Monday, April 18, 2011

KNEE REPLACEMENT DIARY: TWO WEEKS POST-SURGERY, ODEL STEPS OUTSIDE!

Walking with the cane chairWow, what progress Odel has made in just two weeks!  For the past several days, he has been able to move relatively freely inside (barely using his cane), to dress himself (including socks), and to situate himself on the bed, chair or couch without my assistance.  The biggest news?  Today, he took his first trip down our steep front steps and enjoyed a few minutes of walking outdoors.  Suddenly, I can begin to imagine life returning to normal.  :)

Christine, Odel’s physical therapist, comes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  She is patient, knowledgeable, and fun; we look forward to her visits.  At the end of each session, she measures Odel’s range of motion in degrees: how acutely he can bend his knee, and how well he can extend it.  That gives Odel a goal, to keep him motivated as he runs though his daily rehab routine – actively exercising, elevating, icing, or using gravity to passively stretch his healing leg muscles. 

Today’s report: he can bend his knee to 101 degrees (90 degrees are necessary to be able to rise easily from a chair; 110-120 is his ultimate goal) and is within 5 degrees of straightening his leg completely (necessary to walk without a limp).  There is a 4-week post-surgery “window” to achieve this particular goal (full extension), so Odel works on it daily - and has just 5 degrees to go!

The life of the caregiver is busy, busy, busy – but that, too, has eased dramatically during the past week.  Odel handles all of his various drugs without my help.  His increased mobility means that I can be away from the motorhome for longer periods, and that I do less jumping up and down when home.  He does most of his exercises without assistance now – I usually help during just one of his exercise routines. 

Sutter_CreekWith my newfound free time, I took Saturday off!  After making sure Odel had plenty of easy-to-access food and all the drugs he needed, my sister Nancy and I headed east into the foothills of the Sierra to visit our parents for a bit.  Mid-morning, we drove another 5 miles to Sydney’s and Frank’s house (sister and BIL), where we jumped into their new Prius and headed to Sutter Creek, an enjoyable Gold Rush town on Highway 49. 

The weather was springtime perfect, and we enjoyed a long day of home touring (a fundraiser), lunch with wine tasting, and shopping along Main Street.  Get this: we used ONE gallon of gas for the 48+ mile round trip!  I didn’t have to do any planning OR driving, and came home loose and relaxed to find nothing at all amiss with Odel, who had enjoyed a day of watching sports on TV.  It was a caregiver’s dream of a day – thanks, sisters, Frank, and Odel!

On Sunday, I buckled down to some of Odel’s usual jobs – dumping the black water, and washing the Jeep.  I find I don’t mind the dumping much – though I wouldn’t say I LIKE the chore, it is something both parties should be able to handle (like driving).  Washing the Jeep is another story.  Odel and I have joked about how dirty the Jeep would have to be before I would wash it.  Well, now we know… a thick layer of yellow pollen baked on by morning dew and warm sunshine, splattered with just a few raindrops from a light evening shower – and several blobs of bird poop on the windshield, the last straw.

Goofing around with the walkerSo, as we head into Week 3, the patient is far more mobile, and beginning to reduce the dosage of pain pills he has been taking since the surgery.  The caregiver has regained reasonable autonomy with several periods of downtime each day.  Still no recreational walking allowed for Odel (that is a long way off), and I know he won’t be able to help with grocery shopping for quite some time (I miss that). 

Now, gotta’ run… time to help with Odel’s afternoon exercise session, empty the trash, put together a batch of chicken enchiladas, check the laundry bin…

Oh, guess what?  My official Weight Watchers weight loss: 4.6 pounds, and falling. I’ve missed a few meetings, but did manage to make it in do be weighed last week, and the trend is downward.   Life is GOOD!

20 comments:

  1. How encouraging, Laurie! Congrats to Odel on his amazing progress, the pay off for all his hard work. Congrats to you as well on the WW success. Great stuff.

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  2. Looks like you BOTH have lost some weight to me!! Great job to both of you...Caregiver is a very hard job....caregiver's subject isn't easy either...Now tell Odel to quit showing off, or I will get out my cane and race him!!!

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  3. Odel looks as though he is really doing well! So glad that everything is going according to plan. What a great "day out" you had - just what the doctor ordered!

    Hope you both have a great week...

    Kerri in AL :-)

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  4. GREAT NEWS!!!

    Way to go!!! So happy for you two, take care!

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  5. Three cheers for Odel! And you!! Being a caretaker is sometimes harder than being taken care of. :)

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  6. great news for Odel ..he is well on his way to complete recovery..and you know of course, it is because of the wonderful 'caregiver' he has!!

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  7. Way to go Odel - almost time now to get those golf clubs out and start swinging! Congrats on the weight loss Laurie. Good job.

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  8. Sounds like all is going well! Good going on the weight loss! At this point the important thing is the direction of the numbers, not so much the amount of weight lost. Every day you don't regain is a winning day.

    The stress of taking care of the one you love could have easily got you off track!

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  9. Seems like all is going well. That's good news. Odell looks like he is about ready to toss that walker!!

    Take care and glad you got some down time with your family. That's important too.

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  10. That's such great news and it's so nice to see Odel walking in the sunshine. I'm glad your role of caregiver is diminishing! I know it's been tough for you too.

    How long do they think until he can do some recreational walking?

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  11. Hurray!! What great news-for both of you! Wonderful picture of you all! Love the hat!
    donna

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  12. Odel glad to see you up and walking around now it will start to get better for you.

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  13. Things are areally looking up as we figured they would. Odel is a worker and getting his mobility back is one of those things. With you as a caregiver and loving coach, how can he fail!!!!

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  14. You're doing a great job as caregiver, Laurie. And it looks like Odel's doing a great job of recovery and rehab. Good for you both! And I'm glad you had such a nice sisters' day.

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  15. You're both doing great. You both had good days on your caregiver's day off. Still -- take care of each other and of yourselves -- you are important to us!

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  16. It's so nice of you to take time to report to us in the midst of all your responsibilities right now. Thank you for being you.

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  17. Tell Odel that he can get 126 degrees easily. It takes just a bit more work but can be done. So proud of him and his recovery. We're rooting for him! Go Odel!!!

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  18. I fell upon your blog in search of answers. My husband is in week 2 plus 1 day of knee replacement. I was wondering if Odel experienced shivering, un able to keep himself warm even though ambient room temps are in the upper 70's 80's. We are quite sure it's not an infection ( Md is sure of that) but are really baffled at what could be the cause. Is is the constant iceing? a decrease in his hemeglobin from post op bleeding,? getting use to the metal in the knee? if you have any thoughts I'd appreciate your input. Your blog is interersting and informative. Thank you. D in Minnesota

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  19. Hi, D in Minnesota. I don't have a way to contact you, so hope you will read this (you can find our email address by clicking on our profile photo). What you mentioned is something I found curious about Odel. We had to keep the MH much warmer than usual for him to be comfortable and, especially when he was icing his knee, he wanted to be covered up with a warm microfiber blanket. He often was under a comforter during the day.

    I feel it is the combination of lack of movement (I get colder, too, if I spend the day sitting or laying around) and the constant icing. You might be on to something about the decrease in hemoglobin, too. We mostly dealt with it by keeping blankets and afghans at the ready. You might try warm beverages, too. We both like hot tea.

    In spite of all the information we got from the doctor, hospital, and therapists, a lot of the recovery process is an individual learning process - even now, just past 2 months. Best of luck to you both; we know what you are going through!

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