11 Months since the operation

 Date 2022-12-25

Update

On the face of things I am now pretty mobile and in less pain than before the operation on my right knee. I am able to walk reasonable distances and get my heart rate elevated climbing and descending our local sand dunes. According to my fitbit app I am doing on average 8.5 Km per day.

Whilst sailing on my yacht I note that I am not yet as steady as I was before the operation and the stiffness of the right knee makes it a bit difficult getting on and off top of the coach house roof. Much of this, I have no doubt, is a fear of flexing the knee too much.

The knee still shows signs of swelling to the outer side of the knee cap although these last few days I have noticed the swelling reducing such that I can feel all around the knee cap. 

Thoughts on pain

From about 5 months since the operation I have noticed a significant pain which develops below the knee on the inside of the leg although somedays I have no pain at all. This pain seems to increase when I: 

• Twist the lower leg in relation to the knee, 

• Go for long walks 

• Standing still for periods of more than 10 minutes. 

For a while it seemed that this pain subsides when I walk with my right foot turned inwards, so that I am walking ‘pigeon toed’ but now I am not so sure. This last couple of weeks I have been experiencing sciatica from my hip down the outside of the right leg but once I move around it eases. 

I am continuing with my physiotherapy exercises although I have been a bit lax lately and need to get back to a more regular programme. The exercises I still do are:

1. Flexing both legs at the knee lying with my legs on the peanut and then wiggling my ankles

2. Raising and lowering my hips supporting my ankles on the peanut

3. Using a wobble board

1. stretching my achilles tendon up to the back of the knee.

2. Balancing on each leg separately

4. Static bike for 50 turns of the peddals. This has become less difficult with the reduction in the knee swelling. 

Twice a day Catharine and I walk the dog for around 20 to 30 minutes which includes walking up and down sand dunes to raise my heart rate. I go for longer walks roughly 1 or 2 times per week. Typically we will walk around 8 to 9 Km per day. I wasn’t sure of the freezing temperatures of the last few days had increased the pain or not but having continued to walk through the river at low tide I rather suspect that the cold and then warm when we get home has been a benefit.

My balance on the right leg is not as good as the left leg but it is improving. My right achilles tendon was repaired when I was 25 with a carbon fibre and this has always been stiff. By flexing my ankle upward, bending the foot so the toes move toward the shin on the wobble board I feel significant tension through to the back of the knee. Additionally the tendons and muscles on the outside of the shin are very tight. I have been treating this with a vibrating massage tool, and getting this seen to in sessions with my sports injury therapist; who uses massage and cupping techniques to help separate the tendons to give the leg more flexibility.

Catharine and I are planning to return to Lithuania for the 1 year anniversary of the operation and I have asked for the surgeon to check me over. We had hoped to go earlier but there has been too much going on so we’ve delayed the expedition.

9 months since the operation

It is the morning of Tuesday 25th October. Yesterday I had another session with Steffi who was very pleased with my progress in that the reduction of the swelling on the knee continues. She worked on the area of the shin for a large part of the session and as I left her treatment room and climbed the steps up the garden my knee flection seemed much better. I have been having quite severe cramps in that area over the last few months but didn’t think to mention it before.

My ability to walk downstairs now is quite good most of the time but the pain below my knee is very variable. I am now convinced that this must be a trapped nerve as it comes and goes without any particular incident. When walking the dog, which I do twice a day, I can now walk, as long as the variable pain isn't too bad, at a much quicker pace. With my Fitbit watch recording all my steps and calories burn it sits well with my new diabetic software "MySugr". 

This last few weeks I have been much more productive and have completed a number of tasks which have been nagging me for some time. With the heavy rain fall recently we had a bit of a flood in the garage under the house so I finally got round to installing the cut off drainage channel to divert the majority of the water runoff down the drive. This involved a lot of bending to use the disc cutter to cut through the paviors, lift the bits out and regrade the bedding sand before fitting the plastic channels. 

This probably didn't do my back a great favour as I still have significant lower back ache, probably  resulting from the decompression operation from just over a year ago, but having Catharine’s help with back massage and sessions with Steffi it is gradually getting better. I just can't stay sitting or standing for too long and have to get up and move at regular intervals. 

As we have come to the month of October I have had to move the yacht from the swinging moorings at Holyhead to the Academy Pontoons at Plas Heli Pwllheli. One of my sailing colleagues joined me for a lovely sail round on a weather window between the significant high winds we’ve been experiencing over the  last few weeks. It seems like we have one good day and then back to storms. 

This was the view back to Bardsey Sound as we approached St Tudwal’s Island. Although lovely and sunny it was very cold and I had to ditch the shorts for some warm trousers! The trip takes around 8 hours and that is a long time to be moving about on the boat or standing behind the wheel for long periods so the knee does stiffen up a bit from these activities, especially in the cold. Now with the yacht down in Pwllheli we are taking part in the Winter Race Series every other weekend until the end of December. 

It is great to be back to racing with a bigger fleet and feeling fit enough to really participate. 

I now plan to get to grips with all the remaining outstanding tasks on my list, rather than just moving them forward to future dates! 

