So we took the dressing off to see what surprise lay underneath for me...and the surprise is that I have a missing knee cap!
SURPRISE! You win the fat knee competition! Kevin and I both where itching to remove the bandages today mainly due to no more fresh blood ooze noted since day of op from the site, and that the ABD pad was a bit stinky. So after my lovely evening bath (totally recommend Burt's Bees bath oil for baby bees), we prepped ourselves an prepared a sterile field...that consisted of a clean green towel that almost resembles the sterile drapes we have at work.
To be honest, I was expecting a higher "ick" factor with more obvious bruising. I have been extremely diligent with using the Crycuff every 3 hours since the op, so I am quite happy with the amount of swelling and bruising that is coming through. Yes, I have no knee cap, or anything that resembles it, and I have yet again developed a "canckle" but this is to be expected.
The one thing that I am not happy about is that despite me completing the quad squeeze exercises as much as possible, there is barely any firing noted from the (R) quad set. I love seeing the (L) quad pump up and down, compared to Mr. Lazy Right Thigh who seems to have taken off in fear of his grumbling owner.
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| Peeling back the gauze... |
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| Dried blood over the steri-strips. |
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| Yup, no prominent leg definition found here! |
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| Some light bruising coming up...I do wonder if it will spread... |
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| You can already see that the (R) thigh is looking smaller...and still no knee cap |
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| stinky bandage! Kevin made me a racy black one instead! |
So tomorrow is my first full day alone as Kevin will be off climbing. I am a bit nervous but am thinking of things to do whilst I am home alone. It will be hard as it's not like I go go for a walk or a drive anywhere: I'm stuck here so I will try and keep busy.
Will also try and stop taking the Tylenol 3's tomorrow and switch to an NSAIDs as it is much gentler on your stomach, and no nasty side effects to deal with, e.g. nausea, constipation, dizziness, or feeling "fuzzy in the head"
how about T3x1 & I NSAID??? or alternate... seems like a quick step down in your analgesia to reduce the hydromorph & dump the T3s all in 24 hrs??? (I know - butt out mary - how many nurse advisors does a girl need!).
ReplyDeleteyour knee looks great! it looks like you only have one puncture site tho (LLQ of your knee)? Was expecting to see something above where-knee-cap-used-to-be...
just keeping working on the quads... they'll come back. they are still freaked out from the surgery. I have found that poking the muscle (gently!) while trying to make it fire can help - I think it accessing some different neuro pathways and sends the message 'again'... but that said - in similar situations its always taken significant time, even with early/daily work to get stuff to 'wake up & go' again
keep the visuals coming .. its fun!
Want some knitting to keep you busy? You could make a knee cosy--or maybe some crutch warmers :)
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ReplyDeleteHey Mary, I seem to have deleted your message by accident! Sorry!
ReplyDeleteAs for the pain meds: guess who had to take a friggen Hydromorph this morning...now I am swaying and it has taken me about 15 min to write this out...not impressed!
Nicky, you wana knit me something?!! I'm so dopey I think that I would end up stabing myself with the knitting needles!
hang in there little kiwi! i love your videos!
ReplyDeletexo shar :)
hey sarah.. i deleted the posting .. not like FB- it shows the world when you have been indecisive about what you want to say!
ReplyDeleteBe patient about your drugs. You are doing a LOT of activity (between physio & walking etc).. Its going to hurt for a while. Maybe try adjusting what you take when - but keep a bit of all of it going? Like maybe try hydromorph in the am & at night.. and then a mix of T3s & NSAIDS in the day time?
And remember that LOTS of things impact your pain experience - not getting good sleep, being tired, hungry, feeling left out - cos kevin went climbing - etc etc - all of those will make your intensify your pain experience .. don;t fight it; it is what it is... you'll get off the drugs sooner or later:-)
you're doing awesome.. but, multi pitch climbs take time... (see my comment on your first posting)
mary xo