Downs and Ups

I'm a little concerned with how inflexible my knee has seemed recently.  Yesterday, it was probably reacting to therapy the day before, and yesterday I made several trips up and down the stairs (to and from my real bedroom). This morning it just seems really uncooperative.

OH, how I want to soak in the hot tub!  I just know that would help so much!  Come on Thursday!! I will be taking my gym bag with me to the doctor appointment, in hopes of going straight to the gym from there.  Would it be overly optimistic to actually wear my suit under my clothes?

The scar is looking amazingly good, thanks to the Vit E massages.  I wish I could get a good picture of it.  The red parts of the scar are interspersed with fully healed places, and the bumpiness is less pronounced.  It is still kind of uncomfortable to touch, but it gets better as the massage continues.  I have discovered that I can't wear my yoga pants very long at a time because, even though they are very stretchy, they touch me all the time.  Sweatpants, etc., don't touch my skin all the time.  The constant touch just becomes irritating, though maybe the slight compression is good for it?  I don't know.

Bye Bye Leg Bendy!

Therapy was strange today.
Instead of my regular guy, I had a girl who didn't stretch me nearly as hard, and as a result, my measurement was 94, down 3 from last time.  I am honestly not a bit worried about it because it feels so much better and I know if I had had my regular guy I would have done better.  Next time!

I got a phone call from the leg bendy machine guy, who wanted to pick up the machine.  My three weeks are up (+ two days).  He backdated the pickup date, in case BC/BS has an issue with the two extra days.  I'd be more worried that the leg bendy machine company would try to bill BC/BS for the days.

On Tuesday, I will be done with the regular aspirin and back to the lo-dose that I normally take.  So, gradually, things are going back to normal!

Three Weeks

Yesterday's therapy report:
Bend is 97, a big improvement over 90 the last two times.  I had lost about 4 of my steri-strips, but he pulled the rest of them off!  After some stretching (holy crap!!) and the measurements (my straightness was 5, down from 17 before surgery), we went to the parallel bars.  I had to two minutes of rocking back and forth on a half cylinder (foam roller cut in half), then two minutes of "marching" - touching alternate feet  to the tops of soccer cones, trying to step straight up with the bad leg, not swinging it out to the side to get it up there.  No real problems with either of those.  Then we worked on stairs of various heights.  Then he had me walk across the room and back twice. He says from the back, he would not be able to tell which leg had surgery - a huge compliment!!  From the front, of course, in my workout shorts, the long pink scar tipped him off.  :)  I left there feeling really good!  Other people who haven't seen me in a bit have said that I am walking well, too - better than before my surgery.  For some reason that surprised me.  I guess I never thought that I limped or showed pain, but I apparently did.  But now that I have thought about it......yeah, I remember that bent-over heavy limping that I used to call walking.  I realize that I am standing straighter, too.

The back of my knee suddenly feels normal.  The front of my knee is still tight.  The incision looks surprisingly clean and healed.  It's still a little lumpy and puckered, and he told me to use my Vitamin E oil to do a 2-thumb massage across the scar to help flatten it out. He told me it's still going to be swollen at the end of the day for awhile, just expect it.  He also suggested putting heat on it, then stretches and exercises, then ice.  I can not wait to get back in the pool!  I will wait for my doctor appointment on Oct 4, though.

Oh yeah, most of the thigh pain is gone.  There is still a "numb but not numb" area on the outside of the incision and some pain on the inside.  Massaging the scar is a little creepy.  The oil loosens all of the little staple scabs, so it feels gritty, and touching it makes it tingle.  I'm not sure if I am putting too much pressure on it or not enough.

One milestone - my first standing shower!  Up to now, I have been using a shower stool.  I probably could have done away with it sooner, but I was scared of slipping.  It's time to let it go!

Itching to Get Out

Yesterday, Austin and I went out for a little geocaching!  We ended up with one DNF and five smileys in about 90 minutes, but I was pooped.  Going to spend today doing nothing physical, but oh I want to swim so badly!!  Only one tape strip has come off so far, though, and until they are gone I cannot go back to the pool. My surgeon visit is still a week away, too, and I need his blessing.  I will content myself with some paperwork and coursework for the upcoming tax season instead.

