Share your "Oh shucks" moment in recovery

[edk]

There was a thread about sharing your best moment in recovery, that got me to thinking about the "scared the life out of you moments with regard to TKR, which taught you how good the surgery really is".

I can think of two:

1. About 1 month post op I went to one of my first social gatherings. We went to the coctail party and well into the evening a fiftysomething friend of mine went to sit down and missed the chair. I was standing in back of her and she rolled backward into the shin of my operated knee and knocked me over. I did this Oh S**t moment but everything was OK and I credited her with helping my negative ROM.

2. About 3 months out I was playing on a windsurfing board in shallow water. I fell over backward and instinctively put my operated foot back and landed with all my weight on it from about 3 feet. Again it was OK.

Both of these reinforced the orthopods "nothing is going to hurt the prosthesis "

 

[Judles]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Boy were you lucky,edk! My s***t moment when I was walking down the stairs with a laundry basket in my arms when one of my pups jumped playfully in front of me and I started losing my balance! Split second thinking, I grabbes the handrail in panic, not wanting to fall over my little Zoe, or break a leg, or damage my hip! I ended up gripping the hand rail so hard - thought it would come out of the wall! Thanl the Lord everything was OK!!! I got so bruised that I wore clothing to cover myself for a week because I really looked like an abuse victim! Scared the absolute s***out of myself! I am VERY careful on stairs now! Its a hard thing to put out of my mind! I just thanked G-d that everything ended up fine!!!!! PHEW!!!!!!!

 

[HopAlong]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

My "Oh S**t" was when I was wheeled to my room and the nurse introduced herself and handed me a book on my new prosthetic-------except inside was graphics and instructions of a penile implant!!!!!!
I still don't know if there was a sharp-shooter in another room wondering why he got a book on a hip prosthetic..............or if it was a practical joke played on the nurse.
But when I rang for the nurse and asked her if she looked inside the book, she took the book and looked inside, then turned white, and took the book back to the nurses station, and I heard roaring laughter coming from down the hall.

Hop

 

[Josephine]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Classic one, that, Hoppy! Absolute classic!

 

[Jamie]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

My "Aw.....s**t moment was a fall somewhere in the 4-6 months after surgery. But....and HERE'S the GOOD part.....I know I had one and I was really worried about it at the time, but I honestly don't remember what happened now that I'm just over a year out. I'm tellin' this NOT to show that I have older person's memory loss, but to give those behind me hope that one day you'll have ONLY good memories and thoughts about your new joints.

 

[Gringo]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

This is all very encouraging, folks. Thank you for the good stories. It is really good to be reassured, speaking for myself.


(as in his heart he continues to hear the clock of doom ticking slowly, exorably toward that day two weeks, four days, eleven hours, and forty five minutes from now, when the masked people will slowly....)

 

[Sticker Lady]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Gringo-
I love your sense of humor! Thinking about the masked people coming for me will probably have me rolling off the gurney in the OR--it will all be your fault!
Blessings!

 

[Gringo]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

I was pretty uptight about this at first. I just saw the OS for the first and only time a few weeks ago. Then I made what was probably a mistake by tracking down some videos of the operation online...I could probably have done without that so early in the process. But by really learning about it, and by reading other peoples experiences here, I am coming to actually start anticipating it with some degree of excitement more than trepidation.

The only difference between an ordeal and an adventure can so often be your attitude.

and I like adventures.

 

[Judles]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Gringo! If you like THAT kind of excitemet......you certainly WON'T be disappointed!!!!

 

[Rowdy66]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

I know I had to have had that OH S**T moment, probably many of them but for the life of me I cannot tell you what they were. Oh, wait, one was when I had a reaction to the blood transfusion and had to stay in the hospital an extra two days afterward to make sure that I really was okay.

For me the whole process was such a miracle and so much had happened right before the surgery was scheduled I was pretty shot mentally and emotionally. God, time and good friends are wonderful healers of our troubled souls though and now I find myself in a pretty good place. Many of my fears about getting older have gone and I have a sense of peace I never thought I would have. One of life's mysteries I suppose.

Love you guys, Rowdy

 

[Jamie]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Gringo.....GREAT attitude. It's amazing how information takes the fear out of the unknown.....well, except for those few days right before the surgery. Everyone gets anxious then.

