18 March 2016: Seven weeks since the TKR
It is hard to believe that I have been on this recovery journey for 7 weeks. Sometimes it seems much longer. It is a wet autumn day today and Lewis has been getting into the "orthopaedic surgery" groove today by demolishing the leg bone of an extinct brontosaurus.
It is two weeks since the last blog update and I have had a few ups and downs. I last reported that I was feeling pretty pleased with myself after a couple of walks - but in the following days I was really really tired so had a few days with my knees up. I kept up with my pool exercises and my flexibility and balance is improving.
In the last blog I included x-rays of the implant and was wondering what was going on underneath the skin. Last week I had the weird sensation of scratching what I thought was a small piece of dried skin on the scar - only to find that it was in fact part of a 1 cm suture which I was able to pull out of the scar. The next day a couple of weird little blue-black blood blisters bubbled through the scar and then some blood oozed out. It didn't gush out but the scar started to open up. I wasn't really sure about whether this was normal. So I popped along to local physiotherapist to get a more informed opinion (Yes - I admit it - I googled "blood blisters on scars" and was rather alarmed by someone who said that hers turned out to be the beginning of an MRSA infection). So the physio and I decided that it probably wasn't infected - it was just a bit of trapped blood that was rising to the surface. But it put a stop to my swimming in the pool for about a week.
I also ventured out into the real world - the local DHB held an evening meeting of local health services and I went along to represent the Takapau Health Service (I am one of the Trustees). It was all rather daunting walking with crutches in to a meeting room with about 60 people all standing around talking and having snacks and cups of tea. It rather freaked me out as I realised pretty quickly that I wasn't yet up to social chit chat and standing around - so I quickly went and sat down at my table and spoke to my colleagues who came to say Hi. At one point during the evening when we were reporting back on our table discussions, I was asked to stand up and speak. However I just wasn't up to it and so had to say - "sorry - ask someone else - I can't stand up and speak". It is interesting how intimidating small, seemingly inconsequential or easy things can strike the fear of god into you...So still some progress to be made there...
We went down to Wellington last weekend as I had an appointment with the surgeon on Monday the 14th. During the weekend I even took Lewis for a walk by myself. That turned out to be pretty exhausting as Lewis was intent on racing around much faster than I could walk - but luckily he came back when I hollered and whistled. It took me about 45 minutes to go 1.5km. I estimate that Lewis ran at least 5-10km. I was pretty stonkered after the walk!
Over the weekend, it was very nice to catch up with my mother and friends Colin and Ruth, and Marama and Gavin over the weekend. It was great to hear Marama observe how differently I now walk (no more lumbering from side to side).
On Monday, the specialist was very enthusiastic about my progress. He said:
It is hard to believe that I have been on this recovery journey for 7 weeks. Sometimes it seems much longer. It is a wet autumn day today and Lewis has been getting into the "orthopaedic surgery" groove today by demolishing the leg bone of an extinct brontosaurus.
 |
| Lewis munching on his bone and being stalked by Abby |
It is two weeks since the last blog update and I have had a few ups and downs. I last reported that I was feeling pretty pleased with myself after a couple of walks - but in the following days I was really really tired so had a few days with my knees up. I kept up with my pool exercises and my flexibility and balance is improving.
 |
| Creepy gap in scar |
In the last blog I included x-rays of the implant and was wondering what was going on underneath the skin. Last week I had the weird sensation of scratching what I thought was a small piece of dried skin on the scar - only to find that it was in fact part of a 1 cm suture which I was able to pull out of the scar. The next day a couple of weird little blue-black blood blisters bubbled through the scar and then some blood oozed out. It didn't gush out but the scar started to open up. I wasn't really sure about whether this was normal. So I popped along to local physiotherapist to get a more informed opinion (Yes - I admit it - I googled "blood blisters on scars" and was rather alarmed by someone who said that hers turned out to be the beginning of an MRSA infection). So the physio and I decided that it probably wasn't infected - it was just a bit of trapped blood that was rising to the surface. But it put a stop to my swimming in the pool for about a week.
I also ventured out into the real world - the local DHB held an evening meeting of local health services and I went along to represent the Takapau Health Service (I am one of the Trustees). It was all rather daunting walking with crutches in to a meeting room with about 60 people all standing around talking and having snacks and cups of tea. It rather freaked me out as I realised pretty quickly that I wasn't yet up to social chit chat and standing around - so I quickly went and sat down at my table and spoke to my colleagues who came to say Hi. At one point during the evening when we were reporting back on our table discussions, I was asked to stand up and speak. However I just wasn't up to it and so had to say - "sorry - ask someone else - I can't stand up and speak". It is interesting how intimidating small, seemingly inconsequential or easy things can strike the fear of god into you...So still some progress to be made there...
