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TKR Two (almost) matching knees at last!

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Trust me, after suffering from insomnia for 20+ years, I know all the tricks. I have to have total darkness, and don't even have a tv, computer or phone upstairs. I should be used to it but....

Sorry about your intense pain last night. Fortunately, I haven't had pain that bad and for that I'm grateful. My therapist pushed a little too much on Wednesday (was very gentle on Friday) and got my sciatica and lumbar pain going crazy. My knee is feeling pretty good and today the sciatica is better, but I have intense lower back pain that is kicking my butt! Elevating my leg makes it worse, so I'm glad to read that it is probably I necessary at this point since there is minimal swelling. Here I am sitting with a heating pad on my lower back and ice on my knee.

Here's to a great night sleep to all of us!
 
Brithael said:
I read somewhere on this forum that freezing solo cups of water works better in the ice machines than cubes. I've already started freezing some to be prepared.
Click to expand...

We've been using and refreezing small water bottles. They mentioned that at the hospital and it became apparent very quickly that we could not keep up with the ice!
 
Since I haven't had any Norco today, just two Tylenol, I'm debating whether or not I can take either of the muscle relaxers that I have at bedtime.i think it would be ok. The only extra medication I'm on is Lyrica for one more week. My knee feels fine, no pain until I start doing my exercises...then it's more stiffness than pain. It's my lower back that is giving me fits!
 
i just found some of these ice-brix in the garage. used to use them to ship mold samples off. going to try to freeze them and see if they still work. they might be usable in the cryo-coolers. just keep replacing them instead of having to make ice and dump the residual water all the time. Amazon has the ice-brix
[Bonesmart.org] Two (almost) matching knees at last!
 
Still need some water to circulate, of course. In rehab I once had a substitute patient care tech who couldn't understand why my machine wasn't working; "I filled it full of ice," she insisted. "Did you add water?" I asked. You could almost hear the crickets chirping.
 
FYI: tori645, I bought 8oz. bottles of water and froze them. I could get 5 of them in my ice machine. They stayed frozen for hours and could be put back in the freezer and refrozen. Only had to buy them once. I bought an even dozen, so I always had 7 in the freezer at any given time. Worked great and was economical.
 
bottomshollow... i read that one day and bought the 6oz ones.. there's a dozen in the freezer now.. i know how cold the ice brixx get and since they are small and have the thin layer of plastic, i thought they would transfer the cold to the water better then the frozen bottles of water.
 
I have a six-pack of coconut seltzer in my fridge, which I'd been neglecting because we drink the seltzer I make with my Sodastream. I'll start drinking them, filling the bottles with water and freezing them. Yesterday I started using the couple of frozen packs that Gordy used for his cooler at Bonnaroo--so I can supplement them with the seltzer bottles. Good thing, since my icemaker can barely keep up with the demand for drinking ice! Might also put up a Bonesmart "slushie" (found some rubbing alcohol in the linen closet).

Last night I awoke after 4 hrs for the usual reason someone my age wakes during the night. (TMI, suffice it to say). I was freezing and shivering, certain I had a fever. 98.9 was a bit higher than I usually run, but with that ingrown toenail I am getting kinda paranoid. Rather than take anything to help me get back to sleep at 4:30 am, I turned up the thermostat on the A/C. Next thing I knew it was after 10! (When Happy decides to curl up next to my chest, purring like a motorboat, that's like having a live teddy bear and a hot cocoa on a stormy night).

It's a challenge to keep my meds straight when my schedule and sleeping get in the way--yesterday after my PT left I'd forgotten it was time for my Neurontin and I remembered only after Bob & I got back from dinner. I am a very disorganized person who paradoxically takes comfort in setting up systems for myself. (The "Absent-Minded Anal Retentive," perhaps)? What does help is that upon arriving home Wed. I made a note in OS X/iOS6's "Notes" app, which shows up on all my Apple devices via iCloud. First part is the general timing criteria for each of my meds; then comes a separate entry for each day with "Taken" and "To Take" subheadings. I always have the next day's schedule typed in so I don't have to think when I awaken in a fog. As I take each med, I move it from the "To Take" to the "Taken" section. Still, when I get involved in my exercises, dealing with household matters and family crises (had a long-distance doozy yesterday concerning my niece, but it was a false alarm), it's easy to forget my dosing schedule and log.

