Post-Surgery Right Knee - Part 4

I just graduated from home health care services to outpatient therapy. I've got my therapy schedule of appointments for the next two months.

I can walk slowly around some in the house without the walker, though limited, as long as I'm near something to hold onto. Steps are slow going as well now that I'm just starting to use the knee to climb steps. With the cane, it's slow going til I get more flexibility in the knee. I can straighten it out to within maybe 5-10 degrees of being straight. I think I've straightened it out a few times. I've used a heating pad on the knee to help it get more extension to around 90-95 degrees. I couldn't use it while on the blood thinner medication, though I'm off it now.

The surgical area does look pretty good and the butterfly strips have fallen off. It's still a bit sensitive, which sometimes gives me trouble sleeping at night. I should be able to sleep through the night in maybe a couple months.

The 16-20 inch snowfall we had kinda made me miss doing the snow shoveling, something I've been doing over the years. One snowfall in Kentucky took me 3 days to shovel the driveway due to the bitter cold and wind chills, thus I wasn't able to stay out long. I did manage to make two 5-6 foot snow piles on both sides of the driveway. Took a bit over a month to melt.

Post-surgery Right Knee - Part 3

I had the staples removed Friday morning by the nurse and Jamie was around. She said it was an interesting experience watching them get removed. All that's left are the butterfly strips, and even then, they're falling off. The incision area looks quite good.

As for the CPM, I'm now up to around 85-90 degrees, letting the knee joint warm up after some flexes. Has anyone fallen asleep after a bit of time on the CPM? I think I'm soon to go from home health care to outpatient therapy. The occupational therapist was around earlier, watched me do things, and said I don't need any extra help.

I'm not yet able to do any cooking, but I can get stuff from the refrigerator to the table via multiple transfers. I place the items on a nearby counter, then I move near the table and then move the items from the counter to the table.

Could be next month when I get to using a cane and maybe another month or two for me to be able to get down the the basement since the steps don't have railings. It's just five steps down, but I'm not going to use the wall to help get up or down.

Looking at the now-healed left knee, it reminds me how far I've come and what's left to be done.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Art Linkletter said it all when they said the darndest things in his live TV show some years ago (no, I never saw it), and the books.

Awhile ago, Sherlock Steve posted something on his blog, tidbitting around, that I passed on to him that killed me laughing when I read it.

Just the other day, I found this, which blew me apart...

Po-tate-o, Po-tat-o

They've always got the ability to bring down the house without trying...

Post-surgery Knee and Bonus - Part 2

It's good being home. I'd probably have driven the rehab center people nuts, maybe only stayed for up to a week.

Thanksgiving was a buffet at a local hotel. Quite a good buffet dinner. Next year, we grill the turkey. If there's snow, expect melted snow in front of the grill, an outdoor brick thing. It cooks nicely.

I can tolerate the CPM machine for as long as I can lay on my back. I previously couldn't sleep on my back due to the knees, now I can. I just went 3 hours straight. I'm up to 75 degrees flexion, but the tape holding the dressings and the staples are kind of holding me back from doing more. I can briefly do 80 before going back.

Staple count for this surgery: 28. It was 32 last year.

Post-surgery Knee and Bonus

It's been an interesting time since I got here, what with the total knee replacement on the right knee. Let me break this down;

- pre-surgery - I had the same pre-op bed bay, same nurse and anesthesiologist. Same OR as well! Last year, I remember going past the OR room number (7) to the door and that was it. This time, I made it into the OR for a few minutes before I was out.
- recovery room - I don't remember being in it last year, just being in the hall coming from there. I was awake and coherent just long enough to answer a question from Jamie. I was in surgery for 3 hours, compared to 4 last year.
- hospital room - Again, the same people from last year were around including some new people as well as this one nurse nicknamed "the vampire" since she works at night and often draws blood. Wonderful lady... I was only a door or two away from the room I was in last year.

