Welcome to the twofer club Lori!

moe

Huge congrats Lori

Enjoy and dont rush recovery ..

Wow a Bi lateral, you people are really amazing.  Hope you are doing well today.  Have you made it to the chair?

Sounds great, Lori! welcome to the bi hippy world. Isn't it strange not to have that old pain?

Hi guys,  thanks for your goodwishes.  I am doing well although a little slower than I thought I would be :). Optimistic though and keeping mental notes to update you all once I get past the 'big tired' after showering, eating etc.  According to all reports I'm on the right path and progressing well - two is just a little slower than one.  (no good leg and all that -lol - there is actually one better than the other and if it was just the one id be pretty set in rehab now - racing off the other hippies ;) Hope I get good enough grades as I'd like to have some useful help down the track for other pre-op newbies :)

Lori bloody well done :)

Two at the same time is incredible!

You'll be fine, just take it easy and listen to your body, do your static post-op routines to the letter and once more per day than they tell you too ;)

Above all, keep cheerful and when you are a bit low/puzzled at all, ask on here, the people here are gems (another club you're now in) and have infinite wisdom and advice.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fantastically, keep us informed!

Lori - great news and wish you well as you get up on your feet and start really moving around again

Congrats - Phill

You are brave to do both at once!  That has to be tough!  No "good" leg to favor!

How are you doing? GREAT I hope!

I had a really big turn around yesterday where I felt really 'human' again.  I can see the improvements each day with activity that I can do improving and endurance doubling.  I'm not where most of you guys would be 10 days post op though I am really happy with my progress now that we have pain, nausea, meds and haemoglobin under control.  Rehab so far consists of bed exercises with one of those mats that removes the friction to do simple exercises, as well as the quads ones (no bridging yet). There is also walking with the bars and rollator which is getting slowly easier too.  I had some difficulty with a bruised L5 nerve on the left which has resulted in a slight drop of my left foot which is coming back to normal and weak hip stabilizers from years of accommodating for pain in the right.  I'm trying to start good habits now even though it is a lot harder.  I know that correcting gait will take some time even after I'm out of here.  I'm looking at being in rehab for maybe another two weeks or just under which for both sides is pretty awesome I think :D. As many of you have said - it's a marathon and just knowing that has helped me this far (ok there have been a couple moments when I really thought you guys made better decisions to do one instead of two though once I'm through with those few moments and continue to get there I'll be in pretty good condition - with more range and mobility than before I got JRA at 11 - just got to keep focused on the big prize - my longer term quality of life :)

Lori Cee - great update and good news - glad you are seeing progress

Phill

Great attitude, Lori. Like you said, you took a harder approach, but seem to be doing very well.

Hi Lori,
Great to hear you're improving.

Both at once is huge physical trauma so you must expect slower progress...sounds to me like you're doing just fine!

As for gait, I'm at 12weeks now and can walk correctly when I concentrate *really hard*, I know it will be some time before this becomes "natural", I also limp a bit whe I'm tired.

I'm sure in 10 weeks or so you will look back and be amazed at your progress, I know I do!

In the early days it's hard to comprehend how quickly the body does recover.
You seem to have a great attitude and outlook which is in my opinion the most important aid to a good recovery :-)

Keep up the good work!

Great job Lori, welcome to the marathon.  DOn't forget in this one you can stop whenever you want to and enjoy the scenery.  The finish line never closes.
Ed

I'm now at 15 days post op and the long stretch of public holidays has started for us and the rehab gym is only open for one morning in the five days. (We have an extra holiday for Anzac Day in Australia) Normally I am a big fan of public holidays, though this year, not so much.  I've found out the hard way that going to rehab twice a day really makes the days move and it seem like I'm progressing along well.  Yesterday was a bit of a downer without the gym sessions, so I don't know what the next three days is going to hold.  I guess I just need to remind myself about how great things will be in a few months time.  There are still exercises that I can do in the ward and have been doing those as I know that I need to keep going to be strong enough to get home.  At the doctors conference before the break, they were discussing me going home next Friday provided I've made it to crutches by then and can walk up stairs. 

