Knee-Replacement Rehabilitation

This is for the record (so easily I forget!) and, in case you're curious, for your entertainment.  HA!

I'm at 13 weeks post-surgery today.  Let's just call it 3 months, since my knee replacement was on January 8th and today is April 9th.

Physiotherapist, Eline, says I can now do anything I want to do!  WHOHOOWOOHOO.  That includes driving (check)....and sports.  But I'm ahead of myself....

I wake up every morning with my new knee "defaulting" to a less than 100% extension.  More like 85-90%.  So, before I get out of bed, I do 4 exercises that more or less fix the problem.  The most important is what I call "the other" planking exercise.  It's like having to retrain the brain. 

 Astrid made the 6 planks which I depress 10x each.
By the time I'm done, my leg is back to 100% extension.  WHOHOO.

At some point in the morning, after breakfast and time at the laptop, I ride my exercise bike.


This bike is at the Parafit practice I attend in nearby Arkel and is still hard for me to ride.
However, mine at home is perfect for 10 minutes every day at 20 kmp/12.5 mph.  WOOHOO.
(Eline is the one in the video who goes to get her apple.)

I also do squats and lunges.  Don't forget those.
And climbing up and down stairs.
And walking here-n-there. 

Back at Parafit (for 3 months at twice a week but now at only once), Eline keeps me hopping.

 One exercise (right column) strengthens the glutes (with attachments to the knees, you know).
The one in the middle works on extension and flexion, repeatedly...ad nauseam.


At 3 months, my flexion is supposed to be at the maximum of 130-degrees.
But as you can see, it's not.  I'm lucky if I get to 115-120.  That's the part I'm still working on!

Up to this point, everything is just bite-the-bullet stuff.  I know I have to do it.
And no one else can do it for me.

BUT!

When Eline realized how sportive I've been my entire life, she figured something out.


Ginnie LOVES LOVES LOVES to play ball.  WOOHOO.
So, first, I do a weaving in-and-out exercise for stability and brain-to-muscle coordination.


And THEN I play ball.
Without having to think about what or why I'm doing it, I really have a ball.
Astrid says Eline really gets a kick out of it...since I'm 2 months shy of turning 70.  HA!

But isn't that what it's all about...even when it's rehab...to have a blast,
no matter how old/young you are!

Speaking of Astrid, special thanks to her for being my Partner in Crime,
taking me to PT every week and being my Fan Club.
Thanks to her for all these telling-it-like-it-is proofs that I am still alive and well.

WOOHOO.

A Knee Replacement the Dutch Way

Exactly 2 weeks ago yesterday, yes, it happened!  And now that I'm on this side of it all, I do have my impressions...but sure would love to compare notes with someone in the US.

There are hundreds of images to show the knee prosthesis I now have.

I like this one because of the crucial "talking points."

Lucky for me, all my arthritic bits-n-bobs are now gone.

Starting 5 days before my January 8th surgery, I had to do all bathing and shampooing with a Betadine scrub
(iodine antispetic), including daubing both nostrils with Bactroban 3x/day.

This was to cut down on bacteria entering the hospital.

Astrid says the nose is one of the worst places for carrying bacteria!

Following the surgery, I must inject myself with Fraxiparine every day for 6 weeks

to prevent thrombosis.  It's not one of my favorite things to do, seriously.

It so happens our Beatrixziekenhuis here in Gorinchem is only a 10-minute bike ride from home.

They do 300 knee replacements there every year with a team of 4 excellent doctors.

My room for 5 days was up on the 6th floor, with a view of many Gorinchem landmarks

(which many of you will recognize by now).
My friend, Jannie, from our senior complex, had her surgery right after mine by the same doctor,
and we became roommates for the duration (with 2 other roomies).

To make a long story short, my surgery took only 45 minutes instead of the anticipated 1.5-2 hours.

They said it was because I had no fatty tissue to navigate.  Well, then.

However, I did have a low-blood-pressure "episode" that set me back my first 2 days.

Let's just say it scared the bejesus out of Astrid...but after I bounced back,

I was my old self again...except for the knee part.
Cheers!

The 5 days in the hospital were mainly for this CPM contraption:
Continous Passive Motion.

Every day my knee was stretched for 2 hours, first at 30-degrees, then, 50, 60 and 65.

I actually got into the swing of it and could even read or use my iPad.

What did they do in the days before this  miracle contraption?
(And yes, that's Dan Brown's Digital Fortress which I finished the day I got home.)

Did I ever mention that Astrid's DIL, Eva, is a security guard at this hospital?
When she visited me, she brought me this bear, bringing tears to my eyes.
How can something so "simple" be so soulful!

Now that I'm home, I have my main mode of transportation:  crutches.
It actually feels GOOD to walk, even outside, with them.  They help me stand tall and straight.
But when I need to transport items (like for breakfast and lunch when Astrid is at work),
the rollator comes to my rescue.  I use it for grocery shopping, too.

Then there's PT, of course, twice a week (4 sessions thus far, out of 24).
Right now I'm still doing half-moons on the exerciser, even at home, to increase ROM.
Talk about S.T.I.F.F.  Also, I still have one place that dang hurts,
which Eline, my PT, thinks is where the patella was stiched back on.  OUCH.

Exercise.  Exercise.  Exercise.
They told us to get a skateboard, which Astrid could have borrowed from her son.
Instead, she bought this home-improvement gismo (for moving furniture)
which is small enough to carry around with me, even to Rummikub.

And throughout everything, Astrid is always there wanting to help!  My Angel!
My foot really swelled up once after PT and she massaged it. 
You may remember that I was a licensed massage therapist for 8 years after my divorce,
but did I tell you Astrid was a sport's massage therapist in her day?  Yup.
I LOVE her hands.  Lucky me.

Speaking of Astrid, she went back to work this week, leaving me to my Ms. Independent self.  HA!
It's amazing how quickly the body bounces back to health and rehabiltation.

And to celebrate a milestone, yesterday at PT I was able to raise my foot 8" off the PT table,
the first time since my surgery.  I hope that means there's no stopping me now!

For all of you who stood in the background rooting me on, THANK YOU.
It's a long row to hoe and I have no illusions about the time it will take to get back into shape.
But I do like the idea that maybe Spring will "resurrect" the new me.  It's a good goal.

Saturday ADDENDUM:
Believe it or not, you can find an hour YouTube that shows a live knee-replacement surgery.
You would need a big stomach to...stomach it.  Trust me.
But dear Astrid found this very simple animated version which I find most educational.
It explains why I still have some sore spots.  HA!