Out For A Bit...
- Thread starter Joyflyin
- Start date
I was really happy to hear the doctor say the knee wasn't ready to be replaced!! I was fully expecting to hear that.
Therapy went well! I'm ahead of schedule overall. Woohoo! I can now work my way out of the splint to a compression sleeve for light activities. That is a huge improvement on life. Now we are off to follow up knee appointment. That has been a bigger deal than I was thinking...big brother may have not told me the whole truth on that one, but he does say that I can thank him after the first of the year.
That is a huge improvement on life. Now we are off to follow up knee appointment. That has been a bigger deal than I was thinking...big brother may have not told me the whole truth on that one, but he does say that I can thank him after the first of the year.
Well, after 8 weeks, I am released from the hand/wrist doctor for the most part. Woo-hoo!!! He did say I still have a lot of healing to do yet, however, with his new way of doing this surgery, that I am about 6 weeks ahead of schedule at this time. The old way, I would have been just getting the hard cast removed this past Tuesday! Which means I would just be starting the ROM therapy now!
So I now have started weight training which includes a 1-3# dumb bell, silly putty or Play-Dough, (Which I have improvised with some Aaron's Thinking Putty) and of all things, a hammer. LOL. Dumb bell for up & down strength training, putty for squeezing, pinching and twisting & the hammer of all things is for side to side training. So far, I have improvised the hammer with a throwing tom-a-hawk, since I had one of those handier than the hammer. I can choke up or down on the handle as tolerated. But no more therapy sessions and only one more follow up visit in 6 weeks for the wrist.
The knee...where do I start? I was doing well with it until last weekend. Then I had a mishap that set me back about two weeks. My life has been an avalanche of bad news since my hand surgery however. So, my dad got his COVID booster the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and the following Friday morning, he lost his sight. No determination by the doctor's whether that has been related to the shot or not. But that is a a real bummer. December 31st, we lost a friend of the family to COVID, she was like family. She was the Sis-In-Law to my aunt & uncle who lived next door to us, so she & her husband were always at anything that my aunt & uncle had like cook-outs, making homemade ice cream etc. So she was like an aunt to me. But wait, there's more. Last Thursday, when we got the snow storm hit the eastern KY area, my cousin who lived next door was killed in the big pile up. He was only 55. So it has been a crummy year the last few weeks. But we were all pretty stunned. Well, we still had a bit of ice on the roads in WV and some folks were stuck on the hill & in the ditch. My brother & nephew helped pull them out. I wasn't much help overall, but I was helping the lady get out of the car and to the flat part of the ice. I had asked her to put her foot directly against my left foot after I got it planted, and well, she put her foot about 6" above mine and slid down the hill, got me off balance, but I kept her up. I danced around but ended up squatting down on the left leg with the right leg straight out. I wasn't quite ready to bend the left knee that far. I felt like that set me back to about 2 weeks ago. I had a lot of edema / swelling in the leg and knee, so I picked up some compression socks and leg sleeve and they have helped a lot. So, hopefully now that I have the leg & knee back to a normal size, I hope the doctor's appointment Monday goes well. It is moving a lot better today than it was Thursday!
I hope 2022 slows down with the excitement and that my healing continues on the right track. I am back to work and have 2 days in. The hand has found new ways to hurt for sure. I haven't lifted anything in 8 weeks so it has have been woken up quite a bit the last couple of days. But, all things considered, I have been doing well.
So I now have started weight training which includes a 1-3# dumb bell, silly putty or Play-Dough, (Which I have improvised with some Aaron's Thinking Putty) and of all things, a hammer. LOL. Dumb bell for up & down strength training, putty for squeezing, pinching and twisting & the hammer of all things is for side to side training. So far, I have improvised the hammer with a throwing tom-a-hawk, since I had one of those handier than the hammer.
I can choke up or down on the handle as tolerated. But no more therapy sessions and only one more follow up visit in 6 weeks for the wrist. The knee...where do I start? I was doing well with it until last weekend. Then I had a mishap that set me back about two weeks. My life has been an avalanche of bad news since my hand surgery however. So, my dad got his COVID booster the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and the following Friday morning, he lost his sight. No determination by the doctor's whether that has been related to the shot or not. But that is a a real bummer. December 31st, we lost a friend of the family to COVID, she was like family. She was the Sis-In-Law to my aunt & uncle who lived next door to us, so she & her husband were always at anything that my aunt & uncle had like cook-outs, making homemade ice cream etc. So she was like an aunt to me.