I haven't started on crutches yet and the doctor today thinks I'm a little way off, so maybe it is more realistic to think that I am coming home mid-week in the following week.  Apparently the rehab centre here only sees one or two bilaterals a year so there isn't any real data on where I should be at.  In addition, the damage from the JRA has cause me to start from more weakened state than some others who haven't been compensating for the damage for so many years.

I don't want to get my heart set on meeting those goals and then missing them.  I am progressing and doctors and physios seem positive about my progress.  It's just a little hard to stay focused on the prize when you are so far away from going home.  Did anyone else here get stuck in hospital for three weeks or more?  If you did, how did you keep your sanity?

Lori Cee

I just wrapped up my exercises for today, but I do them in the basement - just need a chair.  I keep thinking of the gym but with no driving allowed I do not want to ask my wife to take me there everyday.

My stay in the hospital was not three weeks - but I can understand your frustration - It is not progress everyday, some days go a little backward, but it is the progress over a week - think about how much better you are now compared to the first few days.  I can not remember how many ankle rolls I have done !!!!!!!!! - I do remember how hard they were for the first few days but now I am not sure what the reason is - still plug away, reps of 30, then sometime later in the day another rep of 30 etc etc etc

As you said there are things you can do on the ward.  Hope you find out you can go home soon

Cheers - Phill

Thanks for the reminder.  I know that my progress can't always be on the schedule that I set for it and I need to be reminded every now and then.  I have made significant progress in the last week and though I still have a long way to go yet, the journey has already started.  It is easy to get a little frustrated at times when things aren't going to the plan.  I shouldn't be surprised as when does anything in life ever go perfectly to plan :)  It's all about the journey and the unexpected things that happen along the way. 

I hope that I am only a week or so away from getting to go home and then the real recovery along with real life can start again :)

Lori Cee,

you are doing great, we are all different, but you have double trouble ..   ;)i woke up yesterday morning and had trouble walking with very sore calves.
i fished the beach for 4 hrs the previous morning in the soft sand and wave movement, constantly making me adjust my stance. my knees were also very sore. i stretched yestee morning and not much else.

then i woke up this morning, stretched, felt ok, went for brisk 1.5 beach walk, home , breakfast, felt good, then went and walked 9 holes on the golf course and still feel ok ..........

so its a real day to day thing, im nearly 11 weeks out now, i wake up get out of bed, stretch and feel whats going on, then plan from there. im doing light upper weight work along with normal pt most days and lots of walking. average 2.5 ks a day, some on beach, some on path.

the frustrating days are still there but definately getting fewer . every bit of exercise helps ...  as does rest time .. ;)

you will be out soon, then its just a memory with bigger goals in site .........................

Paul

Paul, thanks for your thoughts.  It is pretty amazing when I think of it that you are actually doing those things - even if you are suffering the next day.  I know I have a bit further to come as I can't remember the last time that I was even able to stand for four hours so it might take me a little bit longer than that.  It is still promising though that it will actually be possible for me to build to that in the longer term.  I just have to break them down into littler more achievable goals first I think as some of them that I had set were probably in too big a chunks and too much too soon.  

Environmentally, I don't think that hospitals are good environments to 'get well' by staying positive.  Maybe if this place was more like the resort I went to at Christmas time I might be in a more positive mood to start with - I think that I might figure out a way to break out of here to get some sunlight tomorrow and see if that helps.  

I'll get it together - being around this site certainly helps.  It's good to hear other people's stories and how they got through the hard times.  I know that everyone is different, but there are some emotions and experiences that seem to be reasonably similar on the other side of surgery.  It's awesome to know that you aren't the only one that goes a bit crazy at times.

Hi LC, just checking in to wish you well on your continued recovery.  Full of admiration for all Bi-lats!  (I needed 5 years recovery to get ready for my 2nd.   ;) )
HD

Or whatever holiday you're celebrating there in ye olde hospital, have a happy one, okay?  I had my younger daughter on Christmas Eve, and I remember how it sucked to be there.  When everyone else was with their family eating turkey and cranberry sauce, I got a daggone cold cheeseburger on a cruddy white bun.  Never have forgotten that, and the *young'n* is pushing 30. 

Hospitals can get to your head after a while.  If you didn't go a little crazy there, you'd probably be crazy.   ;D

Thinking of you and wishing you well,
Kate