TKR Rockgirl4's Recovery---already full of surprises.

[sistersinhim]

She's big on function, not numbers, which I love.

Your home PT sounds fantastic! Function is so much more important than numbers. It would be great if they all thought that way. I believe recovery would be so much easier and much less stressful.

 

[Woodpusher]

Congratulations on getting the dishwasher done. I've done some dumb, er, early stuff too. And I try to remember not to get up and move too quickly.

 

[Rockgirl4]

So I jinxed it. BY 7:30 PM last night, my entire leg was screaming. Surely it wasn't JUST from emptying the dishwasher!!

In all honesty, I walked a bit more in the afternoon because things were feeling better. It's amazing at how 4-5 extra trips to the kitchen can make a person completely miserable. This was the second worst night's sleep since the operation 9 days ago.

I woke up the same way--as if all of yesterday's progress never occurred. Big SIIGGHHHH! So much for predictable or assuming things are getting better. I also wonder if the PT's gentle leg massage was part of the problem. Massage has never made me that miserable though.

 

[Jockette]

Massage has never made me that miserable though.

I don’t know if the massage could be the culprit, but, you’ve never had a TKR before. This surgery causes a huge amount of trauma. 9 days isn’t even a whole drop in the bucket in this recovery.

 

[BCSAnna]

@Rockgirl4

Just wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you and have been following your recovery thread. Just hang in there friend and before you know it you will be miles down that recovery road and moving into that brand new house you are building. Stay away from that dishwasher. Now is the time to take care of you and your recovery, not the time to be doing household chores! That is the one thing I am looking forward to...having somebody else doing the housecleaning; the cooking; the laundry; grocery shopping; and gardening while I take care of me following my surgery on 6/12.

I'll continue to follow along with your recovery. Take care.

Anna

 

[eaglemom]

Ya, I think you called it, way to soon to be unloading the dishwasher. I know you felt like you 'could' unload it, but your knee has now told you that was too much. Your way early into recovery, to too much for sure.

Sorry your knees screaming at you today. Good days and bad days happen to all of us. Ice and elevation should be your BFF's right now.

 

[Rockgirl4]

@Jockette I think you're correct there's no rhyme or reason to it, and it's just the nature of the beast with TKR recovery. I always like to know "why" things happen, and you'd think by now I know there is no "why" when it comes to my knees. Things just are what they are.

@BCSAnna and @eaglemom Yeah, hubby wasn't happy with me but understood I was just trying to help. Between working full-time, running his own martial arts school (3 nights a week), spending time with Owen (our 12 yr old), and trying to keep up with the house/laundry, I just wanted to help him SOMEHOW. He barely has time to breathe and takes such good care of us. I hate how busy his life is. Our ride for piano lessons fell through today, so he's taking off early. We don't want Owen to miss one of his last 2 lessons before the recital on 6/9, plus he needs to go by the pharmacy afterwards. I'll try and keep reminding myself to just stay put on the couch.

He would never forgive himself if I fell though or had a big set-back,so he asked me to not do that again any time soon. His exact words were actually "How about maybe helping when you're no longer watching the clock, dying for your 2 oxy-5's every 4 hrs." The look said it all----if I can barely stand up and walk at times, why did think I could actually help out with chores!! ! Thankfully today is back to not watching the clock for med. We'll see what tonight brings though. I hate the 1AM-4AM window. Everything just feels worse then.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

I know how hard it is to sit by and watch others do (or try to do) our usual chores. We just want to get in there and at least help, if not do it all, to relieve others of some of their abundance of duties. But, for now, your job is to get that knee healed, and you do that by resting, icing and elevating, along with the activities as laid out in the activity progression article you were given. I read that every day during my early recovery to remind me not to do too much, or too little, at any given point. There were so many times I watched my husband come home after work and take up the slack since I couldn't do anything, and it nearly drove me nuts as my mind was bored out of it's gourd, but my knee wasn't ready for prime time, so I had to let everything go for a time and allow others to take care of things and take care of me. Remember, this is temporary, and a healthy knee will be the result of your allowing it to heal now. This is the meaning of those vows we take on the day we wed and it's your time to be supported and taken care of. I recommend finding a sitcom or other series and binge watching it to get your mind off your inability to do the things you want to do. I binge-watched "Home Improvement" in the hospital, which kept my spirits up, and even though I was soon sick of TV, it did help me get through the utter boredom of recovery.

