I’m home now from what is becoming my new normal: summer in Prague. Two months to teach about news and news video at a small, English-speaking Czech university called Anglo-americky Vysoka Skola – or Anglo-American University http://www.aauni.edu/ for the non-Czech speaking world. Two months which also include a seminar for Czech businesss managers on Presentation Skills or Media Training or Communication – modalities which flow easily from a reporter-anchor-interviewer’s knowledge. Two months to live as Czechs do, in an apartment my husband and I bought several years ago in what I call the Queens of Prague. In other words, in one of the unfashionable but eminently livable neighborhoods on the city’s outskirts where there is lots of greenery, the best park in Prague, and almost instant access to trams, buses and the Metro.
But this summer was different. This summer I could walk again. And run a little. And climb. And carry groceries. And stand for hours. In short – I was me again – as active as I wanted to be, full of energy, bounding up and down the steep hill to our apartment like I would have 10 years ago – before my knee started on its inevitable journey toward replacement.
But I never found the Prague woman who set me on my new path. I wanted so much to thank her, to hug her and show her my new knee scar and even without a shared language – tell her in ways women understand how much she helped me. She found me last summer – both of us working out at the gym. A woman who was maybe 50 or 55 – full of energy and in great shape She saw me limping around and came striding purposely over – pointing to her knee. I knew enough Czech to understand she had had her knee replaced 8 months before and had already returned to her passion – skiing. She even danced a little for me – just to prove what was now possible.
Through the summer and fall I thought about that woman – and how she had gotten her life back. And slowly I began to think that maybe I too could get my life back. Maybe I too could get a knee replacement.
When I came back to Prague – and the gym in June – I looked for her every day I was there. But I never found her. One of the personal trainers who speaks English thought she knew the woman. And said she would tell her for me. I hope she has. I hope this woman knows that without her very kind overture to a perfect stranger (something Czechs, who are a reserved people, don’t usually do) I might still be miserably limping around today – instead of looking at photos of the Czech mountain I easily climbed 2 weekends ago. I hope this woman knows that she changed my life. And I hope that somehow – she knows that I will never forget her.
Showing posts with label knee replacement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knee replacement. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
My New Knee
My surgeon stood at the foot of my bed the day I was sent home from the hospital with a new knee. “You’ll lose 10 or 12 pounds; everyone does,” he said, “but don’t worry about it; you’ll gain it back when you get more active.” Since I had regained my appetite about 5 minutes after coming out of anesthesia in the recovery room I didn’t put a whole lot of faith in his promise. And sure enough I never lost an ounce. I blew my one chance in life to eat as much chocolate cake and ice cream as I wanted – gaining back those “lost” pounds.
And that’s sort of the way it went. It’s been almost 3 months now since I had right total knee replacement surgery. I was sure my recovery was going to be spent in a miserable, sleepless haze of heavy duty pain pills. After all that’s what almost everything I read suggested. I even bought a mindless autobiography to read, thinking my fogged-ed up brain wouldn’t be able to handle my usual diet of business and global news. But the pain pills went the way of the walker, crutches and cane before the end of the first week. I had incredible luck -- basically no pain and only moderate swelling. So I was able to start my rehabilitation -- simple exercises and knee bending to restore range of motion (ROM) immediately.
I started to write about my experience about 9 days after surgery – started and never finished. I was in a kind of comforting cocoon where work couldn’t get to me. Time consuming exercises had to be done 2 or 3 times a day followed by periods of icing and lots of catch-up sleep. My body needed to recover from this serious operation – even if my brain thought I was feeling “fine”. I wanted to craft any blog piece about my experience the way I usually do -- because I’m hoping that someday the writing on this page may provide a “published” body of opinion pieces.
But this has turned out to be somewhat different. This is about my life. And getting it back again in a way I really never expected. I want to shout from the rooftops in a very uncrafted way. For weeks now I have been able to walk miles. I can hike with my husband – up and down trails and some pretty steep hills. No I’m not ready to hike up Mt. Washington again -- but that will come. Along with everything else including – in a year or so – running again. I’ve been back at my gym – mixing it in with physical therapy – since the staples came out at 2 weeks. And 3 weeks ago my physical therapist threw me out – after transitioning me to my usual gym routine – slightly modified as I slowly gain back muscle strength in my operated upon leg.
