there are pros and cons...

 specifically about taking that oxycodone.  It works like a dream, in some ways, but when I feel so nauseous and dizzy and like my breathing is so shallow, no thank you.  I took Zofran in the hospital with each dose, but I don't seem to have any here, ha.  So I haven't taken any since last evening.  Sometime today or tomorrow the nerve block will be wearing off, so I don't know.  But.  I am working on living in the moment.  This is what I'm doing now, this is all I have to deal with right now.  Not what will happen tomorrow or how long until I drive again or how much pain I'll have in outpatient physical therapy.  Just right now. And right now, I'm okay.  I got up every hour and a half, two hours last night to walk to the bathroom.  In the wee morning hours, I went to the freezer and got an ice pack (I have two), it's a strap on thingy, so I slung it over the front of the walker, and oh that felt better when I positioned myself into my chair.

You can't just sit down.  You have to back the walker up, hold on to the arms of the chair, use your "good" knee to bend as the other one slides forward, then you park on the edge.  I get my little stool scooched forward, it has a blanket and a pillow and a foam cushion on it.  Then I get my dog leash thing and lift the leg up onto the stool, then inch back into my chair, ahhh.  

The ortho guy who came to see me in the hospital told me to do buttocks clenching, tighten and release, over and over again, to help with the leg swelling.  He said those are the biggest muscles in the body, (excuse me?  But I don't think he was talking about me)).  He said to keep the leg straight while sitting and push down on your thigh to press that leg into straightness.  Also, keep doing to foot pumps.  My job, he said, is to keep moving.  "Act like you didn't have surgery, and just move."  It goes without saying that is easier said than done!

We won't get into the details, but there are bathroom things that need to happen.  I can't shower yet but I did take a sponge bath with one dollar cloths from the Dollar General, and put on clean undies.  Shh, no bra around the house, which has never happened with me before.  I just don't care enough.  I still get dizzy and feel a bit exhausted and yucky.  Paul made me coffee this morning, it was wonderful, then I ate a Built protein bar, mmm.  I don't like taking ibuprofen on an empty stomach.  The girls got me daily hydration packets for my water bottle, so I stirred in a strawberry lemonade.  I didn't stir it well, and the first drink was a big chunk of it, oh dear.

So when you're in the hospital, they ask you medical questions, background, ect.  It was inevitable that each nurse/healthcare professional would ask how many children do you have.  I tell you, I am sheepish each time.  I go from being an ordinary middle aged woman to...being a weirdo, in two seconds flat.  

The hospital nurses and employees I dealt with were golden though, hard working and kind, really a good experience.  

It might be nap time...I plan to take several little naps, since that's all I got last night when I was supposed to be sleeping!  I won't leave myself alone, if I woke up, I'd think, "I should get up and get the blood flowing!"  So up I got.  One step at a time.  That first step is always a doozy.  But I loosen up by the time I'm coming back to the chair.  It feels, in case you're wondering, like a very tight band all around your leg, with deep aches coming from it, like a hidden spring of aches, an artesian well.  Then the knee itself clicks and feels unsteady, like it's ready to just dislocate at any moment, while walking.  The muscles around it need strengthening, yet all they want to do is scream and feel sorry for themselves.  (I asked the dr about the clicking, he explained it to me and it's normal, and it's disgusting...I mean, they cut off the top of the femur and put a metal ball there...he kept giving these details, I think I turned white. ) 

Anyway.  If you're getting sick of the daily diatribe of the post knee replacement, I'm very sorry!  You all have a good day, and thank you SO much for kinds comments and prayers.  I love hearing the details of others' experiences (thank you Cheryl!  And you're practically my neighbor, that's like an hour away!), and I really appreciate the encouragement (Terri!  thank you!). 

Have a good day...and ha, don't be surprised if I bother and harangue and blather on and on again later, as I don't have too much to do around here, than I CAN do, anyway...:)