Day 10 - crutch abuse

Today, I have learnt a little more about using crutches. I was told on the day after my operation how to use them but as most people, I thought it was self explanatory and gave it my own personal twist. For example, I wouldn't always use both when going upstairs as it was a bit cumbersome and I kept smacking the walls. I would hold things in my left hand (my good side) whilst walking/hobbling, thus not really bearing weight on that side properly. I would see how far I could walk whilst balancing my left crutch on my left index finger... nah, I didn't really do that. Anyway, after a few days of crutch abuse or bad crutch form, or whatever it is properly called, I decided to learn of the "crutch side rule" (UK footy joke - not a very good one). So, I think the secret is to use both crutches at all times, but here are a few other tips:


1. Put weight down on your bad leg, not much, but plant it down firmly
2. Try to walk with an equal pace length between each stride
3. Don't put too much weight on your crutches - your shoulders and hands will ache after a while
4. Don't try and use them without your arms in the restraint, sounds obvious but I keep trying this and falling over
5. Don't wack you wife or other close family with them, they'll get wicked off. Strangers will be OK though as it's not PC to abuse someone with crutches.


[Please don't treat what I have said above as intelligent advice as I don't have any Professional Indemnity Insurance! (E&O for Americans)]


I'm getting my plasters and clips off tomorrow by the Practice Nurse in our local surgery - I'm quite looking forward to seeing how things look under there.
I have 2 questions though:
Why do I already have in my possession (given before leaving hospital) the tool that the nurse will use tomorrow to remove my staples? Should I have been trusted with this?
And will they deaden the area where the clips are before they rip them out?
I'll get back with the answers to these questions tomorrow.


I've just nipped off to get the clip removal device to show you. Here it is below:

And now a close up of the business end:

Haha, it looks like a bird coming to peck my clips off.

And, when I turn over the bird, look what it says! Staples they are then.

Day 8 - appointment frenzy!

I have some admin to deal with today - 3 appointments following my surgery. One with the Physio, one with the Nurse to remove the staples holding my wounds shut and one with the surgeon to review how things are going. This all amounts to 2 days off work!


The pic below is the back of my leg, the bruising is from where the surgeon removed the hamstring tendon.

I am getting marginally less pain today when I stand up to walk but I've noticed that I can't stand still or my leg throbs; I have to keep walking. So, if I'm going to make a cup of tea, I have to pour the hot water in, then walk to the front door and back, then stir the tea, then walk to the front door and back, then walk to the fridge and put the milk by the tea, then walk to the front door again an so on it goes. Well, after the amount of chocolate (I have my Mum to thank for that) that I've been eating, this exercise, as little as it is, is very welcome. I'm attributing the reduced pain to the icing that I've been doing. I may to try the ice on my gut to see if that shrinks too.


I have worked from home today for the first time since the surgery. So that I could get some work done I've only had 1 codeine tablet. Well, work was a struggle and 1 tablet can't be to blame. I guess a week away from the real world sets you back a bit.


For the techies out there, using Safari or Dolphin browsers on an iPad to manage your blog is not possible. It only seems to work properly using Chrome, or probably IE on a laptop. Touch and gesture based UIs don't really cut it yet for web apps.


Google updated Google+ today, it looks pretty good, the ware on FaceBook is notching up. Anyway, back to the subject, today was a good day, recovery wise and I'm looking forward to doing some more exercises and icing before bed. Oh, and maybe a beer (lo cal obv!).

Day 7 - the ice age

After icing last night I hoped for a better sleep and a good start to the day - wrong! No change, still aches a lot when I get up. I had to go to the hospital this morning (nothing to do with my knee) and was a bit worried about getting there and around. I got myself ready by doing my exercises, icing and sitting down rather than lying down and then rising. This tactic definitely helps.
My wife and I had lunch at the Golf Club (no we're not members - skint and handicap of 18!) today. I doubled up on the codeine and this definitely helped!

I've been icing all day; not noticed the benefit yet but gonna stick with it.

I called the GP today just to get some reassurance on the pain when standing up, she assured me that this was normal but to call back in 2 days if it persisted.

My spreadbets have tanked today but my stops were in place so I locked in some profit. I'm not all about knees!

Just in case anyone was wondering, chocolate consumption does not help with knee pain!

Day 6 - running out of painkillers!

Last night's sleep wasn't great but good enough. I sleep on my side so a pillow between my legs helps to protect my scars and bruising.
After trying to reduce my dope dosage yesterday, which resulted in too much pain, I've ramped it up again. I'll see how 1 codeine 3 times a day goes today.
My biggest issue today is the pain I experience when I stand up after having been stationary for too long. It got so bad that I have been feeling faint and dropping to the floor wherever I am just to get over the pain hit. Well, after rereading my physio leaflet I now realise the importance of ICING! I also went to the website below where a load of guys are banging on about it. I reckon I could have saved pyar jip if I'd have got onto that one days ago. I actually thought I may have had a case of DVT!


http://www.kneeguru.co.uk

Day 2 - Scarleg

I saw my scar today when the nurse removed my bandages. I couldn't believe how neat it all was and that I had staples in my wounds. Looks like the doc borrowed the fat stapler from our admin department!

I spent the morning chatting to the guys in the ward, they were a good bunch. They were all 50+ and had some serious illnesses but they seemed to be getting over them and going home soon.

The Physio came to take me through some drills. He was a good guy and we knew each other from somewhere, just couldn't figure out where. I stretched and strained and learnt how to use the crutches. I walked up and down some stairs. I'd never used crutches properly before, only when nobbing around with someone's from school. There's actually some skill to it and over the next few days I realise what I had been doing wrong. More on that later.

After the physio had gone I ventured to the loo on my own. I got there and back no problem and then I sat down. The strangest thing happened next; my hearing and eyesight started to collapse, then my thoughts collided with each other. The next thing I remember was watching a film that I hadn't seen before, where all the actresses were babbling incomprehensibly at some guy who was in a gutter. I felt very awkward about what I was watching but was desperate to understand the plot. After struggling with this for a short while, it started to become clear to me... I was slumped in my chair, with an oxygen mask on my face, with 2 nurses asking  whether I could see them. The only time I have felt equally disorientated was in coming round from Dental surgery when I was a child. When I came round enough I was put into bed and my 'obs' taken. My BP was 60/40, which is apparently extremely low. A PB for the nurse that took it apparently! The strongest feeling I have from this episode was the taste. Even now (writing this 1 week later), when I walk around for too long or stop still long enough for my legs to really throb, I can taste the same taste getting stronger in my mouth that I had before I passed out. So, when this happens, I hit the deck ASAP, so I don't wipeout like before - natures way of protecting me perhaps - vclever.

Mr B from across the ward came over to see me, he is a Red (Liverpool fan) so he gave me some grief for showing off with my crutches. It was good to get back to normal so quickly. A cuppa and some lunch sorted me out and soon after that I was discharged.