Day 9 - July 11

Today was a good day pain wise. Yesterday I was able to walk a step or 2 without my walker, today I was able to walk a lot further. It is exciting. I am able to walk to the bathroom and back! WALK actually WALK...not limp! It is a great feeling.

I went to bed late last night because I just could not sleep. So today I woke really early due to the discomfort so I took a break-through pill. Than I tried to go back to sleep again. But I couldn't so I ate some breakfast, checked my email and such, checked my sis's blog and finally got tired enough to go back to sleep. I put on my CPM machine and iced my knee and I was able to fall back asleep again for a while.

I have been letting Meghan sleep in because it is her summer and I really do not need much help. I really am doing well. I do not need as much help as we all thought I would. I can form coherent thoughts and speak clearly. I think that the saddest thing about this is that I can not read. My attention span is a little short right now so I have not been able to curl up with a good book yet, but I think that is coming soon. I do get nauseous if I do not take my nausea medicine. I also am tired a lot. It is weird I am VERY tired but it is hard to actually sleep. Like right now I am falling asleep as I type this, but I am not tired enough to sleep soundly.

My lungs are doing good. I am not coughing anymore and I am not running a fever at night either. I was able to feel useful today! I helped Honora upload all her pics to her facebook.

I also took more pictures, which I will add to my posts as well.

I am getting bored.....I really want to be able to feel useful and DO something. Honora does not want me to watch the baby yet....and so it makes NOTHING for me to do all day...except what I am already doing. I KNOW I am suppose to be recovering...but I'm bored... :( I have books to read...but can't. I have video games to play...but don't want to... I am also getting stir crazy.... I want to GO somewhere.......

I found out yesterday that my car is completely dead. The electrical is not working...which hopefully just means the battery. Tomorrow Meghan gets to go out again....I really want to get out of the house...maybe someone will take me somewhere tomorrow.... But I am happy. I am glad I am doing well enough that I have time to be bored! ;) Hopefully my brain will let me read tomorrow and just enough relaxing! :)

Well I am really tired...so I am going to do my exercises and try to go to sleep again..... :)

Day 8 - July 10

Wow....I can not believe it has already been a week. My knee is healing really well. There are areas on the incision that is already a scar! It is really exciting. The nurse came today and said it is looking like it is healing really well. She also checked my lungs and they are totally clear!! It is amazing over the last couple of years my blood pressure was not as low as it use to be. It is clear it was due to the pain! I never had high blood pressure, it was just getting higher than I would like it, especially since I was use to 90/50 and such like this. Another interesting thing is that I am not bruising. Which is really nice. I do have a weird bruise on my ankle though...LOL

I am really tired. I am still not sleeping all the way through the night. I often jerk awake at night. I also noticed something else today. Sometimes I get very uncomfortable and antsy...well I finally figured out what it is, I am in pain...lol only me would NOT know I was in pain. So I took a break through pain pill and it went away! So I think that is what is happening in the middle of the night multiples times a night, I'm in pain. I am going to try taking a pill tonight when the symptoms and see if that helps.

I have my exercises to left to do one more time tonight before I go to bed. I made more progress today. She does not measure me anymore cause she does not like her patients getting hung up on numbers. So she measured me today 2 extension 92 flexion!!! This is better than pre-op!!!! It was really exciting. She also has new PT exercises for me to do. They are all done in the chair. I have heel/toe raises, heel slides, marching, low arc quad leg lift, and chair scoot. She also did her hands on work again. I really love her! She really works my knee. Than I realized something sad today. After I no longer need in-home care I have to do out patient PT and I won't have her.... :( I hope I have a PT as good as her. It is really cool. I can feel leg getting stronger every day. Sometimes even every hour. I can feel the changes in my knee, it is very exciting. I can not wait to be healed so I can exercise and lose weight.

Today was a good day. I am really happy I did this. :)

Day 7 - July 9 New PT

I had a good day! It was nice I had Honora and Elizabeth with me all day, it was her day off and she was feeling better.

I also have an AWESOME new PT. She was great. She came in and had a plan. She said, she reviews any exercises I learned already that I do not understand, but she EXPECTS ME to do them when she is NOT there, because she wants to use the time she is there doing HANDS ON work!!!! Yahoo! She has been a PT for a long time and most of her patients where knee and hip replacements so she really knows what she is doing! :)

She said she wants me to take my break through pain meds 1 hour before she comes - because it will be painful!! YAHOOO!!! I am going to make progress.

