Ya Say You Want a Revolution....

Today I did full revolutions with my right leg on the bike! This is huge. My left leg is not quite hitting the 90 degree mark but is close. Nate just got done saying this morning that I was getting close to making it the whole way around on the right knee and he didn't want me to be surprised if it just happened. I couldn't believe it went the whole way.

On the treadmill I walked for 7 minutes at 1.5-1.7. Very exciting day.

Yesterday things on the left were just terribly tight. Today though things seem much better and Nate, my physical terrorist, was able to really get some serious bending in the left knee during his manipulation. He said it was the first time he'd been able to get it that far. It hurt like a bugger. My measuements were the same as Monday, but I think I made good progress in some other areas, so I'm trying to be a "cup is half full" kinda girl.

Mom's Cookin'

What is it about you Mom's food and the comfort food from your childhood that does the trick? A week after being so sick, I'm still having trouble with food. Oh it stays down okay, it's just the look, smell, well the very thought of it that makes me queasy. Sebbie had some other obligations yesterday afternoon so my Mom came to stay. I made the comment to Seb earlier in the morning that maybe I could talk Mom into making creamed chipped beef for me; that might be something I could gag down for dinner. Well, it happens to be a favorite for Seb too so Mom made a double batch. I had it for both dinner last night and breakfast today. Mmmmm Mmmmm good! Thnks Mom.

A New Week, A New Mindset

This weekend my Mom told me that I need to stop worrying so much about the future - how I'm going to be next week or the week after, how I'm going to manage going back to work, what I'm going to do when my rehab appointments are finished, etc. This is a continuation of the convo Rick and I had last week. Mom says that, although I can't see it now, this won't last forever and that I need to concentrate on just one day at a time. I am going to make a concentrated effort to do that, and I'm going to say that this trait must be deeply engrained because I'm having trouble doing it. Already today, I've reminded myself several times that today is a new day and I can get through it better than yesterday. You're never too old to need your Mom.

My friend, Nurse Sebbie is my babysitter this week. Having Debbie here this third week was planned because she figured I'd need somebody to light a fire under my butt. She hasn't exactly said so, but I think she's pleased with how I'm doing. Now if I can just get past all the weepiness, the better I'll be. Deb says that it takes those nasty narcotics between one and two weeks to finally get out of my system. No one wants that more than me.

I'm still trying to eat and it's a struggle. A real struggle. Not that I couldn't afford not to eat for a few weeks or months obviously, but this is not the time. If I don't eat, I won't heal. I managed to eat some oatmeal this morning and when we got home from rehab, I was a bit shaky. I ate some cheese and crackers and it didn't go too bad. I'm hopeful that maybe I've turned the corner a bit and if my digestive system would get back to some semblance of normalcy, it would be a good thing indeed.

I worked hard on my exercises this weekend. My right knee hit 100 degrees this morning, and the biggie, my left knee, finally hit 90 degrees of flexion. This was a huge goal for me. Although, with my old mindset, I blurted out, "I really thought I'd do better than 100 in my right knee." Deb told me to knock it off, that I did good, and that I should be thrilled with the numbers. The truth is that I'm really happy with the 90 in the left.

One problem I've had is that I can't see the progress. There are no mirrors at rehab, so I can't see how I'm doing nor compare it to anything to see the improvement. My brilliant Mom suggested taking some pictures so I can get a visual. Smart woman my Mom. Although I haven't looked at them yet, Deb took a few today so I can get a look.

Today I actually walked on the treadmill! Ok, it was only going 1-1.3 mpg, but I did it! Doing not quite 1/2 revolutions on the bike, but in the beginning it was only 1/4 so that's improving too. That's something I can actually see. As part of the in-patient rehab program, I've been doing some knee bends all along, but it was hard not to use a good bit of upper body strength to get back up. Today we did them leaning a bit diagonally on the wall. This was so much better and much easier to use my thighs to stand back up.

So far today, it's been a good day. I'm trying to see it for just that and be happy with just that.

To Mine Brither

For those of you who know me well, you know that Rick and I have always been close. Even as children, we rarely fought. But, life has a way of intruding and even though we see each other at family events, we rarely talk otherwise. Rick always has vacation to "use or lose" at the end of the year, so I was comfortable asking him to take a week vacation to be with me post surgery. I was touched that he also managed to visit me both at the hospital and rehab.

Our week together started out great enough until I got so sick. Rick's a good cook and we had decided on meals. He bought everything and now here I am where I can barely stand the sight, smell, thought of food. But, he made a bunch of dishes which Brent's been eating and we're able to freeze some.

Rick was so helpful at PT and during my exercises at home. Holding me when I cry, encouraging me to go further, and telling me when it looked like it was better than the last time. I cried when he left on Friday night. There's just something about family that I need when things in my life suck.

Anyway, on Friday night Brent and I were trying to figure out how he could go for a bike ride to blow off some tension and stress where I wouldn't be alone. About that time, I received a text from Rick asking me if we could use him on Saturday. It was like a prayer being answered. I've been so worried about Brent - he's had his hands full and I know he needs the exercise to feel good. It worked out so good because I was comfortable with Rick helping me through my exercises.

