Observations/tips two days ish after LL surgery

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Today I actually had more pain during hamstring stretches than quad stretches, I feel like a nerve or something was in a bit of pain after the hamstring stretches, felt like a long thin string of pain from the underside of my thigh down to the underside of my calf

hamstring stretches are a bit more of a hassle to stretch than quad stretches, maybe I should have the band always at hand to be able to begin hamstring stretches more easily and do them more frequently

IT band stretches and adductor stretches never seem to be that bad -> and I think it may be because at some point, the fat of my thighs blocks the physical therapist from moving the IT band stretch beyond a certain point. And also when he tries to stretch my adductors beyond a certain point, it just moves/rotates my whole body, which also puts a limit on how much they can be stretched

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Back in the non-handicap room

I'll say a few things:

- it is totally possible to be in a non-handicap Montaza room after 3 weeks if you have gnail at least

- like alot of pieces of technology in general, the card keys at montaza have occasional certain issues of randomly stopping working, make sure you bring your phone and/or ID with you if you leave your room early on just in case (won't matter later when the front desk people recognize you though)

- The wheelchair will not fit into the bathroom door opening in the non handicap room -> that is actually OK for gnail and I wonder if its OK for some other nails too

- you can buy a toilet seat raiser from the guys who deliver the exercise bike (just ask them on whatsapp) for like 45 euros, it didn't really help me in the handicap room (where you can transfer from your wheelchair) but it is helping me now transfer from walker to toilet

- Technically it should be possible in theory to unplug the TV and use that outlet to charge devices on your desk, not sure, the other outlets are a bit far

- recommend getting a towel early and using it to hep you transfer from bed to wheelchair. Wheels/metal can chaffe your butt

- the non-handicap room will feel very small after you have lived in the handicap room, but honestly that's not a bad thing because if you ever fell down, you probably would rarely hit the floor, you'd probably actually just bump into the wall or fall onto the bed because of how tight the space is

- wonder if it would be worth getting some kind of foldable desk to increase desk space a little? small desk. But space is extremely tight as it is

- feeling lazy and I don't feel like slipping in the shower, why add that risk for so little reward? Can use cleaning wipes, I have alot. Can't get my wheelchair to the sink anymore (bathroom too narrow) to wash my hair though. I think maybe I'll just put a tiny tiny bit shampoo in my hair before going to the bathroom, walk in with the walker, put a bit of water on, go back to the wheelchair outside the bathroom, wipe it down with a towel, not sure if there are better ways?

then again, the walls are so narrow in the bathroom and shower that even if I did slip, I'd basically not fall down onto the floor-> I'd just bump into a wall and there would probably be no problem

I think it might be helpful to always have a chair at the edge of the bed and always have a walker at the edge of the bed. To be able to frequently use them for stretching and practicing transfers. With the big bed in the standard room, there's plenty of perimeter around the bed

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Quote from: thankscience on September 26, 2022, 12:26:19 PMI think the room you're referring to is the double for single use room. I'll be following your diary very closely to determine whether it's suitable! 

I think they do go to Novotel now because it was one of the options provided.

I'm also waiting to see whether you guys are offered to use the new SUV to transport you to and from the PT centre.

Have you lost much weight since surgery?

What are your current thoughts of about montaza vs novotel? Thinking of doing internal tibias some day, not sure which would be better

If the nurse frequency at montaza is still higher, I'm tempted to do like 3 weeks handicap room at Montaza then the remaining time at Novotel (bigger desk space, probably less noise, save money/time on the commute, much more beautiful and large). I think one internal precise femur patient did something like this. But I'm not sure that is actually a good idea for internal tibias, I don't know how hard/easy the transfers are (wheelchair/bed, wheelchair/toilet etc)

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I think I have seen various nurses (including those not specifically associated with LL) drop their phones out of their medical scrub pockets like 5 times in three weeks

I don't know how the hospital thinks those thin hospital scrub pockets can hold smartphones given how often nurses have to bend down slightly to do something or help someone. Maybe they should just let them all have fanny packs or something

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Right now hamstring stretches during physical therapy are giving me the most pain right now, like 7 out of 10 pain. Quad stretches during physical therapy giving sometimes similar pain but sometimes a bit less

I actually think though that in the non handicap room, the walls are so close to the bed on both sides maybe I can use the walls to help me stretch hamstrings frequently to deal with this

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Clicking tends to be hard when the thighs are already sore- sounds obvious I know but I mean it

