RE: healthy living

[wiininkwe]

 fivegonefishing
Yesterday I went to a class for folks who are having knee replacement surgery.  It s given by the hospital I will have my surgery in, and is required by my Dr.   It was a very informative session, 2 1/2 hour long, with people from the nursing staff, Anesthesiology, physical and occupational therapy presenting their part in our hospital stay.   They were very frank about what to expect, didn t sugar coat anything, but also used some humor and empathy to let us know we ll be ok with it.   It included passing around an actual artificial knee joint.  The experts say that those who take part in these classes before surgery will actually recover much faster than those who go in knowing nothing about what will happen.  I can see why this would be true, as the class actually answered lots of questions about things I was uneasy with, and I could see that the same was true for many others there.    It s getting closer, and it makes me a bit nervous, but every day my pain and discomfort seem to get worse, also the fact that I can t function normally.  So I ll be glad when the time comes.    I was suppose to have tried to lose some weight before this, but it just didn t happen, but after listening to the nurse assure all of us that at the end of our recovery we will no longer have the pain and general crap that we have now, I m looking forward to being able to exercise and get fit .    Thanks to all of you for giving me your support and help.
 T
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[fivegonefishing]

 fivegonefishing
Toni, my mom who had both knees replaced this year had a follow up with the surgon this week.  The x-ray showed perfect alignment and he was happy with the results.  She had the worst one done first in March, the second in June.  She complained that the first one was still hurting and seemed heavier...he said it would as he had to use more metal in that leg.  It s been almost 6 months and she s still in physio.  She still says the recovery is tough but is so much better than what she had to go through before hand.  Good luck!

[wiininkwe]

 fivegonefishing
Just thought I d check in and let you know that I ve had my surgery and am back home.   The surgery itself was not bad, as I wasn t awake to know what was happening, but afterwards the Dr came in and told me that this was probably the worst knee he had ever worked on.   Besides the amount of deterioration from the arthritis making it necessary to cut away even more bone than normal, my muscles and tendons had shortened drastically and he had to go behind the knee to cut some tendons to allow my knee to straighten out.   That will mean a little extra work in rehab to keep those tendons stretched.   There was some kind of incident that happened the second night after my surgery and I will probably never know just what happened, but it ended with me aspirating on my own vomit and the thing that saved me was that the lady in the next bed heard me choking and called the nurse.   I gather from the things I was later told that I almost didn t make it.  After i recovered from that, I was sent right to an inpatient rehab center, and stayed there for three days.   I was told that I would be cleared for release when I could meet certain requirements towards recovery.   I was so anxious to get out of there that I worked my butt off to accomplish the basics in rehab.   They released me, said that it was one of the shortest stays they had ever had, and when I got home I found out that I was quite literally exhausted.   Slept most of the day yesterday, in my own bed and it felt wonderful.   I m still having some trouble with focusing, and concentration, from the effects of the anesthia, but I ve been told that will clear up gradually.    Anyway, I m home, getting around with a walker, and feeling a little better every day.  
 T
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[Acts 2:38 girl]

 fivegonefishing
Ya-Hoo!!  Glad to hear your home - I ve been thinking of you, so I m glad you posted on how everything went. []  Sorry for the complications, but good for you on getting out quickely.  Just keep up with the rehab!
 
 On the flip side, now that the baby is here, I need to lose some serious weight.  At least 50 lbs.  I m done having kids now (hear that God? - please agree with me! [])  so I ve been mentally psyking myself up throughout pregnancy to get serious after Isabelle came.  I can t start any physical exercise yet (suspected herina), but I can start eating right.  Have any of you had a lot of success with the Atkins diet?  I remember trying it before, but couldn t go without my cup(s) of coffee with real suger!  I m going to try implementing the food part in and cut back on the amount of suger I use.  We ll see!

[ForestCreature]

 fivegonefishing
Toni,
 Glad you are home and beginning your recovery process.  You ve got alot of work ahead of you I m sure. Keep feeling better with each day.
 
 Acts 2:38 girl - Andrea (right?)
 
 While I haven t gone Atkins, I have started watching the carb intake. Like you the thought of coffe without " real"  sugar was frightening. Well, I finally made the switch and started using Splenda. It diddn t take long to get used to it and the after taste that you get with many of those sweeteners is not there. The weight is coming off slowly....good luck

Acts 2:38 girl

[angelsmom10]

 fivegonefishing
Has anyone tried Jenny Craig?  What is the price of the food?

[wiininkwe]

 fivegonefishing
Thanks girls, for all your kind and good thoughts.   I can t believe how fast i m improving, but at the same time get so tired easily.   I m one of those very fortunate people that has a family that I can count on for everything.   While my DH and DS are off in the great north country hunting, my sister is spending a few days here to make sure I m not alone.  My DD-I-L has been coming to take me to my therapy sessions, and is here right now doing some cleaning for me.    My daughter will take me to the Dr tomorrow to get my staples taken out.   My DD-I-L has also been good enough to take my " Lil Spanky"   (now 7 months old and weighing in at 60 pounds) so that I wouldn t have to worry about how to deal with her, and will keep her til the first of next week.    My next big fight will be to try to get back on the good low carb way of living and lose all these pounds that have been piling on for the last two years.    I m already starting to feel more hopeful about things, never really realised how depressing constant pain could be.   I can t tell you all enough how good it is to be able to sit down at the computer and type in my feelings and know that in a few minutes someone will reply to me with advice and encouragement.   I only hope that I can return the friendship half as much as you ve given it to me.  
 T
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[Acts 2:38 girl]

 fivegonefishing

Well, I finally made the switch and started using Splenda.

 Does it taste a lot like sweet & low or Equal?  I have about 4-5 cups of coffee a day, so I really need to cut back on sugar!
 
