8 Weeks into Second Knee Replacement

The right knee has been tougher to deal with. I had a hematoma on top of the knee and at about 3 or 4 weeks out, I had to have a second surgery to clean that out and find the cause. I had a large vein in an unusual spot that was seeping. I ruined my surgeons perfect record of 19 years! It was a stubborn vein and took several cauterizings and he stitched it 4 times to make sure it held., then he stitched the incision he had to make in my original incision. That turned out to be a grueling painful stitch removal. ouch. ouch. ouch. I am back to full strength physical therapy (PT) and back to progressing with the bend and stretch. I have taken more pain meds with this knee than the first one, The knee swelling up full of blood is rather uncomfortable. School starts in less than 2 weeks and I needed this whole time to recover. I haven't been sitting at the computer long enough to write about this second experience. I have been moodier, lonelier and crankier this time! I have also had lots of good times with friends. It has been an emotional roller coaster of a summer.

This has been a heck of a medical year, early fall I had my cataracts removed, one eye at a time, then the week before Thanksgiving I had the first knee replacement, June 11, I had the second knee replacement. everything is good and I expect a healthy year ahead! I wanted all this done before retirement and it is done.I am pretty bionic right now, in my purse I have a separate ID card for each eye and one for the left knee. The right knee ID card should come soon. looking forward to that.

It Has Been Seven Months

I am prepping for my second knee replacement which will take place next Wednesday. I am excited rather than apprehensive-- already planning my recovery and I know what to expect. A nurse I call "mine" is going to be on duty and I already told the rehab professionals I had last time I want them again so I am ready to rock the newest knee. It has been amazing how much better I have felt with only one bad knee I can walk fast, stand a lot longer and just so many good things that sneak up on me and I think wow! that's new. Occasionally I would catch myself walking at the speed I needed for my old knee, it is a habit of years, then I would speed up.

This last week of packing up my classroom and getting it ready for what might possibly be my last year of teaching did let me know that I really do need this surgery. It was a rough year with a style of discipline in our building that does not work for our students, we are getting another new principal that I know and respect and love as a parent of 3 of my former students. I hear she is tough, but I do my job and if you do  your job--why worry. I know it will be tough to overcome the laxity of the past two years but I also know she can do it.  She took an alternative school into hand an turned it around. She'll do the same for us. We have had three principal changes in 4 years and churning of teachers in one of the most stable schools in the city. We are churning again this year, though some have thought about staying to give our next principal a chance.

I had become almost positive I mean 100% positive that this would be my last year in my career, it had become so miserable in some ways, now, I don't know, I could be revitalized mentally as well as physically. Onward and upward, If I retire I can go to ISU for $5 a class.. I could go to the grand kids any time of the week or year... there's that.

The New Knee: again

I had my second to last physical therapy today, I met all the goals except for the 120 degrees. I have made it to 117 degrees several times. The knee feels mostly normal at work and I can walk pretty fast. The other knee is the one that hurts so I am ready to schedule it for June. I will discuss that tomorrow at my orthopedic follow up. I am ready to exercise and get going and ready for more traumatic surgery and recovery. I barely think about it at work, though at night I am tired and want to elevate it and rest it. The swelling is tremendously lessened over the past few weeks, and sometimes the scar looks pretty good. I know someday it will be a thin white line, right now I don't want to "wear it out in public". My posture is so much better since I am in less pain. I can walk up and downstairs and it feels completely normal. This post is mostly for my brother Rick. OH, and funny thing, I dreamed last week that I ran, naturally and comfortably. I will not be running, but I did enjoy it in my dream!

New Knee

I have had my left knee replaced, during the school year. I have avoided missing school and doing this for years, but, as they say, you will know when you can't take it any more. I have left my classroom in the hands of a newly licensed art teacher and I am trying to be confident in her decisions while I am gone. I would like to say, this is no walk in the park, I understand the rewards will be tremendous later and I will forget the difficulty of this part. PT is a force and one must be willing to put out that effort. I am so glad I am getting professional PT three times a week. Yesterday wa my first day out in public. I had my husband take me out to breakfast. otherwise, the web and PT are my world. And thank goodness for little screens, smart phones and such so I can keep a lifeline going with my friends.
  I am reporting ad nauseum on almost every little detail of my recovery on Facebook. leaving off the joys of pooping and pain meds and improvements in that department, but I'll tell you, I think I have made it! I am ot released to walk with a cane, but a cane is so much better in the house. Yesterday I took my outing with the cane,m so much easier to accommodate me and a cane!

I am constantly searching for the perfect position to rest the knee. found it for 2 or 3 hours last night while I napped. It's elusive.

Another challenge I face is trying to get enough protein to support my nearly 6 yr old weight loss surgery. Eating does not feel like a priority right now. I keep overestimating what I can handle. I wouldn't be surprised if I haven't lost 4 or 5 pounds. that's OK. I wanted to. I don't want to lose more than 10. Can't believe that after 30 years of a combination of obesity and morbid obesity, I am at such a good place that I would only "like" to lose 10.

I am also diffusing some lovely essential oils around me, helping me relax, breathe, heal and rest.I can't sit here long so this is it for now. Another one of my rambling connections with... who knows.

Pain with this is minimal, soreness is maximal, always trying to get those muscles right over the knee working again, working together.

 December 20, off the cane and today my stride is lengthening and the knee feels more like my own all of a sudden, instead of a clunk limb stuck in the middle of my leg. Major improvement overnight, so I thought I'd add it in to this post. I am down to 2 physical therapy appointments a week for the next 2 weeks and then it is back to the classroom. IF I feel really good about this, I will schedule knee number 2 for June. A summer of recovery, but I can do it. Then I may possibly be heading in to my last year of teaching. 2 years short of my goal.