Catharine and I are giving some thought to a trip back to UPA Spa so that she can see what a great place it is and we can benefit from a few days spa treatment. 

Week 34 - 7.5 months since the op

Now 24th September and I have made significant progress having walked around 6 miles yesterday with an old work colleague from many years ago. I set off from my daughter’s house to drive my MX-5 the 54 miles from Dorchester to Exeter. The car is very low and l need the roof down to make it easy to get in and out. Fortunately it was sunny so ideal for open top driving.

Having arrived at 09:45 we sat and caught up over a couple of coffees before we set off from his house in Marlborough Road and walked down to the harbour having stopped to look at where the gate had been in the city wall.

From there we walked down the canal to the double lock pub for lunch. Watching kids swimming and of lots swans & ducks. The pub was busy with lots of external tables and friendly staff. Chris and enjoyed the food and a beer in sunshine and shade from all the trees.

After lunch we walked back a different way finally getting back to his house for a cup of tea and a well earned rest! -

My knee was a little sore with the recurrent pain below the joint and a bit of swelling but after a short rest I was able to continue walking from Chris’s house down to the Spanish restaurant for a tapas dinner before I drove my mx-5 back to Dorchester where I have been helping my daughter, who has not been well. The car is very low and I still have some difficulty in getting in or out with the soft top up so I drive it with the top down unless it is raining. Diving the mx-5 for a long distance is fine with a very comfy driver’s seat. but trying to get out in the tight parking Spaces is difficult unless I can fully open the door!.

The day before I had helped Amber with work in their allotment and according to Fitbit I have exceeded my targets for the last 3 days!

I had been avoiding long drives since the operation but I felt it was appropriate at this point in my recovery to drive the 340 mile journey.

When I saw Steffi this last Wednesday she was impressed with my progress and she spent time releasing the muscles and tendons on the outside of my right leg to give me more mobility in my ankle and less restriction at the knee.

Since my last blog I have been on several long cruises on my yacht so following on from the portrush cruise next joined other yachts form Holyhead m a cruise to the Isle of Man and more recently to Dun Laoghaire and Greystones. Both proved challenging but with improvements in my fitness and balance we overcame all the issues..

Greystones marina entrance

So it seems that I am now well into recovery and with a bit more work things will be as good as the left leg!

Home recovery 6 months

Following on from my issues which I reported in the last blog I have been making substantial progress thanks to Steffi, my Sports & Remedial Massage Therapist. Her cupping techniques and massage to loosen and stretch the various parts of my right leg which are causing the problems. 

I have also been getting Catharine to use the massage machine we bought after the previous operation, and I had forgotten about. This vibrating machine has a ‘spiky’ rubber head which although painful at first soon gives considerable relief and this Catharine now applies to my lower back, my glute pain area and the area below and above the operation area. 

I am now able to walk downstairs fairly consistently without pain; the pain in my glute is way less of an issue and my lower back is not nearly so stiff. So wopeedo I am getting there!

The planned trip to Portrush was a great event and it was really great to meet with Williamd Mcantyre at the Portrush Yacht Club. The passage was quite challenging but it was so good to be out on the water with 2 good friends visiting various places, Peel in the Isle of Man, Portrush and Bangor Northern Ireland which has just been awarded city status.

Here is a link to my blog on the trip.

My hopes of being started on the freestyle libre patches have not come to fruition as yet, once again a significant disappointment with our NHS here in North Wales. Consequently my diabetes blood sugar measurements continue to be erratic.

I have continued doing a lot of work on my yacht which involves getting into even smaller spaces than before in modifying the wiring and electrical connections. Today for example, I have been replacing the gas alarm, which entailed getting into a VERY small space under the sinks in the galley. 

I am now looking forward to the next cruise which is going to be back to the Isle of Man to see the classic motorcycle TT next month. However I am not feeling sufficiently mobile yet for racing the yacht.

I have lost around a kilo over the last month with my increased activity; however I still find longer walks cause the pain below the knee to increase so I am still a bit limited on distance. 

5 Months since the operation

Home recovery 5 months

Well it seems an age ago when I was in Lithuania and I watch with trepidation the expanding threats by Russia on the old soviet union countries like Lithuania. 

I have recently been in touch with Rūta about the expectations on my recovery as I have been convinced that it is not going as well as the last time; however I must accept that not only was it a bigger operation as it was a revision to a previous partial knee but I am of course 4 years older!  

Issues which I have noticed recently:

1. Pain below the operated knee when standing still and then moving. 

2. Continued failure to walk downstairs comfortably

3. A developing pain in my left glute 

4. Lower back pain

I had been suffering from significant pain just below the operated knee on the inside of the leg. This got worse if I stood for any length of time or walked too far. Shooting pains and very inhibiting. I wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything untoward happening. Anyway Rūta was extremely helpful and asked me to get two X-Rays redone and sent off to her. 