Yesterday Bob got home from making hospital and nursing home rounds pretty early and we went to Broadway Cellars for dinner. (I heeded my PT's advice and let Bob drive me rather than walk the four blocks, which is what we usually do). It wasn't as tough ignoring the wine list as I'd feared, since I was able to order a non-alcoholic beer. (After 20 years, the beverage industry still can't come up with any comparable-quality non-alc. wines or champagnes). Anyway, Bob was parking the car when I ordered our drinks, and he turned six shades of pale when he walked in the door and saw what was in my glass. Then the waiter showed him the empty bottle! (If you're curious, it's Kaliber Amber, which tastes & looks just like a red ale sans buzz). For the first time in nearly a month I had a REAL steak, med-rare ribeye (not the little gray "Steak-Umm" that masqueraded as "ribeye" in rehab). I could barely eat half of it (and just nibbled at the broccoli & gorgonzola mashed potatoes) but it was heavenly. Looking forward to the leftovers--except the spuds, for which I've lost all taste. There are worse things for one's health than no longer liking potatoes!
 
Good for you! I haven't venture out for dinner yet, but mainly because I still haven't gotten my appetite back. Went to the neighbors' cookout on the 4th, and filled my plate with all kinds of good looking things only to try to force down half of it.

I have a calendar for my meds that I got at the hospital. I check everything off as I take them....too crazy to try to keep track otherwise.
 
The hospital sent me home with a pain meds list with the permitted ones highlighted in orange--the Opana & Neurontin were "extended release medication" to be taken strictly by the clock (Opana 12 hr, Neurontin 8 hr), but the Norco was listed under "Immediate Release Medication" ("every 4-8 hrs as needed for breakthrough pain not controlled by the extended release medication"), as "every 4-6 hrs. as needed." The "as needed" seems to be in direct conflict with the Bonesmart mantra (at least this soon post-op) to "take pain meds by the clock" as well as my OS' PAs' urgings to "stay ahead of the pain." If I can have up to 6 Norco a day, I have about only 2-1/2 days left on my current Rx--and that has me nervous because my OS told me at my visit last week that I will need to temporarily ramp up the Norco once the Opana is gone. (He also said I should be on the Opana for "a couple of weeks," but I will run out of that Wed. morning). The last few times I messaged his care team, they directed me to contact my attending physician--who, now that I'm home, would be my FP. I was sent home from rehab with a paper prescription for Norco from my attending on the assumption the drugstore wouldn't fill one that had been called in; I fear that if I submit the paper one as my refill (it was dated the same date as the phoned one that against all odds was successfully filled) it will be refused as a duplicate and flag me on the pharmacy's records as a "drug seeker."

I am finding myself increasingly tightly scheduled--tomorrow OT visit 1pm, PT 2 pm, INR nurse coming over some as yet unspecified time. Tues. morning I have a mani scheduled (sounds like a luxury, but over the course of 4 wks my gels peeled off and my underlying nails are too soft to play guitar--which I must play three days running) which really needs to be a mani-pedi to nip this ingrown toenail in the bud before it gets infected. (Hurts like crazy if I touch it, but no pus or blood). It takes twice as long for a mani-pedi (which I missed 2 wks ago because I was still in rehab--going by last yr., I was certain I'd have been home by then) as for a mani, but they may not be able to accommodate me for both. Meanwhile, my singing partner's arriving from Madison at 3 pm Tues. and we need to hit the road by 4 to be at the radio studio in time. Wed. we need to be at my local coffeehouse by 5 for a 5-6 pm show; Thurs. we are playing all aft. (at least 3 hrs) at a farmers' mkt. And my PT is every Mon-Wed-Fri. Add to that the fact that I or my housekeeper need to be here between 11-1 tomorrow for grocery delivery, my son is taking one of the cats to have a couple of her teeth extracted, and husband leaves in the morning for his long weekday workdays (which include evenings). And this assumes my housekeeper doesn't have to drop everything and take her husband to his own medical appts. (or heaven forbid, the ER).
 
