You, My Friend, "Kneed" Help!

It starts with a pop and a crack. Then a creak and then a pain here and there. Before you know it, you are struggling to get into a standing position from sitting or kneeling. Things spiral downward from there and then you hear the words, "knee surgery". It might be a torn meniscus repair, a partial replacement or a total knee replacement, but whatever the diagnosis, it means you are going to have to face some tough decisions.

I wanted to give you some tips if you are facing (or will face) knee surgery in the near future. I know that all surgeries are different but I am certain that something I will say will help you. Others helped me through this process and I want to do the same for someone. Your knees are very important to your vitality and general well being. When they go, you are in one fine mess.

The first tip is to get to a doctor asap. If there is a question as to what's going on, they can help you through the maze. If they suggest physical therapy before surgery or specific exercises beforehand, DO THEM! The exercises will strengthen your legs and make post operative rehab easier. Don't try to push the pain out of your mind and hope it will go away. If it's something that needs repairing, it will NOT go away. The longer you wait, the more time you lose.

Surgery isn't so bad, it's the post surgery that's hard. Expect it. Go to rehab as soon as possible. It will make your down time shorter. Have a cane and a walker ready. The first few days after surgery, you will need the walker. I used one without wheels, but whatever you have can be used. I also found that walking in houseslippers was not a good idea. I had a good fitting pair of shoes and some slide on sandals with good support that worked better than slippers. Doesn't look so fashionable, but oh, well.

You will need an elevated toilet seat..NOT a toilet chair! It's a seat that elevates your toilet seat by 6 or 7 inches. It just perches on the toilet. It makes getting on and off the "throne" so much easier. (Everybody else in the house can use the other bathroom for a few weeks.)We found mine at Home Depot. It ran about $40...was a GREAT investment.

In a related matter, all the medicine they give you for pain makes your toilet habits, well, let me see how to say this, sort of out of whack. One Senokot S should do the trick. After that, two or three prunes a day are the remedy. (Can't believe I'm posting this.) Drink lots of water (I drank Lipton Diet Green Tea.)

 Resting your leg helps as does propping your legs on pillows. Icing is a must for the swelling. I used a large size bag of frozen mixed vegetables. I put the bag in a gallon size ziploc bag and kept it in the freezer. Ice for 10 minutes several times a day. I put a small cloth between the bag and my leg.

Don't over-do. I did. You pay the price. Move your legs in bed by bending your feet up and down several times a day. I did leg lifts several times a day and tried to bend my knee and bring my leg toward my middle...ouch...easy does it!

Re-hab ... oh, re-hab...what can I say? The first time I waited too long (almost 3 weeks) before going. Big mistake...go as soon as your doctor releases you. I was nauseous the first day I went because I had heard all the horror stories. Of course, my PT was wonderful and I was his faithful follower from the first session on. They are NOT Physical Terrorists! (I was actually sorry to have to quit.)

I am NO professional, but I've had two torn meniscus repairs since June, so I feel this qualifies me to give you some hot tips that might make your journey a little easier. On a more personal level (really? more personal than I've already been?!) Try to look reasonably decent. I almost scared myself to death the third day. (No, I hadn't looked in the mirror.) I looked like something from Hitchcock's Psycho. At least brush your teeth, curl your eyelashes and tame the mop. No wonder the Coach would hand me my dinner plate and run...it was the worst.

I asked other "knee" patients for their tips and they were basically the same as mine. Here are a few more: Don't and I repeat DON'T have both knees done at the same time; Do NOT wait...go get whatever you need done asap; have magazines and some handwork by your side at all times (you never know when the desire to crochet a pin cushion or a granny square afghan may strike) and get ready to see more television than you'd ever want to see...please, don't watch Honey Boo Boo. Maybe if enough of us don't watch it they will take it off the TLC channel.

Life is too short not to be able to walk,

Angela

Until I Saw A Woman With No Legs...

This is a good morning for reflection.....

 Last week as I waited for physical therapy (grumbling inside because I hurt),

a woman with no legs arrived for her therapy. Enough said.

                               

 As I thought an unkind thought about my husband because he didn't pick up the pillow that had fallen off the front porch rocker during a little wind, he called me to a delicious breakfast he had made.

As I re-visited some heated words my son and I had yesterday at the store,

he motioned for me to come to the back of the auction house

so he could load my purchases.

 I have made a conscious choice to finally release my desire to have a perfect circle of friends and family, a formal dining room, a studio, a log cabin in the woods (or better the mountains), to be thin,

to be young again, have everything go my way....

