Become an Insider

TKR Trying to stay positive

Status
Not open for further replies.
Well, I am glad that I napped when I could, because the nights of no sleep have decided to visit me. At least I had read of several people with sleep problems, so this did not come as a surprise. I am not sure the therapist will be happy with me, but I just don't think I will relax and bend like I should when today I feel like I was run over by a truck, due to lack of sleep. Oh well.this will be his last home visit. Tomorrow marks my 2 weeks mark and the start of out patient therapy. I will really have to search hi and low for patience today.
 
Sleep can be disrupted for quite a while. So many things are going on that can disturb it, like medications, pain or discomfort, just that the new body part feels "funny", and of course mental preoccupation that creeps into our heads and won't leave for whatever reason. Many of us just take sleep wherever and however we can! Just hold onto knowing it does get better.

It's okay if you blow off therapy when your body is telling you to slow down. You're just barely two weeks out from a major surgery, after all.
 
Therapist is gone. He felt that I had maintained where I was on Monday, so he was happy. He told me I will have Good days and bad days, and sometimes not know the reason why. I felt he did an excellent job. He would even ask if he could touch me to take my bp. He would explain well what he wanted me to do, and then he would let me do it. He showed me how to use my good leg to help out a bit. He never gave me a strict amount of homework, but I know he expected me to do some reps of everything. The only thing I did regularly on my own was to get up and walk slowly around the house so I could look out different windows and get a change of scenery. He was encouraging, supportive, and kept telling me to have patience.
 
You're doing well. Walking a bit and gentle stretches are all that are needed right now.
 
Hi OJ2 - Glad you had a good PT appt, that your PT seems to be taking a gentle approach and that you are also being mindful of overdoing it. This is a challenging period in recovery and it sounds like you are doing really well. keep up the good work. The lack of sleep is a real nuisance for a long period of time so nap as often as you can.
 
I had a wonderful nap this afternoon, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am thankful that I have a comfy recliner as an alternative to my bed. I will keep looking forward to getting a good nights sleep, but will enjoy daytime sleep as it comes too. Keeping a positive outlook helps me remain more calm, more pleasant, and therefore, I believe, in less pain. I am very thankful that I can read other posts and be assured my experiences all fall within the realm of "normal", and I can rely on other people's experiences to find possible solutions to help things go more smoothly in this wild world of rehab.
 
I am now 2 weeks post op. After a horrible night sleep 2 nights ago but a great nap the next day, I had a wonderful nights sleep last night. I can always hope this will continue. Feeling a little less loopy from the oxycondone today. I have stretched the meds out from 1 every 4 hours to 1 every 5 hours. I will try stretching it to 6 hours next week. I don't want any pain, but I think I will feel much better after I get off the hard drugs. I am finding myself doing a little more each day in the way of daily activities. Looking back, I would say that the past 2 weeks have been a big haze. I felt like there was no end to the horrible feelings, and I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. I remember the little things, but have no idea where the time went. But I am glad I don't have to follow any timeline to get through rehab ( I am retired). I can now see the light, and it is not as far away as I expected. Yes, there are bumps and turns in the way, but I can take my time getting there.i am not yet at the point where I am glad I had the surgery, but I no longer regret doing it. I keep telling myself I am now on the healing side, so should enjoy what each day brings.
 
You are on the healing side. Those first two weeks are tough. The next two will also be a bit... trying. You're so right about bumps along the way, and good days that might be followed by less good days. The pain should start to settle down soon, though, and you'll start noticing little victories in doing your day to day activities. Food starts to taste better again. You can stand long enough to make coffee and snacks, or maybe even a simple meal. Life starts looking more normal again--at least you can see eventually getting to normal.

Don't stretch the meds for any reason other than that you don't need them. Pain is the enemy of healing, so you want to keep your pain under good control. But if you find that five hours works well for you, go for it! Eventually you'll just stop needing the pills, and maybe even forget to take one.
 
Each day seems different, and it is good to have BoneSmart to read. No matter what I am feeling or experiencing, there are others going through the same thing, and even more who have passed that point. Reading what others write helps me stay grounded, and encourages the tiny bit of patience I seem to be able to find. I overdid my PT exercises on Friday, and although everything felt fine when I did it, my knee told me about it all night. So I knew from this site to cut back on the exercising on Saturday, and I did fine. I do fight some depression, but thankfully I knew to expect it. So many things are better if you know they are coming, rather than be blind sided. I am still icing and elevating whenever I am sitting. Yes, it is a lot, but it feels good. I am hoping to be able to drop some of the strong pills soon. I hate the brain fog, the nausea, and the loopiness. But in this, too, I am practicing patience. And I am learning to love naps. The silver lining!
 
