TKR ACK! OMG! TKR on May 29th

[1ELISEA]

Are you still taking your pain medication?
I know you’re frustrated, but I really think you’re going to be fine. Maybe you’ll take a little long than some but maybe quicker than others?

Yes, my dr has been very good at giving me pain meds and at sufficient dosage. Hopefully that will continue as I need them for PT. Not that PT is hurting me, but there are places on my knee that hurt almost constantly when pushed even a little. PT has been gently stretching and massaging those areas and seems to think that will help in the long run. But in the meantime, I need to get some ROM, any little bit would help, so I can at least pretend I am making progress.

 

[1ELISEA]

Thanks for the pep talks. I can only hope that someday I'll be on that side of recovery, cheering others on.

Who knows, maybe at week 6 I will have a miraculous breakthrough and actually be able to walk by bending my knee and not walking stiff legged.


And for those that live alone. All this is much harder when there isn't someone around to lean on; literally and figuratively. Sure, I can drive myself but it takes twice as long to get ready and go. And then, I can't drive and take pain pills so I have to wait until I am home from PT to take anything. It would be so much easier to take it before but, alas, that can't be.

Not holding my breath, though, on gaining ROM easily. This ROM is going to be a hard fight. My knee was in pretty bad shape going into this.... but gee willikers, even my 83 y/o neighbor has a ROM of 125 and has had it since week 3.

 

[Morning Glory]

Yes, my dr has been very good at giving me pain meds and at sufficient dosage. Hopefully that will continue as I need them for PT. Not that PT is are hurting me, but there are places on my knee that hurt almost constantly when pushed even a little. PT has been gently stretching and massaging those areas and seems to think that will help in the long run. But in the meantime, I need to get some ROM, any little bit would help, so I can at least pretend I am making progress.

It will come. Like I said before, one day my leg just bent. I guess enough of the swelling had gone down to let it move like that. I was looking at the PT like 'what just happened here? I must have done something wrong.' I still had a way to go but at least it was a start.
I see my surgeon for my one month check up tomorrow and I'm hoping he's ok with renewing my perscriptions. I saw the PA last time and he had no problem with it at all. I'm not sure who I'm seeing tomorrow, doesn't matter, I like them both.

 

[MaryGrace]

Congratulations Elisea! Aren't you glad the scary part is over? Me too!!

 

[jerseychick]

Thanks for the pep talks. I can only hope that someday I'll be on that side of recovery, cheering others on.

Who knows, maybe at week 6 I will have a miraculous breakthrough and actually be able to walk by bending my knee and not walking stiff legged.


And for those that live alone. All this is much harder when there isn't someone around to lean on; literally and figuratively. Sure, I can drive myself but it takes twice as long to get ready and go. And then, I can't drive and take pain pills so I have to wait until I am home from PT to take anything. It would be so much easier to take it before but, alas, that can't be.

Not holding my breath, though, on gaining ROM easily. This ROM is going to be a hard fight. My knee was in pretty bad shape going into this.... but gee willikers, even my 83 y/o neighbor has a ROM of 125 and has had it since week 3.

Elisa, you will get there and be cheering the newcomers on. My ROM was very slow to come. At my 3 week checkup my doctor said I was doing poorly, I could hardly bend my leg. I did make it to just about 90 at my 6 week check-up. Now at two years my ROM is 105-110, which is very good for me. It seems to me that older people get ROM easier because their muscles aren't as tight and strong as us young ones. Your after surgery ROM also depends on the ROM you had before surgery. My was only about 30 so anything over 100 is great for me.

You are still so early and have plenty of time to gain ROM. Please be patient.

 

[Celle]

Here's another hug from me too, Elisea! {{{{{{{{{Elisea}}}}}}}}

I gave you the lecture, so you deserve the hug!

You say that your knee was in bad shape before the operation - that does have a bearing on how fast you recover now, but it doesn't mean that you will not get a good result eventually.

Don't forget not to push too hard for ROM now. Gentle bending and straightening (to the point of discomfort, but never to the point of pain) are what you need to do. Anything more than that will irritate those poor wounded tissues and make them mad, which slows down your recovery. Spend as much time as you can in elevating and icing. Even if your knee doesn't look swollen, there will still be swelling on the inside. If you can get that swelling to subside, it will help your ROM.

It is hard when you're on your own, but you can do it. You're a wonder-person - we all are, who go through this! My DH had to go away (for work) just a week after I came out of hospital, and it was not easy. I couldn't drive yet, and had to use taxis. Just concentrate on the essentials - the rest is just trimming. It'll keep till later.