I prefer doing the clicking alone without the nurses now -> because I can take my time and do multiple attempts to do a click and I don't feel any guilt/judgement when I yell or groan in pain

It is usually like the first 2 ish clicks that are potentially painful but after that, they tend to get easier

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Quote from: SpeedDialer on September 30, 2022, 03:05:50 PMWhat are your current thoughts of about montaza vs novotel? Thinking of doing internal tibias some day, not sure which would be better

If the nurse frequency at montaza is still higher, I'm tempted to do like 3 weeks handicap room at Montaza then the remaining time at Novotel (bigger desk space, probably less noise, save money/time on the commute, much more beautiful and large). I think one internal precise femur patient did something like this. But I'm not sure that is actually a good idea for internal tibias, I don't know how hard/easy the transfers are (wheelchair/bed, wheelchair/toilet etc)
The prices for a room at each hotel change slightly depending on the time of year. But using today's prices I have worked out an approximation:

Montaza
Handicap room (30 days) = 1800 euro
Double for single use (60 days) = 3600 euro
Hotel Tax (1.50 euro per night for 90 days) = 135 euro
Taxi to PT (4 times per week - 20 euro each way(?) for 12 weeks) = 1920 euro
Taxi to Hospital (once per fortnight?) = unsure (please clarify for me)
10% discount for stays longer than 2 weeks = Deduct 540 euro

Total: 6915 euro (excluding taxi to hospital costs)

Novotel
Handicap room single occupancy (Oct (86 euro per night); 30 days) = 2580 euro
Handicap room single occupancy (Nov to Mar (72 euro per night); 60 days) = 4320 euro
*Prices for superior room with double bed and double sofa bed for single use are the same as the handicap room*
Taxi to PT (4 times per week - 8 euro each way(?) for 12 weeks) = 768 euro
Taxi to Hospital (once per fortnight?) = unsure (please clarify for me)

Total: 7668 euro (excluding taxi to hospital costs)

I am not sure if breakfast is included with the Novotel prices above - I'm waiting for Evi to get back to me.

Seems Montaza still comes out cheaper overall, but you may need to factor in other costs like the food menu, trips to hospital, etc. Also, keep in mind they are introducing the new SUV service so the price from each hotel to the PT centre may reduce drastically.

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Quote from: thankscience on October 01, 2022, 04:00:14 AMTaxi to Hospital (once per fortnight?) = unsure (please clarify for me)


I remember that physical therapy center -> doctor's office was like 40 euros and I was miffed (my appointment was after physical therapy, we did take a slight detour to drop off a nurse at Montaza though), but thankfully that only happens once every two weeks.

I have to check my app's history but I have think that it is something like this:

So if I do some very crude estimates, I'm getting like 4*2*20+40/2 = 180 euros as a very rough ballpark per week of taxi fare, but I'm probably forgetting something and it might be a bit more or less. I think leaving montaza early is a potential strategy depending on the time of your physical therapy to avoid some traffic, not sure when traffic is the worst
(divide by 2 because see doctor only once every two weeks

Occasionally though you get lucky w/ traffic or w/e and sometimes the taxi is only 17 or 16 euros to physical therapy from montaza

But remember this isn't quite accurate b/c need two hotel -> hospital trips before the surgery so maybe its like 40-50 euros more at the start

However, hopefully commute prices will go down a bit once they arrange the SUV transport or w/e Evi was saying. However, if she said that its prices depends on the distances, then the distance montaza is from the physical therapy center will still matter a bit probably

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, I just have some rough estimates

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Quote from: thankscience on October 01, 2022, 04:00:14 AMThe prices for a room at each hotel change slightly depending on the time of year. But using today's prices I have worked out an approximation:

Montaza
Handicap room (30 days) = 1800 euro
Double for single use (60 days) = 3600 euro
Hotel Tax (1.50 euro per night for 90 days) = 135 euro
Taxi to PT (4 times per week - 20 euro each way(?) for 12 weeks) = 1920 euro
Taxi to Hospital (once per fortnight?) = unsure (please clarify for me)
10% discount for stays longer than 2 weeks = Deduct 540 euro

Total: 6915 euro (excluding taxi to hospital costs)

Novotel
Handicap room single occupancy (Oct (86 euro per night); 30 days) = 2580 euro
Handicap room single occupancy (Nov to Mar (72 euro per night); 60 days) = 4320 euro
*Prices for superior room with double bed and double sofa bed for single use are the same as the handicap room*
Taxi to PT (4 times per week - 8 euro each way(?) for 12 weeks) = 768 euro
Taxi to Hospital (once per fortnight?) = unsure (please clarify for me)

Total: 7668 euro (excluding taxi to hospital costs)

I am not sure if breakfast is included with the Novotel prices above - I'm waiting for Evi to get back to me.