As usual it was a lengthy process to get the new X-Rays carried out and then to get the digital copies to send off. When she passed these to the consultant he was happy that everything was in order and I should not worry. I had also asked about some long term discoloration below where this pain appears to be located so it had worried me that there might be a link. Again I was told that this was quite normal and I should not worry; indeed my GP said it was likely to be a slight internal bleed following the operation and it would eventually disappear. 

Following on directly from the GP appointment I had a session with Steffi my Sports & Remedial Massage Therapist and she uses cupping. I discussed the issue of the discolouration and she used  cupping and drawing the cup up towards the lymph node at the knee.  After the session the discolouration disappeared so that is another relief. Since the last session with Steffi I have now been able to walk further, I am now working on the pain in my glute by sitting on a spiky ball and rolling it forwards and backwards and the pain below the knee is affecting my way less. The lower back pain is most noticeable when I wake in the mornings and try to get out of bed. With movement it becomes less noticeable. 

During the last month I have been doing a lot of work on my yacht which involves getting into small spaces, bending a lot and strengthening my core in sympathy with the rocking of the boat on the swinging mooring. I am sure that this is doing me good and getting me more flexible and fitter. However as I recover and get to move more my diabetes blood sugar measurements are becoming more erratic. I am now waiting to be put on the new freestyle libre patches to help me get my sugar levels more consistent again. 

All in all I am now quite a happy chap but still wish I was recovering even quicker. I am back to walking our dog again now twice a day but I have had to pull out of competing in the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) races for this year. I am looking forward to my first long cruise of this year to Portrush next Thursday where I will catch up with Williamd Mcantyre. Roll on 6 months since the operation!

3 months since the operation

Yesterday 24th April I received an email from Ruta at Nordorthopaedics asking me to get my 3 month X-Ray review to send off for the surgeon to check. 

For much of the last week I have had a dull pain around the lower section of the knee which moved from side to side, not in any way consistent, this has hampered my walking distances but I can now walk down stairs normally most of the time. 

Every now and then I still do too much and then suffer the consequences with having to rest up and use cream and ice. Today 26th is one of those days but with some maintenance issues to deal with on the other house I had to keep going. Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon and early evening doing awkward maintenance on the boat so I wasn't surprised that I was a bit on the stiff side today. 

A summary of my experience so far on this second Lithuanian knee. 

At 3 months I have noticed pain around the top of the tibia, or where I assume it to be. The pain is not constant and tends to move from one side to another. 

My brian is not yet convinced about walking downstairs normally and I have to work hard to make myself do that, just like when I am walking I have to concentrate so that I don't limp. The natural reaction to walking down a slope seems to be that you test up your upper back and shoulders which again takes a lot of effort to correct.

I am not sure if the lower back pain is a result of the L4-L5 spinal decompression surgery that I underwent back on October 1st 2021, or whether it is the result of too much sitting around and not moving regularly. Generally I have been very good at doing my physiotherapy exercises and getting up from the sitting position at regular intervals. However I still struggle on certain days to rotate the static bike pedals through a full circle. 

The other point which I have noticed this week is a sharp pain when I push or catch the top of the surgery incision scar. I note that this is not painful when the knee is flexed around 90 degrees but only when straightened. 

Additionally my right calf has always been tight ever since my carbon fibre achilles tendon repair. This is now very noticeable when doing my physiotherapy. 

Before the operation my leg was pointing inwards from the hip to the knee and outward from the knee to the ankle. My stance is now perfect and the temptation to swing the ankle out as I am walking has disappeared. 

I sent Ruta this photo taken of my first sail since the operation taken on 1st April. 

Last week John, one of the group who were with me in January, and his partner came to Anglesey for a weekend and we met up and compared notes on our recovery stories. His operation was a few days after mine and he didn't stay as long as I did in UPA and recently, after his return he had a head on road traffic accident in which he was quite badly shaken and didn't do his new knee much good. It was good to see he was doing OK now though. 

11 weeks anniversary and my 70th Birthday

 This morning I re-read my blog from September 2018, 11 weeks since my first Lithuanian Knee. 

"Yesterday was the 11th week since my operation. The movement in the knee is still improving although frustratingly slow progress with some days much better than others. This week I have been aware of a dull ache in the left hip after getting lower back pain when I bent over weeding in the garden. I have arranged another session with my physiotherapist for this coming Friday.

Almost every day I continue with my exercises and sessions on our home spin bike. I can now walk the dogs down the beach for a couple of miles without any problems although my fitness levels are still well below what I would like. I try to walk quickly varying the pace so that I can raise my heart rate, things are getting better. 

Still finding walking downstairs at times a bit of a challenge but after exercising it does seem to be easier. The left leg swelling seem to occur if I stand and don't move very much but when I am walking it doesn't seem to swell.

So I take confidence in that my left knee recovery was similar and now I have excellent mobility in that left knee.

This morning 13th April, my 70th birthday, Catharine and I spent a leisurly morning before walking into the village to go to pick up, or so I thought, the missing prescription for cream for dry skin around my eye socket. However there was no prescription available but our lovely Pharmasist arranged for me to set up an appointment with her under the 'Common Ailments Scheme' at 12:00 today. 

