Help wanted (Score so far related)

[Jersey Girl]

Moving right along.

Post op recovery is going much better now since the Boy turned a corner. Day 3 will go down in history as utter hell. PT is twice a week for a month. Going to extend that. One of our kids is helping with transportation to PT at least once a week which gives me a little time to decompress and get ready for the next round of care.

Stuff that happened at the beginning of post op recovery. Two things that were critical to post op failed us.

1. Cooling machine was defective right out of the box.

We reverted back to the one with frozen inserts until the new one/different model came. Worked great and it's a life saver! It alows him (and me) to get an extended period of sleep instead of changing inserts every 2 hours.

2. Fancy recliner that I bought a month ago malfunctioned.

Fix it guy came the same day as the new cooling machine. Recliner is back in business!

Walking a lot and doing more for himself which removes some tasks from me. Still needs assistance with various things. Wound looks great (who am I?) and staples come out this Friday so wound care will be basically off the list of to-dos.

It's like this. Walk, recline/cool, exercise, and repeat until bedtime the elevate while sleeping.

As much as you think you have everything in place and ready for recovery, you learn that there are maneuvers you have to learn intuitively as you go and work around pain levels until recovery progresses.

Pain meds placed at the surgical site/pain meds at home, and cooling machines that can go overnight are your best friend.

[Marcus]

Moving right along.

Post op recovery is going much better now since the Boy turned a corner. Day 3 will go down in history as utter hell. PT is twice a week for a month. Going to extend that. One of our kids is helping with transportation to PT at least once a week which gives me a little time to decompress and get ready for the next round of care.

Stuff that happened at the beginning of post op recovery. Two things that were critical to post op failed us.

1. Cooling machine was defective right out of the box.

We reverted back to the one with frozen inserts until the new one/different model came. Worked great and it's a life saver! It alows him (and me) to get an extended period of sleep instead of changing inserts every 2 hours.

2. Fancy recliner that I bought a month ago malfunctioned.

Fix it guy came the same day as the new cooling machine. Recliner is back in business!

Walking a lot and doing more for himself which removes some tasks from me. Still needs assistance with various things. Wound looks great (who am I?) and staples come out this Friday so wound care will be basically off the list of to-dos.

It's like this. Walk, recline/cool, exercise, and repeat until bedtime the elevate while sleeping.

As much as you think you have everything in place and ready for recovery, you learn that there are maneuvers you have to learn intuitively as you go and work around pain levels until recovery progresses.

Pain meds placed at the surgical site/pain meds at home, and cooling machines that can go overnight are your best friend.

What is the cooling machine for, if you don't mind my asking?

[Jersey Girl]

Moving right along.

Post op recovery is going much better now since the Boy turned a corner. Day 3 will go down in history as utter hell. PT is twice a week for a month. Going to extend that. One of our kids is helping with transportation to PT at least once a week which gives me a little time to decompress and get ready for the next round of care.

Stuff that happened at the beginning of post op recovery. Two things that were critical to post op failed us.

1. Cooling machine was defective right out of the box.

We reverted back to the one with frozen inserts until the new one/different model came. Worked great and it's a life saver! It alows him (and me) to get an extended period of sleep instead of changing inserts every 2 hours.

2. Fancy recliner that I bought a month ago malfunctioned.

Fix it guy came the same day as the new cooling machine. Recliner is back in business!

Walking a lot and doing more for himself which removes some tasks from me. Still needs assistance with various things. Wound looks great (who am I?) and staples come out this Friday so wound care will be basically off the list of to-dos.

It's like this. Walk, recline/cool, exercise, and repeat until bedtime the elevate while sleeping.

As much as you think you have everything in place and ready for recovery, you learn that there are maneuvers you have to learn intuitively as you go and work around pain levels until recovery progresses.

Pain meds placed at the surgical site/pain meds at home, and cooling machines that can go overnight are your best friend.

What is the cooling machine for, if you don't mind my asking?

So here's a pic of a cooling machine. Ours is a different brand (Icenurt?) and the ice cooler is smaller. We use frozen bottled water and blue ice for back up. Ours holds 5 water bottles of ice, you add water to the top with the already in it. The bottles float to the top.

You can program it to cool off and on in cycles. I think he's got it 12 minutes on/10 minutes off. This seems to extend the cooling and keeps the ice longer. It has a pump that brings the cool water up from the cooler and circulates it throughout the pad. Pad is velcroed to the leg made to fit the knee area. It's nearly silent. I have to hover over it to listen for the pump.

I've also seen pics of folks using it for ankles and I guess sports injuries? You could easily put it on your arm in a pinch. Before we got this I was swapping out frozen inserts on a wrap with velcro every 2 hours. Now we can go for 6-7 hour stretches at a time. Life saver!

Picture/thousand words.

[Xenophon]

I've also seen pics of folks using it for ankles and I guess sports injuries? You could easily put it on your arm in a pinch. Before we got this I was swapping out frozen inserts on a wrap with velcro every 2 hours. Now we can go for 6-7 hour stretches at a time. Life saver!