But wait, there's more. Last Thursday, when we got the snow storm hit the eastern KY area, my cousin who lived next door was killed in the big pile up. He was only 55. So it has been a crummy year the last few weeks. But we were all pretty stunned. Well, we still had a bit of ice on the roads in WV and some folks were stuck on the hill & in the ditch. My brother & nephew helped pull them out. I wasn't much help overall, but I was helping the lady get out of the car and to the flat part of the ice. I had asked her to put her foot directly against my left foot after I got it planted, and well, she put her foot about 6" above mine and slid down the hill, got me off balance, but I kept her up. I danced around but ended up squatting down on the left leg with the right leg straight out. I wasn't quite ready to bend the left knee that far. I felt like that set me back to about 2 weeks ago. I had a lot of edema / swelling in the leg and knee, so I picked up some compression socks and leg sleeve and they have helped a lot. So, hopefully now that I have the leg & knee back to a normal size, I hope the doctor's appointment Monday goes well. It is moving a lot better today than it was Thursday! I hope 2022 slows down with the excitement and that my healing continues on the right track. I am back to work and have 2 days in. The hand has found new ways to hurt for sure. I haven't lifted anything in 8 weeks so it has have been woken up quite a bit the last couple of days. But, all things considered, I have been doing well.
liquid_wrench
Well-Known Member
So sorry to hear about your dad, cousin and friend, sheesh you have been through a lot lately Joy, sending positive vibes for something good to come your way. Prayers from me to you.
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joel
Well-Known Member
After reading this latest update things must get better.
Recovery from physical injury can be seen is always a good thing no matter how slow it seems to you.
It took me about a month to be able to wright legible left handed and about 7 months right handed. Sometimes a twitch happens and a different scratch of the pen is put down leading to what is that?
Anyway keep up the positive thoughts of life will be better on the moving parts
Recovery from physical injury can be seen is always a good thing no matter how slow it seems to you.
It took me about a month to be able to wright legible left handed and about 7 months right handed. Sometimes a twitch happens and a different scratch of the pen is put down leading to what is that?
Anyway keep up the positive thoughts of life will be better on the moving parts
Thank you for the positive vibes, overall, I am being as positive as I can be. Trying to keep the parents place together has been tough enough. But throw in all the other hurdles and man...sometimes it can really get me down. Fortunately, when I am mad at my siblings for not helping more around their place, I just get mad and go do something. I used to chop wood when I was angry, it just felt good. But mom & dad put gas inserts in and that was a brilliant idea, but I just have to find something else to focus on.
Yes, 2022 can just go on away. Hoping for better things to come, but this is reminding me a lot of my 2009 & 2019.
I was lucky that my doc found a better way to do this surgery without having to put me in the hard cast for 8 weeks. That allowed me to write a bit overall, but he was very adamant about not using the hand. so I paid attention to that. It gets really sore fast now doing day to day activities and I do keep my brace handy for times I think I may need it. His words were ' you can continue to use the brace, but I don't want you back in 6 weeks dependent on it'.
I'm free from the knee doctor!!! He didn't think there was any damage done to my knee when I fell. Fortunately there was no twisting of the knee or anything when I slipped. I told the doc that I felt like the knee was back to the point where it was before I slipped on the ice. He said I did the right thing with my ice & compression socks & adding the aspirin back into the regime. So, I'm done with him unless there is a problem. Just keep doing what I'm doing.
I'm using my hand as tolerated and it is getting stronger every day. But I am constantly reminded of how weak it really is. I literally had trouble opening a zip lock bag over the weekend. So, I will just keep working it slowly but surely.
He didn't think there was any damage done to my knee when I fell. Fortunately there was no twisting of the knee or anything when I slipped. I told the doc that I felt like the knee was back to the point where it was before I slipped on the ice. He said I did the right thing with my ice & compression socks & adding the aspirin back into the regime. So, I'm done with him unless there is a problem. Just keep doing what I'm doing. I'm using my hand as tolerated and it is getting stronger every day. But I am constantly reminded of how weak it really is. I literally had trouble opening a zip lock bag over the weekend. So, I will just keep working it slowly but surely.