Passed the 12 month mark

I have had my check up and x-rays and all is well.  My bionic knee still feels like an addition and not sure it will ever feel different. The nerve must have been damaged during the op because I don't have full feeling. Might be a good thing. 

I have put the next op off for a couple of years. Need to get Mum well first. Might wait until I have retired. Doing much better than before the op. just need to be careful. JT worried that non bionic knee will not last so I have to use two sticks again.

Still have problems at night but walking is fine. 

Another milestone

Tomorrow I start back at work. I know it is only half days for a couple of weeks, but it means I am starting to get back into my life. Sadly the weekend has been full of pain, both the bionic and jealous knees giving lots of trouble. We had hoped to get so much more done this weekend, working towards Wednesday and the visit from the estate agent to value the house.  Never mind i have a couple of afternoons to clean up..

I cannot wait to move into a Bungalow. I still cannot get upstairs to my own bed and instead am still sleeping in a single bed in the dining area of the kitchen. It has been over two months and i am still here. Grrrr

Moving Forward

Well another milestone. I have been signed off to go back to work on a phased return. It has been agreed that i will do part time, i had thought for one week but the doc said for two weeks at least. It is definitely a move back towards normality though.

It is still very difficult to get either leg comfortable at night and there are times when the pain seems to be getting worse not less. I wish i knew if this is because i am not doing enough exercise, or the right sort of exercises, because i am eating too much chocolate - yes there is definitely a chance that is the problem, my sweet tooth has certainly increased since the op, or because there is something else wrong. I see the doc in October so i will try and remember to talk it all through with him.

I still cannot get upstairs but this morning i managed to almost do six each of the exercises physio have given me to ensure i can get up and down soon. A real improvement.

Not sure when i will manage to get the other leg done but it has to be next year because work is not going to be happy if i take time off too quickly. My plan at the moment is to look at having the veins done late next year and the knee the following spring or summer if that can be arranged,

Catching Up

I should have kept this up to date, after all it was supposed to be a before and after.

It is now the middle of September and i had the operation on the 9th July. In that time i have gone from feeling as though i had a lump of meat and not a leg to feeling that there is something not right, not real, about the leg, but no where near the pain i had with the arthritis already.

I can get in and out of the bath for a shower, clean the kitchen, even hang the washing out but i cannot yet get up the stairs. The fault is with my arthritic knee and not my bionic one. Because of the pain the un-operated knee i am unable to progress much further. I am signed off by the physio. He has given me an exercise to do to enable me to get up the stairs. It is probably going to take a couple of weeks. Boring.

This should be my last week on sick leave. With luck i will be signed back on to work so that on Monday i can start back part time.

I have come a long way from that first day. I can still remember how it felt though to get out of bed that first day so i will never take my new knee for granted.

here i go

Well. Seven weeks on and i am walking with one stick in the house and two outside but no more crutches. Yay. I have had several showers - double Yay. I have started to cut down on my drugs in the hopes i can go back to work in a week or so. All in all a very positive progress from flat on my back OW to upright and smiling.

If i ever doubted the efficacy of this op i have fully bought into it now.


I have seen the x-ray of my knew knee.

The feeling is more discomfort than pain now. The other knee is giving me a lot of pain now.

I am managing to sleep for almost three hours now before the knee says move me or else. I manage to get off to sleep alright most nights, though there have been some where i sit for hours waiting for sleep to come, get up at least once to go to the loo and have not slept beyond 7am no matter how many times i get up or how long i listen to my stories in the night to persuade sleep to come back. Most mornings i am up just after 6. I have a good routine going of making my breakfast and wheeling it through to the sitting room. Then i feed the dogs and bring Poppy into the sitting room to eat hers to make sure she actually gets the food and doesn't bite the others. I wash up and tidy the kitchen and tidy the sitting room and have done a little gardening and even managed to hoover the other day.

Then i play with my papercrafts and get glitter everywhere.

