TKR So grateful to have found this community

[Relle]

@hopalong61 i love reading what your up to. It's great to be able to re-engage in life even if it is only a little at a time. I have a couple of events I've been invited to but that's not for a couple of months so fingers crossed I can stay more than a couple of hours. We are just starting winter here though so I'm not so keen on going out in the cold night air. What a great sleep, I bet you felt refreshed.
@SusieShoes thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I feel that I have come a long way in my recovery.
My knee is still not where I would like it to be, but I know that will come with time. I have found it's my mindset that has been the biggest hurdle. Now that I have settled down emotionally I can let my body get on with the healing.
How great is it to be able to come on here and be able to share with everyone.

 

[hopalong61]

@Relle You're absolutely spot on with the mind set thing. I never thought that i would be able go to a concert at Manchester Arena just 7 days after my MUA ! The day before my MUA i'd cried getting in the car to go to hospital as my knee wouldn't bend enough to get in without major pain. As i'd promised my daughter i would go with her to this concert, i just thought "you know what, it's one day, take lots of painkillers and get on with it" I suffered for it the next day but i expected that so i just spent the day icing and elevating. No harm done and i had one very, very happy daughter ! I enjoyed it too !

 

[SusieShoes]

A lot of healing can take place in two months but your knee still won't be fully healed, so may act up. When it comes to events, the key to successful attendance is to be realistic about what your knee can do. Know that your knee will be stiff and maybe painful if you sit for three hours at a concert or play. It will be stiff when you stand up and first want to move, but you should be able to walk. Bring your cane should you need it. Accept that you will spend that night and the next day elevating and icing to calm it down.

If the event involves a lot of walking, think about finding places to sit down along the way. Bring the cane.

Be prepared to cut short your time at an event if necessary. If it's a family event, just let your loved ones know this might happen, or let them help plan ways to make the event easier for you.

Life goes on, and we do deserve to live it! We just need to take our knee's condition into consideration for a bit.

 

[sistersinhim]

Driving is such freeing! Good for you!

 

[Relle]

I was a bit frustrated with myself today. Now my family has moved out I'm keen to get my home the way I want.
The mind is willing but the body isn't. After an hour or two of tidying I can feel the pain set in. I try to ignore it but it's impossible so sit down, leg up and ice. The space my grandson was using as a bedroom is where I want to set up for my art work. It needs vacuuming, furniture and boxes moved in and unpacked before I can even start. Hopefully I can get help over the weekend to make this happen.
Sleep is still evasive but I don't mind as I have a routine for when I go to bed and what I do when I wake up. It seem to take the pressure off. I would like to find some more interesting games to pay on the iPad.
I have been reading the posts put up by other members of Bonesmart, its my go to when I reach for my iPad at 2 in the morning, I know I'm not alone in this journey and I find that comforting.
I am doing better as the weeks go by, I just have to remind myself to take it easy and have patience.

 

[SusieShoes]

You need to become Queen Relle for a spell. Have others do for you. I hope you get helpers over the weekend! It’s only temporary and serves as a good reminder of how much you usually do!

And remember... none of those boxes or the.vacuuming or the furniture are going anywhere. They’ll still be there when you AND your knee are ready to push them around. Then you can have your house the way you want it and a happy knee.

 

[Jockette]

You need to become Queen Relle for a spell. Have others do for you

Susie, who was it who mentioned wearing a tiara? It sounds like something Pheebs would have said!

 

[nuttybrunette]

I gotta remember your hare and tortoise analogy. I’m a hare too. I’ll use that at PT today.

 

[Relle]

@SusieShoes i woke to a nice surprise this morning, my husband was up early before me and vacuumed my space (I didn't even have to ask) and my grandson is coming over to help him move things in for me. Then I'll be able to go out and potter around as I like. In the past I have felt guilty taking time for myself to draw and paint so in a way this enforced down time will be good for me.

 

[sistersinhim]

Now, that is a wonderful surprise! Enjoy your pottering around time!

 

[Relle]

Yesterday was one of those days where I cried at everything. I couldn't get comfortable and was deep in a place of self pity. I felt so annoyed with myself because I haven't been depressed for a couple of weeks. Reflecting on this after spending a quiet morning by myself I realised that I had worn myself out over the weekend. I had a house full of visitors both days and although I physically didn't have to do much I didn't rest and take the weight off my knee like I usually do.
Am I the only silly person who doesn't realise when they are hobbling around after people trying to keep up?
Another lesson learnt!

 

[Jockette]

It’s natural to want to be a part of what’s happening around us. Did you enjoy your visitors? I hope you did.

