RSKY
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2003
- Messages
- 2,444
- Tractor
- Kioti CK20S
It did not sink in to me how bad my knee was until I had to quit taking Naproxen Sodium (Aleve) ten days before the surgery. Surgery is the 29th so I haven't taken any since the nineteenth. My knee aches all the time and at times hurts bad enough to bring tears to my eyes. Formerly I would take one pill every morning when I got up. First thing I did. Then another about lunch depending on activity. A third in the afternoon. No more than three in a day.
So here I sit, at 9:30 in the morning, been up since 6, and needing to go out and get some things done and I am sitting here instead. Why, because my stupid knee is aching. Keep telling my wife it is too wet out to mow. It will quit aching in a while but I sometimes can be walking and BAM, pain from my hip to my ankle. WHY have I waited this long??
All you guys with bad knees/joints, try going for a couple days without any pain meds to see how it really is. All the meds do is cover up the problem while you slowly grind the joint down to the point it catches and grinds all the time.
On a positive note we were eating at a local restaurant Saturday when a young lady who was a former student of my wife and the daughter of a former co-worker of mine stopped to talk. (Makes you feel good when a stunningly beautiful lady thirty years younger than you runs up and hugs you!) We caught up a little and my wife told her that I was getting my knee replaced. Now this girl is a medical salesperson. She represents several different lines of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. She got a funny look on her face and asked who was doing my surgery. When we told her who the surgeon was she relaxed and said that she was afraid I was getting another local "yahoo" (her words) to do it. She said that the doctor I am using was rated among the top ten in the United States for joint replacement. I asked her what she meant and she said they are graded on patient satisfaction, infections after surgery, complications after surgery, speed of recovery, and several other factors. She said, as have other medical professionals I have talked to, that he is the only orthopedic surgeon she would let touch her or her children if they needed surgery.
So that made me feel better. And I'm not just talking about the hug either.
I am doing the exercises I was given in the 'Joint Replacement Boot Camp' I had to attend. I think they are designed to show you how bad your knee really is. They HURT. All you do is lay on your back and tense the muscles in your upper leg and hold them for a ten count, release those muscles and tense the ones in your butt for a ten count. Rest for a ten count and repeat.
Makes the knee hurt like He11. But is supposed to help speed recovery.
Other items discussed in the boot camp were diet (lean meat and heart healthy foods that increase blood), and setting up the house to use a walker (use the walker to go thru your house before you need it). They also discussed simple things like which side of the bed to sleep on and which side of the couch do we sit on watching TV. My wife and I are going to swap sides for the duration of my recovery period. Since it is my left knee I need the couch arm to be on my right to assist getting up. Same thing with the bed, need to be where I get up so my right foot hits the floor first. There were other simple things we were told that the lady said had helped greatly in the recovery of joint replacement patients. In fact they are making it mandatory for patients to attend the one and a half hour sessions before surgery.
Anyway, I am dreading the surgery but glad to finally get it over with. If you need to know the doctors name send me a PM and I will give it to you. But a warning, they are already scheduling consultations in January of 2017.
RSKY
So here I sit, at 9:30 in the morning, been up since 6, and needing to go out and get some things done and I am sitting here instead. Why, because my stupid knee is aching. Keep telling my wife it is too wet out to mow. It will quit aching in a while but I sometimes can be walking and BAM, pain from my hip to my ankle. WHY have I waited this long??
All you guys with bad knees/joints, try going for a couple days without any pain meds to see how it really is. All the meds do is cover up the problem while you slowly grind the joint down to the point it catches and grinds all the time.
On a positive note we were eating at a local restaurant Saturday when a young lady who was a former student of my wife and the daughter of a former co-worker of mine stopped to talk. (Makes you feel good when a stunningly beautiful lady thirty years younger than you runs up and hugs you!) We caught up a little and my wife told her that I was getting my knee replaced. Now this girl is a medical salesperson. She represents several different lines of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. She got a funny look on her face and asked who was doing my surgery. When we told her who the surgeon was she relaxed and said that she was afraid I was getting another local "yahoo" (her words) to do it. She said that the doctor I am using was rated among the top ten in the United States for joint replacement. I asked her what she meant and she said they are graded on patient satisfaction, infections after surgery, complications after surgery, speed of recovery, and several other factors. She said, as have other medical professionals I have talked to, that he is the only orthopedic surgeon she would let touch her or her children if they needed surgery.
So that made me feel better. And I'm not just talking about the hug either.
I am doing the exercises I was given in the 'Joint Replacement Boot Camp' I had to attend. I think they are designed to show you how bad your knee really is. They HURT. All you do is lay on your back and tense the muscles in your upper leg and hold them for a ten count, release those muscles and tense the ones in your butt for a ten count. Rest for a ten count and repeat.
Makes the knee hurt like He11. But is supposed to help speed recovery.
Other items discussed in the boot camp were diet (lean meat and heart healthy foods that increase blood), and setting up the house to use a walker (use the walker to go thru your house before you need it). They also discussed simple things like which side of the bed to sleep on and which side of the couch do we sit on watching TV. My wife and I are going to swap sides for the duration of my recovery period. Since it is my left knee I need the couch arm to be on my right to assist getting up. Same thing with the bed, need to be where I get up so my right foot hits the floor first. There were other simple things we were told that the lady said had helped greatly in the recovery of joint replacement patients. In fact they are making it mandatory for patients to attend the one and a half hour sessions before surgery.
Anyway, I am dreading the surgery but glad to finally get it over with. If you need to know the doctors name send me a PM and I will give it to you. But a warning, they are already scheduling consultations in January of 2017.
RSKY
