June 8 - Day 21

Day 21, and all is well in the Brown household.

I came home from hospital on Sunday. We shopped on the way home (picked up medication scripts and picked up much needed groceries, nothing bought for the 3 weeks I've been in hospital!). By the time we got home (which was only a couple of hours) I was exhausted!

I went straight into my bedroom, tested I could go to the toilet without a mobility device (yes!) and then gave my bed a review for the next 4 hours, and it was the best feeling ever. I think I have the most comfortable bed in the whole world.

Friends came over to say hi (I loved that they done this, made me feel good), my FIL made us a baked dinner (although I'm still off my food so didn't even very much) and then it was back into bed. Sure, I had super twitchy legs and they were so sore, but it was relieved by the painkillers. It was the best feeling ever to be back in my own bed.

I'm trying to get back into a normal routine at home post op. After having been in a very comfortable cocoon for the past 3 weeks where every need was taken care of via a handy buzzer, plus a regular routine of exercise now its time to put together a schedule of what normal will look like going forward.

I'm still on a hospital hours timetable where I wasn't going to sleep till midnight, waking for breakfast at 7am and then having naps or rests during the day in-between physio classes.

Today, my daughter took us to the shops to pick up some exercise aids like the ball and stretch bands. We were only gone a couple of hours but I was so tired that I got upset at the shops and a bit teary, had to sit and calm down before we kept going. And of course, there were no seats free so we had to search for somewhere to sit. Thanks to the middle aged lady that seen me coming and put her bag on the seat so I couldn't sit down. Appreciate it. You totally deserved the dirty look my daughter gave you. I went to lay down for a rest when we got home, and woke up 3 hours later! Which is why I'm writing this so late. Really need to get this under control!

First day home I was in a panic, worrying about medication and routine but I think I need to relax a little about this. I've taken painkillers on the first day and really needed them to settle, but today is just been a couple of doses of Panadol which has been good. The good thing is that I have the medication if I need it, but my gut feel is a regular routine including exercise is going to be manageable without the hard core painkillers. A massage would be good though!

Sometimes my legs and knees feel like concrete (anyone who has had a TKR would probably understand this) but I'm just getting up and moving or giving my legs a massage when this happens. I bought a cool exercise band thing from Big W which has a band for leg stretches plus a roller for massaging muscles and it is AWESOME! it was only $25 so would recommend this if you have tight calf muscles. Brand was FILA.

No photos today because I'm using my laptop. Even this takes some adjusting, I can't just sit it on my lap anymore because its getting too heavy and hurting my legs! What an unexpected issue LOL.

Not sure if everyone is the same but I'm off my food like nothing else. Thank goodness for a family that is willing to take care of my leftovers - sharing is caring. Today I didn't have a lot so I need to be mindful of this too - someone told me that the best advise he could give me was to take care of the healing from within, everything I eat will contribute to my legs healing and I really took this onboard, so if I don't feel like eating a lot, whatever I eat needs to be good. Totes bonus on this is that I've lost a bit of weight, always handy when recovering from bilateral total knee replacements!

The last big thing on my agenda since coming home is to manage my activity levels. I feel good, I'm not taking many painkillers so I'm under the (mistaken) impression that I'm invincible. Just the short shopping trip today was a big reminder that I'm still very much within initial recovery phase from a major operation, and that I still need to take it easy with lots of resting. Getting a better routine should help me with that. Plus its reminding my family that although I am doing well, its going to be a while before I'm really back on track and they need to be patient with that.

Sorry for no pics! but wanted to keep in touch. Life is so good! And its only going to get better. If you've been through this or a major surgery, how did you manage when you went home? Would love to hear from you and your ideas. Speak soon, Laurel