This time, since the muscle contractures weren't as bad on the right knee, I was able to use the CPM (Continuous Pulsing Motion) machine for the first time, going up to 55 degrees. I was able to tolerate it for almost 3 hours. I nearly wore out my physical therapist since the right knee and leg had a bit of strength.

Another big bonus... Since I'm doing much better than last year, I'm not going to a rehab center. I'm heading home and will have some home health care people helping out with things for about a month or two. It took me 3 weeks just to be able to walk from the rehab room to the nurses station nearby and back to the rehab room and walked a little more. This time, I went that far, just a few days after surgery.

This recovery should be a bit easier or a little tougher...

Surgery on the Right Knee

Just tonight, I got the call I was cleared for my next surgery tomorrow morning. This time it's a total knee replacement on the right knee, just like on the left last year. This time, unlike last year, there were no foul-ups, no misunderstandings. Just a rescheduling of the surgery date when I had a conflict.

This is where things should allow me to improve more. This is where the left can improve even more with the right's going through rehab as well.

Now to have a nice pre-surgical meal...

Wedding Videos Gone Viral

We've all seen videos that go viral, but it was a matter of time before it was a *WEDDING!*

Jill and Kevin's Wedding

Then I did some checking around and found some students did a spoof (a divorce dance in court!) and the Australians did their version of it. The wedded couple and dancers were even invited to the Today Show in New York City to do a repeat performance!

DWTS doing the 'Forever' wedding entrance dance

Then there's YouTube's Most-Viewed page

Arrest Me? Say What?

Has anyone gotten a so-called email from the FBI that says something like a Nigerian or other international bank releasing a large sum of money and mention terrorism? Then it finishes with this;

"So to this regards you are to re-assure and proof to us that what you are about to receive is a clean money by sending to us FBI International Clearance and also Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer (DIST) to satisfy to us that the money your about to receive is legitimate and real money. If you fail to provide the Documents to us, we will charge you either to U S federal Court or international court of justice and take our proper action against you for not proofing the legitimacy of the funds you are about to receive.

"THIS CONDITION IS VALID UNTIL (date) AFTER WE SHALL TAKE ACTIONS ON CANCELLING THE PAYMENT AND THEN CHARGES YOU FOR ILLEGALL MOVING OF FUNDS OUT OF NIGERIA GOVERNMENT. FUNDS WILL BE RELEASED ON CONFIRMATION OF THE DOCUMENTS."

*sniffing the air* Now that's a whole lot of bovine stinky droppings. Anyone want a cow pattie burger with a large urine?

Those two paragraphs make absolutely zero sense...

Relay SWAT calls

Having read the Watch Out for That SWAT! blog post and a followup article in the Washington Post recently, it's a frightening thing when your home is invaded by a SWAT team. Apparently they're there for no reason other than the fact that someone tried to "prank" the police into thinking you're a dangerous person.

I use a cane or wheelchair when I'm out and about due to my knee surgery, and usually don't use the cane at home. Could this easily cause me to get shot with them thinking I was holding a weapon? Probably the best thing for me to do if this kind of thing happens would be for me to immediately stop where I am, drop the cane, and raise my hands. Or will they shoot anyway and ask questions later in their adrenaline-soaked mad dash through the door?

What's the best way to handle something like this?

My Knee's Progress 4

It's getting easier to walk longer distances. I was able to walk to someone's place near me which is near this grocery store I mentioned before. I wasn't too out of breath or too tired when I got there, which is a good sign of improvement. But even then, I still can't make it to the store and back home. It's pretty much a one-way trip. That's still a pretty big improvement from before when it was harder for me to get there a few months earlier.

It's the other knee that has me at a standstill or slow improvements til the next surgery. I had to change the date due to a conflict with Jamie's class on the same day. I won't be missing Halloween. The new surgery date is November 20 in the early morning. Then the week after that is Thanksgiving. Pretty much means I'll be in the rehab facility. Means I'll be a captive audience for dinner.

To walk a mile, bowl again... It'll happen. I know I can now do a tenth of a mile, which is good.