Anyway, to mine brither who wubbers me, it's been a week from hell and I can't thank you or wubbers you enough.

Rationalization: A Good Thing

At 1:15 this morning when the terrible burning in my legs began again, I reconsidered the ultram. I gave in at 2:00 and gagged down a saltine with some gingerale and popped the pill. At 3:00 the pain had lessened but I wasn't sure I was going to get back to sleep. Finally though, I got lucky. Although I woke up several moe times, I was able to get the best night's sleep I've had since this begain.

I took another ultram at 8 this morning and headed off to my 9:00 rehab appointment. This is the first time that I actually cried during the rehab exercises. I knew that the goal would be to get my left knee to the goal of 90 degrees. On the stair stretch Nate told me to push the last few to just below scream level. Well, I didn't scream but I did moan and I sure did cry. My right knee made 97 degrees flexion but my left knee fell short at 85.

This is when rationalization can be a good thing. Rick and Nate decided that since I was so sick on Wednesday and was unable to exercise that I probably would have made it otherwise. So, I have this weekend until we measure again on Monday. I think I'll be at scream level a good bit over the next few days!

The Struggle

I prefer to think that right now some of my problems are the result of stopping the huge doses of narcotics cold turkey. I am so freaking emotional even I can't stand me. I cry at everything and I do mean everything. I get shivers that are strangely from the inside out. Brent and my brother have to be so tired of seeing me snivel.

The big trial has been figuring out what to do about the drug issue. The surgeon called in two new pain meds. Hydrochodone which is another narcotic and would replace the percocet, and ultram which is not a narcotic and would replace the oxycontin. At this point, I've been without narcotic pain meds for 48 hours and am not, barring any serious complicaions, even considering taking the hydrochodone. Although I have the withdrawal crap still going on, I don't want to chance that again. I got through my exercises this morning okay with nothing and then went to rehab this afternoon where I spent at least 15 minutes ...you guessed it...bawling my eyes out with all my craziness (not pain from the work). But, I got through the rehab okay. In fact, while I made no flexion progress on the right knee (still at 92 degrees), I gained 3 degrees flexion in the left moving from 80-83. Nate still thinks we'll hit our end of week goal of 90 degrees in both knees by tomorrow. He thinks I've made great progress, that I'm tough, and he guarantees me that I'm going to be successful. I pray that he's right. I'm not feeling too tough right now. I have some stretching to do tonight and I'm crossing my fingers that will help. Not to mention, I got through this with only the 2 regular strength tylenol that I took prior to going.

All this said, I'm not sure I've totally reconciled my plan. For sure though, no more narcotics. My friend Nurse Sebbie who is fine with me calling her at 2 AM, suggests that perhaps I should consider taking the ultram twice a day, at 8 AM and 8 PM. This non-narcotic pain med would be more like a super strength motrin with the anti-inflamatory benefits and the advantage of some pain relief. Taking at 8/8 would get me through rehab and the first part of the night.\

Last night didn't get really bad until about 1:30 this morning. My legs just burned like crazy, but they weren't that crazy pain that I had right after the surgery. If they burned like that 24/7 I might think differently, but early this morning I th0ught, Ok, if this is as bad as it gets, I can handle it.

I say this now, but believe me, I've had times today when I told mine brither that I just wanted to curl up and die. Some non-positive times when I had fears that I will never get better and that my knees will be like this forever and I'll be walking with a cane forever. Poor Rick. He had no idea what to say, but he did offer his broad shoulder to cry on. On reflection, that was probably the best thing! LOL

A Giant Step Backward

Last night around 11 I started throwing up and 4 hours later was still at it. Poor Brent, I think by that time I'd gone through my last nightgown and he had a set of sheets in the washer. I don't think I've ever been so sick. After a call to my primary dr. and a 2:00 a.m. call to Sebbie, we were taking off for the ER. It only took 3 attempts to get the IV in, but then they were able to take take blood, give me fluids, something for the nausea, and something for the pain in my knees. Unfortunately I had taken my drugs around 10:45 and 4 hours later still couldn't keep anything down, let alone more drugs. They also did a CAT scan to make sure there were no blood clots. While I would suggest this is just purely covering their butt, it is nice to know that there wasn't any such problem.


The real issue now is a diagnosis. While it may be something I ate (Rick ate the same lunch and Brent ate the same dinner and they weren't sick), it very probably could be the drugs. Brent asked the Dr. if it's possible that I had been taking them for 3 weeks with no problem to now all of a sudden have a problem. The answer was an unequivocable "yes."