As I had been standing around for some time organising this and the 0.6 mile walk my knee was getting a bit swollen so we were going for coffee at Mojo's owned by a friend of mine Lucy. However there was a significant queue so we ended up going to the new café, expensive but coffee was good.

Day 10

Felt very stiff this morning and had been troubled with pain overnight. Finally woken sufficiently to get out of bed at 07:45 but not comfortable at all. After walking to the restaurant I realised that I had left my mask behind, about turn and back to the room! 

Mark, Mike and Hazel, John but no Kelli this morning at breakfast. 

Week 3 after the operation

Day 7 2022-02-18

After another night of short sleep patterns, around 2 hours each time, I found I was very stiff this morning. I organised my breakfast while Catharine was taking Jazz for his morning walk, then we went to check on the situation in Celyn Y Mor after storm Dudley, fortunately no obvious damage. We also made decisions on which bits of furniture to swap out when the new sofa Catharine has found arrives.

Catharine then prepared to go to work at the garage while I started on the standard regime for the day.

For physiotherapy I opened the package delivered yesterday containing the Black Peanut and pump. It took ages to inflate, I should have used the compressor in the garage! Using the peanut gives much more stability for the leg and pelvic exercises.






The physiotherapy went well and I have sorted out the list of exercises to do in which order.

I am trying to treat with ice 3 or 4 times a day as the knee still swells quite quickly with standing or movement. I am able to walk upstairs without any crutches but I still can’t get my head to allow me to walk downstairs in the same alternate step down pattern.

Day 8

A restful day today as, once again, I had not slept well and the knee was very stiff and sore in the morning. I did a few small exercises but none of my normal physiotherapy. Catharine and I went out for a drive to go and look at things at the garage and get some more lpg in the disco. But for the rest of the day we took it all easy.

A visit from Kat to drop the dogs off with us for the afternoon and then Hywel and Kat came for dinner after his time at the track. Nice to see them both and to hear about the day at Ty Croes track. Watched some TV before bed.

Day 9

Woke around 03:50 and felt very uncomfortable so I took paracetamol which allowed me to drop off to sleep again but then I woke up at 07:25 feeling pretty under the weather but got up and sorted out breakfast. The weather was not looking good but by the time Catharine had got up and got ready to take Jazz out it did dry out a bit.

I had a zoom chat booked with Al and Liz on the club website and I spent a deal of time working on template improvements before sending Al some links.

I dug out my wobble board and added that to the physiotherapy routine.

Still swelling and getting warm. No noticeable change on bike rotation.

Early morning stiffness is an ongoing issue so I am tending to use an ice pack after breakfast. The other area which is stiff is the back of my calf.

Day 10 4 weeks since the operation

Once again not brilliant sleep but managed to stay asleep most of the time up till 06:25. Once again very still above the knee when I got up. I have been checking on the web for details but it seems I am just a little too keen to get back to normal.

With this being a revision I am guessing that the recovery time will be a little longer especially as I contracted COVID and I am 2 years older than when I had the left knee replaced.

Today I have not gone on the bike but I have done all the other physiotherapy tasks. I note from the various advice areas on the web that the calf pumps are good at dispersing the swelling and avoiding DVTs. I may try wearing a compression stocking again for a while like I did last time.

Day 26

 Day 6 Home recovery

Not such a good night’s sleep again waking up 3 times and finally taking a paracetamol at 04:00. I then slept through till about 07:15. The knee seems stiffer again this morning but it is loosening up as I move around for breakfast.

Checked my old blog and noted the following after 1 month back in 2018:

The wound has healed well assisted by Catharine's massage with Bio Oil and after a period of itching it is now good and flexible although the knee remains swollen especially above the knee. Most of the pain has gone from the calf although there is still residual bruising and soreness in the thigh. If I spend too long on my feet the leg does swell and it takes some time to dissipate so I have to make sure that I don't over do it.

Considering it appears that my body is dealing with Covid-19 things seem to be on track!

Physiotherapy went well this morning with me adding in a few more items to the list. I then looked for an appointment with my physiotherapist but they don’t have any slots until mid to late March. Catharine then helped me with understanding the methodology of massaging the swollen area to help to get the lymph system to remove the unwanted products of recovery. Following the massage to my legs and lower back I then elevated and put on the ice pack.


After lunch I rested up as I felt exhausted and managed about an hour of sleep before the excitement of the delivery of my peanut!

During the afternoon I decided it was time to find out why I have not received the test results from the Day 2 test. This started a very long and uncomfortable set of telephone conversations; eventually after re-registering the registered test a text message was received which confirmed my positive test. It appears that the Test and Trace system was not connecting to the NHS Wales when I selected the first option 3 to say I was in Wales. Eventually after assistance from the offices of my Senedd Minister it did get sorted out and I had a call from Test and Trace to provide all the information they required. While this fiasco was going on we both decided to do a rapid antigen test and, great news, we’re both negative!

I did my stint on the static bike a bit later than normal; very little change in the range of movement today.

After dinner rested and watched TV until bedtime at around 23:00

Day 25

Day 5 at home

Had a good sleep right through till 06:10 then did some basic exercises in bed. However on getting up the knee feels very stiff. It is not visibly swollen or hot, just stiff.

