Success!!!!

Well, with the help of my surgeon, Bridgett, my PT, and my wife, I was able to hike to Delicate Arch in Arches National Forest.  It was not a particularly technical climb, not spectacularly lengthy, but it was something that I would not have been able to do prior to my surgery.  And if I had managed to make it, I would have suffered for many days.
As it is, my hamstrings are sore and my quads area a bit tight.  The muscles around my knee that attach just below it, one of my quads and my IT band give me the most pain.  They were cut and moved the most during surgery and continue to be a bit bothersome.  I think I can see the potential of the new knees now.
Continued stretching and strengthening are going to get me well beyond my pre-surgical form.  I will continue to work hard and get to more that I was before the surgery!
Whoop!

Long game

Long game-

Nine weeks.  One would think anything would be healed after nine weeks.  I have to admit that I am back at the gym, though I am about as strong as a newly born kitten.  It is great to move some heavy (sort of ) stuff again and sweat a bit.  PT is going very well or so my therapist says.  I am apparently ahead of the curve for fifty-eight year olds who have had both of their knees replaced at the same time.

But I am not a patient person and I am still limited in what I can do.  A three-mile walk in the sun resulted in a pretty sore pair of legs the next day.  But,  I do need to remember that I have been ten weeks or more without any significant exercise and my knees suffered major trauma. 

I have to start looking at the long game here; one year is a more realistic barometer than nine weeks.  Duh.  The pain is relatively minor: generally a two or a three on a ten scale.  I am still waking up around 2am most every night and staying up for an hour or two.  The knees are stiff when I first wake up and when I go to bed.  I can’t climb a mountain or play racquetball yet.  I can take care of myself, clean the house, make a meal… I am functional.  Truth be told, I am in better shape than I was before the surgery and the trajectory is up.  I am still feeling a little bit better every day.  Not a lot, but a little.

I am still using ibuprofen and acetaminophen, generally every six hours or more.  I have actually taken one Ambien and got a great night’s sleep.  I may do it again.

Night and Day

One of the things I recall when visiting with one medical professional prior to my surgery was his comment about the disruption of my sleep pattern for “a couple of months”.   Once again, my brain did not allow me to comprehend what this meant exactly:  Par for the course for this procedure!  I have told myself over and over that I am just going to blow through this with the force of my will and my ability to deal with pain.  When it comes to sleep, I am wrong again.

Since my surgery on March 9^th, I have not had a good night’s sleep.  In fact, I can safely say that I have not slept for more than four hours in a row during that time.  I was proscribed some muscle relaxers to help me sleep and I think one of those nights was when I got 4 hours.  However, they are potentially habit forming.  After my ordeal with Oxycodone I am reluctant to use them on a nightly basis.  I do not look forward to going to bed (well I do, hoping that I will actually sleep!) because I wake about every hour in significant pain right in the knees.  I can only guess that it is still the bones healing beneath the implants.  On my pain scale, it is probably 3-4; nowhere close to the earlier pain, but it is significant enough to keep me from sleeping.

On the flip side, my days are pretty dang good!  I have been walking in the park the last three days: 20, 30, and 35 minutes.  It is so nice to get outside.  Walking is mostly pain free and my PT is also going well.  The joints continue to respond to stretching; straightening easily and bending more and more.  I generally do anything I need to around the house and have freed Carol from having to take care of me.  My weight is coming back, which is pretty critical as my jeans keep sliding off my butt, making me look like a Sitka High sophomore boy from the right angle.  Not my favorite look.

Looking forward, we are taking a long scheduled trip to Puerto Vallarta for two weeks beginning on Thursday.  I am hopeful that the warmth (mid 80s during the day, 70 in the evening) will help things loosen up even more.  I have a series of exercises designed for a pool, of which there are many at our resort.  I am not sure that I will do as much as I normally would on a trip like this, but with luck I can restore some color to my skin, continue the good days, and hope for a night’s sleep.

Drugs and boredom

It has been quite a few weeks now… March 9-April 14.  Five weeks?  I am now able to do lots of things: stairs, short walks, household chores, drive, some modest exercise.  I also try to do about three hours a day of at home PT and three days a week with the professionals.

I am clearly getting better every day: More function, generally less pain, better balance.  Four days ago I got really tired of using Oxycodone, though it was down to about 4-6 5 mg doses a day.  I have switched over to ibuprofen only.  So, I am a little more sore than I might be, but not intolerable.  I definitely have had to deal with the effects of withdrawal after heavy use early on that tapered, pretty well.  I just got really tired of feeling somewhat out of it.

But I cannot over due activity, so I sit.  A lot.  I hate it.  Reading, tv, lumosity, baseball, hockey/basketball playoffs… none of which would ever fill a healthy day of mine cannot replace my trips to the gym and time spent out of doors with the dogs or family.  I was in pretty good shape when I underwent surgery, now I sit.  Bleh.

I also got a little something to help me sleep since I haven’t slept for five weeks.

But I’ll be a little better tomorrow.  And a day further from narcotics.

Boom! Baby!

“One month seems to make all the difference,” I was told multiple times by multiple folks when it came to recovery from knee replacement surgery.  48 hours short of four weeks it was like a switch was hit and I went from a pretty helpless, wimpy feeling guy to someone who actually can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

First off, I was cleared of all signs of jaundice and anemia, both of which I was very much suffering from only three weeks ago.  Secondly, the pain level has dropped and my ability to move my knees has increased dramatically.  This happened in just a matter of days.  No more walker, a cane if necessary, but generally just walking around the house.  Not fast, mind you, but walking nonetheless.  I have added ibuprofen and dropped to four oxys a day.

It even stopped walking long enough to get a walk in at the National Historical Park and, BONUS!, Carol let me drive.  Needless to say it was nice to get behind the wheel after a month and even nicer to see the totem poles, hear the ocean, and watch gulls scanning the water for food.

The only negative is that I am still not sleeping well.  The knees clang together, (maybe literally now!) and since I am a side snoozer, there are few places I can find comfort.  It has gotten a little bit better each night… but a full night’s sleep will be fabulous.  Four weeks!  So glad you got here!

UP!

A little picture of Medvijie Lake (Bear Lake in Russian) with a promise of a hike there, a Harry and David gift box, a quick visit from a friend, a supportive text…  It doesn’t take much to cheer a person up.  The weekend has cleared a lot of the serious pain, which I experienced from pushing too hard at PT.  I’ve been able to drop my Oxy use, which makes the rest of me feel a lot better.

Still pretty challenging to get motivated to move, but I hope to make some big gains this week A LITTLE AT A TIME.  Keeping it positive!