Oh, great--just got a text from my nail tech (the nail salon owner) that she's on vacation till Thurs. She says she'll tell her sister (the receptionist/scheduler) to "have somebody work on" my ingrown toenail. The one time I let someone else there do my pedicure (and the toenail wasn't half as painful as it is now) I darn near went through the ceiling...and there was a little bleeding. (I am still on Coumadin and I am TERRIFIED of infection). There's no way I can get an emergency podiatrist appointment and still keep all my other obligations. It's so frustrating when time is of the essence but one can't necessarily arrange things to accommodate that!!!!!!!!

Perhaps I should see if one of Walgreen's or CVS' walk-in-clinics can take me. Meanwhile, I'll soak my toe and keep applying Bactine.
 
How's your toe today?? Goodness you have a crazy schedule! Mine was like that for years and I'm thankful I
The pace has slowed, especially in the summer when I'm home.

As for nails, I had my mani/pedi the day before my surgery--two weeks ago today. My nail tech is actually coming to my house on Thursday and I am living on a prayer and lots of glue these days! Wish she could have come last week!
 
Toe is much better, thanks! Soaking in Epsom Salts helped a lot. Wish my nail tech could come over, but she'd have to bring a boatload of stuff (stainless steel foot bowl--sterilized first; tools, polishes & acetone, Bio-Sculpt gels in 3 colors and LED lamp); besides, she's on vacation. Housekeeper can ferry me up & back Wed. so I needn't find a cab that'd let me ride up front. And I can do the radio show tomorrow night with my natural nail because much of our set will consist of discussing some new cuts we've recorded, with me flatpicking the other numbers live on dulcimer & guitar. Had a mani 2 days before surgery, and so missed the mani-pedi I'd scheduled 2 wks thereafter since I really hadn't expected to be in rehab that long.

Had a tough night last night as the low pressure front moved through. It was my first night trying to sleep with just one Norco, and I lasted only about 3-1/2 hrs. As usual, it was the trying to sleep on my right side, pillow bet. knees, that set off the pain. (Can't even imagine sleeping on my stomach or my left side yet). Gave in and took a half-tab of Norco and a small gel icepack. After abt. 1/2 hr I fell back asleep till it was time for my 8 and then 10 am meds.

Sorta like Grand Central Station around here today. Gordy & his friend had to coax our middle cat Heidi (all-black, age 7, little princess) into the carrier to get a couple of teeth extracted at the vet (she has to stay overnight--she was 6th on the surgery list and they're working on her now). Then the INR nurse, the OT and her trainee all came at once. Happy kept trying to "help" the nurse, who is skittish about cats. And the OT started to put me through my paces to evaluate me, and after about 30 sec. watching me walk replied, "I really don't know why I'm here." That's what I'd tried to tell the agency, but I guess they wanted to make sure. I demonstrated stairs, getting into & out of both bathtubs and on & off both toilets, making coffee, and upper body strength.

Tried for the first time to do PT on a single Norco (waited 6 hrs to take it). But when my therapist called to say he was running a bit late a couple of hrs. afterward, I added 2 Tylenol instead of another Norco. Well, we were able to get to 95 flex while maintaining 0 extension. He told me "Now, I can tell whether you're just pushing or in pain, so don't try to fool me just to impress me." He added some standing relax-the-knees-then-quad-sets exercises, and noticed I was hyperextending my rt. knee--could be the answer why I've been getting some kneecap twinges there. Hope my outpatient therapist is this nice! Am icing as I type this--sitting in my recliner with icepack on L knee and laptop (with dishtowel as a buffer) on my R thigh. Happy is on my chest, in my face, making the screen do strange things as his paw occasionally grazes the trackpad.

I seem to have lost my sweet tooth: had a chocolate pinwheel cookie but it tasted unbearably cloying to me. Could be the opioids are providing enough endorphins that sugar is overkill. We'll see what my tastes are once I've weaned off them. Have no desire to walk to the corner for a frozen custard--but around the corner to the health food store for some artisanal bread sounds pretty good! (The farmers' mkt. we're playing Thurs. will be a challenge, what with all the bakeries and other goodies pushing their wares....including those notorious Carmelite nuns who were at church yesterday).
 