Catharine and I both tested again this morning, she is negative but I am still positive.

After breakfast ice pack and elevated before some breakfast bar stretches. Now doing some research on computer for commercial trailering. 

Physiotherapy went OK and I feel that the thigh muscles are getting better/stronger.

Moved all my overdue tasks forward which kind of puts pressure on me to get a move on. Because I reported to the Zoe App that I had symptoms I have been asked to book at drive through test. However I filled in the form but it came up with an error at the end; which I reported to Zoe.

Dozed off after lunch until I got a cold call on the phone; how annoying is that!

Afternoon session on the static bike was good and I was able to achieve around 45° to the front and just under 270° to the back. I have done quite a lot of walking around the house today and up and down stairs. I still cannot get to walk downstairs normally yet but going upstairs is going well. 

18:15 now and Catharine is cooking dinner... 

Stayed up until around 23:30 before going to bed and due to twisting my knee I was waiting till the pain from that died away a bit. 

 

Day 24

Day 4 at home

Drat, another restless night with waking up around every 2 hours. So not feeling the best at 06:30 when I went up for breakfast.

After breakfast I still felt quite run down and didn’t do too much until it was time for my home physiotherapy.

Catharine had taken Jazz out and I met her on her way back by the front gate when I took out the food waste bag.

We had decided that the equipment would be moved to the mezzanine floor above the living area so yet another flight of steps to contend with before starting the physiotherapy session. 

Next ice pack and rest for a while

In the sfternoon I did my bike session and quite a bit of walking around the house, more elevation and ice pack.

Very little change noticeable during today. Stayed up until around 23:00 and then went to bed after CBD pill. I was once again very fidgety late in the evening.

Day 23

Day 3 at home: 

A better night’s sleep but still work up 3 time overnight

After breakfast I followed my new timetable and sorted out the necessary equipment for my home physio and went through all the exercises. Then another icepack session as the swelling was evident again.

The afternoon was again taken up by the Six Nations rugby and regular moving about. Then I tried the static bike and managed to do a frew partial circles going backwards and forwards, with less height on the right pedal behind.

So not a lot to report on today as I spent the rest of the evening relaxing with my leg elevated until I got too fidgety and had to get up and walk about doing some more of thee exercises standing at the breakfast bar, just perfect height to replace the wall bars at UPA.

Day 22

Covid 

Testing day!

A really really good sleep although at one point I woke up and thought I was still in UPA trying to find the light switches above the bed!

Woke up at 06:30 and got myself organised to get quietly upstairs to test my bloods and then create a standard home breakfast. I created a schedule, on google calendar, of what to do with similar ‘appointments’ to those in UPA.

 

After Catharine got back from taking Jazz for his walk weee checked out the process of the 2 day test. FInding that the last priority post box in our area closes at 12:30, some 12 miles from here, and you are supposed to drop the package 1 hour before closing time, we didn't have a lot of time to get the test done. So test completed Catharine then shot off in the car to deliver the package while I sorted out the youtube videos I was given and found suitable bits to aid these exercises.

I should have ordered a ‘peanut’ gym ball but didn’t get round to this yesterday.

I made mental notes of the exercises which we did there but are not on the videos:

Standing by the wall bars

1. Heels and toes
2. Lifting legs onto the 2nd Bar
3. Sideways ‘lunge’
4. Step back with one leg and stretch the calf muscles.

Then

1. Lying on my back with peanut
2. Roll back/forward to flex the knee
3. Push down with 1 leg at a time; straighten the leg
4. Lift pelvis and curl spine back down

After all this preparation, exercising and walking up and down stairs to the toilet I had a rest with an ice pack and watched some TV.

With it being a 6 Nations Rugby weekend it was clear that I was going to be sitting for quite a while in the afternoon but I made sure that I mobilised regularly and didn’t leap up and down too much when Wales scored.

By the evening I was feeling uncomfortable and restless. So moving to the sofa for the 9 o’clock slot on BBC4. After the double session it was time to go to bed, but I was still uncomfortable and so took another CBD pill.

Generally I was better today than yesterday

Day 21 - Recovery at home

 2022-02-11

Not the best of sleep but tolerable. The single bed felt a bit small and uncomfortable.

Catharine volunteered to gondown from the fourth floor and get me a coffee while I indulged in my normal morning routines. With coffee in hand and the pre prepared breakfast she had brought with her I tucked in and we chatted about our plans for getting home. We decided just to leave when we were ready and see how we get on.

Back over the Mersey bridges, making a note to self to ensure we paid the toll on line before midnight, we actually found very little traffic once we were away from the area surrounding the Airport Industrial Park. The Mercedes estate is very comfortable and I didn’t find it an issue sitting for an extended period, although when we get home that might be a different story.

No real holdups all the way back to North Wales, however we had to call in at North Wales Mercedes in Llandudno Junction to drop off some return parts. Next stop was at Hywel’s garage where I collected the Disco to drive home while Catharine drove the Mercedes home via Rhosneigr Pharmacy to collect my next order of meds.

