I got a new knee - TKR 10th july 06

[knee deep in Goo]

Merry Christmas and much love and hugs. 

Sitting at the computer is occupational therapy for me     .  Actually it is working on my flexation.   But I feel so tired after climbing down 18 steps or so.

Pain is getting lesser and lesser.. but I am told once I walk more .. It will pick up.


Anja, Bonnie and Hoppy..    miss you all tons.. and trying to get to the computer and post when I feel I can.

Smoochies

Annie

[UK Girl !]

Merry Christmas Annie - so how is your new christmas pressie! - better than you expected?

Have a fantasti christmas
hugs
anja


yippee - whole week off now - just done 7 days at work - record takings so really good!

[Janet]

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a wonderful holiday....better this year with our new knees. I feel like I got a Christmas miracle. I had a MUA on Thursday, December 21. Before that, I could bend to about 55 on my own with no pain, 70 with pain, and 85 with sobbing in PT. I woke up from anesthesia for the MUA and was in tears, but my pain management doctor was right there and put in a femoral nerve block (quite painful procedure...and you should see the bruising!). After that, my leg was numb and I had little or no pain. My OS said he was able to easily break up the scar tissue. My surgical scar was so tight, it actually broke open in several spots during the MUA. I stayed in the hospital for 24 hours in a CPM machine, then went straight to PT on my way home. Because the nerve block causes the quad muscles to become very weak (oh no, after all that work I had done to strengthen my quads!), I had to wear an immobilizer along with using my walker. But I had very little pain. PT went well and we got it to bend to 94 easily.

The peripheral nerve block worked great, but was kind of tricky. I had a "fanny pack" to wear with the pump itself and a bag of medication. There were tubes all over the place, and the catheter itself was inserted right below the crease where the leg meets the groin. At 12:30 on the first night I was home, the pump started beeping with an error message. We had been trained what to do, but it didn't work, so I called the 24-hour hotline. After some discussion, the VERY nice nurse said she would drive the 45 minutes to our house instead of making us go to the emergency room. By the time she corrected the problem, about 90 minutes had passed and I was in a lot of pain, so I know how much the nerve block helped! She got it working again and we didn't have any other trouble until it came time to take it out. A visiting nurse came on Christmas Eve day to remove the catheter, except it wouldn't budge. She called the pain management anesthesiologist on call and he gave us an idea to try. The nurse needed to leave, so the doctor said he would call me back in 20 minutes and walk me through pulling it out. He was so nice, trying to avoid us having to drive to the ER. With his help, I was able to pull the catheter out. Yeah! Because of the pain level that one night, I was afraid of how much pain I would have when the catheter was pulled, but it was manageable (not quite tolerable, but manageable).

I was supposed to have PT five days a week, but unfortunately, because of the holiday, I had to miss three days in a row and didn't have PT again until today (Tuesday). I did my exercises and spent as much time in the CPM as I possibly could (sleeping in it, too), but felt like the knee was tightening up and I was afraid the scar tissue was already returning. But I had a great PT session today. They got it loosened up and I actually got as far as 111 today. And I have full extension, too. So that's my miracle!! My quad is still weak (I can't do a SLR yet) but I am happy tonight.

Hugs to all,
Janet

[bonstarr]

Happy belated Merry Christmas! 

Anja, Hope you are enjoying your time off and trying to rest a bit.

Janet, so sorry that you had to go through all of that, but you definetly had the help of many wonderful people.  Feel good.

bonnie

[knee deep in Goo]

Hi All

Janet -   I can "certainly" understand the pain pump beeping situation.   I had a situation in the hospital where my pain pump kept beeping and the stupid nurse took the battery out.  Which meant that I was getting no pain medicine.  During that time I had been injected with morphine which didnt help and than my anthesia guy had come up to inject lidocaine into my epidural I still had in my back.  My roommate kept telling me not to cry because it would make things worse . but it was either crying or screaming..      After my operation in the recovery room  I had my first pain issue where morphine and some other codine injection didnt do the trick.   The nurse told me not to be so stowic.  Which is kind of an achievement when you feel as though eight buses have run over your leg and they say nothing will completely take away your pain.   But we are made of tuff stuff and knew we would have bad pain before entering into this operation.