 

Has anyone tried Jenny Craig? What is the price of the food?  

 I was on Jenny Craig a long time ago - it worked great!  The food then was expensive, but tasted pretty good (about $70+)  but I dropped 45 lbs!!  I was on it for about 5 months.  If I could afford it I would go again.  Things are different now, 4 kids, plus the drive to the center is just to far.  Good luck!

[ForestCreature]

 Acts 2:38 girl

ORIGINAL:  Acts 2:38 girl
 
 Does it taste a lot like sweet & low or Equal?  I have about 4-5 cups of coffee a day, so I really need to cut back on sugar!
   

 I tried Equal, which is made of Aspartame (Nutrasweet)...It never made it past my gums....I spit it out...that stuff is nasty!  Plus I m leary of anything made of Asparatame. But I was getting desperate and knew the sugar had to go to lose any weight.
 
 Splenda is made from sugar and did not taste like the other sweeteners. The ingredient in it is Sucralose. It took a couple cups to adjust to it...but not many. I find if I use just a little less than a packet it s fine. A whole packet and it s to sweet unless I m using a jumbo mug. I was using 2 to 3 tsp of sugar in each cup of coffee. Once I switched to the Splenda is when I started to see the weight start coming off again.  I drink atleast as much as you do, most days a little more. Buy a small package and give it a try.
 
 The hardest part is knowing that  to keep the weight off, I will never have real sugar in my coffee again. Making that switch is hard, almost as frightening as no more chocolate []
 
 I have lost 25 lbs since mid June, with another 15 to go to get back to where I was before I got sick.

[ForestCreature]

 wiininkwe

ORIGINAL:  wiininkwe
    I can t tell you all enough how good it is to be able to sit down at the computer and type in my feelings and know that in a few minutes someone will reply to me with advice and encouragement.  
 T
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 Will a few days do?[]
 It s amazing how being in constant pain affects your  outlook on life isn t it. Never really understood that `till it happened to me. It taught me that sympathizing and  truly understanding are 2 totally different animals. Sounds to me like you are  on the right track now...

[wiininkwe]

 fivegonefishing
today I went to my second therapy session.   My Dear Sister, who just happens to work for the surgeon who did my knee went with me, and I over heard her tell my therapist that two weeks ago, I looked like an 80yr old woman, just bent over and haggard, because of the pain and disability.  Today I can actually stand up straight when I walk, (with a walker) and look straight ahead instead of down at my feet.   I have also lost almost 10 pounds, and am going to work hard to keep that loss going.   Marcy, you are exactly right about your perspective on life being so different when you are in pain.   For any of you who are in chronic pain from a condition that you have just refused to acknowledge, get off the pity wagon and take the necessary steps to do something about it.   I waited for two years, going downhill the whole time, because I didn t want to face the fact that I could be so debilitated at such a young age.   Get over it, be good to yourself and take care of your problem.   You will love yourself for it very soon.
 T
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[wiininkwe]

 wiininkwe
Today was my 3rd therapy session.   They started me last week on a semi-recumbent stationary bike, and I was able to just rock my leg back and forth.  Today I spent 10 minutes with the pedals going all the way around, at a relativley stable speed.   The first time it went around I gasped, and everyone looked at me.  I was grinning like an idiot, and they all cheered for me.   It was great.   I also spent about 10 minutes on a slantboard type thing, pushing my body up and down using my legs, and then some time at the bars, and the last thing was some stretching (which really hurts, but I don t let anyone know that).   Can t believe how tired this little bit of exercise makes me, but it feels great!!   I have to continue using the walker for two more weeks (darn it) and then I m off and running.  When the incision is fully healed I ll be able to go back to water aerobics and I m really looking forward to that.  
 T
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[angelsmom10]

 wiininkwe

 

ORIGINAL:  wiininkwe
 
 Today was my 3rd therapy session.   They started me last week on a semi-recumbent stationary bike, and I was able to just rock my leg back and forth.  Today I spent 10 minutes with the pedals going all the way around, at a relativley stable speed.   The first time it went around I gasped, and everyone looked at me.  I was grinning like an idiot, and they all cheered for me.   It was great.   I also spent about 10 minutes on a slantboard type thing, pushing my body up and down using my legs, and then some time at the bars, and the last thing was some stretching (which really hurts, but I don t let anyone know that).   Can t believe how tired this little bit of exercise makes me, but it feels great!!   I have to continue using the walker for two more weeks (darn it) and then I m off and running.  When the incision is fully healed I ll be able to go back to water aerobics and I m really looking forward to that.  
 T
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 Congrats on the progress and keep up the good work[][]
 

[wiininkwe]

Okay, my last report on my progress since my knee replacement surgery.   Yesterday I saw my surgeon for a post op check up.  It's been just 5 weeks and I was anxious for official 'permission' (yeah, like I ever waited for anyone to give me permission to do anything) to cast aside the walker and get behind the wheel of my van again.    There were some x-rays done, and he manipulated my knee a bit, seeing how much range of motion that I had.   After this he looked at me and smiled and said that he feels I'm ready to "do just about anything you want to do"  in his own words.    There is still a lot of stiffness, will have to work for quite a while to get rid of that, but the pain is almost totally gone, (on a scale of 1-10 i'd say 1/2 rather than the 12 I used to live with)   He told me that he had never replaced a knee that had as much damage as mine did, and was actually anticipating that there might be some problems to address at this office visit.   I think he was as happy as I was at the clean bill of health.   I return to water aerobics next tuesday, and get back to a normal way of life as of today.  Maybe I'll go shopping.   Thanks for all of your support and encouragement thru all this.
T

[angelsmom10]

Sounds like great news, just don't over-do-it -- stay healthy