SUpport

Have any of you had the comment " well you look fine!"  

My youngest said that when askin me to go,back to 2 full days babysitting.  Week 12.  

I am struggling and nowhere to turn!

carol  62 week 14

My daughter also thinks everything is ok but thank goodness I don't babysit I know I couldn't do it

but maybe the children help you get through the day 

Jean 

Of course I love them so much.  I just feel sooooo tired at the end of the day.  They make me laugh and when they cuddle you its gold!   

I feel so tired i could cry   -   Is that ok?

That's so very true and it works both ways 

I remember my granddaughter once saying to me 

your cuddles are so warm Nan 

priceless 

Jean 

Perfectly OK.

Feel like I could cry, too.  That's because I arranged the date today for knee number two.

Lynn 27 weeks post op

 

You are  braver than   Me.  Go for it!

It is fine. It is normal to feel totally beaten to a pulp after any operation. What you guys have gone through makes it even more so.

 

Hi Carol,

I'm 57 and was a late starter so my youngest is 16 and still at school and my oldest is 21 but they both think ( including my husband) that I'm now fine and that every morning and evening I can do my "taxi service", on top of the cooking,shopping, cleaning etc etc! I am also back at work, although it's part time, but I feel shattered due to pain from my knee that starts late afternoon and then interferes with any sleep - I must wake up on average about six times at night! Although I can do a lot more with my new knee in the day, it gets very swollen and gives me more than grief after 4pm ish until I get going again at 6am ish the next day! It's now 7.50pm and my poor old leg is elevated with my ice pack velcroed to it!😞 I don't think that anyone who hasn't had this operation, including the surgeons, understand exactly what we are going through!

Glenda 11weeks today

Yes it's good to cry  ...I think it gets rid of all the frustration 

take care 

Omg i totally understand.  Mothers just put on a face and get on with it!    You are lved on this site!  Keep posting.  

Have you read jodi picoults new book?  Ir puts motherhood into perspective!

carol week 14

There is a wonderful word in the English language. It has 2 letters. 

NO

It is permissible to modify the statement:

"not just now"

"maybe later"

"unless i get some help"

There may be other modifications - but the basic theme is the same.

Lynne you are a stronger person than me my surgeon said I suould have my left leg done but I really don't think I can go through this again I am 8weeks on Sunday and this week I have had more pain than ever I am walking unaided but still haveing to take my pain killers no I'm sorry but once is more than enough but wish you well Lynne x

Too right Eileen ..I've learned to use that word on regular occasions since this TKR 

I only do what I feel capable of doing 

 

In the long run I think you will be back to being able to do what others expect faster if you DO say no.

I know it sounds harsh but if you are no use to yourself you are no use to anyone else and in the final analysis YOU are the most important person because of that. It is downright selfish of others to expect you to pick up their problems: lack of planning on your part does NOT constitute an emergency on MY part. 

You have all had a major operation - and it isn't quite as simple as an appendix or a gall bladder op. It's a bit difficult to do anything without using a leg! 

New Year resolutions for one and all!!!!!

Hi Carol ... I am about three months post TKR now and 11 months lumbar spine fusion. I get told all the time how well I look ... How much better than 'before'. It is very encouraging but I feel shattered sometimes though the pain, heat and swelling is subsiding. Sometimes as the various back and leg muscles are getting more use I get spasms and strange lumps of muscle seem to protrude ... And it isn't cellulite! 

Today I drove 20 minutes to pick up a sick friend, drove her to a restaurant for lunch, drove her home and came home myself ... Out at 11.30 and home at 3.30 ... Fell onto the sofa and couldn't pick up until after supper, which was take away as I just couldn't manage .... 

Sunday we drove out to see the Christmas trees in the rooms at Waddesdon Manor .. About a 40 minute drive with husband driving, a quick tour of the house and then the big mistake ... A walk through a wooded area, uneven path, downhill and a bit slippery. I was holding on for dear life, my right (operated leg) leg higher than the left ... My thigh went into spasm and two bad nights followed ... 

So ... Very little to other people is still a lot to us at this stage ... Patience, patience ..

I have three small grandchildren and between the back which is still healing and my knee, I cannot be on my own with them .. Adorable though they are and my greatest joy, they are still too much for me. You must be firm about what you can and can't do .. Your recovery is the most important thing for an active and energetic future!

 

Somehow people think it will all go away if they sugar coat it. You really have little response except to shake your head and say its not as it seems. They don't and won't understand till its their turn to be whacked on.

I'm not being brave at all.  At 8 weeks I was saying exactly the same as you.  BUT, I have no choice.  My second knee is bone on bone.  Noone has this traumatic operation for fun.  It is necessity.

Plus, it is a bit like childbirth - the worst memories fade.  

Lynn 27 weeks

Do you get to wait till warm weather? Best of luck.

Nope.  Middle March is not normally warm here.

After last time when I had to wear the stockings for six whole weeks in one of our hottest Summers, I made sure I avoided the hot weather!