Day 38 Potatos

If I am not careful I shall turn into a couch potato...

I cannot walk very far yet, because if I do my knee swells up and is painful.

So I watch TV, read or talk to friends on the phone..

But I came across this snippet of medical information, so maybe being a potato has advantages..



Anybody remember Mr & Mrs Potato Head from when they were a kid ? They will never need knee replacements - they don't have any !

There are games to play with potato's that involve use of the knees


And you once your knee is OK, you can learn to dance the "Mashed Potato" here 

Or watch it on Utube

Day 37 Overwhelmd !

plop, plop, plop and ping, ping, ping.... the sound of cards dropping through the letterbox and e-mails arriving.

I received lots of cards & messages from friends and
(a few very unexpected!) colleague's.

Many thanks to one and all !

Got a few nice presents, but nobody bought me one of these.....................>

So I guess I'll have to do it myself
Physio, exercise, ice....

Day 36 That special day of the year....

My right knee is 4½ weeks old, my left one 7 years old and the rest of me is a LOT older than that :~))

No knee oriented blog today as I expect I'll be all day unwrapping presents, being taken out to lunch, answering well wishers on the phone and generally being treated like a queen...

Oh I forgot, I'm in Holland so its the Dutch birthday ritual of having the family round for coffee and cakes....

Day 35 Slowly, slowly catchee monkey

If you don't know what this saying means, click HERE  :~))

It seems that if take a walk to exercise and try to build up some muscle power, then my knees starts to protest and is stiff the next day.

We only went to the supermarket yesterday and a tiny stroll in the shopping centre, and today I am stiff and the joint is a bit painful....

I asked my physiotherapist how long it takes people, on average, to get back to work ?

She says that it depends on the person and the joint.Some people take as long as 9 months!!!!
But others are ready after only 3

PS A fervant reader of the blog brought something to my attention:

Reference the Boomps-a-Daisy poster, Annette Mills is credited with the words and music. Is this the same lady who sat at the piano in the days of black and white television and introduced children to Muffin the Mule? I think we should be told.
He's quite right, click HERE for more on Muffin

Day 34 Hands, Knees and Boomps a Daisy

Another usless bit of info....

"Hands, Knees and Boomps a daisy" was a popular dance in the 1940's and involves slapping your partners hands, then your own knees and eventually bumping hips and posterior.

I expect it was thought a bit risque at the time :~))

Learn how to perform the dance

Here's a 30 second clip of the song

and if you really can't resist, here is a Utube version being sung in Estonian !

Day 33 Degrees

I can now manage position 1 and 2 easily.

Nr 3 is getting there but is painful to achieve,

and nr 4 might never be possible at all !

But so long as I can walk, cycle and drive I don't mind not being able to sit on my haunches.

I think that 125/130º is probably a reasonable angle to aim for.


But you never know, perhaps I can join an old ladies keep fit class like these ladies here ?

Day 32 Nodding off

It seems that if I do a bit more than just sitting about and doing my exercises that I get tired really easily.
Leo took me to the hairdressers on Friday and we then went on to the supermarket to shop. I came home and promptly fell asleep on the settee.

The same yesterday - my friend (she of the complications - Day 26) and her partner popped in for a couple of hours for afternoon tea and to discuss our knee's... After they left I sat down to watch the end of the Tour de France stage, and the next thing I know, it's an hour later !!

I'm afraid that our cats will start to take drastic action if this goes on much longer...................

Does not bode well for going back to work, even if I am a Civil Servant :~))

And here's all you need to know about Power Napping

Day 31 The Bee's Knees

Some days there's just not much to report on my progress.... I do my exercises three or four times a day, followed by an ice pack to keep any swelling down......

So I thought I'd find a few relevant 'knee' sayings and traditions to keep you all amused :~)

  There are so many sayings and other references to knees.

For instance:  "you are the Bee's Knees"

An interesting article in the 'Mail Online' :
No longer the bees' knees: Should any woman show her legs after 40?

Translation - Dutch: jé van hét, nowadays as obsolete as the bee’s knees itself

Day 30 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sleep is a problem ATM



I usually sleep on my side like this, but is seems that my knee doesn't like it and wakes me up every time I turn over.

Jacqueline my physio says that this position puts a twist on my knee which causes the pain. She suggested a cushion under my knee to support it, but after a night of constantly adjusting the damn thing I've decided try something else. Sleeping on my back doesn't feel right, but an extra cushion under my head and a semi-sitting position seems to work better. 

I suppose i could also try this >>>>>>>>>

Cosmo magazine reckons my sleeping position is 'the Flamingo". Click HERE to see what yours is !