So now what to do. Our family dr. who wrote the most recent scripts isn't in the rest of this week. We have a call in to the surgeon. This is one of the problems we've encountered when dealing half in-area and half out-of-area. But in the meantime, my knees hurt/burn (although not as much as I expected them to) and time is a-ticking for rehab. One of the deals with the meds is that they get you through the rehab so you can push it hard. Since we didn't get home until almost 9 this morning, we called and rescheduled today's rehab for tomorrow. I've got to keep these knees moving, but I gotta tell ya, I'm just beat and they burn. I'm on a clear liquid diet for 24 hours (not that I feel like eating right now). But the big issue right now is what can I do to keep progress moving forward while we struggle to get someone to deal with the med issue?

I generally look for something humorous or funny to write about, but right now I'm having trouble finding something upbeat. My poor husband is dead tired not having slept in over 24 hours and is off to fill an anti-nausea script and buy clear stuff at the store. I've just about lost my voice (which could be a blessing for Brent), and I really just want to cry. But, that never gets me anywhere so I've gotta let the cobwebs clear, be thankul things aren't worse (like kidney damage from the drugs), and figure out WTH I do from here. I hate it when so much is out of my control.

Big Day

Well, my babysitter changed today. Mine brither who wubbers me, Rick, will be coming each morning helping me get ready for the day, getting me to rehab, and taking over all the normal day-to-day drudgery. Wow! What a great vacation week he's gonna have.

I was concerned about how my rehab results would go since we got through the weekend. I faithfully did my exercises, so I was hopeful. Wahoo! My right knee is now at 92 percent and the left is at 80. The goal is to get that left one to 90 degrees by the end of the week. We also did some walking and using a cane. I will graduate to the cane at rehab and around home, but will still need to use the walker outside.

Today was my birthday and Kera went all out. She oganized the celebration at my house, lugged all the food and gathered the family. Dinner was really yummy, and she made one of her famous cakes (chocolate with peanut butter icing) and decorated it with the cricut. It was awesome! Thanks to Kera and the rest of my family, it was a good birthday.

Muddling Along

Jayne left on Saturday and we wondered how we would get along without her. I'm sure she was happy to get home after working so hard here. Meals, laundry, dishes, rehab, drugs - going home will probably feel like a vacaton.

Brent is hustling to keep up with everything Jane did and all his stuff too. He's doing a good job, but he's one pooped puppy. Loren and Deb made some things easier. Take out Indian for dinner on Saturday lightened his load a bit. Deb took on lunch duty Sunday so Brent and Loren could go on a very long, very hot bike ride. Deb made this tasty grilled chicken salad with all sorts of goodies on it. Feta, Crasins, grapes, walnuts.....mmmmm....so much better than those crappy salads Brent tries to jam down my throat every day.

We're doing okay, muddling along, with loads of thanks to our friends.

I Like to Move It Move It!

I feel like a kid at the carnival, you know, where you throw the darts and try to break the balloons. The more you break, and if you break the right colors, the bigger and better the prize. Today I tossed the yellow dart for the right knee's score and landed a 1 degree increase from 85 to 86. With the green dart I netted a 12 degree increase from 62 to 74, and that's the bad knee.

I was pretty nervous since the staples came out yesterday. No matter what reassurances I received telling me that the knee was healed well enough, I was just as positive that it was going to split open and blood would spurt everywhere. Hehehe, I dream in technicolor! Realistically I knew that everything would be fine, but hey, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a whuss. Nate the PT dude told me that everything would be just fine. We started out stretching, and moved into bending with easy movements before bending it hard with hurty moments. Nate says we're right on schedule for 90 degrees at the end of next week and we began working toward using a cane instead of the walker. I will hate to give up my aligator bike horn but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

My prize for such expertly thrown darts was lunch at Isaacs. After icing my knees and taking a nap (that's the invalid's rendition of watching soaps and eating bon-bons), Jane and I met Diane at Isaacs. Never has a Boardwalk Gull tasted so good.

138 Staples Lighter

Thankfully my family doctor agreed to take out the staples and renew prescriptions, saving me a trip to Allentown. I was a bit nervous about having them removed because as you know, I'm a huge whuss. All the nurses kept filing into my room to look at the beautiful staple artwork on my legs. All the nurses who have looked at my knees have made comments about how great they look - the staples, not my knees...! Anyway, the two nurses decided that they each take a knee. It turned out that the right one had a whopping 71 staples in it; the left a mere 67. Yup, that's 138 staples in my legs. I want to buy stock in that company because my surgeon apparently is known for using gazillions of the little buggers.

Rita's Reward

So many people volunteered to take out my staples. I'm humbled by such generosity :)


The staple crisis has been averted. Amazing what happens when people talk. My surgeon's people talked to my primary physician's people and voila! Staples and meds taken care of. So, tomorrow afternoon I'll look like Frankenstein. At least from the knees down.


Had my first real day of outpatient PT today. It's hard to see progress when you go through this. It must be how anorexic's see themselves. The fact is that as I struggle through the exercises and just daily movement in general, I can't always see improvement. Jayne has been great this week at coaching me through the exercises and mentioning when something looks significantly better. Yesterday she made a comment about a bending exercise and the improvement she was seeing. Well, she was right. At the end of therapy today they took measuremens and you won't believe the improvement since only Monday: Right knee had 65 degree bend; today - 85 degree. Left knee was 52 degrees and today it was 62 degrees. Now that's change I can believe in!