Back to Basics

Therapy report - bending 90 degrees
When I complained that I felt like I wasn't making much progress, my therapist said I need to remember that just over two weeks ago, I basically had my leg cut in half, and that ortho surgeries aren't like other surgeries, where you feel better right away except for your incision.  OK, I get it - I'll shut up now.

Last night I slept great after a Norco and two Vistaril.  Maybe part of my problem is trying to skimp on the meds? At least at night, I will take what I'm told.  I really do feel good taday, so I hav eto be careful to not do too much.

Sleepless in Bloomington

Exhausted today.  Had a terrible night last night.  I actually tried to sleep just before midnight (early for me, lately). I thought I was comfortable, but couldn't settle on window open/closed or fan on/off.  Then my leg hurt.  Tossed and turned, slept in brief stretches.  Woke up at about 3:00 a.m. soaked with sweat.  Woke again at 6:00, to hear Kym in the shower.  My leg was killing me, so I took a Norco and went back to sleep till 8:30, then 9:00.  I finally got up about 9:15.  It's 11:30 now, and I'm desperate to sleep again.  Feel incredibly useless and lazy.

Ended up napping for about an hour around noon, then made an actual effort to do nothing for the rest of the day (isn't that what I did in the morning, too?).

Two Weeks

I have now been in New Kneeland for two weeks.  In most ways, it's been a much easier journey than I thought it would be.  I would never have guessed that I would be walking without a cane at this point.  In fact, I never got around to buying one, and now I don't think I will.

Pain - I guess understandably - is still an issue.  I really wish I could back off the Norco a bit more, but I guess that will come. Stamina is another thing.  I had a three hour meeting today, then picked up lunch, ate, then got on the machine.  I was so tired that I just shut it off and slept till Kym got home.  Now I'm waiting for Survivor to start, but I'm not sure I will make it through it.  And all I did was sit in a chair for three hours.

Tired.

Unstapled

The staples are no more!
When I got to therapy, I did the stepper for 10 minutes, then he took out the staples (which was really pretty painless).  He just kept exclaiming about how good it looks.  I can't say that myself because, before I saw it, he had covered the whole incision with steri-strips.  They will work themselves gradually in a week or so.  He said there are no open areas or seeping, even from the little staple holes.  He said there are usually a lot more staples (I had 28), and sometimes they take some of them out before you leave the hospital.  That's what mine look like, he says, but these are all the staples I had.

After the steri-strips were on, he stretched me (ow!!) then I got my heavenly ice blanket. There was a woman there who is four weeks out (I'm just at two tomorrow), and her measurement was only 115.  And she was depending heavily on a cane.  That made me feel a lot better, because 92 and 115 don't seem that far apart, and I'm two weeks behind her.

Overdoing It

Machine last night was at 92, but at night I had to turn it down to 88, and even at that I could only manage it for 30 minutes. I took two Norco but was still unable to get to sleep until after 2:00 a.m. I just can't find a comfortable position.  Then when I finally do fall asleep, I sleep so deeply that my leg almost refuses to move the next day. Still, day by day, it improves. Maybe it would help if I didn't do the machine last thing at night, just like you're not supposed to exercise right before bed. Hmmm. (Sometimes the light comes on slowly, like a CFL bulb, not an incandescent. :) )

I'm still trying to get off the Norco during the day, but I can't always manage it.  I maybe could by taking Advil instead, but I am not supposed to take that, and Tylenol doesn't do it for me reliably.  I have therapy tomorrow, and I am wondering if they will take out my staples.  Some look more than ready, others not so much.  I know I could make better progress with the bending once they are out, but it might not break my heart if they waited till Friday.

I have a four hour election judge class tonight.  I may have to sit in the back so I can get up and move around - not sure how long I can comfortably sit in a chair at one time. I am now done with the second dose of Celebrex in the afternoon, so that's one less med to keep track of.  I have to go pick up a prescription for the Amoxicillin I need before my dental appointments now.  The surgeon has to write the first prescription at first, then later the dentist can do it. <shrug>  I have to take 2000 mg (that's FOUR capsules) an hour before any dental appointment.

