The Last PT

Despite many misgivings about getting out in the world today, I did go to physical therapy this morning.  I had today, next Monday, and next Friday remaining, so when I talked to the office person  on the phone this morning, I told her to let my physical therapist know that this would be my last session.  I wanted her to take all the measurements she needed in order to make the final report to my surgeon.  As much as it is often uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful, I will miss my PT sessions and wish I could have gone to the last two, but it just didn't seem prudent.  Today, therefore, was not only my last PT session but probably my last venture out into the world for quite sometime. Happily, PT ended on a victorious note.

Guess what?  My final measurements were 120 and 0--perfection!  I am so thrilled that I was able to end on that high note!  To be totally honest, I hadn't exercised that much the past three days but I had done one thing which doesn't seem like much but which was apparently efficacious:  the tried and true knee bends going up and down the stairs.  It's sort of hard to describe but here's what you do:  Stand on ground level, then lift your surgical leg up two steps.  Then lean forward so that your knee is really bent.  Hold that 5 or 10 seconds, relax, repeat.  This picture shows her only lifting her leg up one step, but my therapist told me to lift my leg up two steps for a better stretch.

So, while I didn't do my full round of exercises, the only thing I really needed to work on was my flexibility, and these knee lunges/bends certainly stretch your muscles around your kneecap.  It worked, and here I am, with 120 flexibility, my ultimate goal.  Go, me!

My final appointment with my surgeon is scheduled for next Wednesday, about nine days from now.  I can't imagine that I will want to get out of the house at that point, especially not to go to the hospital where he's located, but I will defer that decision until later in the week.  All he'll do is to x-ray my leg one more time to make sure everything's in place, but I'm pretty sure it is.  My therapist manipulates my knee each session to make sure it all still feels right, so I'm not worried about it at all.  My scar is healing well, and my PT goal has been achieved.  It would seem to me that this final appointment could wait a month or two until all the Covid-19 worries may have settled down a bit.  But we shall see...

So, dear reader, this may be it for a few days.  I'll let you know about whether or not I go to my follow-up appointment, and if I get bored being here at home, I may review another couple of products, but for the next couple of days for sure, I won't be writing.  It's been a journey, and it's almost (but not quite) over.  See you around the blog!

Just a Note

Nope, as warned, I'm not going to post much anymore except on days when there's some "knee news," and on this very quiet weekend, there hasn't been any.  Due to the ongoing Covid-19 event, we are staying home, puttering about, reading, napping, cooking, watching TV, and talking.  I'm doing some stretching exercises to get ready for tomorrow's PT, but nothing to write home about. 

Hope you are enjoying the quiet life also!  Will write tomorrow evening to update what happens at physical therapy.

Beginning to Socially Distance Ourselves

In a way, all the Covid-19 (i.e. coronavirus) news has nothing to do with my knee, but I have to say that I'm tremendously grateful that I'm near the end of the TKR journey rather than at the beginning.  There are anecdotal accounts on my Facebook knee groups of people who are suddenly having their surgery rescheduled so as to keep hospital beds open.  There are people who just had the surgery a week or two ago and now face weeks of going to physical therapy, worried about exposure to the virus.  Fortunately, I have only two more PT sessions for sure and then my follow-up checkup with my surgeon, and at that point, I'll be more or less done.  All one can do is wish good luck to those still in the thick of it!

For the next who-knows-how-many days or weeks, Stan and I plan to stay mostly at home due to the virus which is most dangerous to older people and people with compromised immune systems.  That doesn't mean we won't go anywhere, but we will be extremely selective.  Stan went hiking today, for instance, but obviously hiking doesn't put you in close contact with anyone else.  I stood outside talking to neighbors for a long time this afternoon, but I tried (unobtrusively) to stay six feet away, and besides, it was quite breezy.  Next Monday I'll go to PT and then to pick up groceries I ordered, but I won't have to get out of my car.  I canceled my hair cut appointment, however, because it's just not necessary.  The only reason I wanted to get my hair cut was to get ready to go to a convention in a couple of weeks, but the convention was canceled today just as soon as our governor declared a state of emergency.  So, no convention, no need for a haircut!