 

[Woodpusher]

We're retired and there's still a lot of daily things that need to be done. Taking care of shopping, meals and cleanup, a dog, laundry, moving ice around. And we have a tudor style house with lots of stairs. I told my wife I have to do SOMETHING! So far I've done nothing crazy so healing should be on the way.

 

[Greatday6]

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[sistersinhim]

Being alone I had to do household and yard chores mostly myself. I did have a neighbor come in the first couple of weeks, but after that, it was on me. I found that I'd do just one extra little thing that took only about 5 minutes, then rest for at least an hour or so. Then, if I felt OK, I would do another tiny chore, then rest. Things did pile up and at first I stressed about it. But, then I realized that if I rest now I can do more sooner. It worked out for me just fine. The knee was always letting me know what I could and couldn't do.

 

[Woodpusher]

Being alone I had to do household and yard chores mostly myself. I did have a neighbor come in the first couple of weeks, but after that, it was on me. I found that I'd do just one extra little thing that took only about 5 minutes, then rest for at least an hour or so. Then, if I felt OK, I would do another tiny chore, then rest. Things did pile up and at first I stressed about it. But, then I realized that if I rest now I can do more sooner. It worked out for me just fine. The knee was always letting me know what I could and couldn't do.

What about chasing down a cat with your cane who just sprayed in your bedroom? That just happened to me on day 10. A good test of how the knee is coming along. Safe to say I'm resting now and the feline is persona non grata.

 

[sistersinhim]

I think I got ya beat on the cat situation. I am a cat rescuer and at the time of my surgery I had 13 inside-outside cats. Thank God there was nothing outside of the litter boxes, but 6 tubs that were used as litter boxes. I bought a long-handled pooper scooper from Amazon that kept me from having to bend so much. My first week out a dear, sweet neighbor cleaned them for me. These cats were a huge help to my recovery. I did no formal exercises or PT, but got lot of exercises caring for my fur-babies. In return they gave and give me lots of love and a strong reason to recover.

 

[Benay]

Hope it goes well for you!

 

[BCSAnna]

@Woodpusher

As a pet parent to two hyper active Siamese cats, the mental image of you chasing your cat with your cane provided a much needed tickled to my funny bone.

Thanks for the laugh.

Anna

@Rockgirl4

It certainly appears that you also caught a great one, like me, when it comes to spouses. I know it can be difficult to accept the fact that, during a surgical recovery such as you are going through, you just can't handle your normal share of responsibilities. However, judging from what you have written, I think your spouse, like mine, would much rather have a fully recovered and healthy wife in the end and realize that picking up the household slack is only temporary.

Your job right now is taking care of you and having a successful recovery from your TKR.

I will be joining you shortly over on the recovery side and can't wait to get this surgery over with!

Take care.

Anna

 

[Celle]

Yeah, hubby wasn't happy with me but understood I was just trying to help. Between working full-time, running his own martial arts school (3 nights a week), spending time with Owen (our 12 yr old), and trying to keep up with the house/laundry, I just wanted to help him SOMEHOW. He barely has time to breathe and takes such good care of us. I hate how busy his life is. Our ride for piano lessons fell through today, so he's taking off early. We don't want Owen to miss one of his last 2 lessons before the recital on 6/9, plus he needs to go by the pharmacy afterwards. I'll try and keep reminding myself to just stay put on the couch.

He would never forgive himself if I fell though or had a big set-back,so he asked me to not do that again any time soon. His exact words were actually "How about maybe helping when you're no longer watching the clock, dying for your 2 oxy-5's every 4 hrs." The look said it all----if I can barely stand up and walk at times, why did think I could actually help out with chores!! !