 

[Gringo]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Oh I'm already whining for drugs. I'm not a wimp, but not dumb either. Besides, it could be a nostalgic return to the days of yesteryear, back in the sixties and early 70's....

Actually the nurse lining all this up has told me I need to stop taking the 1600 mg of ibuprofen a day that I have been gobbling. Something to do with my blood being the consistency of weak KoolAid...I think. And she actually brought up the idea of me taking pain specific meds instead of NSAIDs.

 

[aussie]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Hi all,

My first moment was at Christmas 2007, about 5 weeks after my THR, I sat on a picnic table, well the chair part of it actually, and the whole thing collapsed, I had broken wood all around me and I was on my butt, with people running around asking if I was alright? I was so scared by it that I was unsure, but when I felt no pain, I figured I must have been. When all was settled again, my daughter and daughter in law who set the table, said "We had only just said, this was that table's last Christmas it was so wobbly!" Information I could have used 10 minutes earlier. However it just went to show how settled in my new hip was already,

As for my knee the only moment so far was that after 3 attempts to have the surgery it was actually done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris

 

[dw6928]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

My 2nd day in the rehab, I wheeled myself into the bathroom and got stuck as I tried to turn around. I was banging against the 4 walls, the toilet and the sink. The bathroom was clearly not designed for big orthopedic wheel chairs. I had to be rescued by my room mate's wife which being a man made it a bit unsettling.

 

[ship4]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

My Oh sh*t moment after BTKR was my first morning "home alone" to shower at day 9 post-op. No one else at home and I stepped into the tub and the mat slipped and I slipped and rammed my right shin into the cast iron tub. Scared me royally.... it was a huge deal to be on my own, and I sure worked up a sweat that AM after the shower........ Not fun.
I was more careful about the shower mat in the tub to be sure it had not lifted....
Best,
Crystal

 

[kangaroo]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Actually the nurse lining all this up has told me I need to stop taking the 1600 mg of ibuprofen a day that I have been gobbling. Something to do with my blood being the consistency of weak KoolAid...I think. And she actually brought up the idea of me taking pain specific meds instead of NSAIDs.

I was told that I had to skip on certain drugs etc (ibuprofen included) 2 weeks prior to surgery....They also said herbal preparations. do you think this includes multivitamins?
Rachel

 

[Gringo]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Thats a question for the medical professionals here but I would think any possible thing that could cause some drug interaction would be something you would skip.

And lets face it, missing a few multivitamins won't really affect your health at all. If it were me, I would stop taking anything that had not been prescribed by the doctor that is doing the surgery. Unless it was something really important that you needed. I only had the ibuprofen to cut out. I don't take anything else. Heck, I quit drinking four years ago, and I even quit smoking for this. Two weeks ago today.

I will use this whole TKR thing as an excuse to get into shape again. It's going to be WONDERFUL to be able to do the things I want to do and not be held down by knee pain.

 

[Josephine]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

The reason they like the NSAIDs stopped is because they are accumulative, meaning they take a few days to build up in your system before they reach their maximum potential. Therefore, they would be active during the administration of drugs for the anaesthetic which could complicate things. I'm not an anaesthetic nurse so don't ask me what or why! The same thing is pertinent to herbal rememdies but only on the basis that no-one really knows what herbal rememedies truly contain. This doesn't apply to vitamin supplements.

 

[Gringo]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

Well that makes sense. I had thought it might be because I take so much that my blood was thinned and when they slice into me it might all run out.

Good to know that's not the case.

 

[Troweltalk]

Re: Share your "Oh s**t" moment in recovery

I'm a hippy, but I'm sure you can relate...

About week 10 post-op. Feeling good, walking good, had left the cane behind and hardly any sign of a limp.

I volunteer to helpout at my son's boy scout pancake dinner. I'm whipping up pancake batter like there is no tomorrow, and turn around to get another quart of water for the enxt batch and WAM! Someone had slipped behind me with a platter of sausage grease and spilled some on the floor. My lead foot (operated side) shot out on a 45 degree angle from my body and it I hadn't caught the sink with my free hand, I'm sure I would have popped my hip out, no restrictions or not...

I look where I step a lot more carefully now.