Hey There!

I am Home!!        

                

                                                                      

For those of you that care:

 

Take Good Care of your body.

5/28/2024

Starting to feel more human here after

a total knee replacement!  Just dealing 

with swelling and bruising.  Doing well

with PT and able to use the walker!

Walking is more stable without a limp!

Working on using muscles and trying to 

regain my range of motion.  Still spending 

much of my day with the feet in the air with

ice pack every 20 minutes, rotate and ice some

more!  Wear those compression socks!!

Ya know it's nice to see the garden bloom without

me!  

5/29/2024

A step back as I have pulled a muscle in the back of

my beautiful blacken-swollen leg, so back to limping.

More ice!!

Ya know each person is different and it's just finding the

right key to manage the pain and swelling.  It's nice to be 

pain free!!

5/30/2024

At PT this morning I found out I pull the ham strings in the

leg they did surgery on.  No wonder it was hurting.  Common

and it's time to shift exercises for a while.  The good news is

I'm still on track and the numbers look good.  Ice and be good!

I am allowed to go into the garden.  They would rather me sit in

a chair but you and I know this isn't going to happen!  I dead head

a full pickle bucket of rose petals before turning on the sprinklers.

The male cones from the pine trees are all over the place!  All I can 

do is send them back!!

6/2/2024

Still have the feet in the air and resting when I can, I have been 

napping several times a day!  I don't do that normally!

6/4/2024

What a morning!!  We left early to get a couple xrays for my 

Wed. appt.  I emailed my team leader and let her know, she 

advised me to go to the second floor to check in.  When we

got there they advised us to go to Urgency on the first floor.

So we did to find out their machine was down, we needed

to go to the first building!  We walked over there, checked in

and then went to the room.  We waited, 10 minutes before PT

we talked to the gal at the desk.  We weren't check in like the 

first stop said.  So we went back to building 2 for my appt. with

PT.  Day 15 and I'm still only supposed to get 300 steps in!

I was smart to grab the ice before we left.  I love my 

Physical Therapist!!  She throws a lot at me and I really

give it my all!!  Again just 15 day from surgery and I can

straighten my leg to -0-!!  My flex is currently at 104 today!

Not bad!!   Also today I graduated from the walker to the 

cane!!   My goal is to get back to my normal range of 137

for flex which is what it was prior to surgery.  I was told

if I was lucky 120 to 130.    Today was a great day!!  The 

xrays look awesome but I'll find out later.   Soon is Post Op

and the bandaids come off!!   I then got home to find a

voice message from my team leader.   I caller her back and

got to talk to my favorite new friend!!  What a very special

man!  His advice was priceless.  There are so many folks

there at Vancouver Clinic in Salmon Creek that have come

very special with this journey!  I am so blessed to have an

excellent team of Doctors! 

6/9/2024

Today the last of the butterfly bandaids fell off.  Oh my!!

I missed last Friday's PT due to my ham strings popped up

again and I forgot the change in appt.  I missed seeing 

Perry, one of the other favorite PT.  I spent my day

Icing and testing the tens unit.  The more I'm on my

feet the more it swells.  Wear those compression

socks!!  Pulling a ham string is so much fun, they

are the boss until they calm down.

              

6/10/2024

I finally got the swelling down and the

ham string areas are tender to touch but

the leg is looking better.  I have a couple

more bruising areas!  At least the leg didn't

really bruise as bad as some folks say theirs

did.   You don't want to get blood clots!!

6/11/2024

Today I wore my new compression socks

that go above the knees to protect the knee.

PT felt great to move muscles!  I got to 

take the bike for a spin, we worked on 

steps and I now can go up stairs but 

I can't go downward.  It was nice to up

to the second floor to drop off my box.

Knee is still straight -0- and flex is up

to 115!!   20 to go!  New exercised were

given to me.

6/14/2024

I stand corrected here!   Before surgery

the left knee was at 140 and the right knee

at 130!   Today's right knee was at 117 and

still dealing with those ham strings!  I got

to go up a full flight of stairs and then down

with half just right knee first then the last

half I switched feet!  Good form and only

hit the toe on the right foot twice!  I then 

did the side steps both ways.  I tried the 

one foot after another and well my balance

needs some work or I'd be hauled in for 

not being sober!  Practice!!  We then worked

on the ham strings, and the top muscle of

the leg that moves the knee cap up and down.

I love their tens unit and today's workout was

a little hard.  A new set of exercises were given,

I can no longer use the can in the house, only outside.

I can practice driving this weekend!!   My PT said I

should be back to normal in no time!!  She is the best!!

6/18/2024

I drove this morning to PT and it felt good!  What 

a great morning!!  PT put me though some new things

and I did great!  I even got to take the stairs twice, with-

out issues.  The knee is feeling much better and I have

a cool knee twice.  Still Icing but wow, that a difference.