9:30
Fortunately, my class got out a little early.  I say "fortunately" because my leg hasn't been this sore and swollen in days and days.   This proves that I really can't be working yet, if I can't sit for three hours without begin able to elevate and/or ice my leg.  Stuff like this always surprises me.  I think I'm feeling pretty good and I could be doing more, so I do, and I end up feeling terrible. I hope it will settle down before therapy tomorrow. It's not until 2:30, so I will skip the machine tonight and take it easy tomorrow morning,

DRIVING!!

Today I am a DRIVER!

I decided I would give it a try this weekend, and this afternoon seemed like the perfect time.  I drove over to Mom and Dad's and returned the walker, but no one was home, so I just left it there.  Then I went to Taco Bell.  Their drive lane just reopened a couple of days ago after being closed since July for remodeling.  The whole place is being renovated, and the dining room still won't be open for another month, they said.

Driving that small amount was enough to exhaust me, and I took a nap after I ate.  At dinner time I drove to Steak n Shake to meet Mom (everyone else is farming today).  When I got home, Kym met me at the door and said, "Since when are you driving??"  Busted!  :)  When she came home and the car was gone, she assumed I was somewhere with Chad.

Therapy Again

Therapy today was more like what I expected on Monday.  I spent 8 minutes on the seated stepper, then he stretched and bent my leg for, I think 45 minutes (not really, it was more like 15).  It was painful, but in a good way.  Then he put my legs on an incline and covered the new knee with an ice blanket that felt like heaven.  I got out about 12;20 - took longer because a woman had a medical issue of some kind that took everyone's attention.  The therapist says not to use the machine for more than an hour at a time, so I'll start back on it tonight.  Bend was 81 at therapy.

I refilled my Norco, more for the stockpile than for current need.  I also picked up some Pepto-type stuff, which I was desperate for last night (I almost woke Kym to go after some at 2:00 a.m.because I felt so crummy).  Hopefully, I will sleep better tonight.  I think my stomach wasn't ready for Chipotle.

Overall, I have felt a little swollen today, though the therapist says it isn't that swollen.  And even he said I have to remember that it's barely over a week since surgery.

Good Going

My thigh is SO much better today!  Because I feel so much better, I am cutting out the Norco today, too.  I am taking 600 mg of regular Tylenol instead.  Not sure what I will do at bedtime, though.  I did not set an alarm last night, and did fine without the nighttime pill.

I find it a little hard to believe that I'm doing so well so soon. I mean, I expected it not to be a big deal (well, I hoped it wouldn't be), but I'm not really sure I expected to be walking around unassisted at just a week out.  I know I'm not done, I have lot of therapy to do, and it isn't all going to be that easy.  Maybe this is a result of getting my leg as ready as I could beforehand.

All of my prep work has paid off so far - the "adaptations" to the bathroom and garage, the room being ready, the stockpiled catfood, all of it.  So - I done good!  :)

No machine tonight.  Therapy tomorrow, so we will see what happens.

One Week

My thigh pain was quite a bit better, so we will consider cutting the machine back further.  Mom and Dad came over (with Dairy Queen!), and she said her doctor said he thinks the jury is still out as to whether the machine really helps or not, anyway.  And it does make sense that I could be using the thigh muscle too much.  I decided to concentrate on the exercises and forget the machine (at least the full time).

Evening machine (because it was sitting there, making me feel guilty) (30 minutes) - 84

Adjusting

I woke up at 6:22 a.m. in excruciating pain - I had missed my 5:15 pill.  When I woke up next, it was 9:08.  It was my first day alone, since Kym went back to work.  I have been having terrible pain in my thigh.  It seems to me that using the machine so much might be making it worse (feels like overuse pain).  I know I need the machine for flexibility, but I wouldn't swim two hours at a time, 3 times a day, every day.  After talking it over with Dan, I think I will try cutting back on the machine time and see what happens.  I would like to be able to get off of the Norco, too.

There is some pretty colorful bruising showing up on the calf now, but it doesn't hurt.  After my shower, I left it unbandaged (after I put on my big girl panties and got accustomed to what it looked like - I don't do ooky very well, especially on myself).  I'm not using a cane or anything at home now.