She also watched me walk and said I am doing a good job, I will just need to keep thinking about how to walk until it becomes a habit.

So I showed her the exercises I already do: Plantar/Dorsiflexion, quad presses, hamstring press, heel slide, terminal knee extension, straight leg raises, calf stretches. She modified 1 exercise I was doing making it into 2 exercises, but they are easy. One is to put my leg up on a pillow (pillow goes under the calf) and let gravity do its work 1-5 minutes gradually building up. Then after it gets easy do it with some ice on the knee to further encourage stretch. She wants me to do this as often as I want, but no less than 5 times a day outside of the 3 exercise sessions a day. The other is to sit on my chair and hold my leg bent as much as I can for 20 seconds for 3 times each session. She also modified the reps for all my exercises to help them be more streamlined and all exercises and stretches to do them for 15 reps.

I am suppose to do the full course of exercises 3 times a day and take a walk as tolerated.

She said she will bring me the exercise packet tomorrow and give me some new exercises to work on. Then she did the hands on work.

She had me sit in a chair - she sat in the lower couch next to me. I put my straightened leg on her thigh and she massaged the muscles around the knee for a while. then she put my leg down and bent it and pressed on the tibia and femur stretching the bend. She repeated this pattern a few times and then bent my leg gently back and forth in little movements to work it out.

It was a great work out. After each session I am suppose to rest the leg with ice on it for 15-20 min. I was sore after!

I had to take more break through meds today - 2 after PT and 1 later on. BUT it is okay since I am moving more.

She said my leg and incision look great!

Meghan got to take some time off and went out with her Nana and Papa. They took her to the movies and lunch. Her BF were suppose to go, but he was a jerk today. It seems like this relationship might not last.....poor baby... :(

My pain level increased today, but that is a given. It was around 4-5 all day. Now it is coming down 3-4. But my knee itself is awesome. It is getting loser and stronger...I LOVE THAT!!!

I am planning on taking a short walk when Honora or Meghan get back home. I am not suppose to do it alone....

Well got to do more exercises :) :p

Day 6 - July 8, 2009

Well I knew when I woke up this morning it might be a rough day. I did not sleep very well again. I had to sleep sitting up so that I do not get pneumonia, but the problem with that is I can not use my CPM so my leg gets very stiff and sore by morning. I took my morning pills an hour early today. That helped. Meghan was still sleeping so I let her sleep and I got myself breakfast (cereal). I also put my leg in the CPM as well as did my PT exercises.

The day ended up going well. Since I let Meghan sleep in she was in a much better mood today. She was back to being her wonderful self. I rested off and on all day. The pain stayed under a 4 all day, except when I had muscle spasms in my leg....crazy feeling :). Daniel also came over today, so Meghan had a nice distraction.

I did my PT exercises 2 1/2 times today, it really helps my knee. I have also done a LOT of straighting exercises. I talked to Honora in the AM, she is still sick :( I was telling her a little about the PT lady yesterday and she got very upset. She told me I needed to let my home care people know that I wanted a new PT person. The more I talked and listened to her, the more I knew she was right and I had to be an advocate for my health. So I called them and cried a little. The more I talked about everything that happened the more I realized how much it affected me and bothered me.

She: made comments that she lived really far away and did not want that to be the reason she did not come see me as much, she said that I probably would not get much more flexion and extension as what I had pre-op. I had 2 issues with my walking and she did not know how to help me with them and thought maybe if she help my hips I would be able to figure out what I was doing wrong. I NEED someone to TEACH me how to move and walk again. It has been over 16 years since I did not limp...I NEED HELP. That is what physical therapists are suppose to be able to do, see what you are doing wrong and tell you how to fix it. She also said she totally understood why I was favoring my bad leg...it was normal. BUT I DO NOT WANT to be NORMAL. I want to recover and have both legs be my "good" leg. I did not have this surgery so that everything could stay the same.... it was really hard. She said that she did not want to push me too hard or have me do too much (this was after I repetitively told her I WANTED to be pushed, I would DO WHATEVER she said so that I could have a fast recovery and get back to being normal). She also was not prepared. She did not have supplies with her to help me exercise. She did not know what exercises Dr. Xenos wanted me to do...she was flying by the seat of her pants...and relying on me to tell her what I was suppose to do. She was a nice person and all, but I do not think she would have helped me.