We went down to Wellington last weekend as I had an appointment with the surgeon on Monday the 14th. During the weekend I even took Lewis for a walk by myself. That turned out to be pretty exhausting as Lewis was intent on racing around much faster than I could walk - but luckily he came back when I hollered and whistled. It took me about 45 minutes to go 1.5km. I estimate that Lewis ran at least 5-10km. I was pretty stonkered after the walk!
Over the weekend, it was very nice to catch up with my mother and friends Colin and Ruth, and Marama and Gavin over the weekend. It was great to hear Marama observe how differently I now walk (no more lumbering from side to side).
 |
| Knee is coming along well - you can still see the lumpy haematomas |
- my right knee is coming along beautifully
- I now have a range of motion from 2-125 degrees.
- he was pretty relaxed about the oozy blood and just said it was related to the stitches below the skin dissolving.
- that I should stop taking tramadol (a pain relief medication) as it was probably what was making my brain so fuzzy and making it hard to concentrate. He recommended that I should try a new anti-inflammatory medication - Arcoxia and gave me a script for that.
The next morning I received an email inviting me to join the international steering group of Cochrane. For those of you who don't know about Cochrane - it is the most amazing group of medical researchers located around the world who go through massive libraries of health research to identify the best health evidence to help clinicians, consumer and policymakers make informed choices about treatment. There are more than 30,000 people involved in Cochrane and I have always been hugely impressed by the Cochrane people I have worked with and the way the collaboration is organised - so I was delighted to be invited to join their Steering Group.
As part of joining the Steering Group, I need to travel to London in a few week's time to attend their Board meeting in early April. While I really want to travel, it has been interesting to have to rethink what it means to travel so recently after surgery and when I am still not sure-footed. So...
As part of joining the Steering Group, I need to travel to London in a few week's time to attend their Board meeting in early April. While I really want to travel, it has been interesting to have to rethink what it means to travel so recently after surgery and when I am still not sure-footed. So...
- I checked with the surgeon that I would be fit to fly - and he said YES! So that also means I will be able to get travel insurance cover
- I found out that I can arrange a wheel chair assistance service to wheel me through Immigration and Customs - so that I don't have to try and stand for long periods of time
- I was told to wear graduated compression hose on the flight. However as my leg is still swollen (51cm around the calf) and hardly any compression socks will fit fit me. But after lots of internet searching I located a very nice person who couriered 6 sample socks for me to try out - and just like Cinderella - one fitted.
The other nice thing about this trip is that I will be travelling along with Cindy Farquhar and other people that I know, so I am hoping that will make it all a little less daunting and more enjoyable.
With the trip in mind (and the leaky scar)- I have been back to the gym for the last few days. I managed 500m on the treadmill (13 minutes) and 1 km of the exercycle (5 minutes). It was lovely cycling on the exercycle - it felt so fast and free...so I will be working on that some more in the weeks to come.
I hadn't expected to be travelling so soon after the operation and it is a little daunting. I am really clear that getting back my fitness and walking ability is my number one priority this year - so I am seeing this as an opportunity to look at doing things in a slightly different way to how I have traveled before. So - no more heavy bags, a very pared down wardrobe and a walking stick... although maybe a broomstick would be more fun :-)
One other interesting thing to report. On my way home from Wellington I stopped at a pharmacy to get my new script filled. I was rather surprised when the pharmacist came over and said they couldn't fill the script as they didn't have any Arcoxia available but they could order it in. She also said - did I realise that Arcoxia wasn't funded and that it would cost around $120 per month. I was rather surprised about it and decided to wait til I got home when I could talk to my local pharmacist. I did some preliminary searching about Arcoxia. I went first to the Medsafe site and saw that it listed quite a few concerns about Arcoxia - a COX-2 inhibitor. The medicines risks were all pretty smoothed over on the sponsored website so I decided to phone up my pharmacist and have a conversation about whether it would interact with my existing blood pressure medications. She advised me to go and look at another part of the Medsafe website that contained warnings from 2005. I recalled the concerns about celebrex but Arcoxia wasn't on my radar. The pharmacist went through my current meds list and said that she wouldn't recommend it and that I should discuss the prescription with my GP.
I am now using this great app - Manage My Health - which allows me to email my GP with questions. So I flicked her an email and she replied that she didn't think I needed Arcoxia and that I should go back to using the anti-inflammatories (naproxen) I had been using before the surgery.
The Naproxen isn't without its own risks, but I know it works for me and it helps me to manage the discomfort as I get more active. It isn't addictive like the tramadol.
It is a minefield out there and it amazes me how much time is taken up trying to get the right health information. I really worry for people who don't have the time or the knowledge of where to go to get information they need to manage their health.
OMG. You're such an inspiration CM - love the way you take charge and make sure things are working as well as they can for you're situation. Good luck with the travel. Will be interested to hear how it goes. If you find yourself taking a peek in Vivienne Westwood's store (London) make sure you send me a selfie. More power to ya sister.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your awesome support Di.
ReplyDeleteWill definite send a selfie if I get to Vivienne's place'