PKR son of textbook perfect recovery; this time I really mean it.

[jeano]

Ha! @tiredwife I spit on your dust bunnies! While we only have 2 cats one is a longhair and he's nearly as big as a Flemish Giant. So he very nearly counts as two cats by himself, plus we have 2 border collie/lab mutts. They have long lustrous fur and shed copiously. Plus I have a new multi color wool rug that is still shedding and adds lurid hues to the rabbit colony.

I finally rousted myself to wage war on the hair piles and even ran the vacuum for a few minutes, just long enough to groom the area rug and reduce the height of the sand dunes on the bare floors. Our place was beachfront property several million years ago.

I feel pretty good despite or because of that little flurry of activity. I am back on the ice. Mr Jeano suggested we go out for a bite tonight after PT but I think i'll pass. Maybe next week.

 

[tiredwife]

@jeano LOL Okay, you got me beat with your wool rug, they shed so bad! One of our cats is over 18 lb Main Coon mix with long hair, one is a 13 lb ragdoll mix with long hair, the other two have short hair. Can I add that hubby and I also shed! Still that wool rug trumps us all. Glad your flurry of activity didn't do you in.

 

[amber777]

@jeano you are so funny. Glad to hear it's done and you are out of the hospital. I also could not wait to get out but they made me wait two days usually it's 3 days in the hospital in Canada. I look forward to following your journey as I go through my own


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[TexasTee]

I bet I could get close @jeano - a Fuzzy English mastiff (175lbs) and a Austrailian shepard (65lbs) - I could vacuum every day and there would STILL be tumble weeds! Maybe I'll just leave out my contacts while recovering, then I won't notice!

 

[jeano]

@TexasTee
What I find funny is my greatly raised threshold as regards things like giant hair clots swirling around the floors. I can look and shrug and tell myself it will keep. My standards ain't that high, anyway. People with SERIOUS housekeeping standards dont have pets. Hey, maybe my miraculous healing powers are due to the level of benign dirt and germs at maison jeano.

Don't tell any of the moderators, but I got on the leg press machine at PT yesterday. 30reps with 80 pounds, then was allowed 3reps with 100#. Slept pretty well last night. Dogs told me to get up around 5.

No PT today,, took dogs on two short walks for a total of one half mile. Bet I sleep well again! Today I'm taking the extended release Tylenol at 8 hors intervals and leg feels good. (btw, I'm using leg press and ankle contraptions at PT at this point for my flabby right calf, which didn't get much chance to recover after the bust ankle. My knee is along for the ride and doesn't seem to mind. In fact, when I got out of bed this AM I had less trouble than usual getting the knee to cooperate.)

 

[TexasTee]

@jeano - that's fantastic to hear! I love the fact that you are moving on and doing regular things (carefully!) that's so encouraging.

No one who's too terribly picky about house keeping is coming within a football field of a Mastiff, she's as disgusting as she is awesome. I remember when I was dating between Mr Tee's - I would have to rush home from work to de-drool the place, never mind the hairballs! She was a great divider of men from boys though, worked well as a early detection device for losers ;)

On the other hand - I also feed her raw so I have an amazing constitution, hopefully it will help with my recovery, too.

 

[jeano]

Just remember YMMV. You have youth and lots of accumulated wisdom from here to help that iron constitution, but it just doesn't seem predictable who breezes through this and who has a nightmare recovery. I don't mean to discount the merits of a positive attitude but surely that's not the most significant factor. I feel that pets make a significant contribution to life, wonder if there's ever been a study correlating pets with smooth recoveries from joint replacements?
@TexasTee. The current Mr jeano passed muster when I explained that I had postponed our first date due to a scheduling conflict, which was due to my cousin wanting to perform one of his famous Balinese funerals for a beloved cat at my place. (I didn't want to scare off a prospect with that weird of a family tradition.)

When he heard that the festivities had included various pyrotechnics such as black powder and EverClear libations on the funeral pyre, he said he was crushed that I hadn't invited him. Then he helped me shop for a suitable cat shaped container for kitty's cremains. I knew he was a keeper!

 

[kneeper]

you had to mention housekeeping didn't you, jeano. I'm far enough along that I don't have a good excuse to let that dusting and vacuuming go...

 

[TexasTee]

I know I have to wait and see what I get for a recovery @jeano - but I can hope! LOL on the initiation rites - there are no truer tales of success than a man who can get and embrace my animal connection. Congrats to you, too!

 

[jeano]

The man even brought dog treats on the first date, and helped me with a visit to the house of friend whose three dogs I was letting out while he was out of town. Said house being a chamber of horrors down in the dog cave, at least.

I had a real good night's rest, awake briefly for bathroom and then later for a whiz bang thunderstorm. Although I am tired most of the time I normally sleep better at night if there's been some physical activity during the day. It is always difficult for me to nap.

One of the horses has a flare up of a skin problem that necessitates someone smearing a noxious ointment on his legs daily until it clears. That someone would most emphatically not be Mr Jeano, so I will be hiking to the barn daily. That should help with the exercise deficits.