The Home care people said that they would get me a new PT person and they were very sorry and the big boss was going to call me about it. It was nice to know I was not over-reacting and I was able to get the care I needed.

My new PT person will be coming tomorrow. I am nervous but excited. Hopefully this will be a good match. I want someone to push me and make me push myself. I WANT this to be successful. I want someone who is on my side and wants the same thing I do.... and NORMAL leg!!!

So I did my exercises and even went for a walk yesterday. I also moved my leg and knee a lot all day long stretching it and strengthening it!!

TMI - I finally got the back door plumbing fixed! After no #2 since the surgery I was able to go 3 times yesterday!!! I was very worried about this. I was also started to have discomfort in my stomach.

I am also proud to say that my appetite is better. UNLESS I have to decide what to eat. I would rather not eat than think that much about food...it makes me nauseous. But I was able to eat a nice size yummy lunch that Meghan fixed for us. Hot dogs, cherries, chips, apple juice, and 3 cookies :)

Meghan also made a good dinner, but I was not as hungry. We had cheese ravioli and green beans.

THANK YOU MEGHAN!!!!

Around 7 I got some great news! Honora called and just told me that she is feeling good enough to come back over!!!! I am just so glad she is on the road to recovery. She was really jacked up sick again!

My constant companion Meme...is so happy I am stuck at home and in bed! She is a very happy kitty to have me near her all the time.

I still got a little of a fever tonight 100.8, it went down again with Tylenol, but I do not like it. I still have a little cough, so I can not sleep in my CPM machine (cause I have to be lying down) but I was able to do it more during the night. I slept a little better last night. Not much better, but a little. Because I was able to use the CPM during the night a little, I was not quite as stiff and sore.

All in all I had a great day! I am recovering well. Honora is very impressed with how lucid and painless I am doing. I am proud of my self. But I still have a long way to go to make sure I meet my goals EVERY DAY!!!

BTW, I love walking! It is a great feeling...I am still struggling with my 'good leg'. It really does not know how to walk. Though Meghan said I looked better. My 'good' foot HURT!!! lol :) it was funny. My bionic knee felt great, my biological knee felt good - the foot was like....what the hell! I definitely need to teach it how to walk.

Day 5 - July 7, 2009

Well today was a good day. I accomplished a lot of goals today.

Here is how my leg looks today:

The morning started out well. I got up early (could not sleep) and did some blogging. Than I went back to sleep for a few hours. When I finally woke up at 9 I did my morning routine: take 2 Oxycontin (10mg each) for pain, 1 Promethazine (nausea) and my shot of Lovenox in my stomach fat (for blood clots). I than got up and got myself some cereal (Lucky Charms) and walked around the house some before the OT person arrived.

OT arrived at 10:30ish. She showed me how to get into my shower, upper body exercises, and made sure I knew how to do all the self care items like get dressed, washed up, brushed, etc.

Then PT arrived at 11:00ish. She measured my leg. I have 5 extension and 83 flexion. We went through all the exercises the hospital gave me.

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00301

http://www.hipsandknees.com/knee/kneeexercises.htm


She watched me walk around the house. Then we went for a walk outside. It was wonderful!!! It has been a long day since I went for a walk for fun! I am excited that I can now add that to my exercise regiment.

I took a short nap cause I was really exhausted as well as iced my knee to try and help reduce the swelling.

After I got up from my nap I did my exercises again! It was great.

Meme LOVES to be with me. She hangs out with me all day. When I am in my CPM machine she often sleeps on my chest!

Than Meghan went to practice and things started happening that started scaring me.

First, I got a cough. So I took my inhaler
Second, I got a fever 100.9....I got scared so I called the nurse and than the DR. Since I am on antibiotics and the knee is not oozing or looks infected I am probably fine, take some Tylenol and relax. So when Meghan came home she helped me look for the Tylenol. It is now below 100. Then I went to do my leg exercises again and noticed that my leg seemed more swollen. Some of the staples look consumed in swollen flesh....So instead of more exercising I iced it again.

