Year One total hip replacement checkup

Yesterday was my one year checkup for my total hip replacement. Dr. Schall (Bone & Joint Clinic - Grand Forks, ND) also checked out my total knee replacement, my back (I have some arthritis deterioration in my spine), my other hip and knee. The prognosis was excellent, I do not have to see him for another year. Woo Hoo!

The probably reason for having this good report was due to following his instructions and doing many exercises. Over the past few weeks these are the changes I have become aware of:
1. less stiffness
2. more range of motion, dropping the level of the seat on my stationary bike by 1/4 inch increments when able to rotate easily.
3. walking 2 miles without pain or icing
4. no noticeable limp
5. sleeping through the night without a pillow between knees without pain
6. swimming 10-12 laps of all strokes consistently
7. more energy

I do not do the exercises recommended following surgery more than once or twice a week now and focus more on swimming, riding the stationary bike, and walking. Cross-training has helped increase my endurance and muscle tone.

If you are considering thr or tkr, follow through, it has been the best thing I have done for myself in many years. I had considerable back pain prior to my hip replacement which was relieved following my thr. In fact, I woke up from surgery without any back pain and have had very little since.

On to other areas.

Ardmore is definitely thinking spring. He has taken several trips to the Valley looking at grain trucks. Our old Ford needs to be replaced. He is thinking of a tag-axle, I want a tandem axle. He will make that decision and I will just go along with whatever he does.

We are worried about a wet spring. Last falls harvest was pretty wet and March has ended as a lion not a lamb. The beginning of April looks like it is going to be a lion also. After the beautiful weather prior to the snow on March 25 and some after that, it looks like Christmas not April. With only one month until we should be well into seeding, it looks like it isn't going too well. Farming is certainly at the mercy of the weather and northwest Minnesota is in the clutches of winter still.

The roads yesterday during the trip to and from Grand Forks left a lot to be desired. On the way, the roads were good to Thief River Falls then the predicted snow began and the roads became miserable in places, lots of drifting. On the way back the roads were not bad until after Thief River Falls. The wind had switched to the east and was drifting heavily on the east side of the road and I was driving north. At one time a semi had some problems on the west lane and the traffic from both north and south had come to a complete stop. A sheriff and a MN highway patrol car were preventing traffic from going in either direction. Finally we were given the go ahead but the driving was not fun. Roseau County had plowed though and from Strathcona on the road was pretty good until I reached highway 3 north of Badger. That was the worst road I had traveled on all day! I am home without incident though.

I did take some time to go to the mall in GF. Forgot to go to Bath and Body which was one of my main stops. Such in life, now I have to go back again or order online. I didn't even stop for lunch, just went straight home.

Today our granddaughter and husband begin the move into their new home. I am excited for them. I think they will find the home will bring them great satisfaction. I am excited to have Damen have a room of his own. That is so important. She now will be able to put him to bed and let him cry when she needs to. She can have a room for her exercise equipment, plus having a swimming pool and jacuzzi will be a benefit for them all.

The Roseau County Historical Society final Woman's History Month event went very well. I will do an update on the Red Hat and the Quilt event tomorrow.

Thought for the day: See this special spiritual thought Here

Temple Trip!

We are heading to Bismarck North Dakota to attend the temple tomorrow. It seems like it has been ages since we have been anywhere. The last time we headed out it was so icy that we decided to go back home. I probably wasn't ready for the 400 mile trip at that time anyway, now I am though.
Our friends called to tell us where they were staying and that it had a pool, so I immediately went on line found the phone number and called to make reservations. I love their children and their littlest one was so disappointed that she wasn't invited to my birthday party a couple of weeks ago (it was a ladies only party) that know she will be excited to know we are going swimming. Such an adorable little girl!

I have decided to take Monday off also. I don't usually do this but I have been working too many hours and need to remember that I am only suppose to be working four days a week, not five.

Most of yesterday and part of today was spent working on a grant. A friend did some editing for me; aren't friends great? It always is so much better to have someone else help you clean up what you write, at least for me it is. Often I don't have time to have someone do the clean up as I am working on things at the last minute. I put it down and try to reread it before I send it off, then when I see it in the paper, errors,glare out at me and I am frustrated. There is just too much to do and not enough time to do it all.

We escaped the big snowstorm. Brian, our Schwan man was in today. He lives about 125 miles south of us. He reported that they had between 12 and 16 inches of snow! We were lucky if we had an inch. It was very windy on Tuesday night, so much so that the visibility was no good on the way home. No snow or ice on the road though and in the morning the roads were excellent. It was strange seeing the snow piled in the middle of the streets in Roseau. It didn't seem like there was enough snow to make the piles that high, but after the grader pushed them to the middle there was plenty.

