I have no trouble at all with dozing off in the middle of the day and taking 42 cat naps here and there. Put me in the recliner for more than 3 minutes and I am asleep. Put me in my bed and I become the walking dead, wandering the house from midnight till dawn. During those dark hours of the night not even the recliner will give me the comfort and relaxation I seek.
Speaking of the recliner, I rented one of those LIFT recliners that electronically dumps you out of the chair or reclines into almost a bed. It's great and has been a God send these past 2 weeks. We had gotten one for Ger when he was battling his cancer and found it to be a huge help. The poor guy was so weak he couldn't get from a sitting to standing position without help. Having had that experience with these type chairs I found that once I got home from the hospital I was in need of A LOT of help so 3 days later there was a rented lift recliner in my living room making my life SO much easier. Not to mention the fun it is catapulting myself half way across the room. Nothing like a little extra help to get my butt moving. This chair has been a savior during this recuperation period. My wonderful "sleep number" bed has given me a lot of TLC also and the fact that I can raise and lower the foot end of the bed to elevate my leg to help reduce swelling is a huge plus! But put me in that bed and I can not sleep more than 2 hours. I can't figure out what the heck is going on. I'm off all the pain meds because I really don't have any pain any more. THANK YOU GOD !! But my knee is so stiff that it is causing me to walk with an awkward gait which is throwing my back into spasms so that when I do lie down my back is aching and my knee is throbbing and I am really getting pissed.
Yesterday I FINALLY figured out that maybe I should be taking some good old TYLENOL PM when I go to bed, since I am taking Tylenol as my go to "pain" medication. Who knew that Tylenol actually is a pain reliever and it WORKS? I always thought Tylenol was just a joke when it came to relieving pain and would reach for the Advil or Aleve bottle before I would use Tylenol I am totally changing my thinking on that! This stuff actually does relieve pain and last night it allowed me to sleep for a good 5 hours before waking at 5:00AM to wander the house in search of something to do until the sun came up. Naturally I did fall asleep in the recliner at about 7:45 only to have to get up at 8:15 to get ready for the PT guy. But hey, I did get some seriously needed sleep !
This knee replacement is not a walk in the park or even a walk in the dump. I really thought I would breeze through it and be running by now. Silly me ! Actually I am doing fantastic, no infection, staples are out and wound is looking beautiful. Now maybe with a little sleep I will be ready to be put on the rack and stretch this knee out straight some time in the near future. Like they always tell the sports players, WALK IT OUT !
No comments:
Post a Comment