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TKR Slainte's Big Adventure

@Slainte - sounds like overall you're doing great!! Being 4 days behind you, I'm not sure I'll get to where you now by then, but it is encouraging!! How long have you just been using the cane? I will look at that as my next significant milestone. There are times during the same day that I think I'll be able to do that, and others that I think, no way.. , but I haven't really tried yet.. Maybe that will be my goal for tomorrow.. (since my cane is actually still out in my car since before surgery.. ) :heehee:
 
@Braunzie , last Monday my PT told me that she wanted me to be cane only by next Monday. I thought that sounded like a farfetched goal, but I started trying to use my cane a bit so I would be ready. I never went back to the walker. When she came on Wednesday she fussed at me for not waiting for her to show me the proper form (I watched "how to use a cane" videos on youtube... also watched "self defense with a cane" videos, but that's another story) and she set the cane a couple of notches lower. Hey, that made it easier. So you might try it and find that you like it.
 
Great to hear how well you've been doing. It's good to have those stories here too.
 
Well, I read the IT band information and had an attempt at doing the stretches - really just did a few of them, and was I surprised that it actually seemed to help! This morning I woke up and lay very still, then gingerly tried to move my leg. It still had a few flashes of burning, but nothing like it had been. Will continue those stretches before bed.

On other news, although I am not scheduled to go back to work until August 3rd, I will be going into the office tomorrow to meet a new employee and help with their orientation. I will only be there for a couple of hours, and am really glad for the opportunity to do a "dry run" and make sure all my props are in place for a successful return to work. Plus will be only my third time out of the house and will be nice to get a glimpse of the real world.
 
When I started this journey, the OS set my post-op appointment for August 3rd. I asked him then if I would be able to go in to work after the appointment. He told me it was up to my knee! I think my knee will say yes. My job is totally a desk job, and my bosses stayed late Friday to set me up in a new private office (as they will be gone later this week). It was so sweet of them, and they sent me pictures. I can close the door and elevate and ice to my heart's content. I love my job, and I think it will be tiring, but ok. I just need to keep on doing less than I think I can. It's been working so far!
 
Don't forget to get up and walk around for a minute or two every hour. Sitting is tough too.
We may have covered this, but will your employer allow you to start back part time if needed?
 
Hope it works well. Be prepared to be tired. I hope it will be a good tired.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
Yesterday I weighed again and am down 16 pounds since my surgery! I have seen that others on this forum have lost weight early on, only to have that trend reverse later in the game. I am hoping if I keep using the trusty app My Fitness Pal and continue planning healthy meals I will not be one of those. I know my recovery will just get easier the more weight I lose.

Yesterday I went to work for what was supposed to be just a two-hour stint. I ended up staying there for four hours, and then my boss came over last night to finish a few things up. I learned that a pillow on top of an overturned trash can is not proper elevation. I did carry in my aircast cryo cuff and iced most of the time. Swelling was the most I have seen (since I have done zero to stress my knee until then) but was not too alarming. My scar kind of puffed up a little. The main thing I noticed was that at 9pm last night when the Internet decided to stop working I really hit a wall and just said that I was done. I took my pain meds and went to bed. I did not feel tired so much - I just felt like I had used all my "nice" up. I woke up around 1:30am, saw that the Internet gods were looking kindly on me again, and worked for an hour or so while I waited until pain med time. Other than finishing up later this morning, I do not plan to work again until next Monday, when I am scheduled to return for real. I will be looking for an elevation solution this week. From reading other threads I see that overdoing it usually manifests itself on the next day, so we shall see how things go today. I hope I suffer no ill effects.
 
Slainte said:
I did not feel tired so much - I just felt like I had used all my "nice" up.
Click to expand...

@Slainte, that is perfect. :-) I've just caught up on your recovery thread so far, and am in a cheerier mood for having read it. So lovely that you are doing so well. I hope you find the perfect solution to elevating your leg while at the office. It is not easy! Wondering if you might get a used couch in there so you could at least sit with your leg straight out, if not elevated. Smart to bring your cryocuff to work with you. Wishing you well for return to a more regular schedule. Please remember to listen to your knee . . . the quickest way through this recovery stuff is whatever affords your knee the most healing time and gentle motion. Cheers and best to you.
 
@Slainte - I can't imagine going into work and staying 4 hours. You MUST be whooped! I'll take note that the inverted trash can is not the right solution for elevation.. I'll have to think about what I can do for that myself when I go back.. but I still have several weeks before I need to think about it. Are you driving yourself already?
 
Thanks for the encouraging words, @jbrooklyn and @Braunzie . Tonight I am having a tough time sleeping, probably due to a combination of doing a bit much yesterday and my last in-home PT session today. I have got to break my habit of napping during the day and save all my sleepy time for night. I have almost a week to get turned around so I will not fall asleep at work. I will miss these middle of the night wanderings. I am by nature a night owl. Four more years and maybe I can retire and sleep whenever I like!