I Barely Post

This is the second year school has been so rugged. I have figured some things out, but really resent that feeling of being pushed out. It makes me want to dig my heels in and practice a really honest really pissy retirement speech!  I think I understand why now, but I won't say until it's over. Not the way I want to leave my beloved profession. Paranoia leaks over to the blog, and I am not brave with my voice. Coming soon, a new right knee joint, which I hope will make me a much more active adult and grand parent as pain has prevented me from doing things I want for so long I cannot remember-- much longer than I would admit.

Already done: cataract surgery and new vision becoming better every day. I am now wearing readers again and that may be what I end up needing. The surgery and the surgeon were very easy. I took 3 days for each eye, but felt like a malingerer after day 2. I do not miss school easily. This year it changes. This surgery is fascinating as is its history. I have asked many questions about this and learned a lot. One thing I noticed is I do not have really good camera focusing vision right now-- distance is fabulous- but mid range is not- I would have done a better job on the DeVivo family photos if I had two more bad jokes and realized the boys needed to be standing higher or the parents sitting lower! It's a tall family! My phone shots were better, but they take no talent at all!

I was very upset when the ortho surgeon changed my date AGAIN! I think the anxiety from all this gave me some stomach pain and I was afraid my #WLS surgery was having issues after nearly 6 years. Nope, good old nervous stomach trying to revisit after 40 years. I will now have to miss an entire month of school instead of 3 weeks. I have to take a day off school for a joint surgery class and another day for a skin check., There must be no bruise or blemish on the knees or the surgery will be cancelled AGAIN! I might have to retire to get this done!

This is definitely an old lady post, see above.

I tried to introduce graffiti in my 8th grade- big hit-- see now that's now old lady! I may work on it while I am recovering!

Movie Review Hundred Foot Journey

When I first blogged, I would zoom home to write down my thoughts on a movie I just saw, and this one made me feel that way. The Hundred Foot Journey is a sumptuous visual feast, a romance on two levels, humorous, sweet-- and starts with one of those Disney moments-- just to break your heart. I want the sound track, I want to go there-- Helen Mirren is wonderful and I cannot tell you any other names. Look them up! If you're a 20 something, a 30 something a 60 something-- this movie is for you.

Again--Cooper

When I was about 12 or so I saw a photo of myself/notmyself. It looked like me. The dress was almost the same, the face was similar, familiar, but not quite the same. "Mom, is this me?" "No, it's your sister Janice." That's how and when I learned I had a year older sister who may have died as I was being born. Never a word was spoken about her. Not sure when she died. No idea what her birthday was. She was hospitalized and died of dehydration from Diarrhea. My childish thought (even though I was the caretaker of my siblings) was oh well, she was JUST A BABY. The stoics of the 50's and 60's parenting leaked no emotion. My mom said she didn't even know where she was buried, her sisters-in-law did it and never showed her. Could that be true? No one knows now. I was reared as the oldest-- have oldest child traits-- what would have been different? Would she have been the ONE to go to college? A million things I ask myself this morning. How did my mom go from losing a one-year-old to parenting the next? and really resenting the one after that...? No Dr. Spock to help you then. No Elizabeth Kubler Ross. No anti-depressants. No mental health care. My mind is roiling this morning. My first thought upon the birth of my son was oh my god, there is no such thing as just a baby. I had a clue that day-- some understanding. At this time in my life, there have been many losses, some of them dear children. Enough ways of dying to know there is no best way, no worst way to lose your child. Every way is the worst way. Every age is the worst age. In my late 20's, maybe early 30's, my mom and I were driving south on First street and on the radio was a story about how many babies died in the 40's from an inadequate formula and named the brand. That is when my mom found out what killed her baby girl. Formula may have been the best "New Thing" then, and Dad refused to allow her to nurse her babies, those breasts were his. Nursing was old fashioned and back woodsy at that time. This week another of my sweet school family has had an unbearable loss. Lindsey's mom died 2 years ago from a quick and vicious round of Burkitt's Lymphoma. Yesterday her 3 month-old baby boy died of a rare fatal genetic brain disorder. There is no good time. I put the diagnosis below. There is no such thing as "just a baby."



This little baby died yesterday.

13 hrs · Terre Haute, IN

For those who knew Lindsey and Kyle. There little angel Cooper went to be with Grandma Mel today.
Please don't text or face book them at this time.

this is the email that I received yesterday

Kyle and Lindsey have asked that I send an email to update everyone about Cooper. After extensive testing the doctors at Riley have diagnosed Cooper with Leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter. This is a rare terminal genetic disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) with no treatment available. Because the disease is characterized by rapid periods of deterioration followed by a plateau with some recovery doctors are unable to give Kyle and Lindsey any idea of how long Cooper may have. They are still at Riley and plan on remaining there for now, but may return home with Hospice care. Cooper is currently on oxygen and the doctors are giving him medication to keep him comfortable while he rests with mom and dad. Cooper will be 3 months old on Monday.

Kyle and Lindsey are doing as well as can be expected and have been surrounded by family these last few days. They would appreciate your continued prayers and support but have asked that you refrain from contacting them at this time as they focus on spending time with their son.

I have talked to Kyle about any needs they may have or what people can do to support them. At this time they are not aware of any needs and have simply asked that you continue to lift them and Cooper up in prayer.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalms 46:1