thinning the herd

[ritalz]

Was today surgery day? Waiting to hear how things went.

[CYBORG]

same here

[Whiskerfish]

Yes Surgery was Monday and finished before noon, apparently that went well. At least that is what the Doc told my wife. My Bladder would not wake up so I had to spend the night in the Hospital waiting for that to resolve. Got home Tuesday morning. Monday night and Tuesday sucked. Sleep was a couple minutes here and there. When the nerve block in the leg wore off Tuesday morning the Pain was dramatic. The pain was not limited to just the knee area. The back of the calf and the top of the thigh were stretched like Banjo strings. Hip is screaming pretty good as well, I think that is from the manipulation during the surgery. I have a bunch of Oxy but I really dislike what it does to me. Tuesday I got several phone calls and between the pain and the Oxy I was quite the butt head to people. Really bothered me looking back on it.

Starting Wednesday Morning I put the Oxy away and took Tramadol instead. That cleared my head and seems to work as well or maybe better than the Oxy. I had a pretty significant issue with Constipation until last night. I had been taking a softner and a lax but they were not doing the job. At 4 days I drank a bottle of the magnesium citrate thinking that would fix it but no. Had to send the wife to get me a proper enema. Finally some Relief!!

So now it is swelling and pain management. Elevation and Ice are my life right now. I have a water cooler massaging machine and it does pretty good. Ice packs seem to help also just do not last long. Home Therapy I think will start today or Monday. I get a couple weeks of that until the follow up with the Surgeon.

Knee 12 May 2025.jpg

Knee 12 May 2025a.jpg

Knee 12 May 2025b.jpg

[CYBORG]

Good news. Should be getting better from here on.

[OhioBill]

The joys of joint replacement. It should be better shortly. Do all the physical therapy. Distract your mind when possible.

[Rat]

Every day will be better … hard work to come with physio …

Gord

[ritalz]

Yea but the PT is soooo important.

[Rat]

PT = Physical Terrorist …

Gord

[Whiskerfish]

They gave me a sheet of exercises when I was discharged and I have been doing those 3 or 4 times a day. They wanted every hour!! I am walking pretty good (using the walker for stability) but a couple of the exercises just are not making any progress. I can get the knee to about 90 degrees but it is a pain wall at that point. I still can not lift that leg without assistance. I can hook my other foot under it and use that to position it on the couch pillows. Lifting it to an elevated position is near impossible for more than a few minutes. The back of the leg tightens up and starts screaming. Sleep is still not great 1.5 to about 2 hours at a time seem to be the limit. Still working the DVT machine and the ice trying to control the swelling. Narcotics are every 6 hours with some Tylenol in between to even things out. Have a couple more days of the tramadol. Things got bad about 1 am this morning and I had to grab an oxy but off that again.

Poor Rusty is exhausted trying to do everything and tomorrow she goes back to work. While she is gone I can push the vacuum around and do some other light chores.
Making slow but steady progress.

[CYBORG]

Hang in there. I'm living with the results of not doing the exercises. (my wife). Not fun

[Rat]

The flex target is 110 degrees (minimum for normal function) … but try and target 120 eventually … yeah it hurts. Don't stint on the pain meds … no gold stars for suffering.
Long term success depends on the next few days.
We’re cheering you on Boss

Gord

[Whiskerfish]

Yep. Hoping to meet with the physical terrorist in the next few days. It sucks but I will get it done.

[Whiskerfish]

Two milestones today. The back of the legs finally unlocked and I was able to touch my toes, and I went past 90 degrees on the knee. Pain and swelling are still rather significant but that will improve with time I am sure.

[Rat]

Gord

[Sidecar Bob]

Some days I hobble around wishing I could get new knees. I think today is going to be one of them.....