Naps are our reward for choosing to be kind to our knees. :sleeep: It's okay to push once in a while to see if we're able to do something. You're wise to listen to what your knees say about it. You'll know you're healing well when you start not minding some movements, like walking or knee bends. Recovery becomes more active then, and you'll feel more in control.
 
The naps are important! It gives your body a chance to just calm itself and that knee of course. I too had sleepless nights and those naps were wonderful!:sleep:

Good luck with your outpatient PT, I’m sure you’ll do an awesome job. It begins slow and don’t push it or let anyone else push you into something you’re not ready for. It’s your knee and YOU get to decide how much to push yourself.:)

Right now, it’s not about pushing too hard, it’s about going slow and getting a feel for your therapy. Take baby steps, anything you do is a victory in this healing process!:upright:

Just do what you can when you’re wanting to move a bit. I’ll be 7 weeks Wednesday and I still take it easy. I’ll do what I know I can tolerate, and try each day to do just a little more. I usually wipe up the bathrooms, fold my blankets and put away pillows from the night before, tidy up a bit. I keep it pretty simple.

I have NOT tried to vacuum as I know I’m not ready for that yet.

Just listen to your body, believe me, you’ll know when enough is enough and just ice, elevate and relax!:bath:

You’ll do great! It just takes time and a lot of patients.:flwrysmile:

We’re all here for you in your recovery!:loveshwr::loveshwr:
 
Everything seems to take so much longer to do. I feel productive if I get my face washed and my hair brushed. I am doing my home exercises, nice and slow, and then fitting in a couple of naps. And that seems to be the whole of my day. I try to have patience, but it is not easy. It helps to read that others are going through the same, so i will not expect too much out of myself. It helps to read that this surgery was very traumatic for my body, and to realize that it will take a while to heal.
 
I am at 11 days. Would love to be able to get comfortable and sleep well in bed. I know it will come eventually.
Rest, ice and elevation are my friends. I try to get up and move around the house a bit. That seems to loosen me up a little. We are going to make it with a little help from our friends here at bonesmart.
 
This recovery stuff is a full time job, with making sure you take meds at the right time, trying to make sure the digestive tract flows smoothly, trying to eat nutritiously while fighting nausea, getting the icing and elevation done enough, doing the mild exercises, getting to dr and PT appts, taking the needed naps, reinventing how to do simple acts like putting on shoes, etc,etc,etc. It certainly is not for wimps. And each of us deserves a medal for getting through this ordeal. I know there will come a time when all of this fades into the past for us, but let us never forget how strong, tenacious, inventive, and patient ( did I say PATIENT?) we all have been.
 
Tonight ( day 17) I am going to not set the alarm to take oxycondone in the middle of the night. I have noticed a decline in pain the last 2 days. I will put a pill by my bed to take if I wake and feel I need it, but no alarm tonight. I would love to be able to cut back on meds. I hate how they make me feel, but I was thankful they killed the pain as well as they did.
 
I think that your description of this recovery being a full-time job was right on the money! For me, even though it seemed like I wasn't doing much, it also in a strange way felt like I was doing alot! When to take this pill and that pill, getting INR levels checked, making sure ice packs were changed before they warmed up, eating, trips to the bathroom (I drink a lot of water!), showering, etc. It all takes so much more time and energy in the beginning. I never set an alarm at night to take meds as my body was it's own alarm. I worked my med schedule so that it would correspond to the times I normally would wake up in the middle of the night. I always have water next to bed, so when I was no longer taking them as regularly, I just kept a bottle next to bed as well. I actually saved a bottle so when got new script filled, split them between 2 bottles so 1 stayed by bed and other went in backpack that I used to bring stuff I needed downstairs daily. Hope that you get a great nights rest!
 
I seemed to do ok last night. I woke naturally at the time the alarm would have been set, I got up, went to the bathroom, and then when I got back in bed, I analyzed ny knee. It felt fine,so I skipped the pill and went back to sleep. I woke again 2 hours later, decided my knee did not hurt but was no longer comfortable, so I took a pill. And I went back to sleep for another hour. I think my experiment worked. DH never woke up, and got the sleep he so badly needed.
 
Being able to postpone your nighttime pill is a sure sign that you're getting better! And I know your husband is thrilled about not being awakened!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Corganics CBD
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Staff online

Members online

Total: 964 (members: 2, guests: 962)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom