Bilateral TKR The Historian - recovery diary

[Roy Gardiner]

But you'd expect recovery to slow just by logic; some things recover very fast -- bleeding stops, for instance! So one would simply expect that those things that by their very nature take longer would 'look like' they were hanging around.

I still have fluid on the knees, they still click as I move, I still can't crouch or kneel properly. Minor things I agree, which helps me not to panic over them, but the point is still there I think -- some things just take ages.

 

[Phoenixx29]

Neil, I hope you're first full day back at work went well and didn't wear you out too much.

I can understand why you might be frustrated about your progress flattening out (I don't have a good track record of patience myself ) . But isn't that the normal course of things? It's probably unrealistic to expect to progress at a consistent rate. Just look at how far you've come. You're making progress, and a little progress adds to a bit step forward over time.

I do hope you'll be able to do that hike - it does sound like a bit of a challenge, but there's nothing than beating a challenge for a bit of motivation!

And, I'm sorry to say this, even if you don't like it - you are an inspiration. Actually Janet has expressed this better than I can. Now, I don't mean inspiration = idol. Far from it. I do not have idols out of principle. However, your story is inspiration in a sense that is encouraging to others, ie. me, as it shows that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and gives me hope that the surgery will be worth it and I just might be able to do at least some of the things I am unable to now. Before I started reading recovery stories I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Now I can be more positive about the whole process. We all have good and bad days; hopefully the good days will outweigh the bad ones soon!

 

[BJ Mac]

Here's to more good days than bad ones!!!

 

[bottomshollow]

I'll drink to that

and do a little dance, too!

 

[RestAssured]

I too love the good days! They are what spur me on and keep me going!

 

[TheHistorian]

8 hours at work wiped me out. I was doing fine with 4 hours last week. I'm scheduled for half a day today and I've spent all morning sleeping.

I'm rescheduling the hike of Pole Steeple for another weekend. Too soon and I have other things I can do this weekend.

 

[TheHistorian]

Fine after a half day today. Back to 8 hours a day for the rest of the week.

Only physical problem tonight is a stiffness in my right ankle. This is the leg and foot with the nerve damage, so anything else going on disturbs me. (It's also the leg that had the radical correction.) I'm not aware of anything I did that would have caused the stiffness. And before someone asks, I wasn't wearing old shoes.

Two conversations in the past two days have given me a lot to think about. One was tonight. As I walked into work, someone I've probably met years ago but forgotten said, "Hey, looking good. I remember you when you were out to here" as he spread his arms wide. We chatted for a minute, and I, perhaps too apologetically, filled him in on my weight struggle and knee replacements. I feel a bit better than I have for a couple months. Yes, my weight is up, but I've still maintained more than half of my 160 pound weight loss for six years. And the rest will come off again as I become active on my new joints.

The second conversation was Monday. A friend is a former Race Across America rider, and has been doing support for them for the past couple of years. This year's race ended in Annapolis MD Sunday, and Bernie drove north to see me before heading back to California. We'd met online and ridden together an afternoon last year in Ohiio. I wrote about the ride here:
broken link removed: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/748220-I-get-RAAMed-with-Homeybe

At lunch on Monday we talked briefly about my current estrangement from riding...

"I'm not sure what I can do. And I can't tell if my reluctance to ride is legitimate caution or fear."

"I think what's happened is that you've been building yourself into a box. The box got smaller as your legs got worse. And it'll get smaller and smaller. It's your box. You have to push against it to break it."

I think I have some boxes to break in my future.

 

[BJ Mac]

Well, I hope that you get to begin breaking out of your boxes soon then. Keep us posted on that. I sense some victories around the bend for you.

It's good to hear that you were feeling better after having a half day of work. I hope that the rest of your work week goes well. Hmmm, maybe it was the new shoes...lol, just kidding. Seriously though, I just hate it when there is a new ache, pain or stiffness and I have no idea what I have done to bring it on, because then I don't know what to cut back or avoid... very frustrating. I hope that the stiffness clears up and does not return. Hang in there.

 

[TheHistorian]

I've concluded the stiffness was a singular event, and probably connected to the nerve damage in the leg and foot. I was fine tonight.

However, my knees are sore at the end of a work shift. I wonder if it has something to do with the office chair I use? I'm constantly adjusting my position near the phone, computer, etc, which I don't do when seated at home.

 

[BJ Mac]

YAY! I am glad to hear that you did not have the stiffness tonight. The knees being sore at the end of the shift where you are doing something that you haven't been doing at home sounds like that makes sense. Hopefully your knees just need to get used to doing something different.

