RSKY
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2003
- Messages
- 2,468
- Tractor
- Kioti CK20S
I was doing so well. Everybody who saw me said, "Oh, I thought you had your knee replaced". I was barely limping. Had no pain, no pills, no ice.
And I screwed up.
Oldest daughter gave me a Fitbit watch. The kind that counts your steps. I know they made it up to get me one so I would not overdo things. I was averaging between 8,000 and 14,000 steps a day with a high (don't tell anybody) of over 18,000 steps in one day.
So we bought this tree, a Star Magnolia. And I wanted to extend a flower bed on the north side of the yard down the wooden fence and put the tree there. And my daughter wants Zoysia grass in her yard. So I rented a sod cutter on a Monday and cut out thirty five pieces of the Zoysia sod, rolled them up and put them in a trailer. They were three to four feet long and heavy. Then took the cutter and the sod to the daughters house and cut out thirty five strips of her weeds, I mean grass, moved that to a low place in her yard, and placed the Zoysia sod in the cutouts. I was one tired puppy. That is work.
Tuesday, I crawled around on the ground installing irrigation pipes to the new flower bed. Then I hauled two trailer loads of dirt from a nursery to the bare sodless patch. I was constantly climbing up and down off my Kioti dumping a bucket full then shoveling and raking the dirt out. Planted the magnolia, dug up three rose bushes that were not doing well in the shade and moved them along with hosta to take their place. And about a dozen other plants.
I was one tired but happy puppy again. Getting stuff done.
Wednesday, I hauled two heaped up trailer loads of mulch to the north fence. Used the tractor to dump it, then off and on spreading it around.
Thursday, repeat of Wednesday. Two more loads of mulch to the south side of the yard, but the landscaping on the south fence is wider and I had to shovel the mulch out of the bucket to get it in place. I must have climbed up and down off that little Kioti thirty or forty times.
Thursday night, tired but happy, sitting on the couch watching TV with my wife. My leg was propped up on a footstool and I started to stand up to go get a drink and WHOOMMPP. Pain shot thru my knee and I could feel it instantly swell up double the size it was that morning. Two Naproxen Sodium didn't faze it and I had a painful sleepless night. I mainly stayed in the house off of it all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Spent the next week barely able to walk and finally called the doctor's office on Monday ten days after it swelled so bad. Talked to his nurse but she didn't seem too concerned. She asked me what I had been doing and when I told her she didn't exactly call me a dumbsas but strongly hinted that I had overdone it. She remarked twice that it took 18-24 months to recover and I was only "9 months" out. She had me come in to the Urgent Care doctor downstairs and he X-rayed the knee. Found nothing wrong except a lot of fluid. Asked me what I had been doing, strongly hinted that I was a dumbsas for overdoing it, which my wife agreed with him, and gave me a couple shots for inflammation.
The moral of this long unexciting story is that if you have a knee replacement, do not overdo things. You will regret it! I finally figured out that when I get on or off of my tractor I always lead with my left foot and I cannot do that anymore. I must lead with the right, then step up with the left foot which has the artificial knee.
I am watching the Fitbit and for a week when it hit 4000 steps I stopped what I was doing and went in the house and played games on the computer. Last week I upped it to 5000 steps with ice at least twice a day. I am watching how I get on the Kioti and using my right foot to push in on the clutch to start it. I am being very careful with what I do and how I do it. No more packing heavy stuff around, no more running after grandkids, nothing to stress the left knee at least until the end of the year.
I have learned my lesson.
Take heed if you are thinking of a replacement.
RSKY
And I screwed up.
Oldest daughter gave me a Fitbit watch. The kind that counts your steps. I know they made it up to get me one so I would not overdo things. I was averaging between 8,000 and 14,000 steps a day with a high (don't tell anybody) of over 18,000 steps in one day.
So we bought this tree, a Star Magnolia. And I wanted to extend a flower bed on the north side of the yard down the wooden fence and put the tree there. And my daughter wants Zoysia grass in her yard. So I rented a sod cutter on a Monday and cut out thirty five pieces of the Zoysia sod, rolled them up and put them in a trailer. They were three to four feet long and heavy. Then took the cutter and the sod to the daughters house and cut out thirty five strips of her weeds, I mean grass, moved that to a low place in her yard, and placed the Zoysia sod in the cutouts. I was one tired puppy. That is work.
Tuesday, I crawled around on the ground installing irrigation pipes to the new flower bed. Then I hauled two trailer loads of dirt from a nursery to the bare sodless patch. I was constantly climbing up and down off my Kioti dumping a bucket full then shoveling and raking the dirt out. Planted the magnolia, dug up three rose bushes that were not doing well in the shade and moved them along with hosta to take their place. And about a dozen other plants.
I was one tired but happy puppy again. Getting stuff done.
Wednesday, I hauled two heaped up trailer loads of mulch to the north fence. Used the tractor to dump it, then off and on spreading it around.
Thursday, repeat of Wednesday. Two more loads of mulch to the south side of the yard, but the landscaping on the south fence is wider and I had to shovel the mulch out of the bucket to get it in place. I must have climbed up and down off that little Kioti thirty or forty times.
Thursday night, tired but happy, sitting on the couch watching TV with my wife. My leg was propped up on a footstool and I started to stand up to go get a drink and WHOOMMPP. Pain shot thru my knee and I could feel it instantly swell up double the size it was that morning. Two Naproxen Sodium didn't faze it and I had a painful sleepless night. I mainly stayed in the house off of it all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Spent the next week barely able to walk and finally called the doctor's office on Monday ten days after it swelled so bad. Talked to his nurse but she didn't seem too concerned. She asked me what I had been doing and when I told her she didn't exactly call me a dumbsas but strongly hinted that I had overdone it. She remarked twice that it took 18-24 months to recover and I was only "9 months" out. She had me come in to the Urgent Care doctor downstairs and he X-rayed the knee. Found nothing wrong except a lot of fluid. Asked me what I had been doing, strongly hinted that I was a dumbsas for overdoing it, which my wife agreed with him, and gave me a couple shots for inflammation.
The moral of this long unexciting story is that if you have a knee replacement, do not overdo things. You will regret it! I finally figured out that when I get on or off of my tractor I always lead with my left foot and I cannot do that anymore. I must lead with the right, then step up with the left foot which has the artificial knee.
I am watching the Fitbit and for a week when it hit 4000 steps I stopped what I was doing and went in the house and played games on the computer. Last week I upped it to 5000 steps with ice at least twice a day. I am watching how I get on the Kioti and using my right foot to push in on the clutch to start it. I am being very careful with what I do and how I do it. No more packing heavy stuff around, no more running after grandkids, nothing to stress the left knee at least until the end of the year.
I have learned my lesson.
Take heed if you are thinking of a replacement.
RSKY
