I realized I haven't updated y'all about my trying to get new knees. I finally found a surgeon who was willing to do it and didn't tell me I had to lose weight or was all doom and gloom about the dangers of a fat patient getting surgery.
Granted, it wasn't a walk in the park; there are always risks, even for thin folk, but when you have medical people who don't buy into the bullshit regarding fat folk, things work out well.
The cool thing with my surgeon was that as soon as he walked in the door and looked at the X-rays of my knees, he started discussing the surgery and what was going to happen. We talked about what was going to happen before the surgery, such as the supplements I needed to start taking, having CT scans so he could plan exactly how he was going to reshape the knees, so he could insert the titanium implants that would be my new knees, and what would happen after the surgery.
I had surgery on my right knee in March. I had seen my surgeon for the first time in February, and I'd figured it would take a couple of months just to get approval. Nope, I was amazed how fast it went through.
I did have to stay overnight at the hospital. It was hospital policy, and considering how long it took the spinal block to wear off, it was a good thing. I definitely needed help getting up and out of bed when I needed to.
Recovery at home was an ordeal. I don't do pain very well, and I could only take so many pain meds. Ice packs became my friend to help with the knee pain. I was popping acetaminophen and ibuprofen like candy to try and not run through my pain meds too fast, and there was a lot of crying involved. Especially once I started physiotherapy.
We neglected to pick up a couple of items that would make my life easier, like a toilet seat riser and a bedside commode. After the first night, that was rapidly remedied.
I had to get up and walk as often as possible, so I would walk the length of the living room and kitchen and back. My knee needed to be elevated when I wasn't walking, and I had to wear compression stockings. A couple of days after surgery, my right foot and ankle began to swell. We piled more pillows under my foot and knee, and I reclined my chair back and started popping ibuprofen. When the on-call doctor for the practice got back to me, he said we'd done everything he would have suggested.
I had to go to PT twice a week, and I thought I was going to die. The final goal was to get my knee to bend to 125 degrees and strengthen the muscles. I came to loathe the bike and dread the leg press. But progress was made, and lots of Jack in the Box tacos were consumed. We'd hit Jack's after a session. A good day, I only got 2 tacos, most sessions were 4, really bad ones I got 6.
By the time I had my 6-week follow-up with my surgeon, my knee was bending to over 120 degrees while on the leg press. It hurt like hell, but I was also able to get around the house mostly unaided, occasionally using only one cane. If I had to go out of the house, I needed my rollator.
At that point, I asked how soon I could get my left knee done, and he said any time. So I had my left knee replaced in May.
Surgery and recuperation were pretty much the same, though the pain ramped up the first week, and I spent the time wondering why the hell I did this. My doctor doubled my pain medication, and that helped, though I had to get a refill at one point.
This time around, we knew what were were doing and had things in place before I came home. I started PT the next week, and again, progress was rated by how many Jack's tacos I got after. One day, it was 6 tacos AND a large huckleberry shake from Zips.
But I got better faster. Since my right leg and knee were strong, working on my left knee went better, tho my swearing was still the same LOL!
I quickly graduated from using my rollator all the time to using only one cane by the time I was done with PT. We went back to the pool, and I did a lot of walking in the water. After a while, I started doing laps with the kickboard and swim fins. As long as I take it easy, my knees don't complain about the fins.
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