Matter of fact I reached 123 flexing today just two days

short of 1 month since surgery!!  Yea!!!

6/21/2024

Day 31 after surgery, no walker or cane.  Am able to 

drive myself to PT now.  Need to work on the knee

now, seeing if I can put a little weight on it.  Today's

flex was 127, just 3 more to go! Then I'll be the same

prior to surgery.  A good day to stay inside and Ice with 

the temps in the 90s.  It was a great day at PT!!

6/25/2024

Day 35, What a great day at PT!!  Good 5 minutes on the 

bike, then to strengthen the legs - 105 with both legs 

then 75 with just the right leg.  I was doing good until 

the ham sting acted up.  Ouch!!  But we worked though

it and did some band pulls.  To calm the ham string down

PT did some scraping.  It sure calmed down.  Then to

measuring, still at -0- for straight, the flex went to 

130!  This is what it was pre-surgery!   Now to keep

doing the exercises to keep it there.  Last was the tens

unit and kicking the leg.   Just three more appts. left.

But we noticed some swelling so back to the compression

socks for half a day due to the heat. 

6/27/2024 

Was my eye doctor's visit!  You see I am to see

them every 6 month due to my AMD.  But when 

I called the office to check when my next appt.

would be I found out they thought I was on the 

yearly visit, nope every 6 months and Aug. was

my last visit.  Yep, life happens!

The doctor there decided since I was over my 6 

months that they would do a full eye exam!  First

was the farm house machine, he asked if I smoke

but nope only second hand smoke from my neighbor's

fire pit or BBQ then back to the exam room. 

 Next is can you read the letters, let see how

far down on the chart you can go.  Then came my

favorite, eye drops.....3 of them each eye!  Wait 

for them to work.   Then comes all the lights and shapes.

The cateract is now at 60% so those need to be

removed sooner than later. You want to talk about a 

headache!!  Then to the AMD machine to measure 

and take photos of the eyeball which I got to 

see what they were talking about.  Since my AMD

 is dry, we need to keep ahead of this.  Once it goes 

into wet that means shots in the eyes.  Last visit

they noted waves in one area but this time they

call the one area a larger bump.  So it's off to

a Specialist.

Smoke isn't good for your health!

6/28/2024

I got a phone call from one of the Team leaders

and I learned that this would be the last weekly

phone call.  I would be getting one in a couple

weeks and then one more a couple weeks later.

I graduated today!  They have been there for me

during the knee replacement.  I have really enjoyed

their advice and helping me get back on my feet!

Bless them all!!

PT was this afternoon with a back up PT staffer

since the one gal canceled.  It was great to see 

this staffer again! We did the bike first and I 

breezed through the 5 minutes.  Then the leg 

press, love theirs as you lay down flat to do this.  

Wow!!

Then we did some squats and that was easy and then

we measured the flex!  Last was the tens unit, 

no strap on the bed but I had to push while the 

staffer pushed back.  Then I was free to go!

After PT was over I headed to the mall to order

the new glasses, all three pairs!  More on this later

when they arrive.  Another appointment was made

to see a specialist.

7/2/ 2024

Another great day at PT and again my numbers

are 0/130.  My PT stated she officially would 

release me but I have one more session on Friday.

I planned on bring donuts to that one.  So I'm

going to just go and bring donuts.  I reached my

goal of what I was pre surgery!

7/3/2024

 

Met with the post op folks and let me tell you

again I was released!  I wasn't happy when I

read the comments that were put in my file.

I worked really hard to get my numbers to 

what they were pre-surgery not the number

I was told of 120.  If my goal was 120 then

I should of been released weeks ago.  I totally

wanted to get better and know we all are 

different, surgery to improve life is important!

 There is the appearance someone didn't read

the PT notes or listen to the answer to their

question, What are your numbers.... 0 / 130!

Ya want to know why my Blood Pressure was

so high?

Then I went to the front desk to get the left

knee taken care of.  July 31, we put that 

in motion.  It takes a while to get all the 

tests completed before surgery.

7/5/2024

 

Today was PT and I was told I didn't need

to come today but my plan was to treat them

all to donuts!  What a great group of folks that

really want to see folks improve their lives after

surgery.  They work hard to help you!!  I truly

thank them for their hard work.

Done finished and know what I need to do to

keep hitting the mark back to full health.

The left knee came in at 0 / 140!  So this will 

be fun to see how this goes, as I start the next

knee before I start falling again.  Bio Freeze is

my best friend.

7/24/2024

Two months out from surgery and let me

tell you it has been well worth the journey!   

Still dealing with the ham string issue and 

it will bring you to your knees when one 

does something it doesn't like,  Still doing

my exercises to strengthen the knee.  I have 

started also doing the exercises with the 

left knee, just trying to get ahead of the 

next surgery.