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TKR Widget1's recovery thread

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I am sorry to hear your right knee is acting up. You certainly have more than enough to take care of right now, without adding another part of your body to the injured reserve list. Meniscus tear? Sounds kinda like that could have happened. I'm glad you're taking yourself to the orthopedic urgent care tomorrow. I hope they are able to give you some relief, whether it is drawing off some of the fluid, giving you and injection, or, if it'd help, a knee brace or sleeve. Make sure they check out that pesky foot, too. You don't want one part of the leg to aggravate the other. So very grateful that the physical therapist just iced and used ultrasound today. Your knees need TLC.

In another thread, you mentioned something about an outpatient spine procedure next week. What are they doing there?

I've been thinking about ways you could get some help with the set up and take down of your booth at the craft fair. I was fretting that there weren't enough people available to help me during my TKR recovery. My therapist told me that wasn't true, that people can really want to help if asked. Not everyone is cold, self-centered, and indifferent like my family of origin. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the people from church who stepped up to give me a hand.

I know your family is far away, in many ways. But there may be other people in your life who'd give you a hand, if asked.

I have some friends who do craft fairs from time to time, or used to, and I know that their income could vary quite a lot. Sometimes they'd make a nice profit, sometimes they'd be hard-pressed to make enough to cover the entry fee. I don't know if you'd consider hiring someone to give you a hand. There may be high school or college students who are willing to earn a little spare cash. I have some friends who supplement their income with the occasional Task Rabbit assignment. Task Rabbit is a service which matches people who are willing to do tasks with people who need one-time or short-term workers. It's safer than listing in the help wanted section of Craigslist because they are pre-screened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaskRabbit.

Hope you don't mind me making unsolicited suggestions like that. I just don't want you to spend any more time in the Over-Did It Club, or in the orthopedic urgent care clinic!
 
You poor thing. You have enough without having more problems with your knee and foot. I hope the ortho urgent care can help you. I agree with SaraJane,their are plenty of people who would be happy to help you. If I could I would come and help. I'm not that far away. Sun today. What a nice surprise. I am sick of rain. Please let me know how your foot and knee are doing. Don't work to hard . Don't push yourself ,take it easy.
 
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SarahJane - thank you so much for all the information! You certainly know your onions, and I welcome any and all information you provide :) I will look into the TaskRabbit and see if I can hire some help that way. This time it won't be as bad as it was when I set up for Fashion Week in 2012, because I won't have mannequins, etc. I had hired a friend's daughter to help me set up that time and she never showed up. I am anticipating a good amount of traffic. No clothing, and everything will be easily carried by shoppers. It would be great to find someone young, because I would assign them to running all the sales on my Square reader - anyone would have more technological ability than I do.

When I was asked to be part of Fashion Week in 2013 I had to decline, because I was working on the huge custom order from the art director at Nordstrom and had no time to put together a new clothing line. I met the downtown Tampa director during fashion week, and was so thrilled to have the invitation for the winter village this year. The city is not charging me any fees at all (and are including electricity) for the five weekends starting Nov. 20th. I am so excited about this, because the Tampa Bay Lightning will be on hand on the 20th to open the ice skating rink that's part of the winter village. I don't know how they'll keep water frozen in Tampa, but it should bring traffic ($5 to rent ice skates and skate for 90 minutes). Yesterday the mayor and Jeff Vinik (owner of the Lightning) were in New York and received commendation from President Clinton for their plans for the $2 billion redevelopment in downtown Tampa that will result in the first "well" certified city district in America. The winter village will be on the downtown riverfront, and will also have the city Christmas tree and an outdoor cafe in addition to the shops and the rink.

Next Tuesday is when the spine & interventional pain specialist will do a left lumbar sympathetic block. He will do it at the outpatient surgery center, and of course I have to have transportation to/from there, but I've already arranged that with a local service. He said by having this block I'll have a 50% chance of success in dealing with the nerves in my left knee. If I do see some relief, he'll do more blocks. If there is no measurable relief, then he'll do some more tests and said as a last measure he would do a cooling radiographic ablation on the knee.

Katie - yes, wasn't the sun wonderful? This weekend we're supposed to have lower humidity, low rain chances, and the highs way down in the 80s will be so easy to take. Will there be any way for your husband to assist you in getting outside so that you can sit for a little while and enjoy the beautiful weather?

I'll let you know what happens at the ortho urgent care tomorrow morning. I won't head out until after morning rush hour, because I don't want to be stuck in my car for two hours during that AM mess.
 
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Since you mentioned wanting someone young to help you, I have another suggestion: Listing the job at college placement offices. I don't know if you wanted to hire people just for set up and break down, or to help you during each weekend as well. And I also don't know when finals and winter break are for the students. But you have a bunch of colleges in Tampa. University of Tampa has a downtown campus. There's the University of South Florida and Hillsborough Community College.