Seems Montaza still comes out cheaper overall, but you may need to factor in other costs like the food menu, trips to hospital, etc. Also, keep in mind they are introducing the new SUV service so the price from each hotel to the PT centre may reduce drastically.

I think this is a good analysis. The SUV service might throw off the commute cost calculations, but I gave my best rough estimate in a post just above for the current situation for taxis and montaza.

I think that breakfast comes w/ novotel is my vague memory from ozboy's diary, and I'm under the impression that novotel has a better selection of fruits for breakfast than montaza

Right now, I am in a room in Montaza by luck that seems to be farther from the strip club noise though I still hear the busy road noise (which is usually not that bad just consistent low noise, except when the loud bikers drive by)

Montaza's lunch/dinner seems to have less selection than Novotel but be a bit cheaper by a few euros

I keep going for Montaza's burger meal b/c its only like 6.50 euros but eventually probably I'll get sick of it after too many times

I still think the better desk space at Novotel is good for people who want to game or get work done + the overall nicer atmosphere and space + the easier to mount bicycle in their gym is probably nice. But probably the best thing about novotel is just to avoid the dice roll of whether you end up close to the strip club noise at Montaza/being woken up in the middle of the night. I'll ask Evi later about how frequently the nurses go to Novotel in the first three weeks or so, I'm a bit worried about that the frequency of coming might drop off alot after the first week, though I'm not sure how much it matters for internal tibia patients (whether it matters alot or not much, I don't have a sense of how independent internal tibia patients can become after 1 week)

I'm doing gnail femurs now

Edit Post

Quote from: thankscience on October 01, 2022, 04:00:14 AMThe prices for a room at each hotel change slightly depending on the time of year. But using today's prices I have worked out an approximation:

Montaza
Handicap room (30 days) = 1800 euro
Double for single use (60 days) = 3600 euro
Hotel Tax (1.50 euro per night for 90 days) = 135 euro
Taxi to PT (4 times per week - 20 euro each way(?) for 12 weeks) = 1920 euro
Taxi to Hospital (once per fortnight?) = unsure (please clarify for me)
10% discount for stays longer than 2 weeks = Deduct 540 euro

Total: 6915 euro (excluding taxi to hospital costs)

Novotel
Handicap room single occupancy (Oct (86 euro per night); 30 days) = 2580 euro
Handicap room single occupancy (Nov to Mar (72 euro per night); 60 days) = 4320 euro
*Prices for superior room with double bed and double sofa bed for single use are the same as the handicap room*
Taxi to PT (4 times per week - 8 euro each way(?) for 12 weeks) = 768 euro
Taxi to Hospital (once per fortnight?) = unsure (please clarify for me)

Total: 7668 euro (excluding taxi to hospital costs)

I am not sure if breakfast is included with the Novotel prices above - I'm waiting for Evi to get back to me.

Seems Montaza still comes out cheaper overall, but you may need to factor in other costs like the food menu, trips to hospital, etc. Also, keep in mind they are introducing the new SUV service so the price from each hotel to the PT centre may reduce drastically.

My instinct is that probably you will be alot happier at Novotel, like I'm under the impression Novotel feels like a full, nice hotel and is part of a big chain owned by a bigger French hotel company (accor) + ozboy said it did not have noise problems. Montaza is fine, but it is sort of like them trying to cram all the basics into confined spaces. An exception to that is the montaza handicap room, which has plenty of space because it has three beds. My former handicap room was close to the strip club night noise, which consistently woke me up in the middle of the night, and I'm pretty glad that my current non-handicap room is farther from that noise. My current non-handicap room feels a bit like a college dorm room, everything is crammed and small but all of the essentials are there and I can't complain given the great price I paid. I feel like I can use the non-handicap room in Montaza easily and enjoy its cheaper price because I have gnai--l so it is OK that my wheelchair cannot even get into the bathroom in this tight space

But I sort of think that if I was doing any other method (precise, externals, etc) I would really prefer a handicap room (either montaza handicap room or novotel) with more space and be able to roll the wheelchair into the bathroom if need be