Evening machine (1.5 hour) - 82

Therapy Begins

10;15 -  first therapy appointment
Not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.  The therapist girl asked a lot of questions and did some measurements (my angle was 65, which seemed accurate since I was at 66 last night on the machine).  Then she took me to do a few minutes ("before we do some stretching") on the seated stepper machine.  She left me there for 10 minutes, then said, "OK, let's go make all of your appointments" and left me with the appt woman.  What happened to the stretching?

After therapy, Kym and I went to the store (love those little carts!).  Then we went home, where we discovered that the dog had gotten into a bottle of Advil SoftGels and had eaten an undetermined quantity of them.  Three hours and $117 later, he had had his stomach contents forcibly ejected (four times), examined, and flushed out.  He is now on two kinds of stomach medicine for the next two weeks.

Afternoon machine - 74
Night machine - 76

Progress

Tried a Vistaril last night.  Really loopy during the night, with weird dreams.  I kept, say, trying to pick up something in my dream, and I would wake up picking at my blanket or the edge of the bed. Talking to myself and waking myself up.  It was hard to be alert in the morning, after that.

During the morning, I accidentally walked around without the walker, carrying a bowl of cereal in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other.  The leg machine came unadjusted at some point, and I had to have Kym help me put it back together.  I will have it here for three weeks, then the guy will come and pick it up.

Morning exercises - after several frustrating days of no response on leg raises, I was able to do them completely unassisted today! Not pretty, but on my own!

Afternoon machine - 62

Starting a Routine

OMG. Best, shower. ever!!  The only bad thing was that the edges of the Post-It note curled up, so I couldn't reuse it, and I had to use my only other clean one.

Did my exercises, I absolutely CANNOT raise my leg from the bed, or raise the lower leg (when the knee is over a rolled towel).  Kym helps by supporting my heel, and by the last one or two, I can do it myself a little bit, but not much.

Afternoon machine - 56

Star

One of the nurses calls me the "star patient" because I am doing so well and am so undemanding and self-sufficient.  I have to get help to go to the bathroom (it's a rule) - that's non-negotiable.  At least they don't stay in there with me, like they said would happen. Only one grouchy old tech has even tried, and I told her I wouldn't be able to go (OK, that was a lie), and she backed off.

The nurses and techs have all been so nice, and I am loving the "room service".  Everyone who visits brings me diet Coke, too.

This morning they took off the heavy dressing and the Ace bandage that has engulfed my leg from hip to toes.  I have a lovely "Oompa Loompa orange" leg.  They put on what the nurse called a giant Post-It note bandaid.  Its adhesive is a soft gel that can be restuck.

Breakfast - scrambled eggs. cream of wheat, oj and coffee.

Occupational therapy helped me clean up and brush my teeth, and I put on a t-shirt in place of my gown.  The doctor said I will be allowed to shower while the staples are still in!  Really great news!

Spent two hours on the leg bendy machine, getting to 34.

Physical therapy - walked to the elevator, then she showed me how to do steps. "Up with the good, down with the bad" tells me which leg to use first.

Lunch - grilled cheese, Cheetos, salad

PT - walked to the elevator, around, and down the other side of the hallway.

Two more hours on the leg bendy machine -  got to 40  (the degree of bend is controlled with a wired remote that I control).  I am supposed to try to increase it gradually.  And I'm supposed to spend 6 hours a day on the machine, in three sessions.

Dinner - crispy chicken strips, salad, mashed potatoes & gravy, strawberry shortcake.

I was being released, along with a bunch of other people.  I told them my ride couldn't come until after 5:00, so they could take care of everyone else first.  I was picked up at 6:00, and was home and settled by 7:00.

Day Two

First night, I was so intensely, painfully thirsty.  I just couldn't get enough water or ice.  I thought maybe the IV was causing my thirst (what do I know?) but they said no.  Sometime after breakfast it started getting better, but it was a really long, uncomfortable night.  I kept putting in eyedrops because my eyes were dry, too, but they didn't help much. At one point, half asleep, I called the nurse because my IV was beeping - but it wasn't mine, it was in another room.  I kept finding myself talking in my sleep, and waking myself up.  Eventually, I did get some sleep.