I am not driving yet, and feel like it will be at least a few weeks before I would feel comfortable. My son works with me and he is very good at making sure I am comfy in the backseat with my leg stretched out on the seat. I am still taking percocet, and am afraid I might hesitate to slam on the brake in an emergency.

Tomorrow I will be officially discharged from in-home PT, and I will have my ROM measured. No idea if I will be happy with the number. I am only up to 98 on the CPM machine, and that is probably higher than my real flexion. When my PT lady was here today, we were working on seated straight leg raises. She would reach out and gently place her fingertips on my thigh to remind me to lift from the knee, not the hip, at which point my German shepherd Boudica would politely insert herself between us. Made the exercise impossible, and had to ask my daughter to take her in another room, but I appreciated her protecting me.

Not enough room in my office for a couch (oh, how I wish there were) but I have a small upholstered bench that I think might do the trick for elevating.

I now need to get a referral for outside PT, and I understand there are some that have after work hours. That will start next week, and am looking forward to having access to the gym equipment that this will include.
 
@Slainte
You're really dong marvelously well.

Going back to work so early is asking a lot of your knee and of your whole body. I'm glad you're looking for ways to elevate and ice while you're at work. Don't forget to get up and walk around every hour or so, so that you don't stiffen up.

On days that you work, please don't do anything else - no housework, no shopping, no cooking, no PT. Simply getting to and from work and being at work is all the exercise you need for those days. Going to PT after work is not likely to be productive, as your knee will be more swollen after work, so it's unlikely to perform well.
 
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Oh, good point about doing PT after work. I will have to think about that. Hmmm.
 
Great that you are planning ahead about all this. Agree with @Celle about PT. Just doing all the stuff you are doing with some heel slides here and there is likely all the action your knee might need. I am more convinced of the limited usefulness of PT the longer I hang out on Bonesmart and the longer I experience life as a BTKR patient. My knees are so clear on the point of needing MOST to rest, ice, and heel. Josephine's success with NO PT at all makes lots of sense. I read somewhere that the Mayo Clinic is now subscribing to the "less is more" credo, and no longer prescribes PT for tkr patients. Interesting, right?

Here's good wishes for a smooth transition back to working life. I would be mourning those naps if I were you. :-)
 
Oh that has made me smile imagining your protective canine putting herself inbetween you and the PT! Really pleased to see that things are going well for you. Agree with what others have said about taking it very easy once you're back at work. Love Florida - been 6 times - mainly to the theme parks but visited Naples for a few days in 1989 and took a day trip to Boca Raton in 2003 to visit a friend. Should have been there in February but had to cancel our trip because of my knees!! We will be back!!
 
@Raffs , I do feel blessed to live in Florida. Glad you like my state!

So I got discharged from PT today, and my ROM is 2/102. My PT lady told me my OS will have no problem with those numbers, so whew! I have done nothing much to deserve that ROM. Oh, wait - I read Josephine's recovery thread and followed her advice! I see my OS on Monday morning and will broach the subject of knee #2. Can hardly believe I am considering it, since it is not a fun recovery. But this has not been awful. And I would really like to be done with the surgeries! If I am going to be regaining my ability over the next year, might as well be for both knees. My husband may have other thoughts.
 
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Well, today I thought, "I am doing so well that I should see if I can get off this percocet." I have been taking them (the 5/325 variety) at 8am, 1pm, 6pm, 11pm, and whenever I wake up in the night - usually 3am or 4am. So I skipped the 8am. Did fine. Skipped the 1pm. Still ok. Then about 4pm, I felt horrible. Diarrhea. Muscle aches. Grouchy. Took the 5pm and am now dandy. So tomorrow am going to try half a pill for 8am and 5pm, with whole dose 1pm, 11pm, and middle of the night. I would like to get down to the 11pm and middle of the night doses, but obviously that will have to happen slowly. And probably quite a bit further down the road.

I am three weeks out as of yesterday, and tomorrow am going to go to Sam's Club. First shopping excursion. I will take husband (who roams around the store looking at electronic equipment after he has selected his "treats" - usually chips and dip) and my 25 year old son who will stay faithfully by my side as I scoot up and down the aisles. I am really looking forward to the outing.

Back to work Monday so will be buying a lot of easy to prepare meals.

Happy Friday!:cheers:
 
Oops, sounds like you learned the hard way about tapering meds. Good luck with the Sam's outing. You're brave to tackling it on a Saturday...

Tomorrow morning I'm getting on a plane to retrieve my girls. Cannot wait although I'm a bit nervous about the actual travel. I'm fairly certain, I'll be icing and elevating once I get to my folks!


RTKA 8 June 2015
LTKA 14 Sept 2015 (sched)
 
@celynda , I hope you have some leg room tomorrow. That is the only thing about flying I dislike. Worth the discomfort to get your pups back. I am in Orlando, so wave as you pass over.
 
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