And it is amazing how just a little overdoing can upset everything. But we can’t just spend our recovery in a room by ourselves so we can rest, so sometimes we have to take the good with the bad. Another reason why this recovery is called a rollercoaster!

 

[Relle]

Sure is a roller coaster @Jockette, I'm lucky to be able to be able to have time to catch my breath and take it easy.

 

[SusieShoes]

We all want to put out best foot (knee?) forward when we have company. Having guests is tiring even if you aren't recovering from TKR. No wonder you're a bit wiped out. You have to recover from that too!

 

[hopalong61]

Hi @Relle it's nice to hear from you. Good days/bad days we're all in the same boat aren't we ? I have days where i think "wow, i might just be getting over this" and then the next day - BAM ! Back to stiff/swollen/painful knee ! I've been back at work for a few weeks now and had a meeting yesterday with my manager and i've agreed to go back full time from next week. I do 4 x 9 hour days so i can't say i'm looking forward to it but i have found one positive from it. I usually get half an hour for lunch and 3 x 10 min breaks per day, as i don't want to be sitting for too long, i've decided to split my breaks into 5 x 10 min breaks. On my breaks i've been doing a lap of the building, it works out at about 2 km per day, so i'm probably doing more physio than ever ! I get Weds/Thurs and Sun off each week so i have time to recover too. The main thing is that i feel as though my life is more or less back to normal which i think mentally is a huge help. I can still have days like you, where i feel incredibly fed up, i think it's really important to take those days and not feel guilty about it. As long as you can rethink and understand why you feel knackered/fed up/tired, go with the flow and move on. I still don't sleep well, only about 3 hours at a time but treat myself to a nanna nap occasionally ! Its lovely It feels naughty sometimes though ! I try to not let things get to me, but, just like you, i end up doing stuff which could be done by someone else ! I moan to my daughter about not putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher but leaving them on the worktops, then i do it ! I need to have a word with myself about that. You do too !! Hope you're feeling ok today ?

 

[Relle]

@hopalong61 thanks for sharing what you are up to. Sometimes I feel isolated even though I have family and friends around me and reading about how you are getting on gives me a lift. My nights seem to be like yours so I can sympathise. I'm sure we are both looking forward to the time when we can get a good 8 hours at least. It's great that you've been able to go back to work and arrange your days to suit your needs. It's difficult to find a happy balance between rest and activity and unfortunately the body lets you know when you get it wrong. I get glimpses of thinking i will be ok and then I get pulled up short. This certainly isn't a smooth road to recovery.

I'm finding the evenings the worst time for me. I am not taking anything for pain through the day as I've cut down on my medication. Think I'll have to go back to my GP and try and sort something out.

I've also been lazy and not icing as much as I should. In my defense the weather has been very cold and raining. I've found it hard to keep warm so the thought of putting ice on my body just didn't cut it. I was that frustrated trying to get comfortable last night that I retrieved the ice pack from the laundry, filled it up put it on my elevated knee. I had forgotten how much the icing can actually help. Needless to say that I will be using it throughout my day again.

 

[hopalong61]

@Relle i've had to ice most of today, seems i overdid the walking at work over the last 2 days Very still and sore again today. Another day of the same tomorrow i think, although it's my Daughters driving test in the morning so might have to (hopefully) celebrate somewhere for a while !

 

[Relle]

I'm now 13 weeks post TKR and it feels like a life time ago since the surgery. Maybe because getting through the day can still be a challenge and I am still quite restricted in what I can do physically.
On the plus side I am feeling a lot more optimistic about my recovery now. My ROM is still not great but is slowly improving and to be honest I am not even pushing myself or my knee to bend, just walking when I can and increasing my daily activities. Although I'm still not sleeping the best my two to three hours has stretched to four or five and I've been able to gradually cut back on my pain medication to 5mg oxycodone at night and a slow release through the day.

The weather is cold here now a whole season has passed. This has brought new challenges with dressing that I never gave a though to early on. I naively thought that by winter I would be fully recovered.
I have been a little down lately because I have had to miss out on some events because of my lack of mobility but I know this is only temporary and have a lot of great things to look forward to.

Accepting the fact that recovery is going to be slow, for me at least, has been the best gift I have given myself.

 

[sistersinhim]

Remember, you MUA set your recovery back almost to the beginning so you can count your date as May 7, 2018. At least your sleeping is improving! You can't buy a good night's sleep. You are doing right by not pushing your knee. It will heal at its own pace no matter what you do!

 

[Relle]

@sistersinhim your right, getting some sleep is great. I've also realised not stressing about being awake at odd hours helps. I'm not used to sleeping in but if I can get 5 hours sleep between 3 and 8am I'll take it. I am lucky to have the luxury of time.