I manage not to put the television on until lunch time because day time TV is enough to drive you to alcoholism and leave it even later if i have a good book to read on my kindle or a story to listen to on my ipod.

Getting Better

I have seen the x-rays and can see how much difference this has made to my leg already. The before and after leg length show how much straighter my leg is.

The circulation has caused me more problems than the knee op over the weeks. I am now wearing a stocking to help the circulation and the doc told me in another couple of months the skin will look more normal and less like a dragons scales. It still feels as though i have burnt the skin in a big patch that circles my leg from the ankle to half way up the calf but the swelling is so much less.

The problems i am experiencing now are that it is difficult to sit for any length of time if in a chair other than the one at home. Going out gives problems but not so bad that i am sitting at home.

I would certainly recommend this op for anyone - the pain is soon no more than a bad day before the op. The scar though long is neat and will be nothing at all soon. It is already strong and i know that in another month or so it will be taking over as my good leg giving some respite to my poor right leg which is still riddled with Arthritis and is not used to be so abused and relied on.

Where am i achievement wise? I can wash and dress myself. I can wash my hair and even the bottom of my feet but i cannot yet climb into the bath to have a full shower. I can do some cooking and cleaning and a small amount of gardening. I am getting interested in crafting again.

The pain is still with me. I don't sleep well at night although already i am sleeping a bit better than i was for the first four weeks after the op. I have not managed to get up the stairs, but that is a personal fear and probably nothing at all to do with my knee.

Today is the sixth week anniversary. I am not sure i am doing as well as i could but i am not worried about where i am or how i am feeling. In fact i am surprised that i am feeling as well as I am.

POST OP - Week 1

Day 1 - Because there were no ops on Tuesday morning there was no rush getting us out of the PACU room and back into the ward but eventually myself and the other woman were wheeled into the lovely light room which was to be our home for the rest of our stay. My blood pressure was a little low so i was kept on oxygen for the morning. Physio came at 11.45 to get me out of bed and into the chair. The pain took my breath away and i felt too sick for lunch when it came. The nurse gave me instruction in how to do the injection into my stomach.

Day 2 - had a good nights sleep - still not eating well - have some heartburn probably as a result of all the mucking around. Catheter finally removed. Managed to walk to the toilet with a walking frame and help from a nurse. The pain is still there, but they supply me with pain relief whenever i want and moving my leg was a relief. Physio came to walk me a bit further. I did so well with the frame they took it off me and gave me crutches which are much easier. Had an upset stomach so they moved me to a side room. I didn't like that. I felt left out. Janis came to visit and i asked the nurse if i could be moved back now my stomach was behaving. Was finally moved back to the ward just before 10pm.

Day 3 - Sleep a bit here and there. Quite a bit of pain in the night. Nurses so kind, bringing me cups of tea and liquid morphine when the pain was too bad. Physio spent a lot of time with me today and as the doctors have signed me off (other than the swelling which is getting much worse) i was hoping to go home but i couldn't lift my leg off the bed or bend my leg high enough. Mr T sent me for a scan to make sure no blood clots, but they couldn't see anything because of the amount of fluid in my leg.

Day 4 - Physio are happy with me. Mr T is not. The swelling is bad and not going down. I have appts for scans for Monday and Wednesday and with Mr T on Thursday. I have been signed off on the agreement that i will continue the jabs for 28days not the normal 10 and that i will go to Casualty if anything untoward happens over the weekend.
  J came to pick me up, i think he is glad i am coming home. I tried to walk to the car but was tired as soon as i left the ward so J got a wheelchair and wheeled me down.
  The dogs were certainly pleased to see me home. I was pleased to be under my own roof and reasonably ok.

Day 5 - last night was not a good one. I didn't sleep well due to the warmth and the pain. I put my iPod on and listened to a story in between my dozing. Leg very red and very swollen. The knee feels more like a hinge than a knee, which is a bit disconcerting. We moved the furniture around in the sitting room so that i wouldn't be in anyone's way.