Mon. Nov. 3, 2008

Where does the time go to? It's been awhile since I last came to post anything. There always seems to be lots of things to do, or I'm not really feeling up to doing much of it. Since I last posted, I've had knee replacement surgery and spent a week in the hospital. It actually wasn't as bad as what I was expecting, but one thing I know, is that they really need to make sure people are given enough pain medication for those first few weeks in order to keep the pain lowered so they can get enough sleep through the nights and be able to get about during the day and do the things that need to be done. I'm not trying to kid anyone by saying that there was no pain, because there was, but it was tolerable in that I was able to get through it and not be afraid to get the other knee done. I'm more than prepared to get the other knee done now that I know what to expect. It's so very nice not to have the constant pain 24/7 in my right knee like I was getting before, and thankfully they did the surgery on the knee that was the worst.
The day that I went in to have the surgery, I was really worried about what to expect, and concerned about all the possible risks that come along with any kind of surgery. They gave me a sedative to relax me then got all of my information and vitals, and rolled me into surgery. Once there they did a spinal and froze the lower half of my body and started the surgery. An additional sedative helped relax me more, but I remained awake and only drowsy. I wasn't really able to see very much without my glasses and the sheet that they draped up in front of me. I knew they were moving my leg around and painting it with iodine/disenfectant. I'm not really sure how long the surgery actually took, but at least when it was done and over with I was moved to the recovery room for a little while then up to my room, where at least I was awake and not having to worry about the effects of any anesthetic. They got me up the following morning to move as far as the bathroom, and each day it was a little more moving and bending the leg till I could get more movement out of it. My surgery was a Tues. and I was back home on the Tues. I was still in a lot of pain that week and struggling to get around, but I managed. Physiotherapy helped along with just regular use of my leg and knee along with some pain medication to help me through the worst of it. While it still hurts at times, it is nothing in comparison to the constant pain that I used to get all of the time. At least now I can get around better with much less pain.

We also managed to get away on our vacation in August, and I was able to start driving and getting around better. Jen was also able to drive which made it much easier to do things, and now she actually has her driver's licence which she managed to get in Sept.

With the changing weather, and drop in the temperature, along with much damper weather, I am finding it a struggle again to get around on my other knee which is still full of arthritis. I am also finding I am struggling with the pain from the fibromyalgia some days, but I know that is gonna be a problem anyway. Now if I could just get out walking more, and start losing some weight, I imagine it would help to reduce my weight and possibly help with the pain.

Anyway, life goes on....!!

There have been many other situations to deal with around here, some of which I can't get into. One thing that happened at the end of our holidays, is that Earl developed pain in his one leg, and after he returned to work, found it very painful and hard to stand on. The leg also swelled up, and had a large bruise on it, so he ended up going to emergency only to learn that he had a rather large blood clot in his leg. They put him on pain medication as well as blood thinners, and he had to keep his leg up and rested for quite some time as well as not being able to drive, so I had to be driving him all over for awhile. Thankfully he is now back to work, and we are anxious for his first pay check to finally come in, and try to get some bills paid, before they start shutting things down on us.

The girls are both in high school, and J is still working at McD's. It's gonna be a lot more work for her this year and next so hopefully she's able to get through it all. B got involved in the basketball team shortly after school started and she had been enjoying that every since. K is also there this year. They are growing up so fast!!
Well, we are into November now, and it won't be long till winter arrives. Yikes....not looking forward to that, or the winter driving and especially not in letting J drive through it. It can be pretty rough driving around here.