Accomplishments come in little packages. Last night, I managed to get myself up and into the bathroom to pee twice, without having to wake Susan up to help me get out of bed. I felt like a proud toddler who finally went potty on his own! Mind you, I woke her up getting back into bed, what with the clanking walker, my grunts and groans, and what thought was the sotto voce swearing when the pain shot through my leg as I lifted it. But still, I did it, on my own. Twice!
And I am getting up and down from seated positions slightly more easily than yesterday. I still have to use a strap to help raise and lower my leg in many situations because I can’t hold it with my own muscles yet, and I try to avoid the agony of bending it too far.
Exercises don’t seem much, if any, easier or painless, but in part I suspect it’s because the large compression bandage makes it more difficult to bend my knee. And, of course, I still have the staples in: I can feel them when I stretch the skin. I’m unsure when the bandage should be removed and replaced with the smaller, lighter one. The nurse may have told me in the recovery room, but I was a bit groggy and forgot if she did so.
The documentation I got from the hospital suggests 7-10 days (staples come on day 14). But some clinics suggest it can be fewer days. I’ll call the doctor’s office tomorrow to ask. The large bandage also reduces the effect of the ice packs, since the cold does not penetrate it well. Right now, I’m using a large bag of frozen peas as my icer. I bought a couple of Velcro-strapped ice knee pads, but the bandage is a bit too thick for it to wrap comfortably, hence the peas. Peas please, I call out. Susan mutters under her breath…
Yes, that’s my leg in the photo. Lovely, eh? Good thing the bruising isn’t visible. Fortunately, I am not overweight, perhaps carrying 5-10 lbs (2-3 kilos) extra at the moment, and because before surgery we walked a lot (and I pedalled my stationary bike daily), my legs are in fairly good shape with reasonable muscle tone. Since we’re not having our daily glass of wine before dinner right now, and my appetite is somewhat depressed, I suspect my weight may dip even a bit lower. Won’t hurt to be a bit lighter; less strain and stress on the new knee. I hope I can keep most of that weight off when I get back to the wine… but maybe I’ll fall prey to the enticements of ginger ice cream again…
The biggest reason for wanting the tensor gone is so I can shower properly. Washing in the sink doesn’t begin to feel like a proper cleansing. And I can’t do my hair in the sink because it requires bending in a way that exacerbates the leg pain. So today we’re going to try an experiment. I’ll wrap my leg in a garbage bag, seal it with painter’s tape, and hope it holds to keep the bandage dry. UPDATE: Yes, it worked. It’s a bit awkward and I don’t have any real support in the shower, so I have to be very careful. But it was a delight.
Sleeping remains a problem, as I wrote last time. My back was really bothering me last night and I didn’t get back to sleep after the second pee, around 5 a.m. I really look forward to being able to turn on my side.
Exercised today, as I have every day. There is one exercise I cannot do because my thigh muscle will not lift my foot when lying down. I can lift my foot somewhat when standing upright (using the walker). Here is the description:
This exercise strengthens your thigh muscle.
Sit or lay on your back, place a rolled towel (6 inches in diameter or use a 48 oz juice can) under your operated knee.
Pull your toes up and lift your heel off the bed making sure that your thigh remains supported on the roll.
Hold your heel up for 5 seconds
Relax
Repeat exercise 10 times
You may use the strap to assist you if needed.
Maybe it will improve as the healing continues and the bandage is replaced with something lighter.
On the plus side of things, I am getting more reading done these days. It’s always a good thing, to be able to read my books. I’ve been reading four in particular: Fossil Men, by Kermit Pattison (“the quest for the oldest skeleton and the origins of humankind”), The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt (scifi), How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life by Russ Roberts, and Semicolon by Ceceila Watson (“the past, present, and future of a misunderstood mark.”) These are the four I took into the hospital with me and I have kept reading them, even though I have a large pile of other books on the go by the bedside. I’ll probably get back to those others once I have more mobility and can get to my library with more ease. I have a hankering to read some Shakespeare too, but my ‘collected works’ books are not in any easy-to-reach location for a person who can’t crouch down. Maybe next week for Macbeth.
More tomorrow.
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