In fact, it's such good progress Jayne's taking me to Rita's this afternoon for a little treat after the next round of exercises today. Who wouldn't be excited about that!

Everyone Needs an Advocate

This seems to be a common theme running through this whole experience. The medical services people of my generation and earlier are used to receiving and the type of care that's available today are just two different things. The bottom line is that if you don't have someone paying attention you're screwed. You will get a different story from eveyone you talk to, and then the outcome will be something different yet. We were under the impression (from the hospital oreientation) that in-home skilled nursing would be taking care of removing the staples. This was reiterated at the surgeon's orientation that case management from the hospital or rehab would take care of scheduling the staple removal at 12-14 days after surgery.

Well, imagine my surprise yesterday when the outpatient rehab told us that they were not responsible in any way for the staple removal. Brent came home and went through all the appointments that were scheduled by the case manager at rehab: 1st appt. at outpatient rehab, post-op appt. with surgeon; 1st post op appt. with primary care physician. Nope, no appointment for staple removal.

I know that Brent called the surgeon's office yesterday and had not heard back until sometime today. I think he and Jayne are keeping me out of the loop as they work through this, trying to keep me calm. A good call on their part too, as I'm starting to panic. Today is day 12, so this needs to be taken care of somewhere between today and Thursday.

Truly the only thing keeping me calm is that I know I have the best pit bulls on my team.

Diligence Pays Off

It was a pretty good weekend. A time to settle in and get things rearranged to accommodate the walker and all the other gadgets I'll need for a short period of time. A time to get my system back to normal. A time to get some real rest and sleep without being awakened every several hours.

Thanks to Loren for loaning and sturdy chair with arms from his waiting room. It's been multi-functional; great for dining, doing seated exercises, and sponge baths. Renee and Jeff brought a nice upholstered chair with great arms and it's been so comfortable to sit in for an hour or so.
Good for visiting, icing knees, or even watching the Tour de Suisse.

I was very conscientious about my exercises this weekend. I tackled the standing exercises on Saturday afternoon. Using the butcher block on one side and having someone sit in a chair so I could hold onto the back of the chair, I was able to replicate some parallel bars. Worked great having someone built into the equipment to do the rep count and read directions for the next exercise.

Sunday I tackled the seated and the supine items. I hate the seated exercises. The one where I have to just slide my foot in as far as I can just kills my left knee. I've gotten smart enough to break out the headphones for the seated exercises. I had my music on, my eyes closed, and tears streaming down my face. The next thing I knew, someone was rubbing my back. Jane rubbed my back as I finished up the last of the "hurty" moves. It was awesome and really helped me get through it. I am being very tenacious and it paid off today.

Today was my first day of outpatient rehab. I chose the Pinnacle Health Rehab at the old Osteopathic Hospital. The facility, in the Bloom Center, is new and very nice. The "gym" is bright and airy, very clean, and brand new equipment. My therapist, Nate, is a young guy and seems pretty nice. This first session was just spent taking the history and taking measurements. Well, last Friday my left knee was 45 active (54 passive). Today is meausred at 54 (60). I'll take that increase! Nate said that the swelling is going down and my diligence has paid off. I'll be going 3 times a weeek. He showed me a few addiional exercises to add to my book. He said I seem to have a good attitude and he expects things to go well. I think we're on the right road.

Home At Last

I am amazed that I made it into the passenger seat of the Buick! We made one pit stop along the way to get more comfortable (and to say a quick prayer for Brent's improved driving skills and that of all the truckers on I78). All in all, it wasn't too bad.

I think I mentioned previously that my friend Jayne Zamzes was brave enough to volunteer to take care of me this first week home. I can't believe she was willing to drive up from North Carolina for the week. I know that Jayne will have everything and everybody (myself included) whipped into shape in no time.

Kylie's 4th birthday is coming up on June 14. Months ago it seemed perfectly reasonable to expect to be home by the 10th and to have the family birthday celebration at my house.
Really. It did. Perfectly reasonable for someone mentally challenged! Thank goodness my family was willing to take care of everything because they knew that I didn't want to miss seeing Ky for her big dayl A feast of Ricky Burgers, Kera's bake-ed beans, Mom's children's veggie platter, another of Kera's cake masterpieces and the usual picnic odds and ends made me so thankful my family indulged me. They certainly picked up the slack.

Kylie seemed really excited about all of her gifts. The party finished up with the girls giving us a little dancing recital done to Gwen's request for classical music. They are just so cute where they are, I wish they didn't have to grow up.

Putting it All into Perspective

The reality is that my day started out kind of bad. This nutso OT (you know the type, they're always late, their hands are going along with their mouths to explain away their incompetence, there's a whole lot of commotion and very little accmplished) should have been in my room to wake me up at 7....yes, that's AM. When OT works with you in the morning before breakfast they actually get you into the shower (otherwise you do your sponge bath in the sink by yourself) and you're all ready for breakfast at 8. Today I also had PT scheduled at 8:30.

