Bend it Like...

Day 21-

Worked on bending the knee more and more… I am hoping that tomorrow I blow my PT lady’s mind! I feel like I’m getting it to 90 degrees but I can’t be sure but I have been working it almost all day long it feels! Still on a strange sleep schedule but since I’ve been taking the pain meds less and less I seem to sleep better and better. Last night I slept on my right side and it felts so good to be back on my usual side and no pain or pressure!! It’s the little things right now that make me happy… like taking a shower tonight as well!! Not much else going on so I’ll see ya’all tomorrow!!

It's the Little Things

Day 20-

Still a bit sore from going out yesterday but I slept well and it was really nice to get out of the house for a bit. We rented a wheelchair and I went to the mall and bought some sweatpants for being laid up in. My jeans are too hard to get into and so I need some nicer sweats for going out of the house like with my parents or with my fiancee or to doctor appointments. I did sleep most of the day though and I’m sure that that’s good for me as well. I’ve been able to get up and help around the house a little and it makes me feel really good to help out. I folded some laundry while sitting down but at least I was helping. Again, it’s the little things!!

Sick to my Stomach

Day 18-

I was supposed to have PT today but I was so sick to my stomach that I cancelled my appointment. I think that the blood thinners are making me so sick but Tuesday is the last day I have to take them and I couldn’t be happier. So today I slept and slept and felt sick and sick. Not much to report other than I hope I feel better tomorrow to go out with my parents. See ya tomorrow!!

Ice, Ice Baby!

Day 17-

Still sore from my first PT session yesterday. I can’t believe how much it hurt still and I am trying to work it more so I’m ready for tomorrow but I can’t image that I will be ready for her again. I keep reminding myself that this is for a better quality of life and to return to the things in life that I love and to have the rest of my life! I do however, never EVER want to go through this again. I hope that this replacement last more than 30 years… I hope it last the rest of my life as I never want to do this again! This is a hard and tough rehab to go through and its just the beginning. Planning to ice the knee lots today and just sleep. See ya’all tomorrow!!

FIrst Day of PT

Day 16-

I just had my first PT session today and it was hell. I mean, pure and udder hell. I am so stiff and to bend my knee any amount makes me want to scream and cry and puke all at one time. Needless to say that this is gonna be so hard and such hell. But, I want to push myself to get better and to heal so that I can have my life back. There is so much I want to do when I’m healed that I’ve considered making a list. I know I want to dance again but I also want to ski, play softball (maybe even on a team), learn to snowboard, take karate, learn to belly dance and to learn burlesque!! And lets not forget travel and going back to school and having kids and getting married and getting a job and continuing my work in the local community theater. Not to mention just to be pain free… I can’t even image that since it’s been such a long time since I’ve been pain free.

Staples Be Out!!

Day 15-

Yah! Those awful staples came out today and man it feels so great! We had to take a couple breaks when taking ‘em out cuz the staple remover thingy kept poking me in the scar and it would make me jump a little plus a couple were just so tight that they hurt coming out but at least they are out and I’m not nearly as tense as I was. I don’t feel like I’m gonna pull apart when I try to move and actually, with the staples out I can move a little better when getting into bed or just hobbling around the house in general. The car ride down to the doctors office was a little hard but once the staples were out the ride home was better but I just wanted to go home afterwards. Think I’m gonna take it easy the rest of today and just chill in bed with ice. See ya’all tomorrow!

Ice and Staples

Day 14-

So I know its silly but I’m really nervous about getting the staples out. I’ve never had them so I’m not sure how its gonna feel or if its gonna hurt or if the scar is gonna open up and bled all over or what. So I’m not really sure how I feel today but I seem to have a lot of nervous energy and I keep getting up and down and I’m just fidgety. I’ve had ice on the knee all day because its just so sore and I can’t find a comfy position to lie in that doesn’t pull or hurt. Been in bed all day with ice which seems to be my new best friend. Not much else going on… see ya’all tomorrow!

Sick of Staples

Day 13-

Another quiet day here. I’ve slept most of the day and the staples are starting to pull more and more. The scar is all puckered and red and gross. I hate to look at it so I don’t. I’ve been keeping it covered but it’s been bleeding a little bit so I keep it covered, plus its very sensitive. Not having much of an appetite recently and I’m getting really sick of TV. I did read a book today and that was great! I also started another but then I kept falling asleep so I put it down. Other than that, my staples are starting to get a little uncomfortable and I’m not having a lot of luck getting comfortable. Ah well, not much else going on here but me sleeping so see ya’all tomorrow!

A Full Day of Sleeping

Day 12-

Just a quiet day today. It seems that after I do something like go out or move around a lot, I get so dang tired that I just sleep and sleep for several days. So that’s what I’ve been doing, sleeping. It’s pretty lame and its pretty boring but let me say this… I can’t WAIT to get these staples out. They are pulling and burning and itchy. Thankfully on Tuesday, they come out but I’m a little nervous since I’ve never had staples and a couple are really tight and irritating.