Over the next few weeks, I must continually challenge myself to keep my knee flexible.  I know myself well enough to know that I'm not going to exercise religiously every day, but I can peddle my little "bike" while watching TV, remember to bend and stretch my knee as I go up and down the stairs, pay attention to my gait, and walk as much as I can.  The end is near for this journey--but not until I get those 2 more degrees of ROM!

Work Harder

While I wasn't surprised at PT today to find that my flexibility was still 118, I am quite fussy with myself.  Yes, I was super busy the past couple of days with preparations for my teacher organization event, but I'm still vaguely disgusted with myself. On a more positive note, I pressed 70 pounds with just one leg and 90 pounds with both.  I got up and down from a chair 30 times in a row without holding on to anything, I climbed lots of steps, and more.  So I think I'm doing fine but over the weekend I absolutely MUST work at bending my knee more and more...and then more.

Stan stayed home today (social distancing has begun) and he seemed to enjoy working in the backyard.  By early afternoon the sun finally came out for good, so we sat in the sun (in shorts!) and soaked up a little Vitamin D.  There was a lot of cleaning up and putting things back that needed to happen as the result of yesterday's event, so I spent a good amount of time on that.  And what more can I say?  Now that Covid-19 will keep us even closer to home than usual, I fear my daily updates will become redundant to the point of being meaningless.  I will, however, keep updating until March 25 when I see my surgeon, although do forgive me if I don't update every day. 

There are still a couple of items that I should mention in my continuing review.  Tonight let's talk about toilets.  Yes, it's a tad embarrassing, but the first several weeks, bending the knees to access the toilet is quite painful and precarious.  Stan installed these rails on the toilets in our main floor powder room and in the master bathroom.  I really don't know what I would have done without them, and I heartily recommend installing these rails in at least one bathroom, and preferably in the bathrooms you use both day and night.

The powder room rails were removed yesterday morning before my teacher event, but I see no reason to remove the master bath rails quite yet.  Safety first!

Party Time

When I was little, I always used to say that I was too pooped to pop.  Where on earth did that saying come from??  I have no idea, but I think it applies to me this evening...but in a very good way.  Today, if you remember, was my teacher organization event, half meeting and half party.  I spent most of the day getting ready for it and thanks to Stan's invaluable help, everything was prepped and ready by the time people started arriving a little after 4:00.  We had a wonderful time and I'm not sorry I went ahead with having a bunch of teachers here (and yes, there were sniffles and coughs).  I suppose I'll be a lot happier about it in a week or so when I'm sure that Stan and I are both still healthy!

Needless to say, there was no time for anything but party prep  today.  Stan and I went AGAIN to the grocery this morning for just a few things.  We came home, ate lunch, and then I remembered something I'd forgotten at the store, so Stan went out again.  He is so patient! For the next three hours, I cooked, cleaned, and scurried around tidying up all the stuff in the house, much of it having to do with my knee recovery.  In the end, the event and party all went well, and we were both happy to have a Domino's pizza for dinner and watch a soothing documentary about mammoths!

Was there time to do anything even vaguely relating to my knee?  In all honesty, no,  Other than doing knee stretches and bends as I went up and down the stairs, I haven't done anything.  I'll try to motivate myself in a few minutes to do a few heel slides, but mostly I just want to take a nice long shower and go to bed.  PT in the morning....how will it go?  I hope I don't go backwards!

In a Tizzy

Usually I'm rather obsessive about planning events, and to some extent, I've been pretty good this time, but I'm not nearly ready for my teacher organization meeting tomorrow afternoon.  This is a yearly occurrence and this meeting was scheduled last April, so almost a year ago.  I would not, obviously, be planning a meeting at my house now considering  my still lagging energy not to mention the coronavirus news, but I did commit to it so I'm going to do it.  But I'm not as prepared as I usually am for such an event, and I'm in just a bit of a tizzy.  I'm sure it will all come together, but there's still a lot to do.