I'm sorry you suffered from trying to help, but right now your job is to rest, ice, elevate, medicate on time, and only do a little bit of walking around the house.
This article may help you to feel better about needing help:
Nurturing mother: how to let go and accept help

 

[Rockgirl4]

@Woodpusher The image of you chasing that cat around with your cane made my day. My husband would have been threatening to take it to the woods and not return.

@sistersinhim That's wonderful you had the kitties to keep you company during your recovery, plus give you something to take care of and enjoy. We have 3----a set of 9-yr old litter mates that are fairly small, plus a HUGE 4 yr old male that still acts like a kitten but is 14+ lbs. He keeps life fun.

 

[Rockgirl4]

Day 10 Post-Op and no more worries about jinxing it. I can tell I've graduated into the "less-hellish" part of the initial recovery. I am no longer watching the clock desperately for pain meds. The "fire-down-the-leg" feeling only happens every 3rd time I stand up now. I've managed to stretch the 2 oxy-5's to every 5 hrs instead of 4 hrs, and no longer hurt to the point of needing them sooner and having to wait for the 4 hr mark to get here. I'd say that's giving me an extra 1.5-2 hrs of in between doses. I think I'm going to try 1 oxy-5 every 4 hrs starting late this afternoon or tomorrow morning to see what happens.

I'm struggling a lot with calf and hamstring tightness the last 2 days. I can tell it is a big part of my discomfort later in to the evening. Sometimes it feels like I have a massive bruise running from my butt to just below the knee. I've had a similar feeling before during some severe hamstring tightness resulting from too much sitting in the cold during my son's soccer season, which is why I think it's mostly muscular. I struggle with tight leg muscles 24/7 and used to stretch daily anyway, so I'm thinking my body is just begging for a good stretch that simply isn't achievable right now. I think my butt wants a break too, but that's not happening anytime soon.

I realized today I haven't left the house in 9 days. I'm getting a little stir-crazy. I'm not sure I'm ready to sit outside though, even for 10-15 minutes--plus I don't want any increased swelling due to the heat & humidity we're already having. I AM dying for a pizza night though and would love to get out and go to our favorite local pizza parlor. I'll see what tomorrow brings.

No chores for me today either. The couch has been my friend.

 

[Woodpusher]

@Woodpusher The image of you chasing that cat around with your cane made my day. My husband would have been threatening to take it to the woods and not return.

@sistersinhim That's wonderful you had the kitties to keep you company during your recovery, plus give you something to take care of and enjoy. We have 3----a set of 9-yr old litter mates that are fairly small, plus a HUGE 4 yr old male that still acts like a kitten but is 14+ lbs. He keeps life fun.

@Rockgirl4, yup, I've made idle threats to the cat I never carried out. This cat has been thru a lot so we give him the benefit. Also, they think that the cat doesn't realize it when they spray.

Might be time for you to get out. You and I are on day 10 and I got out for 30-45 minutes earlier today, with an icepack around me.

 

[Rockgirl4]

@Woodpusher I think you're right, and it would help my mood. I do a lot of container gardening in spring/summer/fall, and that's a lot of my evening activities April-Oct. I'm taking a much needed shower when my husband gets home from work, so I may venture out after that. For the record--my husband is the biggest cat "threatener"of them all, but he's a huge softie. Now that he's working from home again so much during my recovery, the 14 lb kitten-Beast spends 6 hrs of his day napping in Shawn's office. They have an adorable relationship. I hear Shawn letting him in/out of his office every hour or so. We're going to have to make a decision concerning the health of our other 2 tabbies eventually. He's trying to deal with the mess and put it off until I've recovered more (read that as "less crying") before making a decision.

I'm glad you ventured out, even with your ice pack.

I noticed too my swelling is down a bit today. Unfortunately there's still a baseball-sized knot sitting on the lateral side of the knee, right on my IT Band, so no bend to be had today. This is a problem EVERY time though, so I shouldn't have expected anything but this. It actually looks like a baseball hit the side of my knee, towards the top. Bizarre!!!