So she showed up at 7:30, already 30 minutes late with a multitidue of excuses rolling off her tongue. "Would you like a shower this morning?" Yes. "Ok, I'll be back in a minute." Unfortunately I promptly fell back asleep and when I awoke it was 7:52. Crap. I had 8 minutes to get myself out of bed, cleaned up and over to breakfast.

Motor Mouth was full of excuses, but she did roll me into breakfast where I met my nurse with my next fix. I inhaled about 1/2 of a bagel and swished the pills down with half of my grape juice, and propelled myself down the hall for PT. You know how that went from a previous post.

MM (new acronym for Motor Mouth) told me to come down to see her in OT and she would show me how to put my shoes and socks on. Ok, cool. But, I clearly forgot who I was dealing with. MM. MM yammered about how cool my socks were, handed me one and just stood there. Duh. I don't care for the sock gadget, but wouldn't you think she would have some ideas about how to get them on. I mean if she's just going to stand there then I really don't need her for anything. She watched me fumble around for awhile then without a word put them on me.

Next came the shoes. "I'm not sure your swelling has gone down enough to get your shoes on." HUH? Then seriously wth am I going through this exercise in futility? I am seriously trying to Again, she handed me a shoe and just stood there waching me. I pulled a few of the last laces out opened it wide and got it on. I struggled but finally got it loosely tied. I looked up from my accomplishment, and I kid you not, she had disappeared. No lie, this loon was nowhere to be found!

My roommate and I exchanged a few rolled eye glances and I headed back to my room. Guess what I found on my way? Yes, here came MM carrying a glass of ice water. "Are you practicing walking in your shoes?" Yup, I'm practicing walking right back to my room. "Oh no, we should kill 15 minutes more (aha! Billable Hours!Finally, the first thing I could understand about this entire crazy situation!) how about you lift the bar a few times?" That was technical occupational therapist lingo for do 3 sets of 10 arm curls. I did them and cross my heart hope to die stick a needle in my eye, she had disappeared again. Honestly, you can't make up stuff like this.

There was no stopping me this time. I made a beeline for the door and my room where I could vent in reasonable peace either under the towel (which I forgot) or behind Curtain #2, the bathroom curtain.

Lowering My Expectations

Since I'm checking out of here tomorrow, we needed to go through everything to make sure I can walk far enough, do the steps, and take measurements. Flew through the first two "tests" with no problem. Then we warmed up the knees with a series of exercises and then measured the range of movement. It's taken me all day to write this post because I'm not sure what I think about the outcome. They measured both knees for active and passive straightening and bending. Active is me doing the action, and passive is the therapist pushing my poor fatigued body parts into the crazy pretzel shapes (ok, this might be a slight drug-induced exaggeration):

Active Straightening: Right -7, Left -6
Passive Straightening: Right -5, Left -4
Active Bending: Right 64, Left 45
Passive Bending: Right 72, Left 54

All I know is that when the therapist bent my left knee in as far as she could I let out either a loud moan or a soft scream (LOL! Not sure which). Holy moly that hurt. I guess I thought the right knee measurements were about right but I was surprised that the left measurements were so bad. Big numbers, I'm looking for massive flexion here! I've worked my butt off so is it too much to expect better results?

Apparently so because what actually happened was that I was upset, I vented to a friend, and I forgot to put the towel over my head. The truth is out there now. They really were tears.

OT: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Staples

Gadgets - Trust me there are more gadgets than you can imagine. This gadget is designed to pick things up. As my neighbor Loren discovered today though, it won't hold a full styrofoam glass of water. Leave it to Loren to decide to clean the floor in my room!

Sock on...yeah, I don't think if does sock off.

Here's the very cool 3-in-1 commode which you can actually place over your commode at home. This will give you some height and the handles help you get up and down. Is this TMI or what??!!

The gel ice bags are worth their weight in gold. This is truly something to look forward to following a painful pt session. Here's the crazy thing about them. This is a rehab facility. The only place these suckers are used is in the pt room. We're supposed to ice the knees at least 6 times a day, so if you have pt twice a day, you still need to get ice on them 4 more times. In the rooms, they have these cheap little "accu-therm" bags that hold next to nothing and don't get cold enough to do anything. Apparently the good gel packs have a habit of disappearing, so here you are in rehab where you can't really do a good job of icing your knees for some strange reason that no one understands.

Each morning the aide changes the dressings (the white strips) and wraps my legs in ace bandages and puts on the slipper socks. The bandages help to keep the swelling down and they stay on until around 8 at night. That's the end of visiting hours and time to take the second sponge bath of the day at the sink in the room. You can kind of see the lines drawn across my knees. The surgeon matches up the lines when he staples the incision shut. I have no idea how many staples were used, but each knee is just a full line of staples all along the white bandages.

Getting out of bed requires you to heft the dead weight of your legs over the side, let gravity help to painfully bend the legs to the floor, push up from the bed, and shift weight onto the walker.