It sounds like it's going to be a festive time. Hope you get to see your hockey team in action on the ice -- but please resist whatever temptation you might have to join them. This year, at least.

Crossing fingers the nerve block tomorrow works like a charm.
 
Me also....... I know you can't take it all that easy work wise but a young person helping sounds a must do to me

Legin THR Sep 14
 
Right knee and foot update after the ortho urgent care visit today...

Nothing is broken (I already knew that) and the meniscus seems to be fine. Since I have arthritis behind my patella it flared up with my awkward leg maneuver. The bursa is also inflamed just below the knee. Since I'm having lumbar procedure on Tuesday they were unable to give me a cortisone injection. Instead I got mix of toradol and marcaine. They added some kind of iso whatever treatment during therapy for the bursa and for my right foot.

I think I frightened the doctor. After touching the parts of my right knee she said that she would touch the same area on my left knee where I wouldn't feel pain. Hah! The first place she pressed in on is the main culprit in my nerve pain and I actually screamed when the pain meter went well over 10. She jumped back and knocked over her chair. I didn't mean to frighten her, but it hurt so much more than the same area on my right knee ;)

Traffic never gets any better - I could have driven to the Florida - Georgia line in the same amount of time I spent in my car today going to/from the urgent care center.
 
Good news on the other knee! Meniscus is A-OK and in one piece. I'm relieved. Hurrah! :::dancing happy jig for you::: I hope that the mix of drugs you were given does the trick for you in lieu of the cortisone shot.

It'd be a funny story about the doctor, Widget, if you hadn't blown the top off the pain meter. I'm sure she was frightened out of her wits. Sorry she hit your sore spot, but you did a great public service for all of us Bonesmarties. I bet she'll have a lot more empathy for TKR patients in the future!
 
Sometimes it takes a hammer to burst thru. Its wrong sometimes they blunder in with the diagnosis that first came to mind. Let's hope you let some help now.

Legin THR Sep 14
 
Went to PT today and found that the urgent care center hadn't added the order for PT for my right knee. After the phone rang 51 times at the urgent care someone answered and I gave them my MR# and asked why the PT ordered wasn't in the system, as I heard the doctor tell a staff member yesterday as I was leaving to be sure and enter the PT order. Someone entered the order while I was on the phone, and now it will be there the week after next when I resume PT (the rehab center said I could not have PT for week after the procedure).

I called surgery scheduling, because I had arranged to receive a ride to/from the outpatient surgery center on Tuesday, and the person wanted to know if they should mark the whole day off their calendar or not. As of now, procedure will be at 12:05, and I have to check in by 10:30. I've never had a procedure scheduled that "late" in the day, and am certain my stomach will be rumbling more than 12 hours after nothing to eat/drink after midnight.

The admission papers came in the mail, and one page that I must sign with a witness on Tuesday a statement stipulates that I allow them to use my private health information for "targeted marketing". What???? If I refuse to sign without being able to cross out that specific permission I wonder if they'll let me have the procedure?

The injection helped some with the pain in my right knee, and my foot is much better. However, the bursa area by my knee is so swollen, and it looks like my tiny blood vessels exploded right in the middle of the swelling. I'm using the prescription compound pain cream on both knees, and icing both knees and the right foot.
 
SarahJane, Thank you! I hope I have some relief after the lumbar sympathetic block injection tomorrow as well! He told me there was a 50% chance it would work, and if it does work, no guarantee how long that relief will last. The cost is $2,993 for this treatment with a 50/50 success rate. If I get some relief it will be priceless, and then he would do 5-6 more. They've moved it up to 11:50 from 12:05, and still said nothing after midnight, so I know I'll be so thirsty by the time I get home. I'll have conscious sedation and local while he does the x-ray guided injection. Since I have to lie on my stomach, I really hope I don't move somehow and hit one of the pain centers on my knee. I'd hate to scream and have his hands slip... 8-|
 
The right knee still has swelling and hurts (but not as strongly as last week). I had to get on the floor to get some things a couple of days ago, and then had a big uh-oh flash. One of the things I had the home therapist show me in June was how to get up off the floor, and I was able to do it (albeit not with any grace). But since I cannot kneel on my right knee and it's almost worthless for support I had a heck of a time. Finally I was able to use my arms and roll myself onto an ottoman and then turn and turn until I could get my bottom and my legs up. I'm glad there was no one around to witness that weird movement :) No more floor movements for me, and anything that's there can stay there until some later date.
 