Glad the toe is doing better today. I was worried about you! What radio station tomorrow and what time? I'd love to tune in..... Didn't realize you had OT coming as well. Sounds like you're way beyond the need for them. That stint in the rehab facility did wonders. Does this mean you're done with them? Glad to hear your PT went well....sounds like you have a good one. Seems like its a **** shoot. I had a great guy the first week, then he was on vacation last week and the woman I got was so-so. Wasn't too impressed. Went to out-patient for the first time today and was at 110, but not near zero. She would ask, "did they have you do this?" Um...no. "How about this?" ....nope. Guess I found out what I need to work on. She did push my leg down into the table and I finally had to tell her to stop. I'm still feeling it! I go to therapy at the same facility where I go to a hospital-run gym. I mentioned to her that I had no longer been able to use the treadmill, where I used to do 4-5 miles per day (walking), but had been relegated to the recumbent bikes with all the retired gentlemen. She said "why not? Go for it!" I was able to go around all the way after just a few seconds of being tentative. I slowly biked for about five minutes, and she told me I could bike for 10-15 minutes a day. Now if I could just convince myself that I can drive there! I had a friend drive me today. I haven't been taking anything more than Tylenol,so it's not that I can't do it, it's all in my head. Just don't feel comfortable yet.

I seem to have lost my sweet tooth, too. That's a first! Why couldn't that have happened the many years I did Weight Watchers? The hubster did go and get some frozen yogurt the other night and it was good, bit I'm normally one who snacks and grazes throughout the day. In a way, I'm saddened and hope to get my taste for fun things back. Heck, I'll just take getting my appetite back!

Our local Farmer's Market is on Friday and I've missed the last two weeks. Maybe I'll mosey over there there this week....assuming I'm driving by them. You''re right about the wonderful breads and baked goods at the market!
 
My FP just called with my INR results--he wants me to take one more 4mg dose of Coumadin tonight and then switch back to a daily 81mg. aspirin until further notice. He recommends avoiding even a COX-2 inhibitor like Celebrex after my having had a GI bleed, but that heart-strength aspirin is just fine now--especially since I had joint replacement surgery. And despite what the warning labels say, occasional topical NSAIDs like Voltaren spray, gel or Flector patches are fine. (They gave me great relief before the LTKR). My OS says to let the Opana ER (long-acting oxymorphone) run out Wed. morning but to refill my Norco (if the paper scrip from my attending won't work, he'll call it in). Still mustn't exceed six 10/325 pills per day--but says he'd be surprised if I got withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing only a 5mg. dose of Opana.
 
Woke in the middle of the night for all the usual reasons, and was gratified how easily my knee bent. Went back to bed, and in the midst of a dream heard an ethereal soprano voice in the background. But it wasn't in my dream--it became louder & louder and I soon awoke at 5:50 am to the realization that Bob had set his fercockteh CD changer/clock radio (Loreena McKennitt's CD) to awaken him. Now, he's never figured out how to keep the volume on the dang thing down, and it was starting to wake the whole neighborhood. Called him on his cell, bedside phone, pager--all to no avail. GRRR!!! Had to go upstairs, and as I reached the closed bedroom doors it was still deafening! Opened the doors, yelled for him to turn it off, and when he didn't stir I had to poke his foot with my cane. He awoke, confused, and I repeated (this time shouting to be heard over the din) to turn it off. He fumbled around and finally found the remote.....and fell back asleep for 2 hrs. (the usual situation). I headed back downstairs, but without thinking I led with my R (unoperated) foot. OUCH! I caught myself before the next step, but I've been sore all day. Icing like crazy, even as my singing partner & I have been talking and rehearsing. Glad I can still take my pain meds! (And that I don't have therapy today, though my PT won't be happy that I've not done my exercises). Looks like it's time to move back upstairs.

Off for the studio in an hr!
 
I love your posts...so entertaining! Hope to catch you on the radio for a bit tonight......hope you're feeling ok!
 
Hi D, I love your posts. You have such a positive outlook. I hit the blues wall today and it is good to read a post from someone who is so encouraging !
 
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