I drove the scenic route via Newborough and Malltraeth and arrived a couple of minutes before Catharine. She insisted on getting all the kit from the car and I just went in to rest up for a while.

By now I was utterly exhausted and in a bit of pain, with stiffness in my right leg and quite a different feel to the last day in UPA. So I had a very restful afternoon being looked after by Mrs Wonderful who then recommended a BBC binge watch, Hidden Assets. By the end of the evening I had successfully watched the whole series, ok so I had to stop it and go back a bit here and there when I had fallen asleep. But yes it is worth a watch!

My leg was still painful even after ice treatment and lots of foot flexing, so I took some CBD Oil spray and a pill; it would seem that these did the trick!

Day 20

Having had a good sleep following the injection I was given by the nurse last night. I note that when turning over in bed overnight it helps if I do the foot circles and extensions. This allowed me to go back to sleep and I finally woke up at around 06:30. In preparation for the day I sorted out things which could be packed and then sat down to do my blood sugar test: Blood sugar was at 5.6.

Breakfast with Sue from Wrexham now trying to think what I haven’t done in preparation for this evening’s travel:

• Boarding pass
• Covid Pass
• Passenger locator form

That seems to be all that I need.

All my morning sessions are now completed successfully and I have received the email from Physiotherapy for homework! These two YouTube videos should do the business.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMmJ6T7Zd-8

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjrbP8UO4Fw

 

After Cryogenic Treatment I sorted out paying the UPA bill for the bar extras. I used my starling card via Google Pay and it worked a treat; simples!

As it is going to be a long day I am now resting before lunch though I might just pop out for a short walk as it is sunny… I relented and stayed 219. At lunch I met the latest group of patients from NordClinic and wished them all well before returning to 219 for a chat with Catharine before she took Jazz out in preparation for driving to Warrington. She sent me a picture of what she was taking for my breakfast tomorrow when we will be in the Travelodge.

 
Next floor 4 for my final massage and as usual I fell asleep during the 20 minute massage. I am now elevating my leg with ice pack for the first time today before my final fling here in UPA, aqua therapy at 16:40.

All done, a good session with Greta in the pool and then back to 219 to get dressed and finish packing. First time I've had trousers on for 17 days!

Early to dinner and obligingly the restaurant was open early. At 18:15 I went back to collect my luggage and go down to reception. As soon as I got there the driver arrived and helped me and my bags to his car.

An excellent driver and the road conditions were ideal for a safe and rapid transfer to Vilnius. Even though it was dark I recognised many of the landmarks as we neared Vilnius. It is a huge modern expansion of the old city.

Through customs and passport control, with the usual manual checks on my knees, to have a calming glass of wine before going to the boarding gate 9.

Now 21:35 and a Ryanair operative has walked round and checked my paperwork so all I have to show is a chit, passport and boarding pass on my phone to go through the gate. Any time soon….

Priority booking gets you through the gate quickly but you are then stacked on the ground floor of the stairwell with all the non priority passengers congregating there until the doors are opened. Once the doors were opened there was no consideration for priority just utter chaos.

On board now 22:03 good leg room sitting by the emergency exit. 

The Ryanair crew are much more specific about face coverings being required to be worn correctly, i.e. Over the nose too! We were advised that the flight is taking slightly longer due to high winds with an estimated flight time of 3:05.

I am finding the flight tedious as I didn’t unpack my headphones and the earbuds are not sound deadening enough; listening to spotify is almost worthless with the engine noise. I am sitting in the better leg length seats at the emergency exit, available to me as I don’t have the crutches with me! Just can’t get sufficiently comfortable and the armrests on these seats don’t fold up. Out of boredom I have bought a pack of Pringles for €2.50 and I have just got my second orange out ready to eat after the milestone of half the flight in 10 minutes!

All things considered it was a reasonable flight with good facecocerings, following strict instructions from the crew about making sure the mask covered the nose. I managed without moving more than twice; once when I walked to the toilet and the other when I walked form one end of the cabin to the other. On arrival at Liverpool at 11:30 local time (a 3:05 hour flight duration) the disembarking was quite difficult trying to carry my two bags down the steps and then a long walk to the customs and passport control areas. Once through to the exit area I tried to call Catharine but there was no signal until I left the building; as I called her I could see her as she walked to meet me at the pedestrian crossing. She had parked pretty close she took my bags and showed me to the car. 

Back to Travelodge next and then pretty much straight to bed…. A long day.

Day 19

Waking to my penultimate day here at UPA I didn;t feel so good, maybe the sleeping pills don’t agree with me. I slept up till about 04:00 again but then was restless until 06:30 when I decided to get up and mobilise.

I broke with tradition at breakfast and had fried egg, bacon and the dark European bread.

As I was not feeling great I retired to 219 and rested up then had a long video call with Catharine while she was walking the dog, it all looked great and I am looking forward to being home by mid morning Friday.

