Next part of this ongoing knee saga: RLS, or Restless Leg Syndrome.
But first, my Christmas cacti are blooming! They are not as full as some years, but who cares? I had 4, but gave 2 to my daughter-in-law. They all are from the same parent plant that I have had for about 20 years, I think. I don't let it get too big. What a joyous sight on these gray rainy days. (Not that I am complaining about rain! Not after this past summer and fall.)
But, RLS:I have been trying to figure out the problem that keeps my sleep so disturbed. I can get to sleep, and then this sensation starts in my legs that keeps me waking up, tossing and turning, uncomfortable, and to settle it down I had to get up and walk.
It is not easy to describe the feeling. I have said it is like when a limb starts to "fall asleep", as it's called. Kind of a tingling, buzzing, all-over sensation is the best I can do. Sometimes it's accompanied by leg cramps, and/or nerve pain called zingers (by those that know).
The past few nights have been particularly bad, so yesterday I was asking Google for answers. That's when I learned about RLS. And yes, it is yet another occasional fascinating side-effect of knee replacement surgery. There is no known reason, except the possibility that RLS is triggered by blood loss during surgery. (Wait. Blood loss? I guess I sort of knew there would be some, but now I am wondering how much, exactly.)
After reading all I could find, I came up with a few things that might help. First I ordered a magnesium/zinc/D3 combination supplement. Then I dug around in the medicine cabinet for some Restless Leg pills I bought a while back, when I first had this weird feeling in my legs. It went away and I thought I was done with it, so I never took the pills. Next, I made sure to drink lots of fluids, to do my exercises and to ice my knee before bed. I also positioned a pillow so that I could use it for leg support in the bed if needed.
Did all that help? Well, I did sleep a bit better, and had less pain, but I was exhausted when I went to bed so maybe I would have slept anyway. I got a 2-hour stint in, and a couple 1-hour so while broken up, at least I slept.
I was supposed to go to the doctor today but the claims adjuster for the van was coming so I canceled. I have a call in to the nurse, and hope she has some recommendations for relief and sleep.
Each person who has knee replacement surgery seems to have a different path to recovery. Larry's was pretty smooth both times. Mine has been...bumpy. I am so glad I had it done in October, as I think it may take me 6 months before I can look back and say yeah, I'm good now. Which will be just about in time for garden season.
In other news, the claims adjuster confirmed that the van is totaled (duh). So now we wait to see what they think it's worth. It's a 2014, with 140,000 miles on it, so I doubt we can expect much--although for a Toyota that mileage means it's just broken in. Meanwhile I have begun looking for a replacement, which apparently is not going to be easy. Even used ones seem to be out of our reach. I told Larry that we may have to end up with a beater, as we are fast getting priced out of the good car market. Who actually pays $40,000+ for a new van? Apparently a lot of people, which boggles my out-of-touch mind.
Onward an upward, friends!