Early tomorrow morning we will be leaving to Bismarck . It is going to be wonderful to walk into the peacefulness of the temple and leave the world behind and think only of the Savior. Then on Tuesday it will be back to the business of life with the next Women in History program on Thursday evening, a Red Hat event. Fun!

Clearing the roof and where my tkr is now.

Yesterday I came home to a house with a foul odor and tried to find the source. Finally this morning, I realized it was coming from the bathroom and decided that the vents on top of the house must have snow over the top of them and be plugged. Hubby climbed up and started clearing it off, lots of snow, he even had to use the shovel handle to break through one of the vents. I decided a photo of him on the roof doing this was appropriate.


When I took the camera in, climbing over the snow he had shoveled in the front of the house. I decided to gab a shovel and clear the snow on the sidewalk, he was clearing the back of the house. All of a sudden this snow started filtering around me and then there was a plop on my head! Hubby had come across to the front and was clearing more snow off the roof and dumped it right on top me. I ended up with one more shovelful cascading down on me before he heard me shouting. I had snow in my coat hood, all down my back on inside of my coat. What a struggle to remove that coat and unload all the snow in the hood. When I got into the house, my shirt was white with snow on the back and I was very cold. I just snuggled up with a good movie and let hubs finish the shoveling, it was a much better thing to do. My exercise for the day ended up being a 3/4 mile walk to our mailbox about an hour later instead.

The seventh was the sixth month since my total knee replacement. Here is an update on the knee:

1. Depending on the weather, there usually isn't a lot of pain except when I first ride my stationary bike or come down the stairs before I do some knee stretches or exercises.
   
2. Sleeping is usually not a big problem. I sleep through most of the night (about 7 hours) with only one nature call. No more incontinence! That is usually a problem for quite a while after either tkr or thr. The Kegal exercises along with the exercises for improving hip muscle strength helped tremendously with this.
   
3. I sleep on the side which I did not have knee replacement (I had thr on that side) most nights but can sleep comfortably on both sides. I do use a pillow for the knee when I sleep on the thr side. Not between my knees but beside me with the bottom leg straight and the tkn leg bent or straight. If I do not get sufficient sleep, I have more pain.
4. I do my physical therapy exercises about 2-3 times a week, go to the gym about 2 -3 times a week, ride the stationary bike almost daily, rock in the rocking chair every day - several times a day (this is a great help), walk about a mile plus 2-3 times a week and swim at least once a week. I alternate these.
5. My knee on the outer side is still numb or tingly, due to the nerve over the knee being cut during surgery. This is the case with everyone who had had tkr. The area is suppose to get smaller with time.
6. I ice very seldom, only when I feel real tightness and have very little problem with swelling now.
   
7. I continue to take 250 mg Vicodin at night prior to going to sleep.
8. All of the above will vary from person to person.
   
9. Watch my diet and take a good woman's vitamin. I like the GNC vitamin the best, also take calcium, potassium (keeps the Charley horses from torturing me), and a baby aspirin.
10. I basically can do everything I want to do now and usually with little pain.
    

I hope this helps anyone has tkr. Everyone responds differently, but has some areas that are similar.

Where does the time go?

I have problems sleeping all night. Last night was good though and I only woke up at 5:30 then fell right back to sleep. Sad part was when I woke up again it was 7:30 and I wanted to just lay there a little longer and fell asleep again only to wake up at 8:34. I really had to hustle to get ready for work after that. I had planned to stay home today but decided I had a couple of projects that couldn't be left, especially when two of us will be gone for Monday through Wednesday.

I started our research guru on a new project, copying the photos in the files into pdfs or jpegs so we could put them into our museum software. This is a project that will take a long time but will be very valuable. All photos, not just the cataloged photos will be done, which will give us wonderful access to the photograph collection.

On Wednesday, I started another staff person on the project of making a data base of the files and what photos are in them. When both of these projects are completed, we will be able to locate photographs and replace them in the correct file each time they are used. Our museum software program, PastPerfect, will give their location. An opportunity for a volunteer, someone out there in our area want to help with this project?

There is an endless opportunity to do projects in the museum and none of them seem to be dull. I love to watch a person take on a new project that they were leery about being able to do and then the see the confidence they gain when they find out it wasn't as hard as they thought it would be.

Ardmore
finally
cleaned
off
the
deck
and
the
table.
What
a
lot
of
snow!

Five for Friday

1. Name your favorite TV show - Extreme Makeover - Home Edition, I love the service rendered by this program.
2. Name your favorite author - Richard Paul Evan, he tells the best stories that tug at the heart.
3. Name your favorite winter activity - surfing the Internet. I love to read blogs, especially blogs about books and from friends.
4. Why live in Minnesota? - Spring, winter, summer, fall, we have them all.
   
5. What are you the most thankful for right now - having no back pain.

Have a great weekend!