Home from the procedure and just taking it easy, including icing my lower back for the next couple of days. There's already pain in my lower back, but I know that will go away. As any knee nerve pain relief I will hopefully achieve with this lumbar block won't start for 2-3 days, nothing has changed on the pain front. They wondered why I was being so careful in lying on my tummy for the procedure, and I told them that there are some bad nerve areas on my left knee and I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't accidentally hit one of them and jump or yell while the doctor was working with the x-ray and needle. My followup with him is on the 19th, and my appointment with my OS is tomorrow (I will be able to drive by then). After the knee surgery last year and the TKR this year, this was a piece of cake because it didn't involve cutting into me or sawing or other things. This was just slightly more than going to have a colonoscopy or endoscopy. The back pain is easily tolerable, especially when I know the potential outcome could pull my left knee out of misery and pain.

One of the anesthesiologists was rather a sourpuss, and I told him I was so inspired by seeing the dancing anesthesiologist in Boston (on tv) who has raised over $10,000 for local charities. He wears his scrubs and has his Twitter site written on the back of his white coat. In addition to inspiring less fear of physicians, he's a joy to watch with his dancing, and people flock to dance with him and take selfies with him. He brings smiles and happiness to the streets of Boston. His sign says that he is an anesthesiologist and doesn't need money from people, and that every cent dropped in his duffel bag is donated to local charities to help children and those who have medical needs. If I was in Boston and saw him on the street I'd definitely go up and join the line to dance with him. The one I told about this just gave me a frown.
 
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What a grouch that anesthesiologist is! I had not heard about the dancing doctor. I will have to google him. Hope your treatment works just as you want it to.
 
Oooooooh! You're so wicked! :D I bet that grump had a lot to think about after he went home that day.

Hope you're feeling some relief today. Stay strong, my friend.
 
Didn't feel any relief today, actually more irritated after sitting in uncomfortable chair in the overcrowded OS office waiting room for close to three hours before I was seen. After a couple of hours they walked around with bottles of cold water and snack crackers for everyone there. The OS said once again that the knee is in perfect placement, etc. and that I should continue to be seen by the spine/interventional pain specialist, for he would be able to assist with the nerve pain. He ordered more PT, mainly so I could have the cortisone cream with ultrasound on the knee and I'm to come back in 6 months.

The specialist who did the block yesterday told me last week that I should give this first block a couple of weeks and measure relief that I may receive. If there is any relief then he'll schedule another block. After the first two if there isn't a measurable improvement in the nerve pain, then I'll have another MRI and a 3-phase bone scan and he would then do radiofrequency ablation on the knee. The diagnosis communicated to the OS by the specialist is CRPS. No weakness in my legs today or pain in my back. The icing yesterday did the trick, and I know the bruising will go away in a few days. A piece of cake compared to other procedures, and I'm just hoping that this will be the treatment that deals effectively with those sharp, stabbing & burning pains on the inside of my knee and the two areas on the outside of the knee that make my pain meter go to a 9 easily just with some pressure on them.
 
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A three hour wait. Yikes! Were you happy by your treatment once you finally got to see the OS? At least he took you seriously enough to order the PT so you could get the cream and ultrasound. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the nerve block will work.

How long will the craft fair be? Will it be just on weekends or during the week as well. Will it be going on over Thanksgiving, too?
 
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@SarahJane -

The OS was okay, but I almost laughed when he told me the most important part is to keep doing exercises so I can keep my flexion and extension where they are supposed to be. Yes, he was part of the design team for the new knee I have and is truly an expert for the device itself, but for the expert knowledge on pushing for more ROM I rely solely on Josephine. Pushing for more ROM isn't going to take care of my nerve issues. Right when the OS came in the room I told him that I didn't appreciate being told by his office staff last month that if I had not fallen on my new knee I wouldn't be seen until the 12 month appointment next May. I told him that my primary specifically said that I shouldn't be having this kind of pain after 4 months and that the ortho practice who operated on me should be helping me and I should get in to the OS office ASAP. My OS looked genuinely surprised that someone would have told me I couldn't be seen if it wasn't a fall on my new knee. I thanked the OS and asked him to relay my thanks to his assistant for seeing me that day and doing some tests and prescribing the compound pain cream and providing a referral to the spine/interventional pain specialist. Right after I said the OS assistant walked into the exam room, so I thanked him in person.

The Tampa winter holiday will be on weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) starting Thanksgiving weekend through the last weekend before Christmas. The actual opening will be on Nov. 20th when the NHL hockey team opens the ice skating rink that is part of the complex. Each shop is required to be open a minimum of 4 hours on days in which the village is open (and the city will have each shop locked up tight during the times when the village isn't open).
 
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Sorry about your pain woes. Sounds like there are a few different approaches your medical team is considering. Hope they hit on the right one soon!
 
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