So, ready or not, Stan and I were up and out the door by 10:00 which is early for us (I know....I know, but we're retired!).  We went by my old school to pick up some plants for the meeting tomorrow and, by the way, to do a bit of chatting with the office staff and a couple of teachers who happened to wander through. Next on the list of errands was a drugstore stop to pick  up a prescription and to wander around looking at sales.  The real focus of the morning, however, was to do yet another grocery shopping.  I had thought of a few more items I wanted for tomorrow, Stan needed a few things, and in general we continued stocking up on basics in case we need to stay home for the next two, three, or more weeks. By this time I'd done a lot of walking and it was fine.  Really, my knee doesn't hurt at all walking for a distance and for a long time; however, I would say that my stamina is still not 100%.  The old "use it or lose it" saying is true, and I'm still on the upswing from having spent several weeks mostly on the couch!  In other words, I was ready to go home.

By the time we'd unloaded all our groceries and put them away, it was time for lunch, and by the time that was over, we were both ready for a rest if not exactly a nap.  Surprisingly, the sky cleared an hour later, and we enjoyed a little time sitting on the porch.  I wish we'd had a real winter with a blizzard or two, but if we can't have winter, we're both happy to enjoy this spring weather.  And from there, our day and evening proceeded as usual.  It was a good day, a normal day, and isn't that the ultimate goal of all this effort, pain, and time?  I just want to have a normal life again and be able to go places, do things, and WALK!  You know what?  I almost can do all that now, and within the next two or three weeks, I'm confident I'll be all the way there.

Now, let's do a quick review of things that helped (or didn't) help with my recovery.  One of the things that I thought would be helpful, especially based on my previous knee surgery experience, would be to have a foam wedge that would keep my leg straight and elevated.  Last time I used pillows which were a little awkward and kept slipping down so I thought this would be helpful. 

Was it helpful?  Kind of, but not enough to justify the price.  I used it for maybe the first two weeks, but it's big, it's awkward, and it just wasn't worth the money.  If you can borrow one for a couple of weeks, by all means, go for it.  Don't buy it, however.  Now I've got a big foam wedge and I'm really not sure what to do with it!

Surprised

Did you read yesterday's entry where I opined that getting to 117 ROM today and 118 or 119 by Thursday was my tentative goal?  Well, color me surprised!  At PT today, despite not having done much in the way of exercising over the weekend, my ROM was 118, and that was with not a bunch of agony or pushing.  It was just there.  I was actually quite stunned.  Do you think I can get to 120 by Thursday?  Well, it's fine one way or the other.  When I "graduated" from PT back in 2011, the goal was 115 and I had 117 when I left.  Both my doctor and therapist were very happy with that and so was I.  Here I am, not yet done with PT and two weeks from my final checkup with my surgeon, and I am at 118.  To say I'm pleased is an understatement!

After a soporific weekend, Stan and I had a busy day which was somewhat tiring but a nice change.  My PT was at 11:00, so we didn't do much before that (we are NOT morning people).  Stan dropped me off at PT then went to Wal Mart, CVS, and Home Depot.  I truly don't understand how he can shop and do so much in one hour.  I'm barely halfway through the grocery store in one hour!  At any rate, he picked me up, we came home and had lunch, then while he rested, I went to the grocery to buy lots of frivolous goodies for a teacher gathering I'm having here on Wednesday afternoon. Yes, I know elderly people are supposed to avoid gatherings, but I committed to this a year ago (it's an event I host every year), so I'm going through with it.  After it's done, however, I will do my best to avoid groups of people in close surroundings, especially teachers.  Having been a teacher, I know what walking petri dishes they are! 

The afternoon was spent unloading and putting away food, briefly relaxing with a book, and then, because of the glorious weather, we sat on the front porch a very long time.  One of the main reasons I fell in love with this particular house was the front porch and my enthusiasm for porch sitting has never waned.  I love sitting there, snacking, chatting, watching people come and go.  And on a day when it's sunny, low 70s, and low humidity, the weather couldn't make the whole experience any better.  A perfect end to the afternoon!