Getting in and out of bed presents all kinds of challenges. A hospital bed allows you to lean on the railings to get some leverage. Occupational Therapy helps you practice all sorts of everyday tasks. In fact, this facility has a mocked up apartment with a bathroom, bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen. It has a washer, dryer, fridge, sofa, bed...all the stuff you have to deal with at home. Diane took pictures of my OT session on Tuesday.

Turning the Corner

As you can see from the word of the day, it was a rough night. I h0pe that soon my drugged up body will decide to resume those natural bodily functions and save my any more humiliation in the middle of the night.


I was in a stupor this morning, but knew I needed to get a move on to make the day's schedule: 7:00-8:00 Morning Ablutions, 8:00-8:30 Breakfast, 8:30-9:30 PT, 11:30-Noon OT, Noon-1 Lunch, 1:00-2:00 PT, and 5:30 Dinner. I needed to also consider the meds and how to best fit a nap in. Ah the busy schedule of the rehab resident.


It was cutting it close this morning for the AM drug regimine to kick in for PT. But, I didn't feel too bad. In fact, it was going so good that the therpist suggested that if I finished the supine exercises in the morning, we could cut the afternoon time back to 30 min. Hmm. I searched for any hidden meaning in this because those therapists are tricky little buggers. (For example, the slim, attractive therapist says ,"If you do 3 more we can stop. Yeah. What she means is do 3 more of these and we can stop...AND move onto the next thing.) It's all semantics the cute little triksters. I couldn't see any chicanery, and things were feeling pretty good, so I opted to continue on. I did a total of 1.75 hours this morning and when I rated my pain between 2/3 my therapist and I were both thrilled. The bad leg usually hovers around a 5, and sometimes after therapy I've rated it a 7/8 (and if I was not crying under the towel, it was probably an 8/9). Great news, but I was cautious, trying not to be too excited.


I came back to my room and who found me there but Deb and Loren. Loren found that my little "gripper" tool will not hold a full styrofoam glass of water. Boys and their toys.


They went along with me to OT and today we tried the shower bench in the full tub bath. This worked great and I think this will be the way we go. This place actually has a full demo apartment with washer/dryer, fridge, counters, bedroom, bathroom, etc. You can go to the apartment and try out the different types of equipment to decide what will work the best for you and your situation.


Deb and Loren had lunch with me and we went for my reduced PT schedule. It's actually good to have someone else go along to PT. Just because I think I'm getting a lot of range of motion doesn't mean that's really what's happening. There aren't really good mirrors so it's sometimes hard to determine if you're doing it correctly. The good news was that following Round 2 I rated my pain level at about a 1. Have I turned the corner? Tomorrow will tell.

It has been confirmed now that I will be coming home on Saturday. I believe the hospital bed, walker, and commode are being delivered tomorrow. I'm really happy about the news, but I'm a little nervous too. This is a controlled, relatively safe environment and being home will be, well it'll be real life I supposed.

Tag Team and a Little Bit of Nature

Kera and Gwen made another road trip to visit me last night. It was totally unexpected because I know Kera had so many things scheduled during this last week of Gwen's kindergarten year. So, this was quite a treat!


This beautiful multi-building rehab facility is, unfortunately, located in the middle of the ghetto. Kera left Gwen with me and went in search of Panera, where she preordered their dinner. An hour went by when Kera finally called me. It was like having a conversation with myself when I'm lost. Kera, crying, "I don't know where I am, I'm totally lost. This !@#$ tomtom...." I felt so bad for her: they were hungry, the weather was rainy, and she was lost in the ghetto, and her mama cried. Hmmm, there might be a million dollar seller in those lyrics! I'm sorry it was so stressful for Kera, and I really did enjoy the company. There's just nothing like a mother/daughter convo .

Earlier in the day I came back to my room and I had received a gorgeous floral arrangement with purple and pinkish flowers. Perched among the blooms are these really cool, realistic looking butterflies. Thanks Sue & Galen - it's like having a piece of nature right in my room.

Word of the Day

Fleet

Note to Mom

Mom, I know I made you run all over the Harrisburg area looking for a particular gym short. I know that we never found them and that I "settled" for something less than what I wanted. But, we paired them up with some cool tops and I figured I'd just make do. Well, I'm here to tell you how fantastic these shorts have been. I have trouble getting the other ones (my old favorites) on. These new ones open very wide and are really stretchy - I can actually get them on myself. Today I'm stylin' in the cool black/white/chartreuse green ones. Someday I'll get the message that Mother Knows Best!

Buckaroo Bonzai

Wasn't that a movie or a book or something? Jason sent me the coolest Bonzai plant - very Zen. When the box came, the aide asked me if I wanted help opening the box. I was unable to see any writing due to the position of the box, and it didn't look like your typical "flower" box. So, I was thinking, "Wow, that walker I ordered must really come in a lot of small pieces. I didn't know it would require so much assembly." (I like to rationalize this by thinking that the meds have made me this loopy rather than admit the fact that I'm just not too bright!) When the aide pulled the plant out the box turned and I saw the FTD label! What a great surprise, and so much better than a walker or toilet seat! LOL! Thanks Jason.