In doing so,  I have to admit something I have learned....

life is too short to continually re-visit unpleasant events and unfulfilled dreams.

Dreams are ok, as long as they don't obscure the present and make you ungrateful.

My home, the physical house, is what it is. As of May 24, 2012, there will very probably no more chances for "add ons" or complete re-do's...so? Is my life any less blessed? Maybe a bigger, better house would be more comfortable, but hey, this one is paid for. It's in pretty good shape. 

It's infinitely better to live in the moment and be grateful for an abundant life.

Always striving for more is exhausting, folks.

We must do the very best with what we have been graciously given.

 If that means moving around pieces in and outside the house and inside your heart, to make something function better, or paint or repurpose what we have...great...but let's not waste another precious second crying over spilled milk.

Examples of "spilled" milk (aka: what might have been):

*It would be nice to be 5'6" tall and weigh 115 lbs...but it "ain't" happening, (unless when I DO have knee replacement, the doctor agrees to add a 5" dowel in each leg during the operation...and the 115? Haha.)

* It would be great to have a 4,000 sq ft home with every little detail "just right"...but then you'd have to dust all that space...hmmm, small is looking better. 

*Wouldn't we all love a family where every member looks and acts like angels 100% of the time...

is it really necessary to go completely berserk about that tatoo, that long hair, those torn jeans?

(This one is hard for me..I must admit.) 

So for all those out there who have all the things I used to long for...then, lucky fortunate you..

(I'm Presbyterian, we don't believe in luck).

For the rest of us, let's live the remaining years of  life trying to play the hand that has been dealt us in a cheerful, loving way...knowing that we won't always be successful, but at least we can give it our best shot.

Be thankful,  

Old Pale Blue...I Feel Like A Pot Holder

The problem I see with blogs, Pinterest and Etsy is this: IF you have even the tiniest amount of creativity in your genetic background, browsing these sites will force your little brain into Creative overload! When I look at all the things that women design, make and come up with, I forget that it's a collection of everyone in the galaxy, not just a few brilliant bulbs!

While being "laid up" with my formerly bum knee (now it's post-operative bum) I have almost pushed myself to exhaustion just reading all these sites. I haven't slept for more than 3 hours straight since Friday before last. My formerly neat and tidy bed and bedroom looks like an explosion of yarn, fabric and magazines. My husband remarked that our room looked worse than he could ever remember and it made him nervous to enter. (He got into bed, settled down and all of a sudden jumped to a sitting position, pulled something from under the sheets and screamed, "What is this?" Oh, for heaven sakes, it was just a crochet hook...size G.)

My today's project was a selection of pot holders made from yoyo's. (You DID go through the yoyo phase, didn't you?) I sure did and had some already cut into circles from a long ago left over project and they just fit the bill. Inspired by my love of this old pot holder (see "old pale blue" below), I set out on a pot holder Odyssey. First, I crocheted two holders but that just did not scratch the itch. I needed more interaction with something from the outside world. Fabric...oh, wonderful fabric! In addition to my love of note cards and tags, china, and an assorted array of other strange obsessions, I LOVE FABRIC! (I digress.)

I bought this tired, stained old thing at a long-ago shop and loved it for its feedsack and shirting yoyo's. I put it aside and didn't use it for years. Then one day all my pot holders were in the laundry and there she was, looking up at me..."Use me, use me", she begged. And so I did! Have used her ever since. Alas, she has become thread bare, pale and stained...sort of like I feel right now. I decided to make me a new holder, not to take her place, but to help out in emergency situations. (Wink, wink)

Introducing "her newness" ...all hot to trot...newest fabric and smashing colors!

 Even though I like her, I don't yet LOVE her.

So I decided to push further, which is hard to do when you are in the bed most of the time.

 I limped forward and made a few potholders for my Etsy shop (amcinnisartworks).

They look so fresh and new. Not tired and pale.

A new take on an old idea.

Modern, clean, fresh...

I, uh, sort of feel guilty.

I know how "old pale blue" feels...

retirement and knee surgery have rendered me to a pathetic place in this life.

I hate to admit it, but I feel rather useless and washed up.

As I sat there feeling terribly sorry for my lot in life...  it occurred to me...

I had used "old blue" as the pattern for all

the new potholders...every single one was cut from her.

The bulb flashed...

maybe that's

what's in store for me!

Maybe I can be a pattern or a help to someone younger,

newer at this game we call life.

Maybe I can help out "in emergencies"! 

I know one thing for sure, feeling like "old pale blue" isn't my style. (wink, wink)

Happy Father's Day!