems with acid coming up.
Also I sleep propped up and I have a hard time sleeping on my back.
I guess when I get tired enough I will fall asleep no matter what position I'm in.
Thanks for the encouragement and I hope everything turns out good.
Doc is going to give me Xeralto instead of coumodin and I hope they get the dose right so
I don't bleed.
I can't wait till I'm back home and away the hospital and alarms on beds and chairs.
I don't hate to many things but hospitals are at the top of my list.Morningstar

 

[morningstar]

Oh yeah, I have got in one of those. thought I would put it in the bed


Yes Bingo on that one! I'm not allowed to take my Naproxen for the last week, and so my legs feel stiffer than ever! Yes Janis we will....one leg at a time for you...two 1/2's together for me!


Me too Janis and I'm 14 years older! so perhaps mentally I'm 25...yeah I'll go with that. Yes i do think it does count for something. I was told at the hospital I looked fit (with these knees?) and young (perhaps that's because all the other patients in the waiting room looked to be in their 70's at least), so I do think it matters...I don't think the surgeon would have offered me a bilateral op, if I didn't look fit, or if I had anything else wrong. the only medication I am on is for reflux, which protects the gut from the effects of the NSAIDs anyway. Same for you, are having totals two weeks apart, and your OS would never have scheduled that if he didn't think you could take that physically Go Well...

We have one on the guys.
We don't get older,we get better and our age numbers go backwards instead or forward.
So even though the body tries to tell us we are older,we know different.Morningstar

 

[morningstar]

Janis, I'm inspired to be inspired by you. This "pack-rat" is a work in progress, but I do have plans to do a little de-cluttering of my own before my next knee. You've pushed those plans a bit closer to reality. Thanks

Wish me luck

10-4 on the decluttering.
We're in the middle of hurricane season here in Florida,U.S.A. and I had boxes of stuff in the garage
that had been there since Two or Three years ago when my daughter and granddaughter was staying
with us and I had to move some stuff into the garage.
I realized not to long ago that the boards that go over the windows in the event of a hurricane
were behind the boxes and and we tend to get hurricanes during September when I will be home after
RTKR and won't be able to go through them and won't feel like messing with them.
You never realize how much stuff you have till you start to downsize and declutter.
I have a diagnosis of ADD and was told that we tend to be clutterers.
I don't know but I've got the after burners on cleaning out.
Plus I might come across something that I can give to someone else.Morningstar

 

[morningstar]

So I had this huge revelation today. As I am preparing for my upcoming surgeries I am doing a lot of cleansing and riding myself of things that clutter my life, get in my way and are not needed. I feel how pregnant women do when they start to nest to prepare for the baby's arrival. Yesterday, I went through my office and threw away 4 years worth of papers, sticky notes and organized my desk and shelves. Last weekend I gave away 6 bags of clothes because I rearrange my closet and drawers. Today, I cleaned the garage of boxes of stuff that have been there for years because they might get in my way. I took a chair out of my bedroom that was just a place to toss things on. I realized my new knees are a catalyst for change. I will be stepping forward into my new life

Wow,you go girl and you're on a roll.
I wish I had that much energy and I'm not as young as I used to be and can't do the things I used to
but I can still move and we have a product called zip fiz that you mix in water and it gives you lots of
energy plus it's all natural and has lots of good stuff for the body.Morningstar

 

[VancouverUSAgal]

zip fiz

-

gives you lots of energy

Oh, where can I buy a case of that????

 

[VancouverUSAgal]

husband of mine can not stand a messy house and vacuums, mops and dusts like no ones business!

Oh, send him my way, would ya!

 

[Bionic woman2]

we have a product called zip fiz that you mix in water and it gives you lots of energy plus it's all natural and has lots of good stuff for the body.Morningstar

Morningstar, I'm gonna have to look for that over here. I'm gonna need a little ZIP to declutter and not FIZ out before I complete the task. lol By the way, I think I have ADHTripleD!

 

[Lovestoread]

There's no way I can sleep on my back! I try and try and last maybe 10 minutes. I'm able to sleep on my side, though sometimes I use pillows between my legs. (Actually, "sleep" is the wrong word...more like napping or fitfully resting). What I'd really love to do is sleep on my tummy!