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TKR The Odyssey of My Newfangled Knee

@momweb I am sorry - I hope those painful times are few and far between!! Are you still sleeping downstairs or have you ventured upstairs for nighttime? Happy Birthday - enjoy that ice cream sundae!! YUMMY!!

@Cindy knits I hope you feel better quickly too!! I know there is those blue times that I am going to dread!!! You sure know those ups and downs. When is your July surgery?
 
@Cindy knits this is the second time this has happened in a week. I hate roller coasters in real life so this up and down stuff in recovery is no fun either. I've not reached the wished I hadn't done this phase because too many other people have weathered through and have never looked back. So hang in there, we can support each other through this.
 
You just get so enthusiastic. Take it easy. Plan ahead. On days when you have PT scheduled, scale other activities back a little. Not only is this a roller coaster, but it's a project to be managed. Grin.
 
My left knee is July 27th which is exactly one month. I have a lot to do....how in the world do people do bilateral?!? It's a mystery to me!

As far as feeling blue....I fight it from time to time even without knee problems. I need to be more positive like YOU. You always seem so cheerful....I want to be like you when I grow up! :))
 
@PolarBear60 I am so lucky that I have home PT 7 days a week. There is no downtime. The nurse came today but will only call and check from now on. I still have to plan to be a little less active period!! As my PT says when you feel good, you want to do more, so you do. You get so excited and your body lets you. The problem is your body doesn't like it later. I'm learning, slowly, but I'm learning.
 
Sometimes we have to stretch our boundaries to know where they are - not advocating pushing the pain limits though. I was a very lazy recovering hippy -- I seemed to like to sleep all the time :sleeep::sleep:
 
@Cindy knits my life has had some difficult times so I've struggled with depression and I'm on a drug called depression. I tried to go off it twice and discovered I could be a pretty nasty person without it who cried at the drop of a dime. So, I truly believe depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain and if one tiny little pill makes me a happier person, then so be it. But even without it, I've also tried to look at the brighter side. I can't handle staying with the alternative. My sister was like that and it wasn't pleasant. So, I thank you for the compliment, it makes me feel good even if my toes are nearly touching the ceiling while I keep hoping 6pm would come sooner so I could take another dilaudid. Oh well, birthday ice cream sundaes coming soon!
 
Well, today is the first day I am home all alone. I prepared so much, thanks to this site, that I'm not at all nervous about it. I've done some stretches, sponge bathed, iced, took a little nap and had an early small lunch. I'm starting to learn about doing things small and in moderation. After living such a busy, active life, that's a difficult change. Physical Therapy comes later, and I'll take it easy this afternoon. Wish me luck. Boredom hasn't hit home yet, but it's knocking on the door. How did you all deal with it? Every time I start to read, I fall asleep.:zzz:If I start to think about a project, it's just a fleeting thought and I take a nap. Yet, there's a part of me ready to do something, anything. Help!
 
Napping is exactly the right thing to do now. It lets your body focus its attention on healing without having to fight with you. Naps = healing = good


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
Thanks @PolarBear60 the naps feel good as well. They don't come as often not last as long so I guess my body is sending a message loud and clear. I just have to listen.
 
Remember how we fought naps as children? During a TKR or a BTKR recovery, naps are wonderful---and as has been said,
bluejuju said:
So is ice, elevation,
Click to expand...
just ice, elevate properly, and sleep away.

Your body is using tremendous amounts of energy in the healing process, and the pain meds are also working their magic on sleep, so just roll with it and doze away!
 
I have never been a napper, but I gave into it and learned to enjoy it with my TKR. Boredom was difficult. I couldn't focus to read for quite a few months due to my infection. However, I did watch a lot of TV and Netflix for two months. Try binge watching a whole series you haven't watched before. I enjoyed Call the Midwife and Downton Abbey. If I fell asleep I could just rewind. I was still napping when I went back to teaching part time around week 12-13. I would come home, ice, elevate and nap in the afternoons.
You're right, your body needs the sleep, so give in and nap away!
 
KarriB said:
I couldn't focus to read for quite a few months due to my infection.
Click to expand...
While I did not have an infection, I could not read nor concentrate. My substitute teacher brought over essays, and, due to the pain meds, I could maybe grade 3 at a time.

I did watch a great many re-runs of Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Addams Family, and The Munsters, and I saw a great many Law and Order episodes during my sleepless late-night forays into the TV world.

In fact, the TVLand channels was my "go-to" channel.
 
@referee54 i always blame the infection because 1. I don't know how my recovery would have progressed after week 4 because it was going nicely before the fever and seeping began. 2. My mind was totally enveloped in fighting the infection. I couldn't focus on anything because of the worry over the possibility of a third antbiotics spacer surgery. So I wonder if others were able to focus before I was able to. i really didn't take a lot of pain meds while keeping the leg straight, just lots of antibiotics.
 
I reread and relistened to a lot of favorite books while taking Percocet. Had to switch to Lortab which let me concentrate on reading, but still made me take a daily nap. :-)

sent from my Galaxy 4
 
I fell like such a little kid at times, relearning so many things. We live in such a fast paced society that going slow just isn't in our genes. I remember when I was teaching woofing down my lunch in 20 minutes, that was nuts! But that was the way it was. I don't miss that one bit. By the time I sponge bathe, get dressed, clean up, (and I still haven't washed my hair yet) 2 hours have gone by. I'm now sitting - icing and ready for a nap. When I wake, I'll wash my hair, have lunch, watch some TV and it should be time for PT. When he leaves, ice and nap time again. If it weren't for the TKR, this would be the Life of Riley!:thumb:
 
Like so many of you, if real pain is going to hit, it's in the middle of the night. We had some pretty decent storms last night, so I don't know if it was the storms or what, but wowsa did my knee Scream out last night. Do any of you react to storms?:blackcloud:
 
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