Honora is still really sick. Amber brought us dinner. I iced my knee again, my fever went down, and I am going to sleep sitting up so I do not get a worse cough. I will use my CPM more tomorrow as well as do more exercises... :) Meghan is being great and massaging my muscles right now :)

We had a rough day, but I think she just needed to have a break and get out of the house... :)

I take my antibiotic Levaquin at 6 and my nightly doses of Oxycontin and promethazine. I did not need any extra pain meds today. My pain was under 4 all day and mostly hovered around 2-3 :)

MPOV

Meghan's Point of View

It was a normal day, hot summer dry heat - the heat of Denver, Colorado. I climbed into the backseat and we drove off to the hospital. I sat in the back listening to every word Honora and my mom said to each other, chipping in now and then... the norm. It seemed surreal that it was finally happening. I was sending texts back and forth to Daniel, like always, and hardly thinking about the fact that my mom was going in for major surgery - I think that's the way it had to be.

When we got to the hospital, Honora parked the car. We walked over to the check in; it took a while, but finally we were waiting to see my mom before surgery. Waiting for them to tell us what was going on. It was only the beginning of the long wait. If I had known how much would be in store for us, I would have better prepared myself, Daniel, and my overly exhausted mind and body. We were called in a few minutes before her surgery - we had been promised 20 minutes - and as soon as we were in we were ushered out by the anesthesiologist. My mother held me for a long time and almost started crying - I was OK but I felt so bad for her knowing I was leaving her alone. All alone. Honora assured me she would soon have her happy juice.

We got back in the waiting room and thus hell commenced. The waiting might have been the most stressful part of the surgery, thus far. We waited to hear if surgery had even started, worrying about bad reactions to going under, or complications with the nerve block. We waited to hear if she was out, if she was OK, when we could see her. We only heard from them three times and always from our own pushing efforts at the front desk - they never told us anything. It had been an hour since my mom was supposed to be out of surgery, forty minutes from when they told us we could see her. I was dying inside, I had a fight with Daniel because of all the stress building up in me and his stress over seeing me so scared. It eventually got cleared up - even before I was able to see my mom - however, that was not surprising as we were not able to see her till three hours after her scheduled start.

I remember the relief of seeing her face. She was so out of it. The nurse walked in ahead of me. He said, "Someone very important is here to see you." Her smile looked like the sun on the Raisin Brain box, large and bright but ever so high. I smiled at her and set down her belongings and then walked over. The first thing she said to me was "O my baby's here." I couldn't help but choke back the tears a little, I was so grateful to see her alive and well... I don't even want to talk about all the horrible things going through my head while we were waiting.

Honora joined us shortly, after feeding Elizabeth, and soon all three of us were in the room smiling at each other. It only went downhill a little when the nurses were in the room. Mama kept raving about how she didn't think they would be nice to her because she was fat, she was being a little snappish with the nurse, and Honora kept telling her to simmer down a little. My mom was very emotional she wanted to hold me for a long time. Even though it hurt my back to bend over and be held for so long, it made us both feel a little better. Finally Dr. Xenos her surgeon came in and told us all that had gone on during the surgery. My mom kept asking him over and over again if she had her new knee and if it went well. He tried to tease her and she freaked out on him - he shortly left the room. She didn't even remember a word he said though.

Eventually my mom began to wake up enough to begin to feel nauseous and throw up. It was very sad and Debbie (her first nurse) wouldn't come in to help her. My mom said she had two favorite nurses: Susan a woman with a long whip-like blond red braid down her back (night shift), and Viki an older nurse who also took great care of my mother. I couldn't leave her though, we had planned on it, but the first night somehow Honora, Elizabeth and I all wound up cuddling up real close on the couch.

The room at first seemed huge, but eventually began to suffocate all three of us. We went home to grab things for me to spend the night again the second night. The couch wasn't much better even then and the room was freezing but my mom liked it so we didn't turn it up much.

My mother went through such a hard time the second night. I remember being so stressed and worried about her constantly. She had a lot of nausea. Also the second day, she was in a lot of pain from her ot and pt. So when we came back from grabbing something to eat, I had to see her in agonizing pain. That might have been almost as bad as the waiting room, had it not eventually gotten back under control. The first night was the toughest and I found myself more exhausted than I ever thought I could be. However, eventually we got into a swing of things. As I stayed three and a half days in that hospital, I began to understand how to help her and all about the floor plan of the gigantic hospital.

I was very concerned about my hygiene while in the hospital too. Though I had greasy hair, no deodorant, little make up and none at sometimes, and rough hair - that wouldn't have bothered me had it not been for all the nurses coming in ALL THE TIME.

The best highlights of the whole thing go as this:

1) seeing my mom with her new knee and new lease on life

2) leaving the hospital

3) cuddling with my mom in the tiny hospital bed

4) showering

5) the food