Anja

I did have a restful christmas day.   Santa brought  two pairs of gold earrings and  a gold necklace with the footprint poem on the back.   I got some bath goodies  and perfume. Some t shirts and a nice tote bag (pink) and a nice pocket bag (brown).

It was the best pressie being home before the holiday and decorating the christmas tree. 

Today taking a few steps around with out the cane or crutches or walker.   Getting off the sofa is a sport.   Brought on many ouchies.

I had my lovenox injection this morning and the box is down to only a few needles.  Yippy.  The trail of black and blues will end soon hopefully.   ( They are not that bad - considering the pain of the knee operation )  But still one hates needles regardless.

2007 to lead a  needle less life..   (fat chance) I know in three months I have to see my GP for my glucose review ) = more blood work.  It was 103 this morning.

[Hop skip n jump]

Happy New Year my lovlies

How are we all, did you all have a fab festive season?

Anj - Have emailed you babes.

Annie, Bonnie, how's the rahab going?

Sending you all a hug
Hop x

[bonstarr]

Hop,
Glad to hear from you! and Happy New Year!  how's it going?

Rehab is coming along, slowly....

Anja, do you still have holiday guests?  How has back to work been?


Sending you all sunshine & humidity.
bonnie

[UK Girl !]

Hey Hop - sent you one back!!

Bonnie - no all gone home now - house back to normal! and went back to work today be nice to have that lottery win tonight - can't check though - left my ticket in the car - which is not outside the house and am in my PJ's so can't go and get it.......well not without scaring the neighbours!

Thanks for the sunshine - very windy and cold here.

[bonstarr]

Our state lottery was $20 million on saturday, obviously we didn't win  , but I wish you the best of luck.

[UK Girl !]

yep I am a loser as well!

[bonstarr]

and here I was hoping you would come visit me and bask in the sunshine of your win...

[UK Girl !]

Bonnie - that would be fantastic - sadly I am still trying to clear the overdraft from all that time off from my op! and funding my daughter at university - I have told her now that she MUST get work to fund herself - we have promised my son that we will go to Egypt for his 18th Birthday in April 2008 so I need to sort my cashflow out fast! So no foreign holiday this year - can't complain though we have had 4 years of good holidays so................must be good!

6 month checkup on 11th Jan !! - hoping the swelling goes down before then or might be in trouble for overdoing it!

Hope you are well and that back and hip are giving you some peace.

Take care
anja

[bonstarr]

Anja,
well maybe when you win the lottery...

Egypt - how cool!!!!  What a lucky kid.  What did you do for your daughters 18th?

my OS appt is jan 11 too, my 3 month check up.

take care

[e.lynch]

Hey Anja:  It's Ellenmarie.  i haven't posted in a while with the holidays and all.  You stated that your knee was swollen.  How many months post op are you.  I have  a nuclear bone scan and blood work done and they came to the conclusion that i have soft tissue inflammation around the new knee parts.  I have to wear a brace which does not let me bend my knee at all, cane or crutches, ice, anti-inflammatory and take it easy.  easier said than done.  With working and 4 boys i have no idea how i am going to slow down.  Your knee is swollen but is it sore?  Are you on it alot?  Do you take any pain meds?  Please write soon, i am very curious.

Anja,
well maybe when you win the lottery...

Egypt - how cool!!!!  What a lucky kid.  What did you do for your daughters 18th?

my OS appt is jan 11 too, my 3 month check up.

take care

[UK Girl !]

Hi Ellenmarie
good to hear from you - sorry that you are having problems!

Think my probs are only because of overuse - my job is 10 hrs a day on my feet - so not the best but pays the bills - prob nothing more serious than overwork! I go on Thurs to see the OS but will prob only get to see the registrar and to be perfectly honest they really just ask how its going and you say okay and say whats going on and they just say rest it and give it time!

take care and keep in touch

anja