I reported to Greta Nedzinskienė that my leg felt very stiff this morning and she said she was not surprised following the aqua therapy session yesterday. Another good session with Greta1 this morning and I am now feeling a lot better than when I woke up. As a result of my feeling out of sorts I forgot about Polarised Light therapy and had to rearrange that after I had been to Physiotherapy, the ladies in the department were very accommodating and gave me the light treatment and then straight into the cryo therapy. The physical time of the treatments is 3 minutes for Polarised light treatment and then 10 minutes for the cryogenic therapy.

As this meant that my schedule was a little delayed I went straight up to the 3rd floor for my massage during which my ability to stay awake while undergoing the treatment was failing and I just hope I didn’t snore too much!

As with the last couple of days I returned to 219 to rest before lunch which I had with Tony and Chris and we met the recent arrival Sue from Wrexham. Having checked my sugar levels I noted that I was down at 4.5 so I didn’t inject. Fish again for lunch although as usual there was plenty of choice.

My positivity had returned fully now and I decided to take a walk in the early afternoon sunshine down the dam over the river.

The icee showing signs of melting and a lot of slush on the footpath so I had to be very careful about where I walked. The large puddles on the road also meant that when cars came passing by there was a risk of being sprayed! Luckily I was unaffected!

On returning to 219 I felt pretty worn out and took to my bed for a bit before I had to prepare for my last session of the day, aqua therapy this time with Greta Rakauskaite. As usual with Greta it was good fun with her references to the concept that she had disposed of John’s body in the woods and that he hadn’t really gone home; the messages from his phone were written by Greta! SHe obviously watches too much Netflix! It is a fantastic facility and again I was impressed by the use of technology for the security aspects. After the exercises in the treatment pool you have an opportunity to relax in the water for a few minutes which is very nice.

It is great to see my two legs upright and parallel:

I am now preparing for my penultimate dinner….

Had a good chat with Sue from Wrexham along with Tony and Chris and arranged to meet them in the bar for a drink on my last night here…

I was a little delayed as I had a call from Mike and Hazel giving me an update, Mike’s 2nd test has come back negative but Hazel’s was still positive. Otherwise they aree doing fine but Hazel is very tired and keeps on sleeping.

In the bar I met up with Tony and Chris and a delightful couple from Ukraine. We had a good chat for a while but Tony and Chris were keen not to be too late with thee Ukranians leaving very early in the morning. They also needed to get some early rest.

Back to 219 and I tidied up and had a chat with Catharine making final arrangements for tomorrow night. Then I popped in to see the nurse to get a painkilling injection as the knee has swollen from all the activity today. She also recommended that I have one tomorrow before I set off for Vilnius.

Day 18

Well I tried but could not get to sleep so I called the nurse for a sleeping pill at just after midnight. I managed to sleep through till just gone 06:00. My symptoms this morning are clear nasal passage, sore throat and a bit drowsy after the sleeping pill. Very little knee pain overnight so I am reasonably happy.

After breakfast I returned to 219. I read an article on a link between Paracetomol and high blood pressure so I am wondering if that is the reason for my blood pressure hike.

Just checking on travel arrangements for Thursday; it looks like I need to be slow getting through customs on Thursday evening as the travel requirements change as from 11th Feb!

I have just updated my covid pass so that it is valid until March 10th so I think I am fully sorted. All that remains is the need to pay the bill to UPA for bar drinks, swimmies and bottled water in my room.

I am definitely feeling better as here I am at 09:22 wondering what to do before my first appointment this morning:

The weather this morning is a little overcast but not bad and there has been no more snow. Forecast for the period up to my departure date:

So pretty mild compared to what we have had over the last week.

Back from Light Treatment and called in to ask the nurse to check my blood pressure, which has now dropped to 140 so my reduction in Paracetamol may be having an effect; or is it just that I am healing! Next was massage and then back for a short elevation and icepack before lunch

I have finished all my normal appointments this morning with just the new aqua therapy session to go later this afternoon. I went for another walk round the building, the reverse direction to yesterday so that I could test the slight downhill section towards the river. That all went well without any additional pain. Even though it wasn’t sunny like yesterday and the temperature was definitely lower it was good to get out and stretch the legs. There is a tendency to walk slowly so I told myself to speed up the walking on the second half of the walk back to UPA. That seemed to work OK and made me feel more confident about being ready to deal with the long airport walks.I am now resting for a while with an ice pack to keep the swelling under control before going to the pool

The internet here is very slow today…

What a fantastic facility this place is, the pool and the set up for the changing rooms, well can’t knock it. You are given a towel and an object that looks like a wrist watch.  

You use this to lock and unlock the door to whichever cabinet you want to use in the changing room.

The aqua therapy pool is a square with handrails and various bits of kit to aid people’s various recovery techniques. Greta was excellent in giving instructions but I was surprised how much resistance the water had on my leg and it quickly became apparent that I needed to concentrate hard on getting the maximum benefits. At the end of the session I was told to float for 5 minutes and relax.

The pool temperature was 34° and that was just perfect for exercising; the session lasted for just over 30 minutes and I really feel like I got a lot out of it. Once out of the pool you walk past the main swimming pool and back into the changing rooms for a shower and to dry your trunks in the special dryer: swimmies in and hold the top down for 10 seconds and hey presto your trunks are dry, well ish.

