Monday& Tues. June 9th & 10th, 2008

Hello Again,

I seem to be getting behind in my blogging. One would think that staying at home would allow for lots of time to do all kinds of things, but I am finding that managing my time is quite challenging.

Yesterday I was scheduled for my second physiotherapy session at 9:00. Getting up, taking a shower and having breakfast takes double the time it usually would take to get going in the morning. Each time I do physio it begins with a 20 minute application of ice and ends with another 20 minute application of ice so I have to allow myself time to schedule the pain meds for one hour before physio and then include 40 minutes of ice and 40 minutes of excersize. The goal is to do this three times per day which has rarely actually happened. So as you can see my time is being well used.

After physio I went to the doctor for a blood test and was supposed to get the results today with a new perscription for blood thinners, but no phone call today. My gp is back from maternity leave and on her first day back she was not in and was not available today either. When I called her to get the results of the blood test and to ask for a repeat order of the pain meds the concern was that I had to come in to the office as I do not pay the annual fee for special orders. I offered to pay the annual fee figuring I may need additional last minute orders now, but rather than take care of my needs the receptionst told me to call in my order to the pharmacy and have them fax the order to my doctor. Still no phone call about the blood test or the repeat drug order. Next she will want me to come in and as I cannot drive, this is not so simple. Ugh! Our health system!

Today, I had a lovely visit from a physio from the Arthritis Society of Ontario. I had met her at a workshop I attended a few months ago and called the Society to search for a physio and she volunteered to come up and see how I was doing. She had more suggestions and information than the physio I have been going to and I am now wondering if I am wasting my time and money with them. I might just follow all the excersizes in the book the surgeon gave me as well as the tips this woman Bev suggested. The rule of thumb after knee replacement surgery is, as early as possible, to work on getting as much range of motion as possible, even if it is painful. The physio I am going to, has limited the excersizes to only a few and insists that I should not push. If there is pain I should stop. This is contrary to what I learned in the hospital. So I will have to make some decisions about this . My appt. at St. John's rehab is actually coming up in just over a week and they are supposed to be the guru's of post operative knee physio.

So today I did two rounds of excersizes so far and hope to do another on tonight before bed.

I had lovely news from my friend Lynda today. She is the proud grandmother of a second grandchild. A big welcome to baby Ariel Samuel. Can't wait to see little critter # 2 who apparently looks just like his big brother Josh. The fun begins.

So you are probably wondering how I am walking at this point. Jess will be here on Thursday so I will ask her to include a video of my progress. The worst part of walking is the getting up and sitting down as there is pressure on the joint at this time. When walking, I am not in pain, but I have to remind myself to bend my knees and to walk normally without compensating or protecting myself from pain. My left knee is stiffer than my right knee. I was hoping to be able to wean off the pain meds by now, but realize that that is not possible at this time. I tried to ignore my middle of the night meds and found myself not being able to sleep well. My goal now is to continue working hard to regain my mobility without pain. I have an appt. with the surgeon on July 2nd at the 6 week mark and will know more at that time. I have to keep reminding myself that it is only short of 3 weeks since the surgery so based on that, I am doing remarkably well.

Until Tomorrow,

Marilyn