Revision TKR Woohoo I'm starting to feel better!

[Nana moon 27]

Ha ha lol @DogLoverx3 I love it! I actually laughed to myself. You are so right both with what you have written and pictorially lol xxxx my friend that is a simply marvellous and creative post. Brilliant!!!! (Wish those were wine glasses!)

Okay an explanation for @Tamsmom & @hopefaith ....a day surgery case simply means you go into hospital on the morning and come out before teatime. That's what a day case is. Urgent on our wonderful NHS system could be weeks. Yes it is a bit of a contradiction. Thank you so much for your prayers. It's lovely to chat with you x

 

[busylizzie]

They usually fit you in between longer surgery cases. It took 20 mins tops for me each time at two different hospital s . No starving if it is local anaesthetic. I would expect it would be in the next 2 to 3 weeks. They observe you afterwards for a while, have a cuppa then home. Results take up to 2 weeks as they culture thee aspirate. Its done in theatre as it needs a sterile environment to stop you getting an infection from the procedure.

 

[hopefaith]

2-3 weeks? NOOO!

 

[Nana moon 27]

Thank you so much for the information @busylizzie that's reassured me. Thank you x x x

 

[busylizzie]

The consultant can tell by the colour of the aspirate if its likely to be infected. If it is clear straw coloured it usually isn't infected. If it is cloudy it is more likely to be infected. Sometimes it can have blood in it. Its harder then to get a result and the cultures don't always work. They can also count the white blood cells and look for other types of cells.

My last one was inconclusive because of the blood in it but they didn't think it was infected. The first one was clear.

You never know you might get in quicker than I did on the NHS. They tend to slot you in when they have a gap

 

[Nana moon 27]

Thank you so much for that @busylizzie I'm feeling happier now. I feel like there's hope now. I've been so down over the swelling and the pain. I cried in the consultants room today that my quality of life is worse now than before surgery and Im taking three times more morphine too!

Love Nana moon 27 xxx

 

[chestnc]

Wow @nana moon27, just catching up on your thread which has been busy. So I am truly glad that there is no infection, but the doctor seems to think you need an aspiration? is your knee that swollen. My oh my.. He will probably do it under local. It will be interesting to know how many cc' or ml's he will be draining off. I am glad you followed your gut and kept going back. You knew something just was not right. I hope after all is said and done the pain will go away and you can start to re-heal. I will be praying for you for certain. My knee is a little swollen now but I am sure it is due to being on my feet all day and then going to line dancing class after work. Yep I made it to my class tonight. I hope they find a spot for you soon or maybe the doctor ill bump someone and squeeze you in between. Good luck, you deserve to feel better.

Good you called your job and let them know what is going on. Thank God you are not in jeopardy of being let go because you are out too long. God is looking over you. Wow that is terrific that the job is paying you your regular salary or is it because you had sick time accumulated. Wow things certainly work differently in the UK than in the US. Then you can get half pay. That is great too!! The main thing is feel better soon.

 

[Nana moon 27]

Okay, now I'm going to do a general post for you all.

My knee is awful again today. I've put on shorts and vest as the weather is lovely here today. I just looked on the mirror, my right TKR leg is twice the size of my left. My left knee is really hurting me when I go upstairs, to the point I so t want to go upstairs any more. I have no choice the loo is up there! That's really upsetting me. It started up a bit while I was in Wales and I blamed the damp weather lol!

I'm going out into the back garden to get some sunlight on my legs. It's too nice to miss. The. After that I'll come in and catch up on some much needed sleep x x x

 

[Celle]

@Nana moon 27
Sorry your knee is so swollen and sore. I do hope you get an appointment soon for the aspiration. Can you rest upstairs and spoil yourself for a while? Don't forget the pain killers.

 

[busylizzie]

@Nana moon 27 you do not have to live with it. I decided I wasn't going to. I was going to get to the bottom of it. Wait until you've had the aspiration, it shouldn't be long. Listen to what you consultant says then. He is listening to you. Mine wasn't, he kept dismissing me.

It took 6 months after the TKR to get back to see him. I had to be admitted through A&E overnight as I was in so much pain and had so much swelling. It was my GP that sent me there. They listened and set up an appointment with him and I had to wait another few weeks to see him. I don't think he was experienced enough. He had never dealt with allergies before. He didn't even know what he had put in my knee. He had to get in touch with the manufacturer to get a breakdown of the constituents. He told me originally that it was all zirconium oxide ( oxinium knee) Yes one half is oxinium the other titanium, but he didn't know. This surgeon was recommended to me by another consultant who knew I had metal allergies. Figure that out.

I'm fine now with my new hospital and consultant. I have much more faith in him. We are working together. That's what TEAM means. Together Everyone Achieves More. Don't despair, your consultant is working to get to the bottom of it with you. Give him a little time.