Visitors - A Good Thing

Renee, Jeff, and Kendall came down tonight. After hearing that I'm most likely here until Saturday, it was a great pick-me-up. That Kendall is quite the card sharp and Uno is her game. I'll be looking for a rematch soon! As Sarah told me, I should have plenty of time to practice.

What we also learned from this visit is that the cafeteria upstairs closes at 5. So, if you get off work and then make the 1.5 hour trek to Allentown, there isn't a restaurant available to you when you get here. Little did I know that this would work to my advantage. The lack of a restaurant forced them to head for McDonald's and guess who was the reipient of a great big icy cold Diet Coke? MMMMmmmmmm, it doesn't get any better than that.

Tuesday, June 8

It was definitely a day of highs and lows. I was pretty psyched this morning when I received the daily schedule and found that the PT sessions were all between 30-60 minutes after taking the percocet. The first session went pretty good, and while the left leg is still being stubborn, the overall pain following the session seemed better. The muscles were definitely fatigued, but I wasn't in pain.

So far so good, and shortly after finishing PT, my friend Diane arrived for the day. Paul had a meeting in Joisey and drove an extra 4 hours today so Diane could be with me. Do I have incredible friends or what?!

Diane went to Occupational Therapy with me and observed that she was getting tired just watching me struggle! Diane brought her camera today because she knew I'd want to scrapbook this experience. About 30 minutes into it, I was just beat, the left !@0$!~@# knee hurt, and the meds were done. After lunch it took the meds quite some time to kick in so on went the headphones with the towel over my head. Ok, just like a baby or child who covers their head when they've done something wrong, I know that anyone could actually see me sitting in that wheelchair with a towel over my head. Of course I do. But, if you can't see my tears then I'm not officially crying.

Round 2 of PT started off rough but ended up marginally okay. Diane said I was barely lifting the left leg at the beginning of the exercise and it was looking much improved by the end.

Brent came in this evening and we had a little engineering/project meeting with the case manager. LOL! The CM had answers for everything which makes Brent feel better and at least somewhat more organized because he's armed with an updated list. Lists are very important in both Brent's professional and personal life. Ok, I am making fun of him, but this is one of those times where I appreciate it.

The most important outcome of that meeting is that I may be here until Saturday. Five days for bilateral replacemens is light, but initially it's all the insurance companies will approve until they see how things are progressing.

I have mixed feelings about this. First it would indicate that I'm not doing as well as I thought. I sure wouldn't want to go home if everything wasn"t great though. Like I said it was a day of highs and lows....and something in between...I think.

Monday June 7

More of the same. Although I see some improvements, they are incremental.

Had PT twice today. First did the foot/knee slide with much the same results as yesterday. Walked 65 yards. She told me to step heel first, apparently I was pointing my toes. Who knew I was so graceful! Then I laid on this bed and they put a bolster under my ankles, requiring me to make my knees bend until the heels hit the bed. The only good thing I can think of to say about this is that when it ended I got the good ice packs. You know, the gel ones that really form around your knee. Unlike these pseudo paper things they deliver to the beds. They are less than worthless.

Second round started with the foot/knee slide. It is so frustrating that the right knee goes so great with barely any pain. Then the left leg will barely move and hurts like hell. They put a ball between my knees and I pressed my thighs together. Walked another 65 feet and then did 3-4 stairs. I didn't actually count the mothers...I was too busy cursing them. Going up wasn't terrible, but coming down was just horrendous.

This therapist took the time to bend my left knee where she wanted it and showed me the movements which was helpful. I don't know that I can actually replicate it, but I have a better chance now.

Many thanks to mine brither for visiting me this evening. I got a bit emotional, but it was just the lift I needed at the end of the day. Well tomorrow's another day and I can't wait to see where the pt trail will take me.

Sunday, June 6

First things first. Thanks to Brent for posting updates and thanks to everyone for responding. I think between Facebook and this blog we managed to easily communicate with everyone. Your comments have been so helpful, especially when I've been in pain. I have gone back and read your kind, encouraging thoughts multiple times. I can never thank you enough.

Sunday was the first day for both occupational and physical therapy. Occupational therapy is basically getting to a point where I can do daily care type activities such as getting out of bed, doing a sponge bath, brushing teeth and getting dressed. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Just getting out of bed is a huge trial, and just because I made it one time doesn't mean I can make it the next time. The therapist made a comment about my strong thighs, about what it took to hold my legs out straight, but would I please bend them! LOL! The counter top with the sink is wheelchair height so it works out great that once I get out of bed and into the wheelchair I can slide under there and do things like brush my teeth. I always knew I would one day need to know how to spit like a guy. I'm learning.