 

[RestAssured]

Hello,

In the library it talks about what happens when you are sitting in one place for a long time. Are you still icing? Do you get up and take frequent breaks to let the blood flow return to normal? Just a couple of ideas.

 

[RICBAK1]

you make me feel proud of you this is only site i use i dont mess with computer a lot ,but working and surgery i am only glad i was fortunate to be able to retire early.

 

[TheHistorian]

Hello,

In the library it talks about what happens when you are sitting in one place for a long time. Are you still icing? Do you get up and take frequent breaks to let the blood flow return to normal? Just a couple of ideas.

I've never found ice to be effective, and unfortunately I don't have a cooler at work to keep it in. So no, I haven't been icing. I may see about obtaining a stool so I can keep my feet up when seated.

My work does mean I'm seated much of the time, but I can get up as needed. Problems are getting up, which takes some work, and instability for the first few steps once I've risen. After a few steps my gait and balance improves, but on first rising I look and feel very unstable. Particularly the left leg; pre-surgery the left wasn't bearing its share of the load, so this may be related as much to the correction as to the replacement.

 

[RestAssured]

I've never found ice to be effective, and unfortunately I don't have a cooler at work to keep it in. So no, I haven't been icing. I may see about obtaining a stool so I can keep my feet up when seated.

My work does mean I'm seated much of the time, but I can get up as needed. Problems are getting up, which takes some work, and instability for the first few steps once I've risen. After a few steps my gait and balance improves, but on first rising I look and feel very unstable. Particularly the left leg; pre-surgery the left wasn't bearing its share of the load, so this may be related as much to the correction as to the replacement.

Well propping your feet up might help, otherwise I am out of ideas You seem to know what's best for you, so I will just say good luck and I wish you continued healing!

 

[skigirl]

For most of my life, I have been a gym rat----four days one hour workout, extra days for fun---swimming, biking, spinning,dancing, yoga, etc. I have been very inactive for the past 10 weeks --trying to avoid scar tissue.

Now, I have broken a life long habit of going to the gym and I am having a problem motivating myself to go there. There is a certain amount of inertia in my life right now. I could spend a day lying around--which I have never done.j

So, I also am whipping myself into shape right now. I still have some limitations--no biking over 10 miles. No single activity two days in a row. I have started playing a little golf, riding my bike---but I have to force myself into the gym. So, I did a firm schedule of water aerobics three times a week--still forcing myself to go, however. K

 

[TheHistorian]

Thursday was the first day I was up and alert all day - from about 7:30 AM to after midnight. Not a single nap. While I work second shift I was up early so I could follow the Supreme Court's announcements of its opinions. I could have taken a nap after they presented their opinions, but I was too riled up and spent the rest of the morning discussing what drugs the Chief Justice was on when he decided the PPACA was constitutional.

I wound up working a 12 hour day last night, and didn't get to bed until 4 AM. So I spent 20 hours awake and active without napping. It's a weird sort of progress, but I'll take it.

 

[TheHistorian]

Thursday was the first day I was up and alert all day - from about 7:30 AM to after midnight. Not a single nap. While I work second shift I was up early so I could follow the Supreme Court's announcements of its opinions. I could have taken a nap after they presented their opinions, but I was too riled up and spent the rest of the morning discussing what drugs the Chief Justice was on when he decided the PPACA was constitutional.

I wound up working a 12 hour day last night, and didn't get to bed until 4 AM. So I spent 20 hours awake and active without napping. It's a weird sort of progress, but I'll take it.

Aside from getting breakfast and dinner, I spent most of the day resting. The heat is ungodly, and as I outlined above I was exhausted. Now the drawback is that once again I'm awake at night.

 

[TheHistorian]

An uneventful week. Aside from today, when I'm sick to my stomach and called off work.

I might try to ride a bike tomorrow - early, before the heat sets in.

 

[Janet2012]

An uneventful week. Aside from today, when I'm sick to my stomach and called off work.

I might try to ride a bike tomorrow - early, before the heat sets in.

Good luck finding a cool time to ride! Hope you feel better and get some sleep. We're like babies, when we get on a bad sleeping schedule, it's hard to break out of that!

 

[TheHistorian]

Its now four months since I went under the knife and I feel less than awesome. I'd hoped I'd be much further along by now. Instead I'm still struggling to get out of chairs and my stamina is in the basement.