 

[jeano]

Been posting everywhere but my own thread. Today is 3weeks out from surgery for me. Started driving yesterday (warning: do not try this if you are 3weeks out but still taking drugs!). Mr Jeano drove us to PT and I did various things calculated to make the right leg tired. We decided we'd wait to switch until we got to the post office, traffic being less problematic on that end of town. From there its a little over 10 miles to the house. Stopped on the way in to feed horses, then I let Mr jeano drive the rest of the way to the house. So I think i'll be good to drive myself to PT tomorrow.

Otherwise, still icing, resting , elevating, taking Tylenol. Took a couple of the steri-strips off last night only to discover a gap between the edges of the incision that I Did Not Like The Look Of At All. Jumped on that with home supply of steri-strips, cinched it up good and tight. We will have No Gappy Scars on this knee, Understood?

Also today I did some baking and got tough with the dust rabbits on the floors and the dust squirrels on the bedroom ceiling fan blades. Hate the dust squirrels. I very much doubt if i'll have enough oomph to walk the dogs to the barn at feeding time, but they are just as happy to chase the car so I might drive instead of sticking Mr Jeano with that chore.

 

[tiredwife]

@jeano I agree about the dust squirrels on ceiling fans.

They are awful! Missouri has this sticky nasty dust that we haven't had any other place we have lived. It is awful and you add that to the dust squirrels on the ceiling fan and the only way to clean them is with a wet rag. We have 4 ceiling fans.
Congratulations on driving

.
Glad you found the gap before it healed that way.
Have fun driving to feed the horses

 

[jeano]

Actually I pulled up my big girl panties and walked to the barn. Leg seems to be holding up and I even got some salad thrown together for dinner and some more vacuuming done.

Re the gappy place: it looked way too close to healed for my taste, so hoping keeping those two edges butted up close to each other will encourage them to weld together. Otherwise it 'll have to fill in from deeper down, or worse, i'll have a couple of edges that knowing me will get snagged on all kinds of things. I think I'm keeping the strips on for a few more weeks before peeking again.

If this is my only or worst recovery glitch I'm not complaining.

 

[tiredwife]

@jeano Hope the gappy place heals closed for you! Enjoy your evening!

 

[jeano]

Knee was done four weeks ago today. No narcs since third day post op, still taking Tylenol three times a day, occasionally Aleve if its feeling more inflamed. Sleeping 6-8 hours a night pretty consistently. Not using a cane or other assistive devices.

This past weekend I trimmed my horses' feet. 8 hoofs in all. Also went for first horseback ride, not a real long one, couple of miles, maybe. Right ankle was more of an issue than right knee.

Lets see, what else. Loving the leg press machine at PT, did 20 or so reps at 120 pounds when my therapist wasn't looking. That was yesterday. Was out and about running errands (been driving since about 10 days ago) for a good four hours, including PT, was tired afterwards but knee seemed fine, in fact when I woke up this morning, knee felt the most 'normal' since surgery, if that makes any sense--very little stiffness or pain.

We will see tomorrow at PT if I've met my therapist's goal of 130 degrees of flexion. (trust me, he hasn't pushed me at all, he's just thrilled with my progress.) I think its pretty close, because I can fairly easily cross the right ankle on the left knee in the shower to wash the bottom of my right foot.

I will get kicked out of PT tomorrow or Friday.

I am continuing to ice and elevate religiously, but intervals of standing and doing housework are getting longer. I can easily walk at least 3/4 of a mile, again, I am more careful of the ankle than I am of the knee.

 

[TexasTee]

That's outstanding @jeano - I know you roll the dice and get what you get for recovery but I'm still going to hope for yours!!

 

[tiredwife]

@jeano Glad you are doing so well! But.....were is the good ole jeano humor we long for? You are so straight forward and serious today!

 

[jeano]

I'm too busy being sardonically hilarious another people's threads, maybe. Except for wanting to kill my horses because they were jerks during their trims, nothing very amusing to report. And not everyone would find the thought of equicide funny.

The bad news is my threshold of tolerance for Flemish Giants is getting lower, fast, which means i'm going to have to woman up and do some dustin' and cleanin' around here. After I ride, of course. Wouldn't be safe to be around the horses all fatigued from housework.

Also i'll have to let the employer know i'll probably be ready to work a couple of shifts in October. Bummer.

 

[tiredwife]

@jeano Oh good, the Flemish Giants are bugging you! That is a sure sign of recovery!
Glad you didn't result to equicide!
Don't do too much work in October, see if you survive the Flemish Giants first.

 

[jeano]

Excellent point. having tramped up to the farthest end of the horses' current paddock (about 3/4mile round trip from the house) and catching today's victim, got horse, self and dogs out for our ride today. Dogs evidently planned a different route from what I had in mind, so I spent a fair amount of time bellowing for them to catch the hell up, which they eventually did.

Again the knee did fine despite the best efforts of several branches out in the woods. Most of my bridle paths are more like deer trails. Every thunderstorm in summer and ice storm in winter alters the landscape and detours have to be taken. I like to bushwhack but resisted the impulse today. Sometimes the shortcuts the horses and I attempt turn into adventures in leading a horse through stuff so thick it can't be ridden over or under. You haven't lived until you've helped a panicky horse extricate itself after getting a big grapevine or bull brier wrapped around a back leg.

None of that today. Icing and elevating, had a little snack to hold me til dinner, took my Tylenol, sipping on some iced coffee. Best of all, dogs are tired, and both horses now know Vacation is Over.