I never knew how exhausting a shower could be

[minkydog]

Ugh. I am 5 days post-op knee arthroscopy. I am wearing a hip to ankle knee brace and I'm not allowed to bear weight on it for 2 weeks. The pain is much better, but getting around on crutches is a royal PITA. Just hauling myself from recliner to kitchen just takes it out of me. I try not to have to go to the bathroom, to the point that I think I'm getting a little dehydrated. I'm going to drink water the rest of the day and see if that improves. My DH is helping a lot but there is only so much he can do. He can't carry me around, after all.

DH fixed me up with a sturdy folding chair in our walk-in shower. At least I don't have to bathe in the tub--or worse yet, a sponge bath! He even moved the hand-held attachment from our bathroom to the walk-in shower bathroom. DH went in there and sprayed down the metal chair with hot water and steamed up the bathroom for me. Then he helped me in--I slipped and almost fell, but he was able to catch me quick!

Ahhhhh. There is nothing better than getting your hair washed and sitting under a hot shower. My back is sore just from sitting so much and I have cramps in my left leg from being in the brace 24/7. I only sat in the shower about 10 minutes, but it was sooooo nice.

DH helped me get out safely and I was really surprised at how tired I am. I feel like I've run a 5K. Not breathless, just so tired. I guess it takes a lot of energy to haul yourself around with your hands and one leg (which has it's own bad knee, which is now yelling at me!) I'm so tired I don't even want to eat. I guess I need to remind myself that I DID just have surgery, after all...

 

[tina.tina]

Almost falling may have worn you out. It could have caused a spike in adrenaline and you're feeling the let down now. I think that our bodies have reactions to pain and stress that we don't really understand.

I have a kidney stone right now and every once in a while I get a little shaky even when I don't think I'm feeling pain. It's even been to the point where my teeth chattered. I haven't had any medicine since Saturday so I don't think that's the reason either.

Sounds like you have a great DH! He's being nice to you and you have to be that nice to yourself, too, and let yourself have time to heal. I know it's frustrating. (I have been alternately yelling at my DH and then apologizing to him. He deserves a great Valentines' gift.)

Do NOT get dehydrated. You don't want to mess with your kidneys. Plus, you need to be healthy all over to heal.

 

[Katy Belle]

Rest and take care of yourself! They kick people out of the hospital so quickly now. They used to give people a little time to recover before setting them loose!

Can you use a rolling chair, like an office chair, at your house? Doesn't work well on carpet, but if you have wood or tile floors, it sure helps!

Get well soon!
Katy

 

[Handbag Lady]

to you.

I am so glad you have people to look after you, though. Can you imagine trying to do all of that alone?

Love the idea of the chair in the shower. Next time, stay a little longer and enjoy the heat.

 

[sonnyjane]

Hang in there! I had to have surgery two years ago and the actual surgery wasn't a big deal... it was the recovery that made me want to jump off a darn bridge! Now that I'm fully recovered I'm obviously glad I had the surgery (I didn't have a choice), but feeling useless during those few weeks was really rough. Stay strong!

 

[shortbun]

Crutches? Good luck with your recovery. Are you on pain meds? You should have lots of fluids with those. I know you don't want to hear that. I was using a porta potty next to my bed for 3 months at home two years ago. It's hateful to be immobile!

 

[minkydog]

Crutches? Good luck with your recovery. Are you on pain meds? You should have lots of fluids with those. I know you don't want to hear that. I was using a porta potty next to my bed for 3 months at home two years ago. It's hateful to be immobile!

Porta potty~! OMG! I'm trying to keep the pain meds down. I don't really need them too much during the day as long as I don't try to do too much. I had a lot of pain yesterday afternoon, so I took pain meds before I went to bed and it really helped for half the night. I think tonight I'm going to just have to wake DH up if I need more pain med, because I was really hurting when I got up this morning and it took until after noon to get on top of it.

I'm trying to concentrate on getting my fluids today, even though it makes me have to pee. I do think I'm having more pain and discomfort than I realize, and I'm probably experiencing it as fatigue.

We're about to be iced and snowed in within the next 12 hours. How great is it that the Olympics are on! I can't watch the skiers--makes my knee hurt to see them tumbling down the mountain. And it's colder here than in Sochi! We're all upside down.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It sounds like your husband has been helpful, God bless him.

So did they repair anything? And no CPM machine?

 

[minniebeth]

Just wanted to send you healing thoughts! Hang in there!

 

[minkydog]

It sounds like your husband has been helpful, God bless him.

So did they repair anything? And no CPM machine?

No CPM machine. The ortho trimmed up the badly torn meniscus, smoothed out the arthritis in the joint and behind the patella. He also re-centered the patella (can't think of the name of that procedure.) He did some microfractures in a couple of places, too. My knee joint is very loose--he could move it nearly 1 inch in every direction! and it was very swollen prior to surgery. It's actually smaller now than it was before surgery! I'm going to be seeing him in a few days and I really hope he'll let me start bending the knee some, at least. I'm so tired of this long leg brace.

My DH has really been wonderful through it all. I can't stand long enough to cook, so he's been chief cook and bottle washer. Sometimes his dinners fall short of the mark, but I would never complain about it. I am very appreciative for everything he has done. He escorts me up and down the stairs just to make sure I don't fall. And he helps me dress, even puts my slipper on my foot because I can't reach it well enough. He's a great nurse.

 

[PeterPanic]

I feel your pain. I had an accident about three years ago that required surgery on my knee. I was in one of those velcro splints for 6 weeks while the site healed. It was pure torture to try and go to the bathroom, clean up etc. and I lived by myself so no backup. Thank god for my recliner and Hogans Hero's marathons. They are what got me through.

The surgery takes a lot out of you and you don't realize why it should, it's just your knee, but, I would use my crutches and go 50 feet to the mailbox and would need a two hour nap to recover. Then when the splint came off, I still didn't have much strength in that leg and had to climb over the tub side to take a shower and basically hold myself up with one hand and wash with the other. Also, do drink a lot of water even if it means more trips to the bathroom. Pain killers can cause severe constipation, and there isn't anything pleasant about that at all.

Honestly, recovery is slow and requires a lot of Physical Exercises to get sufficient strength to function without crutches or a cane. I don't think I ever worked that hard to recover from anything. It was close to a year before I felt that things were basically back to where I was before. Patience is the key. I also lost a lot of blood in the accident and that further complicated my bounce back. Makes me tired just thinking about it. Hang in there... things will get better.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

No CPM machine. The ortho trimmed up the badly torn meniscus, smoothed out the arthritis in the joint and behind the patella. He also re-centered the patella (can't think of the name of that procedure.) He did some microfractures in a couple of places, too. My knee joint is very loose--he could move it nearly 1 inch in every direction! and it was very swollen prior to surgery. It's actually smaller now than it was before surgery! I'm going to be seeing him in a few days and I really hope he'll let me start bending the knee some, at least. I'm so tired of this long leg brace.

I'm glad you had it taken care of, I remember how much pain you were having!

 

[leebee]

Minkydog, I'm sorry to hear you are having such a hard time with your recovery. The first few days post-op are always so miserable! I know it'll be worth it in the long run- you just have to get from here to there. Hang in there… it'll get a little better every day!