In the morning I was allowed to order real food: scrambled eggs, cinnamon French toast, oj, and coffee.  Yum!  Then the physical therapy lady came in, and I went for my first walk down the hall. So weird - barely 24 hours after getting a new knee, and I was walking on it!  Then I sat up in a chair for a bit before getting on the leg bendy machine again.  It felt this day like I had been punched in the thigh, but I had no other pain, really.  My leg was a bit stiff, though.  I had to kind of perch on the edge of the chair to be comfortable.  Just before lunch they shut off the IV but left all the plumbing in place in case there was a need for it later.

Lunch was pizza, salad, and a brownie, then another round of hall walking, exercising, and sitting in a chair.  Novotny came in and I asked him about the thigh pain.  He thought it was probably more from the tourniquet they put on your leg during surgery.  The nurse said it was probably from the various unspeakable things (her words) that were done to me during surgery.  She said I wouldn't want to know, and she is right!  :)

Dinner was penne pasta with meat sauce (meh), salad, carrots, green beans.  Then I sat in the chair again until I had to go back on the leg bendy machine at 8:00.  Because of the thigh pain, the PT lady showed me how to use the gait belt to lift my leg into bed and into the machine.  There was just nothing I could do to lift it myself.  I can't even describe how I was trying, with everything in me, to move it but it just wouldn't go.  So frustrating - and scary because what if it didn't come back?  And it was annoying because I was comparing it to Day One when I could do everything, with no pain.  Stupid of me, I know.

Day One

We arrived at the hospital just before 7:00.
I think surgery started pretty promptly at 9:00.  But before that, I had to wipe down with these sticky wet wipes of antibacterial stuff - 3 packs, two wipes each, each for a different part of the body. Nasty.

I think I got back to my room just before noon. I don't really have any memory of going back to my room, though I have some memory from the recovery area. By 12:30, they had me on the leg bendy machine.  This is a device that slowly bends your knee and then straightens it.  I also had "puffers" on each leg, puffing alternately, that would inflate periodically to help prevent blood clots.  In addition, I had a blood pressure cuff on my arm that would randomly inflate. They all ran at different speeds, so I had the weird experience of having everything inflating, deflating, and moving all at once.  I never knew what was going to happen next, and in my happy place I found it quite entertaining.

At 1:30, I had my first go at walking - to the bathroom, whether I needed to or not.  At 2:00, they introduced me to my "new best friend", my spirometer.  It's a device that makes you take slow, even, deep breaths to prevent pneumonia.  6-8 times an hour, all day long

The food service is run like hotel room service.  You have a menu that you can order from anytime.  They gave me some water and jello to see if I could keep it down.  When I passed that test, they let me order dinner from the "full liquid" menu (more selections that the "clear liquid" menu).  I had cream of wheat, lemon ice, and coffee for dinner.  That seems weird, looking at it now, but at the time it was exactly what I wanted.

I was really comfortable thanks to the "Lombardi cocktail", a mix of drugs injected during surgery, which keeps you numb for hours and hours afterward.  Because I was pain free, I was able to raise my own leg and put it in the machine unaided, But it would be days before I could do it again.  By the next day, my leg felt like it weighed 1000 lbs and would not move.  I later had to use a strap to move my leg with my hands (hard to describe).  I didn't have, or need, a pain pump, just Norco (like Vicodin) and Celebrex at intervals.

THE Day

12:51 a.m.

Guess what?  Can't sleep.  I'm getting up at 5:30 to shower, etc.  I thought that with the aid of a Vicodin, I could nod off, but no.  At least I don't have to worry about not getting enough sleep.  I can catch up tomorrow (I mean later today).

I'm not scared, not anxious, not worried.....just waiting.  Mom will be here at 6:30 to get me.  My kids will be working, as I requested.  Chad is tasked with bringing me an icy cold, fully leaded bottle of diet Coke when he comes up in the afternoon.  Apparently, they only have the caffeine free kind at the hospital, and that just won't do!  :)  Let's go!

AFTER

The next few entries are reconstructed from minimal, sketchy notes that I kept along the way on my phone.

Lying Awake

3:12 a.m.
Lying awake - again - wondering about the leg bendy machine, and how much the whole thing will hurt, and what all I have left to do, and a thousand other things..... All of this time I have been worried about paint and carpet and cleaning, focused on everything but my knee itself, while the days slipped away, one by one, until only three remain.  Most of my questions will have answers in the next few days, I know.  But some won't.