4 Months

Today was my 4 months visit with my orthopedic surgeon.  We were both pretty excited about my progress and my new lease on life.  He hopes these replacements will last my lifetime, but I will go in every 5 years to "check the tread."  He says that any problems I develop will cause pain, so unless I experience pain, I don't have to see him again for 5 years!  Hot dog, hallelujah!

The X-rays on top are before surgery.  Notice the insides of my knees where the bones are sitting on top of each other--"bone on bone".  The X-rays on the bottom show my replacements on the insides and the lovely gap between the bones.  Thank God for technology and good surgeons.

GRADUATION (16 weeks)

Today I "graduated" from physical therapy.  It was a four month program-- longer than the 6 weeks I was told to expect.  I still have a ways to go, but I'm going to be doing it on my own except for occasional "tune-ups".  Periodically I will probably have to return to work on the extension of my left knee.  I was sent out with a couple of pages of exercises to increase the strength in my quads and with a T-shirt.  Some days I get really tired of most of my day being spent going to the pool or the gym and recovering afterwards from such activity.  Then other days I see the benefits of said activity, and I rejoice.  Like last  week.  We went to New Orleans to see the WWII Museum, and I thoroughly did that museum.  We got there at 1030 and shut the place down at 500.  Granted, I sat on every bench in the place, but I never would have even considered going to a museum a year or so before my surgery.  I did hurt a bit that night, but nothing that ice and naproxen couldn't help.  The next day we went to the aquarium, but I fizzled after about 2 hours.  I watched the penguins for a long time while my guys saw more of the aquarium.  Secretly, they were probably very glad that I was not up to my usual museum compulsions, i.e., no sign left unread, no exhibit not viewed.

$140,083.96

I still have my 4 month check up visit coming up and my last physical therapy visit, but this is the grand total so far for 2 new knees.  WOW!  I'm sure there is all kind of social commentary that could be made about the cost of health care, blah, blah, blah.  I am very thankful for my husband's job and his medical insurance.  I have a lot of reasons to take care of my new knees, but now I have 140,000+ more.

In the best case scenario, my new knees should last about 20 years if I take care of them.  The analogy was made that my new knees are like a new car and a teenage driver.  If the car is driven reasonably and carefully, the car will last much longer than if  the car is driven "hard".  With my new knees, I cannot run.  Not a loss.  With my new knees, I cannot play basketball.  I'm too short anyway.  With my new knees, I cannot play singles tennis.  I can play doubles tennis, but I didn't do that anyway. Of course, contact sports are out, but I'm too old for those anyway.  So activity wise, my knees should last.


Now, the biggest problem as I see it--my weight.  I lost close to 18# before my surgery.  Immediately after my surgery I lost tons because I had no appetite.  But about 6 weeks after surgery, my appetite returned with a vengeance, and I catered to it since I had lost so much weight.  Now it's time to rein it in, and get back on the program.  I am back at Weight Watchers, and now everyone knows it, and I will be more accountable.  You see, in the past, joining WW was always something I did quietly.  That way, if I failed, no one knew it. I cannot believe I am going public with this, but maybe that's just what I need to do.  I really believe that with lifestyle changes over time, I can do this.  I also know that if my vigilance to good choices is meshed with real life, I will be more likely to stick to my weight loss goals.  Give me a couple of years because I have lots to lose and lots of life to live in the meantime.

Yoga--check (14 weeks)

For the past 10 years, I have done a yoga routine nearly every morning. www.gaiam.com/product/am+pm+yoga+for+beginners+dvd.do My muscles tend to be tight, and yoga has increased my flexibility remarkably.  Towards the final days before my surgery, I had to modify my routine so that I did not have to get up and down from the floor so much.  I did all positions on the floor before doing the ones that got me off the floor.  Obviously, I have not done yoga since my surgery before today.


You probably don't remember, but before my surgery I posted what my goals were for 2 months post op, 4 months post op, and 1 year post op.  Next week I  will be 14 weeks post op so I am quickly approaching my 4 months anniversary.  My 4 month goals were

1.  to get back in the pool and on the bicycle--check (didn't dream that they would have me on a bicycle before I even left the hospital!)
2.  to be able to get up and down off the floor

I have had a terrible fear of falling and not being able to get back up. ( sounds like a potential commercial!)  First of all, I have heard that falling on knee replacements hurts way more than falling on your natural knees.  Secondly, I felt pretty sure I would never be able to get back up since I have 2 affected knees.  So last week I asked my physical therapist to teach me how to get up if I were to fall.  She said that they always teach that to amputees because they will fall someday.  I then felt a little bad that I was so concerned since I at least had 2 limbs to work with.  We went through the motions, and I realized  that I could do it if I had to do so.  Since then I have been wanting to try to do my yoga routine, but I didn't want to do it the first time alone in the house.  I wanted someone there if I needed help, but our schedules never synced.  So this morning I worked up the courage to get myself down on the floor--probably the scariest part.  Was I going to have to stay there until someone came home?  Oh wait, I would have to pick up Rick and Brad today; no one would be coming home.  Silly me, I forgot to bring a phone down on the floor with me.  Slight panic.  When it was time to get up, it required a lot of forethought and getting up the nerve to put my weight on my knees in a kneeling position.  But I did it!!  And I was grossed out at how tight my joints and muscles had become since the day of my surgery.


Having done this yoga routine for 10 years, I could do it without thinking.  Just go on automatic pilot and let my mind wander.  It was disconcerting today that I could not remember the order of the routine.  That's one of the things that I have noticed since my surgery.  My brain is still in a fog.  I don't remember with certainty things that I think that I should remember.  I'm not always sure if something really happened, did I think it?, or was it a dream?.  I still have trouble with concentration. I can no longer blame it on taking narcotics, so it is a bit of a concern.  I know that I have improved brain-wise in the past few weeks, so I am hopeful that I will continue to progress in this area.