Home Alone...

Day 11-

Today is my first day home alone and caring for myself. I’m not sure how to feel about this as up until now someone’s always been here for me to help. I’m scared to get out of bed because what if I can’t get back into bed, what if I fall, what if!! O, those blasted what if’s?! Yesterdays trip out when ok but it wasn’t an easy go of it either. I couldn’t get into the car and I kept having flashbacks of the trip home which didn’t help. After several failed attempts I finally got in but we used the truck of the truck!! I kept joking that I felt like a puppy getting out for the first time but it was nice to get out and eat fast food and see some different sights. When we left the restaurant though, getting back into the car people were laughing and pointing at me and that hurt. I suppose that since I don’t have on a brace people don’t see an injury so they just laugh. In the meantime, I’m in pain but yet I’m happy to get out. O, and have I mentioned how awful daytime TV can be!!

Attempt to Go Out

Day 10-

Today is a sad day for me as one of my pet ferrets died. I was able to hold him most of the night and that was almost a good thing for being laid up but he’s gone and I’m rather sad. On the flipside my mom is over for the day helping me out and I’m getting cleaned up and going out for some dinner with my parents. My leg is still sore and we’ve been watching “Project Runway” all day and that’s been nice but I’m also nervous about going out since I haven’t left the house since coming home from surgery and it was awful and still fresh in my mind. I hope it goes well and I’ll report on it tomorrow.

One Week Since Surgery

Day 9-

Today was the first day that my home nurse came here to take my blood to check my meds. She was fairly impressed that I was able to get around as well I am. That makes me feel good to hear that I’m doing better than expected and that to a point I’m ahead of schedule. But part of me, a big part really, wishes that this was moving along much faster. The past couple of surgeries by this time I was fairly independent and feeling so much better but not this one. Its taking much too long in my mind to heal but I know that this was a huge surgery. Again, I’m just a week out… just a week out.

Over being laid up

Day 8-

I’ve totally gotten over daytime TV very quickly. All I do is sleep and watch TV. Getting out of bed is getting easier and easier but I still can’t swing my leg up to get back into bed so I am still fairly dependent on people to help me still and I don’t totally love it. I’m so used to just “doing” stuff… be it boring stuff like cleaning around my place or going outside to get the mail to, well, almost anything. This being laid up crap is annoying and its only been a week since my surgery. I don’t know how much longer I can stand this!! ECK!!

So Sleepy...

Day 7-

The staples are starting to get itchy and tight. It was also great to be with some family yesterday but my meds are starting to make me sick and as much as I sleep, it’s not good sleep. I can only sleep on my back so my sleep is sporadic and not what I would call quality. But, I’ve been moving a little better but I still feel so stiff and sore that I’d almost rather just sleep and sleep and sleep. Man, I look forward to these staples coming out!!

Sleepy and Sore

Day 6-

My parents are coming over today for dinner and to see how I’m doing. I was able to get out of bed better today and to move around better as well. I was able to sit on the couch and put up my leg. It was nice to get out of my bedroom and to move around. Sadly, it makes me so tired though and I know I am going to just sleep and sleep tonight. I’m getting a little cooped up feeling in the house though but that last ride was awful and I’m scared to leave the house again. I don’t want to go through what I went through to get into the house. The one good thing about being home though is that I am finally sleeping. I noticed that in the hospital I really didn’t sleep that much but here in my comfy bed, I sleep so much better but not great… still that back sleeping thing. Ah well, back to sleep world!!

Sleepy Day at Home

Day 5-

Still tired and sore from the ride and getting in the house yesterday that I’ve slept all day. Nothing tastes right and I don’t have much of an appetite right now. It was nice yesterday as a couple friends came over to see me and that took my mind off the pain at least for a while, until I feel asleep! I can’t sleep well since I’m on my back and I’m a side sleeper. All I want to do is sleep and that’s my plan. See ya tomorrow!!

Going Home... Finally!!

Day 4-

I’m going home today since I’ve been doing so well. I’m not really sick, my appetite is good and I’m pretty mobile. In fact, I was in and out of bed yesterday almost a dozen times and the staff here is amazed, well, except for my PT lady. She wants be to run a marathon this weekend I swear.
My pain is also so much more controlled since my IV popped out the day after surgery and I’ve been on pain pills instead. At first, it was every 6 hours but by hour 5 I was in more pain that I wanted to be so they switched me to every 4 hours with an optional shot twice a day. So far, I haven’t taken a shot but mostly cuz I hate needles but also because my pain isn’t that bad. See, I told you I was a toughie… I’m sure the pain is bad but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Needless to say, I can’t wait to go but I have to master stairs today to be totally cleared. They are hard and painful and the PT lady doesn’t let me use crutches but when I get home, I will be using crutches and I’m sure that it will be much easier to get into the house. Sadly, getting into my parents truck to come home was awful and getting into my house was awful. The amount of pain I was in… I wasn’t prepared for it. Thankfully my fiancée is coming home soon but all I can do it cry with the pain. My parents get me set up in my bedroom but even that was hard after the car trip. Maybe I should have stayed another day in the hospital but I hated getting a blood draw everyday as well. But I’m home now and I’d rather be here any day. Now the fun really starts.