The towel then gets dropped in a hole in the desktop in reception and the watch in a basket, I forgot that bit and had to go back down to hand it in later.

I made a video of Greta’s recommended massage for my knee operation area.

I was told by Greta that I must not sit for 30 minutes, at least I think that is what she said, so I pottered around and then of course it was time for dinner. I sat with Tony and Chris amd we discussed their history of cruise ship experiences; they are regulars on cruises but since the pandemic they have had 2 cancelled, quite a significant story…

I wandered back to 219 and elevated for a while as I was conscious that the swelling was still obvious. Once the ice pack had worn off I was ready for a chat with Catharine. As this is my penultimate evening I decided to check on the crack in the bar:

Now back in 219 with sleeping pill I am chilling, finishing off this blog, before I forget everything which has happened today but the internet is frustratingly slow tonight.

Day 17

Armed with a sleeping tablet and more blood meds I watched a YouTube history of the Reliant Scimitar, sent by David, and then a bit of drama on Netflix with messages from Hywel and Catharine reassuring me before falling asleep.

All went well until around 04:00 when very concentrated pain in the area on the inside of the knee woke me. I got up and took paracetamol and tried to get back to sleep. No joy!

Called the nurse as a final possibility for reducing the pain and bless her she gave me an injection in the buttock. Next thing I knew was it was time for breakfast and I had to get my blood pressure checked.

By the time I got to breakfast William had pretty much finished his and he was all ready to leave wearing his travel clothes. His pickup is at 10:00.

I will rerun the YouTube video later as there were lots of interesting facts

As I prepare for the busy morning the situation with my knee this morning is as follows:

Walking - I can now walk fairly normally without crutches. For most of the time I am continuing with at least 1 crutch to ensr I don’t overdo it.

Flexibility - The comfortable angle of flex is now around 70°.

Muscle pain - I can now lift my lower leg with the knee bent but when it is straight the thigh muscle is still not quite strong enough

Out from polarised light treatment (10 minutes) and told to report for new bandage; the nurse however says no longer any need for bandage so I can have a shower today after the busy morning.

Cleaners busy as normal

Very good physiotherapy session with Svajūnas. Now having coffee before cryogenic treatment and I have just bought some swimming trunks ready for tomorrow's aqua physiotherapy.

Lunch today was spinach soup, salad and tomato sourdo

Back in 219 after cryotherapy and have changed the remaining appointments in line with the update I was given this morning. Walking up the stairs I am not quite at the stage where I can go up naturally, but it is all so much easier today.

I still have a tickly cough at times, especially when lying on my back for treatments. Other than that I have no symptoms. This afternoon I have been sneezing a fair amount but still have a very good sense of smell and taste, I am therefore convinced it is just a cold.

I was notified that my schedule for tomorrow was changed again as one of the staff is off sick. Massage delayed by 20 mins!

I took the opportunity to go for a walk around the building in some lovely sunshine. Back for a coffee and then returned to 219 to take a shower before washing my shorts and tee shirt.

Preparing now to go to massage at 17:30

.

Another delightful lady masseuse put my back through its paces; initially, when I first arrived here in Druskininkai, the harsh rubbing of the back during the early part of the massage routine seemed to be a bit over the top but it generates a huge amount of frictional heat and by the time you have fallen asleep, or the session is finished, you are totally relaxed. Today’s massage session was no exception to that rule.

From the massage I returned to 219 to test blood sugar levels and was pleased to see that they were under 7 for the first time for a couple of days. I think the levels have been high as I have been developing this cold. DInner in the café with Tony and Chris but they didn’t stay long so I have had a lengthy evening on my own.

I am not sure what to do about painkillers as I have been fairly pain free today, was that as a result of the injection early this morning? I have taken a paracetamol and will see what happens.

Day 16

OK so I slept! But I don’t feel wonderful this morning, rather more like I have a hangover. Certainly a reluctance to get out of bed at 06:38. After forcing myself to finally get up from my drowsy state I prepared for breakfast and now I am feeling much better.

With my first session this Sunday at 10:50 I am elevating with the ice pack for a bit. I had cryogenic treatment at 11:40 but then forgot that I had massage straight after; consequently I had returned to 219, elevated and had a video call with Catharine, which made me feel much better.

After lunch I saw the masseuse and apologised for missing the appointment; he was very nice about it. Lunch with William and we met up with Tony and his wife from England, although Tony is a south walian.

Today it is about 3 degrees warmer than yesterday with a lot of slush and rain about:

Everything is melting out there this afternoon,

William is a keen golfer and has been involved with Rathmore Golf Club for a long time. Flair IV is on an invite for a visit to Portrush!

Not such good news this afternoon while back in my room I suffered from some, slight, chest pains and being a little concerned I went to see the nurse who tested my blood pressure. 154! So I was given some meds and told to return in an hour, after dinner, by which time the reading was higher at 160. More meds and instructions to rest. So here I am now just having had a video call with Catharine, settling down to watch something on Netflix to try and stop me worrying! I am due to see the nurse again tomorrow before breakfast.