At 9 days out from my knee surgery, I wrote that my brain had almost forgotten how badly my old knee worked – almost totally accepting the piece of metal and heavy duty plastic that replaced it. It is – I wrote then -- truly amazing. And it just gets more amazing as time goes on.
I was also lucky in another way; trolling the internet for pre-surgery information, I happened on a British website called BoneSmart http://www.bonesmart.org/public_forum/index.php. It’s co-moderated by a retired orthopedic nurse who just had her own knee replaced and has an amazing store of knowledge. The other co-moderator is about 13 months out from her TKR. People in all stages of recovery share their experiences and provide a body of shared information that helps just about everyone get through what is always a highly individualized recovery. I know the forum helped me understand the process and what was “normal” – a wide range of events and feelings. And now I hope I can help others with some of my own experiences and reactions.
I am convinced I had such a easy time of it because the pain mediation practiced by my surgeon and the hospital was so good. If you aren’t in pain it’s a lot easier to do the exercises and knee bending and muscle stretching that are crucial early on – and key to a good outcome and fast recovery. So I plan to write more about this aspect of total knee replacement. Some surgeons still don’t seem to care about pain mediation – and at this point – there can be no excuse for such callousness.
More – later.
And that’s sort of the way it went. It’s been almost 3 months now since I had right total knee replacement surgery. I was sure my recovery was going to be spent in a miserable, sleepless haze of heavy duty pain pills. After all that’s what almost everything I read suggested. I even bought a mindless autobiography to read, thinking my fogged-ed up brain wouldn’t be able to handle my usual diet of business and global news. But the pain pills went the way of the walker, crutches and cane before the end of the first week. I had incredible luck -- basically no pain and only moderate swelling. So I was able to start my rehabilitation -- simple exercises and knee bending to restore range of motion (ROM) immediately.
I started to write about my experience about 9 days after surgery – started and never finished. I was in a kind of comforting cocoon where work couldn’t get to me. Time consuming exercises had to be done 2 or 3 times a day followed by periods of icing and lots of catch-up sleep. My body needed to recover from this serious operation – even if my brain thought I was feeling “fine”. I wanted to craft any blog piece about my experience the way I usually do -- because I’m hoping that someday the writing on this page may provide a “published” body of opinion pieces.
But this has turned out to be somewhat different. This is about my life. And getting it back again in a way I really never expected. I want to shout from the rooftops in a very uncrafted way. For weeks now I have been able to walk miles. I can hike with my husband – up and down trails and some pretty steep hills. No I’m not ready to hike up Mt. Washington again -- but that will come. Along with everything else including – in a year or so – running again. I’ve been back at my gym – mixing it in with physical therapy – since the staples came out at 2 weeks. And 3 weeks ago my physical therapist threw me out – after transitioning me to my usual gym routine – slightly modified as I slowly gain back muscle strength in my operated upon leg.
At 9 days out from my knee surgery, I wrote that my brain had almost forgotten how badly my old knee worked – almost totally accepting the piece of metal and heavy duty plastic that replaced it. It is – I wrote then -- truly amazing. And it just gets more amazing as time goes on.
I was also lucky in another way; trolling the internet for pre-surgery information, I happened on a British website called BoneSmart http://www.bonesmart.org/public_forum/index.php. It’s co-moderated by a retired orthopedic nurse who just had her own knee replaced and has an amazing store of knowledge. The other co-moderator is about 13 months out from her TKR. People in all stages of recovery share their experiences and provide a body of shared information that helps just about everyone get through what is always a highly individualized recovery. I know the forum helped me understand the process and what was “normal” – a wide range of events and feelings. And now I hope I can help others with some of my own experiences and reactions.
I am convinced I had such a easy time of it because the pain mediation practiced by my surgeon and the hospital was so good. If you aren’t in pain it’s a lot easier to do the exercises and knee bending and muscle stretching that are crucial early on – and key to a good outcome and fast recovery. So I plan to write more about this aspect of total knee replacement. Some surgeons still don’t seem to care about pain mediation – and at this point – there can be no excuse for such callousness.
More – later.
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