Day 29 Costs

I've been trying to find out what the cost of a knee replacement operation is in Holland, but as it's included in the health insurance, I can't find any figures.

However the cost in the rest of the world varies enormously from the most expensive being = $45,000-$60,000 in the United States and the cheapest in Bulgaria !





I have two bionic knees now so it must have been worth paying health insurance all these years :~)

Here's a cost chart for the USA

Day 28 Crash Gardening Course

Poor Leo is having to take instant gardening lessons from me, weeding, deadheading, moving pots about etc.

I can manage things at the front of the borders, but he's having to do stuff that I can't reach.

But it is looking good :~)) .........more pics here

Day 27 Power napping.....

I don't know whether it's the extremely warm weather we've been having, or if my system is still in recovery mode, but either way I find myself falling asleep most afternoons.

I seem to have taken a leaf out of the cats diary....


I never used to be able to do this without waking up grumpy. Now I find it's really refreshing :~))

Day 26 Complications....

A friend of mine had her knee operation a few weeks before me. She has been unlucky enough to have a adhesion's occur. These are internal scar tissue that can form after an operation. It seems that 3% of knee replacement patients have this happen to them.

If the knee cannot be bent more than 90º, the doctor may decide to perform manipulation. This means that the knee is passively, physically bent while under anaesthetic. This should break down some adhesion's (scar tissue) that might have formed.

My friend was in hospital for 4 days and a "continuous passive motion device" was used to keep the knee moving slowly every day for 12 hours, thereby decreasing the risk of stiffness and loss of motion.

She was given a lot of pain medication but says that it was not something she would recommend !

My physiotherapist tells me that these machines are standard practise in Switzerland after a knee replacement.

This is probably so that they can dance in their lederhosen....

Day 25 Dilemma

My knee is somewhat swollen with fluid which is making the physio hard work. My physiotherapist suggested taking Ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation, and cooling the joint several times a day with ice.

The only problem is that Ibuprofen should not really be taken in conjunction with the anti-thrombosis shot  I have to do every day, as it may cause bleeding.

So what is one to do ?

Take an anti-inflammatory drug to help the knee or hope it will go away on it's own ?

I've opted for a couple of days on the Ibuprofen, and will stop taking it as soon as the swelling is down....

Day 24 Housemaids Knee

One of my favorite writers is - Jerome K. Jerome. His book "Three Men in a Boat" is about a river trip by three friends and Montmorency, the dog.Their decision to make the journey is triggered by the following : 

I remember going to the British Museum one day to read up the treatment for some slight ailment of which I had a touch - hay fever, I fancy.

I discovered that I had typhoid fever and wondered what else I had got.

Turned up St. Vitus's Dance , found, as I expected, that I had that too. Then began to get interested and so started alphabetically - read up ague, and learnt that I was sickening for it.

The only thing I didn't seem to have was housemaid's knee.

Not what's wrong with my knee of course, as I don't wash the floor on my knees.
I have one of these.............

Day 23 Torture !

My hike through IKEA yesterday cost me a restless night as it was obviously a bit of a strain on my out of condition muscles ! However the pain probably no comparison with the device below.............

Knee Splitter

This is a very popular torture device during the period of Inquisition (that was before they had comfy chairs!). As the name suggests, these device causes the knees of the victims to split.

It is made out of a pair spikes and wooden blocks which are pressed together by a screw until it breaks the knee of the victim.

more ghastly devices...

Day 22 Orchids and IKEA

A neighbor popped over yesterday bearing a gift of an orchid..... Well meant of course, and it does have white and purple (my favorite colour) flowers, but it's my least favorite flower/plant !

The leaves and flowers are just to perfect and kind off sterile. They look like imitation flowers.. So it will have to be re-cycled to a more appreciative person.




Not much news on the knee front, exercises, ice, exercises, ice etc etc..... But we went to  IKEA to get some walking practise this afternoon. Not that we need anything, but it's dry and the floor is level, plus there are enough things to sit down if  I need a rest.

Just incase you are thinking of applying for a job there...




and we were tempted to buy this:

Dat 21 Good News - Bad News

The GOOD news is that the wound is healing nicely and not having a big plaster on it anymore, makes for more freedom of movement. There is still some inflammation and fluid that needs to be reduced, but icing 4 times a day should help. Plus I've been given some new exercises to do to strengthen the muscles in my leg.

The BAD news is that my spine is indeed really wonky, and if something is not done about it, I will have trouble as I get (even) older.

So once my knee is up and running (ha ha) then we are going to have to tackle my back to see is it can be brought more into line instead of a sort of S bend.

 

Or in a few years I might end up like this >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>