PT really sucks. Part of the issue is coordinating therapy with the meds so that you can push it as much as possible without hurting so bad. This has been an on-going issue. I have taken to setting an alarm over night to insure that I get the good stuff in a timely manner. Right now I'm doing percocet every 4 hours and oxycontin every 12 hours. The thought is that since the percocet isn't lasting the full 4 hours (more like 3), the oxycontin can help bridge the gap. In theory I suspect this works if you can actually get the meds in that time frame. That aside, they put a pillow case under each foot and I had to bend the leg in, on each side as far as I could go without hurting. Right side - excellent. Right side - very painful. Then I wallked 36 feet to a bed where they measured the bend. At hospital was 30% bend, and after this first rehab session it was 60% bend. The right knee was 35% bend and is now 62%.

But the best part of yesterday was a bath which meant clean hair. I don't care how ugly it looks, as long as it's clean. I've lost all manner of modesty at this point. As I shuffle along with my walker and my bum hanging out, I just put on my headphones and tune my painful world out.

Donna Update Saturday 6/05

Donna is now at the Good Shepherd Rehab Hospital, 850 S. 5th St. Allentown PA in room 206-B and will be there until Thursday at least. She is doing very well – in the course of the day she dragged herself to and from beds, wheelchairs and toilets a dozen times. At this stage she’s got a pair of pretty sore knees and while the docs are happy with things there can be some pretty significant pain involved when lapses occur in pain meds. We had to use the bite bullet for a while this morning but things are much better now. Better living thru chemistry!!!! They will be giving her two 1.5 hour sessions of PT each day so she will be up and moving quite a bit. Thank you for all the support, prayers and encouragement; Donna finds it quite inspiring. If you would like more detailed information on her location, etc. please email or call me (Brent)

DONNA UPDATE FRIDAY 6/04

Good news continues as Donna is progressing very well. With help (but mainly encouragement) from PT she got out of bed, stood on her new knees at her walker, then sat in a chair with knees partly bent for two hours. She then got back in bed. She met the highest expectation for the day after; a lot of people do not even make it out of bed. There was a lot Donna power going on!!!! Her pain is being managed well so she has been mostly comfortable.
She will go to the rehab hospital tomorrow!!! To begin 5 days give or take of intensive physical therapy. She will do PT in the AM and PM, sounds sort of like the Olympic training Center for knee replacements. I will give specifics on her location and contact info tomorrow after she is settled; please don’t hesitate to email or call for detail. Kera, Chris, and Gwen and bro Rick were here today so it was a good day.
Stay tuned, Brent

Donna Update

Well Donna now has 2 new knees. The surgery went "perfectly" (as the surgeon described) and she sailed thru recovery. He also said she had really bad knees. Donna is in her room now, doing well, and finding the pain existent but tolerable with a dose of morphine. ...whew .... just when I thought we needed a bite bullet!!! Her mom and Dad brought her a comforting pink teddy bear which wears a pink stone which dad cut.

They will get her up on those knees tomorrow and things will progress from there. Thanks to all of Donna's fanbase :) for your wishes, thoughts, and prayers and stay tuned for more updates as things progress. If you would like to know where Donna is or how to contact her please call my cell or email at brent.shultz@comcast.net

Whew! Updates, and Many Thanks

I finally had a call from the surgeon's new office last night. I feel so much better now, knowing that the correct surgeon will be sawing parts of my bones off.


For my family and friends who read my erratic rambling posts, Brent will be calling my folks and Kera following the surgery. He'll also make a post here and on my facebook wall. Yes, Brent who said he would never have anything to do with facebook, will lower himself enough to make a post there.


Everyone says this is so routine anymore that I shouldn't worry. Sheesh, have you met me? I'm the biggest wuss in the world. But wuss or not, I have some fantastic friends and a really supportive family who have done so many wonderful things for me. For now, thanks to Renee, who organized my friends in her usual take charge fashion, and to all those friends who contributed to the Dream Dinners and the Amazon gift card. To Kim who added yummylicious casseroles to my freezer, thanks honey! To my MIL who makes fantastic soups, thanks for the contribution. To my mother the saint for my favorite breakfast, gracias. Thanks to the "wings" group for keeping me distracted tonight. Giving me peace of mind for after the surgery, thanks in advance to Jayne, mine brither who wubbers me, and Sebbie for upcoming babysitting services to be rendered. Thanks to my family and friends for all the emotional support. God knows I needed it. And most of all, thanks to Brent. Even though he drives me crazy with his engineering analness (is that even a word?), without him I would have totally lost it.

A Toby Keith Moment

Ok, it's 2:33 PM on June 1. Where is my surgeon and why haven't I heard a word? Why do I think that tomorrow I'll hear from the hospital between 4-7 PM telling me what time to arrive at the hospital on June 3 and I never will hear from the doctor? At this point I'm just hoping he'll be at the appointed place at the appointed time for the appointed surgery. Call me selfish, but right now I really am feeling that it's all about me, it's all about I....nothing like a good Toby Keith song to hit right at the heart of the matter!

Shop Til You Drop

Ok, I'm not much of a shopper so it really doesn't take much for me to reach my saturation point with it all. And that's when I'm shopping for something I actually like or need. Imagine my patience for raised toilet seats, tub chairs and walkers. Can you say, non-existent?