 

[Nana moon 27]

Hi @Celle I'm lying On my bed relaxing x x have taken pain meds. What's worrying me most is my non TKR knee pain is coming through 40mg morphine and two paracetamol xx

Hi @busylizzie thanks again for your advice. I'm feeling better and better about this. I too, do not wish to be like this the rest of my life. I consider myself too young. I love the team acronym that is so excellent x x x

 

[TexasTee]

@Nana moon 27 - I know that NHS is quite different from the US medical system but do you have such a thing as a Pain Specialist?

Reading your description that your non-TKR knee was not responding to that large amount of morphene makes me concerned that you have developed a tolerance to that level of med - and that it isn't truly that it's that much more painful, it's that it's no longer capable of relieving any or much of your pain. Not to be over the top but there is even a possibility of having developed Hyperalgesia - this actually ends up making you more sensitive to pain. I'm no nurse and I know nothing that google can't tell me but, well, something is clearly not working for you.

I know your doctor is not intersted in changing you off it - BUT - that was when it was working...now, it simply isn't.

I believe I've mentioned my friend who has had to endure 4 ankle replacements - her last stay in the hospital they had her leaving on more drugs per DOSE than a normal person would take in a day...they were quite concerned that her heart would simply stop from being on that level of med...but to talk to her? You'd never even know she was dosed on anything as it really didn't have all that much effect.

@dogwheels and all - thanks for saving another American's cherished notion that Tea Time, does exist!! Perhaps we should find some weekend day and have the First Bonesmartie Virtual High Tea...we could all post pictures here.
Ok....that might not be tea but we can improvise a bit...

 

[Josephine]

I love cats but am also allergic to them

You know what? so am I - and I've always had cats, three at ta time mostly!

Totally am confused like hopefaith, we Americans have different healthcare systems so what time frame does" urgent" fall under?

urgent is a little beween things here. There is acute emergency where the patient must go straight from A&E to theatre - major haemorrhage and such like, emergency where they need to be done as soon as possible but can wait until a thread is free - that would be things like fractures and appendicitis, priority which means within a 'soon' time frame, maybe 2-4 weeks. But those are the admin definitions. When a consultant says 'urgently', he probably means as soon as he can squeeze you in on an operating list - this could be anybody's guess - 1-3 weeks most likely. If he wanted a procedure done almost immediately, like 'today', he would say emergency.

No starving if it is local anaesthetic.

Oh yes there is! Patients going to theatre for any procedure are always fasted 'just in case' they might need an anaesthetic - no exceptions. Unless things have changed radically in the past 10 years!

I know that NHS is quite different from the US medical system but do you have such a thing as a Pain Specialist?

Of course we do! We have pain clinics just like you do! But they are run by consultant anaesthetists in the hospitals. They're not 'stand alone' facilities.

someone has removed my post. In fact it's like there's a whole page missing. Maybe they thought it was a bit too personal to post. Maybe they're right.

No-one's removed anything, Nana. If they had I would know it.

Trouble is things jumps on this site and you end up touching threads that you didn't mean to!

You need to let the page finishing loading before you try clicking on a link or thread title. The page does jump as the Facebook, Twitter and Google tabs (and several others) are loaded both at the top and the bottom of the pages.

If you watch on the bottom left hand corner of your browser window, you will see this little message showing and constantly changing. That's the page loading. When it stops, the page will be stable and you can safely click on a link. I always wait until it stops before I proceed.

 

[busylizzie]

@Josephine I've had many procedures done under local anaesthetic mostly in theatre to provide a sterile environment over the last 15 years. I haven't been asked to fast for any. Procedures include 2 knee aspirations, numerous facet joint injections, cyst removal from head, denervation of colonic nerves. I always feel guilty before the procedures if I'm on the same ward as major surgery cases. Eating in front of them doesn't seem right. However if I have a spinal regional anaesthetic I always have to fast. I can see your point in fasting if complications arise.

 

[Nana moon 27]

"Caring is sharing and sharing is caring" xxx

Okay, our friends came yesterday, we had a fabulous day. We went for a meal and that was great. Then we went to a place called Dolgoch Falls here In Wales. I would suggest that you google this it's worth a look. It's very pretty. Anyway I resisted the temptation to go up the the next levels to show them the rest of the falls. Each. Level has a different view and type of fall. However, my friend husband is heavily into steam trains and spotted the sign Dolgoch station. So we walked up the slope as opposed to the high steps lower down. It was a very steep incline and I managed it. We went to the station and it was lovely. A steam train came in and he was in clover (very happy) x x x on the way back down the steep incline, my husband held on to me very tightly. We then went for coffee at the little cafe at the bottom and that was lovely. Eventually we went back to the caravan chatted and drank tea and coffee.

