Revision TKR Sondrals’ Revision

[sondrals]

@Macknit i just wish they would have told me. Last time I had to wait until my staples were out. I was kind of oblivious this bandage was waterproof.

Our Christmas is going to be a little sad and small. My mom refuses to be in the same room as my boyfriend so that makes the holidays hard. She’s not in great health and I’m not really capable of driving yet so it’ll just be me and my bf and dog for Christmas. A little sad about that but not much I can do. We also decided not to do presents this year, we splurged and bought ourselves a few things we were wanting in the last few months (indoor smokeless grill, new tv for the bedroom, electric toothbrushes). If not for the situation with my mother I’d be completely content to have our non-Christmas Christmas.

I do hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

 

[Helizabug]

I am so sad for you about your mom. It’s hard when the person who has known you the longest can’t know how important it is to make peace with someone who loves you so well. I hope time will ease this rift.

Small Christmases don’t have to be sad, and I hope you find some joy in yours.

 

[sistersinhim]

It’s the little things!

It IS the little things. Until someone goes through this journey they don't realize just what that means. But, we do. Celebrate those little things, those successes!

 

[Pattikakes]

The shower and the grinch pj's sounds wonderful. It truly is the "little things" in life that make us so happy. Merry Christmas.

 

[sondrals]

Went to physical therapy today, I got to 75 degrees bend on my own. It seems like so little. But I did get to to 0 straight so happy about that. I think my swelling needs to go down a bit more to give me more bend. It seems silly to go to physical therapy and just do gentle things like bending and stretching, but it makes me feel better, gets me out of the house, and well my max out of pocket is met so why not? Lol

I do have to go into work next week for a couple hours to do some accounting things that need finished. But I will limit that time and try to work on it a bit more from home so that my in office time is less.

Physical therapy let me use their scale too and I’m happy to report I’m only 1lb more than prior to surgery despite my less than stellar food choices as of lately. I’m also claiming the implants each weigh 5lbs each so technically I’ve lost weight

 

[Motherbone]

I had the worst Christmas of my life last year, being immobilized with my broken kneecap and unable to go anywhere. Couldn't decorate. Couldn't visit family out of state. Then we decided to go get Vietnamese food with some friends. As the lady in the restaurant said to me on the phone when I called to see if they were serving on Christmas Day, "We are open 365 days a year." It turned out OK. Yours will, too. And next year at this time you will be able to look back and see how far you have come.

I had my husband and my dog last Christmas. We lost our dog mid-year but we are still ticking along.

 

[Macknit]

You know that saying about less being more?? I think a small, mindful Christmas is still a beautiful thing. And it is really your mother's loss in this case. My mother has never been fond of my DH (of 42 years!!) There is a long history of my attempts to make her like him... but I won't go into that here.

I understand your hurt...especially when you are literally hurting with the two knees!? But it sounds like your PT was a good thing to get to...I have had some set backs in my recovery and my PT always helped to make me feel better...

Many Blessing of this season!

 

[Sara61]

Gentle PT is good and it gets you out of the house
Christmas is what you make it - sadly nowadays to much emphasis is placed on the commercial side. Sometimes being just with our loved ones ( BF & Dog ) are just as good then being with a bunch of relatives whom sometimes only get together out of obligation- and from the sound of your posts you have one great guy.
Special occasions are what we make them xx
Hopefully your Mum will learn not to be so selfish, if not it's truly her loss, we have a saying "What goes around, comes around "
Keep your chin up, enjoy the company of your loyal companion and concentrate on your healing every little day makes a difference xx

 

[sondrals]

I’m almost two weeks out, should I be worried I can’t get to 90 degrees bend yet? My other one came super quickly so I feel behind. I’m frustrated because I just want to be able to sit in a chair comfortably. I get my staples out tomorrow maybe that will help? I guess I just kind of feel stuck, is there anything I should be doing to help it along?

 

[Jockette]

is there anything I should be doing to help it along?

Be patient and keep treating it gently. Every knee is different, even on the same person. It will bend more as it heals.

 

[sistersinhim]

I’m almost two weeks out, should I be worried I can’t get to 90 degrees bend yet?

Most definitely not. Most doctors don't expect 90 degrees until 6 weeks out. Your other knee was exceptional. But, think about it. What was this new knee doing while your old one was recovering? It was taking on all the work and weight of your body. That probably deteriorated it much more than what your first knee was. That means that your surgeon would have had to do a lot more work to it. The more work done to it, the more you have to recover from. No two knees are the same, even on the same body. That's why we say, don't compare knees!

 

[sondrals]

@Jockette and @sistersinhim thanks for the reassurance. I did discover I can finally do a straight leg lift today which makes me feel a little bit better. It hurts like the dickens but it does finally lift. I’ll just keep gently stretching and doing little things around the house.

 

[Helizabug]

Reassuring to me too! I’m not at 80 yet and I’m a week and a half ahead of you. you had me scared a little.

 

[sistersinhim]

It hurts like the dickens but it does finally lift.

Great on lifting that leg! Now, that you know it will lift, you don't have to keep trying it, especially since it hurts you. Just do your normal things.

 

[Jockette]

I agree with sistersinhim.

Josephine, our Nurse Director, always said once you could do a straight leg lift you didn’t have to keep doing them.

I remember sitting on the couch with my legs on my ottoman that first week and my mind telling my leg to lift and my leg totally ignored me. (How rude!) I actually told my PT that I wouldn’t do straight leg raises because it hurt my lower back (and I have low back issues that were really bad some years ago, and are at a manageable point now and I wanted to keep it that way!)

I don’t remember how far I was in the recovery when I decided to test my leg, and my leg went way up high! I was so excited! And this happened without “working on it!”

 

[sondrals]

PT asked if I’d named my new knee. I said yeah I call it “stupid” because it just sits there no matter what my brain tells it to do. Strangely enough I discovered I could do a straight leg lift today and I got to 97 degrees bend with no pain and only minimal tightness on the CPM tonight. Maybe I should tattle on it more often if it makes it get with the program

 

[sondrals]

Staples are out. My surgeon said I’m “doing better than most are at this stage” and he’ll see me in a month. I do have a weird flap of skin but they steri-stripped it together and it wasn’t open or bleeding just kinda not completely lined up.

 

[sistersinhim]

Staples are out. My surgeon said I’m “doing better than most are at this stage” and he’ll see me in a month.

 

[Macknit]

Yay!! I'm so pleased for you!

 

[Helizabug]

Great news! Enjoy it!