Still in the Hospital

Day 3-

Today was the first day that I got out of bed and it was ten different kinds of awful. I thought I would pass out from the pain alone. I started PT today, twice a day while I’m in the hospital. I really don’t like the lady who does my PT as she is gruff and doesn’t listen. Whats your pain level… O, that’s fine. Hurry up and bend you knee… walk further, do more, push more… she doesn’t listen. I’m an active person and I will push myself thank you very much. But I don’t need her false enthusiasm either. I really don’t like her. Thankfully, I’ve found some “House MD” on the tube today and am watching that. Is it odd that I’m in a hospital and watching House, my doctor laughed at the TV when he came in and it was one. He did take the brace of the leg today and I keep wanting to move it around but its so sore and angry I don’t want to move it either. It was also the first time I saw the scare… 19 staples and its ugly as hell. I’m so upset that I cried a little about it. I’m so mad that now I have this constant reminder of what happened, of the stupidity that went with this injury and it makes me mad. I’m afraid that this will be a very long rehab and that I got myself into more than I can handle. Well, I’m a toughie but this is not going to be easy or fun. I can’t wait for this all to be over. I have the option to go home today but I choose to wait on more day. I’m still crazy sore and think I need one more day.

Post Op

Day 2-

Yesterday was the surgery and I ended up only needing a partial replacement but the surgery still took almost 2 hours. I didn’t get any other forms of pain control other than the button. I was in bed all day and ate fairly well that day. I had lunch and dinner and was surprisingly up after surgery. The pain wasn’t nearly as bad as I had thought it was going to be. But stiff and sore, o yes! My pain bounced around from a 5-7 and the nurses would get on my case for letting the pain get so high, as in up to a 7. I told them thought that I would get it down to a 5 but then I’d fall asleep and wouldn’t press the button and then it would spike. SO that was pretty much my day. Pain would go down, I’d fall asleep, then pain would spike and I’d wake up and so the pattern repeated. I didn’t get out of bed today due to the pain and trauma of the surgery but it sounds like tomorrow I will be starting PT tomorrow. My family kept me company all day and I was happy to find a “Wife Swap” marathon on Lifetime to keep my spirits up but I’m still in a hospital and I’m the youngster person in the orthopedic wing. Awesome. Really, at 9pm I’m the only one still up and the nurses chuckle about it. Thankfully, the staff at this hospital is great and make being here not horrible.

Surgery Day!

Day 1-

Today is surgery day. I have to be at the hospital at 6am for a 8am surgery. I’m not sure how I feel today. I hate that I have to have this surgery but I am more anxious about the IV as I hate them and the amount of pain after the surgery. When I went for my Pre-ops, the nurse was telling me about Femoral Blocks and Epidurals for post op pain so I’m really scared of the after pain. I keep wondering if this is the right way to go, but I also know that I can’t put my life on hold anymore, and that I can’t keep up with the pain either. However, for the most part I am excited to know that this might be the year that I finally get back to my life that I’ve been putting on hold much too long. The past 3 years I’ve had 2 other surgeries for the pain and nothing works in the long run. I’ve had to put off too much of my life and it depresses me. I hope that today is a new start… a new chance for me, a new chance for my family whom have watched me be in pain as well. I need a new start, a chance… I just wish it wasn’t this. I wish that a knee replacement, be it a partial or full, would not be the new start of my life, or at least feel that way. Ah well, it is what it is as I say.

The Begining of It All

Background-

This year, I turned 33 but I have had the knees well knee, of an 80 year old for almost three years now. Actually, I’ve had an injured knee for 12 years now. I fell on it when I was 18 and it never healed. It has badly injured but X-rays never really picked up a problem until I had a MRI and it showed that I had damaged cartilage and a bone sliver in the joint. My kneecap had become as brittle as fine China and despite being an active person my whole life, nothing stopped the pain from such an injury. For 12 years, I’ve been in some sort of pain, sometimes just achy other times it kept me in bed, sometimes for days. I’ve had 3 different prior surgeries for the pain, including a lateral release, which never healed correctly due to the amount of injury within the joint. So here I am at 33 and I just scheduled a knee replacement and I don’t know whether it will be a full or a partial yet. Either way, I’m getting a surgery that most people don’t get until they are in their 60’s… maybe, in there 40’s with an injury but not in there 30’s. So, at 33 I am undergoing major knee surgery. Awesome.

Information on Knee Arthroplasty (replacement)

-http://orthopedics.about.com/od/surgicalrehabprotocols/p/replacementrehab.htm

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knee_replacement

-http://www.zimmer.com/en-US/pc/article/mis-knee.jspx