They left and my husband went fishing. I was still feeling quotes energetic so guess what? Naughty Nana got the lawn mower out and cut the grass. It attract lots of biting insects if it's not cut short up there. I was fine. I went and had a matter with my next door neighbour in her caravan and hey tries to persuade me to drink but I resisted, the lager and lime in the glass looked very inviting indeed, as did the sparkling Rose. The I went for a walk round the site a very slow one with Lorraine, a lady whose caravan is further down the site. I went back to my caravan, vacuumed and washed up, tidied round. I was absolutely fine. I got into bed and at 2.30 am I was I tears with the pain. My husband told me off (quite rightly) for overdoing things and that made me worse. He apologised and I told him not to because what he said was right. So two cups of tea and some gentle stretching exercises and wandering around the caravan I was a bit better. However, I woke u am hour later the same and so on and so on. Today I have rested, elevated, iced. Then I sat in the sun for a while. My husband cooked Sunday lunch and it was lovely, I made a lovely fruit salad with vanilla fat free yogurt and crumbled one meringue nest into it creating a lovely Eton mess. Yummy x x x x

I have taken a very slow walk up to this site but I know I have to go back shortly because Im due to take my paracetamol. I trying to stay on top of the meds. It does help. I'm hoping to post a pic of where is was yesterday. Got to look on phone and mail it to my iPad x x

Anyway take all. I miss having the chance to post as much as normal but until they install wifi on my site I have to do this in between. The iPhone reception on my site is a joke and to say my 3G is slow here is an understatement. Anyway. Please sleep well, enjoy the rest of your day and I hope that y are all keeping well xxxxxxxoxoxoxoxoxxxxxxxxx big hugs xx

 

[TexasTee]

You look lovely in your photo and I adore the hat!

Shame on you for cutting the grass...I can't imagine why your husband hasn't disabled all of the lawn equiptment yet! Hmmm, so says the woman who spent the weekend stripping wall paper insisting she was fine and can now barely hobble...well, the IDEA of letting others do for you is nice. Will obviously need to get better at the implementation.

Hope you are feeling well today!

 

[susanne]

@nanamoon. You look lovely in the picture. Happy thin and carefree. Keep this picture handy when you decide to overdue things. Mowing the lawn??? Are you nuts!!!! I don't think you should ever be left alone for any amount of time.....glad you are enjoying your stay. As I wrote before I thought I would be seeing tunics and camels. What do I know typical NYer
Be careful enjoy every moment. Maybe you could wear knee pads like the baseball players wear just to keep you a little safe....can't wait for your next story.
Be well and careful. Grass grows it's supposed to that's why they made husbands to mow!!


Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum

 

[Pumpkin]

Hope they get your asthma sorted out, using the rescue inhaler a lot is a sign you need to figure out what is going on. Last summer when we had smoke from the Yosemite fire my peak flow was at 250, we left town and felt better once the air cleared.
Hope they get to the bottom of your lung problems.

 

[Nana moon 27]

Hi @Pumpkln I'm still waiting for the chest clinic to get in touch. My GP referred me a few weeks ago. I'll see what he says tomorrow x x x

 

[Nana moon 27]

Hello all I sorry this post is so late. I feel all washed up today because of the late night/early morning. After I've written this post I'm going to have a sleep. My grandchildren are coming straight from school x

Okay, firstly the knee. My doc absolutely refused to let me off the morphine. Again I asked if there was a possibility of there being a link between it and my chest. He said no. He signed me off for yet another month. Most people would be excited but I'm just gutted. I so want to go back to work. When I got home I rang the surgeons secretary and asked when my op may be due, my day surgery thing. She fitted me in, on the spot for the 19th June at the hospital nearest to me, thank goodness.

I took my sick note into HR and saw a couple of my colleagues I hadn't seen for a while. I was very emotional.

Secondly, my Asthma, which is undoubtedly worsening. What scares me is that it's become silent and I don't wheeze any more. My chest tightens up out too the blue and I can't breathe. I had a terrible bout after walking up a slight hill obviously slowly due to my knee. When I got to the top I couldn't breathe or talk and had to take my inhaler. My husband was worried sick.

The GP asked me if my chest clinic appointment had come and I said no. He raised his eyebrows and said that it should have come through by now. I asked him the name of the doctor so that I could ring his secretary. He has prescribed me yet another tablet to take with everything else. I've taken it but gosh I can tell I've taken something. However, it could be plain old tiredness. I am now taking 2 puffs, of Ventolin as necessary, 2 puffs twice a day of Symbicort, two puffs three times a day of Atrovent, one Montelukast tablet and now one Phyllocontin tablet twice a day. Anyway, after getting the name of the specialist at the chest clinic, I rang them. Guess what, this earliest appointment is on 7th July. I asked if there was anything sooner and she said that they are constantly busy. I asked her to put me on the short notice or cancellation list so that I could perhaps be seen sooner. Worse still its the other side of our city centre and to use the bus service I would have to get a bus in and another one out of the city, to get to the hospital. I am having strange side effects or is tiredness with these Phyllocontin. I'm typing here but finding myself drifting into sleep talking to people (side effect of my morphine) and starting to type it on here!!! I've had to delete stuff three times. I think I really must sleep. I must sound like a right fruit loop!

I will read everyone's posts when I'm a bit more coherent I promise x x x love Nana moon 27 x x x x