Day Twenty-One
Today I was thinking about before surgery a few weeks ago when I realized my hip and knee were askew and I sent the surgeon a before skew and after skew photo. The mirror was pretty steamy when I looked tonight but I think I'm straight again.
PT came today and after stretching and riding, my extension/flexion was about the same as Monday. Active Left = 3/117 and Active Right = 2/116.
(thinking out loud)
I don't understand. The surgeon sets flexion goals and in order to reach them I have to do fairly rigorous physical therapy. Then what happens? My knees swell and my flexion goes down. Seems like the only way to keep my knees from swelling so much is to not do the PT. My knees must swell more or differently than other people's because the swelling (caused by the prescribed PT) is keeping me from unassisted walking and based on the level of supervised PT I'm at, I should be walking fairly easily. My right knee, (the one with the zero quad), seems to be functioning OKish so I'm thinking that it's amount of swelling must be the kind of normal/typical swelling referred to in my reading . The left knee is more swollen and feels 'weird'. I'm not even sure I could define what I mean by 'weird' but what I can tell you is that it keeps me from being able to bring my left leg through when I try to walk. I feel helpless. Like no one understands my specific situation.
My four-week follow-up Doctor appointment is a week from tomorrow...when I supposedly will be able to walk without assistance. I know I'll be nowhere near having the mobility, stability or control to be that independent in a few days....if ever. (wimpy...but it's how I feel tonight)
And yes I ice ALL THE TIME.
Coumadin* is the drug a person takes after surgery, because they're probably laying around more than normal with their blood getting thick, to prevent blood clots by keeping the blood thin. Nurse Tim comes a couple times a week and takes blood to make sure my levels are good. Today my levels were high. High where I really can't cut myself because the bleeding may not ever stop. Here's why. I got a new Coumadin prescription, assumed it was exactly the same as the last one....and it wasn't. Instead of each tablet being 2 mg like last time, of which I was taking two, each tablet, this time, was 4 mg and I was still taking two. I actually saw that was the case and FORGOT. So stupid.
*also taken for high blood pressure
PT came today and after stretching and riding, my extension/flexion was about the same as Monday. Active Left = 3/117 and Active Right = 2/116.
(thinking out loud)
I don't understand. The surgeon sets flexion goals and in order to reach them I have to do fairly rigorous physical therapy. Then what happens? My knees swell and my flexion goes down. Seems like the only way to keep my knees from swelling so much is to not do the PT. My knees must swell more or differently than other people's because the swelling (caused by the prescribed PT) is keeping me from unassisted walking and based on the level of supervised PT I'm at, I should be walking fairly easily. My right knee, (the one with the zero quad), seems to be functioning OKish so I'm thinking that it's amount of swelling must be the kind of normal/typical swelling referred to in my reading . The left knee is more swollen and feels 'weird'. I'm not even sure I could define what I mean by 'weird' but what I can tell you is that it keeps me from being able to bring my left leg through when I try to walk. I feel helpless. Like no one understands my specific situation.
My four-week follow-up Doctor appointment is a week from tomorrow...when I supposedly will be able to walk without assistance. I know I'll be nowhere near having the mobility, stability or control to be that independent in a few days....if ever. (wimpy...but it's how I feel tonight)
And yes I ice ALL THE TIME.
Coumadin* is the drug a person takes after surgery, because they're probably laying around more than normal with their blood getting thick, to prevent blood clots by keeping the blood thin. Nurse Tim comes a couple times a week and takes blood to make sure my levels are good. Today my levels were high. High where I really can't cut myself because the bleeding may not ever stop. Here's why. I got a new Coumadin prescription, assumed it was exactly the same as the last one....and it wasn't. Instead of each tablet being 2 mg like last time, of which I was taking two, each tablet, this time, was 4 mg and I was still taking two. I actually saw that was the case and FORGOT. So stupid.
*also taken for high blood pressure
posted by Kathy at
8:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home