One with a pump sounds nice. SO had a similar setup after her ACL surgery but it was just fed from a water cooler without the pump. Similar to this. It was pretty easy for me to get it to cycle in the cold water but tougher for her. Definitely kept the compression colder for longer and I found an extra large ice chunk mold that fit perfectly so I'd just add one of those every day.

[Jersey Girl]

I've also seen pics of folks using it for ankles and I guess sports injuries? You could easily put it on your arm in a pinch. Before we got this I was swapping out frozen inserts on a wrap with velcro every 2 hours. Now we can go for 6-7 hour stretches at a time. Life saver!

One with a pump sounds nice. SO had a similar setup after her ACL surgery but it was just fed from a water cooler without the pump. Similar to this. It was pretty easy for me to get it to cycle in the cold water but tougher for her. Definitely kept the compression colder for longer and I found an extra large ice chunk mold that fit perfectly so I'd just add one of those every day.

Yes very similar! He also has a compression machine that goes on and off in cycles. Put it on both legs over the TED hose. The hardest thing to manage is the TED hose but it's necessary.

[IWMP]

Aww bless. I'm glad you survived day 3 and things are going better. That machine looks awesome. Definitely sounds like a lifesaver.

[Hound of Heaven]

I don't think you understand what "heart healthy" snacks or meals actually is.

You speak of sugar vs refined sugar, but if you understood healthy eating, you would not consume sugar at all or so little of it you would only eat 1 to 2 grams a day.

You should be looking at sugar as your #1 enemy!

I don't think JGs diet is sugary at all. She's avoiding alcohol sugars because she has learned that that causes a reaction. It was me that mentioned the unrefined sugars and she was responding to my question.

What would you recommend if you feel sugar is the enemy? Carbs are sugar. Sugar is literally part of respiration and energy production.

I recommend eliminating sugar entirely for at least a month to determine if your body adapts well to this dietary change and to assess any reduction in bodily pain, particularly in the joints. Often, when sugar is removed from the diet, inflammation diminishes, leading to a significant decrease in joint pain. Reducing carbohydrates and cutting out sugar for a month can have remarkable effects on the body.

[Marcus]

What is the cooling machine for, if you don't mind my asking?

So here's a pic of a cooling machine. Ours is a different brand (Icenurt?) and the ice cooler is smaller. We use frozen bottled water and blue ice for back up. Ours holds 5 water bottles of ice, you add water to the top with the already in it. The bottles float to the top.

You can program it to cool off and on in cycles. I think he's got it 12 minutes on/10 minutes off. This seems to extend the cooling and keeps the ice longer. It has a pump that brings the cool water up from the cooler and circulates it throughout the pad. Pad is velcroed to the leg made to fit the knee area. It's nearly silent. I have to hover over it to listen for the pump.

I've also seen pics of folks using it for ankles and I guess sports injuries? You could easily put it on your arm in a pinch. Before we got this I was swapping out frozen inserts on a wrap with velcro every 2 hours. Now we can go for 6-7 hour stretches at a time. Life saver!

Picture/thousand words.

Thanks for the information--wow. We could have used a machine like this a couple of thousand times or so over the years!!

[Jersey Girl]

So here's a pic of a cooling machine. Ours is a different brand (Icenurt?) and the ice cooler is smaller. We use frozen bottled water and blue ice for back up. Ours holds 5 water bottles of ice, you add water to the top with the already in it. The bottles float to the top.

You can program it to cool off and on in cycles. I think he's got it 12 minutes on/10 minutes off. This seems to extend the cooling and keeps the ice longer. It has a pump that brings the cool water up from the cooler and circulates it throughout the pad. Pad is velcroed to the leg made to fit the knee area. It's nearly silent. I have to hover over it to listen for the pump.

I've also seen pics of folks using it for ankles and I guess sports injuries? You could easily put it on your arm in a pinch. Before we got this I was swapping out frozen inserts on a wrap with velcro every 2 hours. Now we can go for 6-7 hour stretches at a time. Life saver!

Picture/thousand words.

Thanks for the information--wow. We could have used a machine like this a couple of thousand times or so over the years!!

I didn't even know it existed until now. I think it could be used for any typical sports injury or strain as well.

The ice chest on ours is smaller. We put it on one of my big heavy duty plant pot rollers so we can move it from room to room. Pull it from the hose like walking a dog.

Haven't seen any with a wheel package which would be the only product improvement I can think of so far.

[Whiskey]

Thanks for the information--wow. We could have used a machine like this a couple of thousand times or so over the years!!

I didn't even know it existed until now. I think it could be used for any typical sports injury or strain as well.

The ice chest on ours is smaller. We put it on one of my big heavy duty plant pot rollers so we can move it from room to room. Pull it from the hose like walking a dog.

Haven't seen any with a wheel package which would be the only product improvement I can think of so far.

I used one of these to recover from a tibial plateau fracture. Highly recommend. 5 stars. They work great. Have 10 water bottles in rotation for a 24 hour cycle. I used a thin towel on the skin between the water pack and wrapped it tight during the day and a bit looser at night. It is a game changer.