Best wishes,
Celle

 

[1ELISEA]

The scary part for me is the possibility of living the rest of my life like this, as a freak who walks stiff legged and unable to do much of anything because I am in constant pain.


But I will try to be patient. Healing just takes sooooo long!

 

[Celle]

The scary part for me is the possibility of living the rest of my life like this, as a freak who walks stiff legged and unable to do much of anything because I am in constant pain.

No, no. that's not going to happen! You better believe it!

 

[1ELISEA]

Thanks Celle!

 

[tashia]

1ELISEA, Please don't get into tomarrow, please stay in the now. I do know that is easy for someone who lives alone because I do also. But do remember there are thousands of us who live alone and make it. The fact that you were able to be right now in your house and be able to take care of yourself and drive. What I found helpful was to keep a journal so I could see the progress. I still doing it because of having my left knee done about a week before yours June 4th. We are going to make it. Remember to keep in pain control and do take care. You are in a family and so therefore we are not alone. Tashia

 

[1ELISEA]

Thanks Tashia. Yes, I'll try to stay in the here and now. Keeping with that theme, today I have a PT appointment and am looking forward to it because it means I'm that much closer to having a working knee that doesn't hurt! Yeah!

 

[Lori-M]

Hang in there Elisea. I appreciate your honesty at how you feel and how you're doing. For me, with surgery a little over a month away, these kinds of posts help me recognize the different stages that are involved. Right now I'm a little anxious and apprehensive. Later, I may be where you are. By that time I expect you'll be one of those who post about how much better you're feeling. I'm looking forward to reading those posts when I'm feeling down; your progress will be so encouraging to me!

 

[1ELISEA]

Wow, Lori, your note uplifted me this morning. I appreciate that you are reading my thread and thank you so much for the encouragement. It does more than you know!

 

[1ELISEA]

And nowwww, I am off to physical therapy. We'll see what kind of mood I am in after that appointment.



Hey, where is the limping emoticon??!

 

[Celle]

Have a good day, Elisea! I hope the physio goes well.

 

[Organist]

Thanks, BJ, for the encouragement. I will try not to fret over the numbers. It would be a lot easier walking, though, if I could bend my knee more. Or sitting and not feeling like I am going to trip somebody because my foot is sticking out. Sigh.......

I mean, just a little progress would be nice...

Elisea, I still stretch my leg out. When we go to a restaurant or some other place, I try to make sure I don't put my foot on top of someone else's foot. Then whenever I change position and then stretch my leg out again, I try to remind myself to check where I'm "aiming" my leg and foot. You'll get there. As everyone has said, we and our knees go through recovery in our own individual time -- depending on what the new knee says is OK.

 

[reetpteet]

How about a new measuring 'tool'. Choose from the following:-
I can bend my knee

1. A bit
2. A lot
3. Enough

no technical skill required!

Just thought - this tool could be adapted -
I can SLEEP

1. A bit
2. A lot
3. Enough

no technical skill required!

Can you tell I have a clinical background?

 

[Morning Glory]

Hope you had a good session at therapy!

 

[Organist]

Elisea, hope that your PT session went well, and that your PT person wasn't talking negatively. If he/she continues, complain to the head of the department. Negative stuff only leads to negative thoughts. They need to QUIT taking ROM measurements. Mine didn't take ROM measurements until toward the end of my outpatient PT sessions -- the next to the last one, I think. They're supposed to be ENCOURAGING.

Also, it doesn't help your PT sessions that you have to drive yourself, and can't take the pain meds until you get back home. So, of course, your knee will hurt more and swell more, making it harder to bend.

Also, remember one of the things that they repeat here is that there is NO "magic cut-off point" at which you can't get more ROM. The knee is in control and is NOT going by a time-table decided by some PT person or even a doctor. Hang in there. It will happen -- as will sleeping better. Sleeping through the night again took me a long time, and I still wake up a couple of times at night. Take care.

 

[Limpin'Lizzie]

Hey, Girl! I'm a bit ahead of you..had my RTKR on May 1. I've been following your progress, and I can so identify with the ROM quandry. But I will say that these wonderful people here have changed my thinking about it, and I finally have peace. I had a surgeon who was telling me I was "way, way behind." He and the PT's were making me feel like there was something terribly wrong with me b/c I couldn't bend well. My first day of PT I was at 50.

For my 3rd week checkup, my doctor insisted I be at 120! Well, I only got to 90 with them pushing me to the point of screaming. They kept telling me that I was letting the pain get in the way! Well, of course! And my knee was horribly swollen.

After getting on here and reading all the articles, I finally told my surgeon I'd recover in my own time, and that I felt my ROM would come, however slowly. He honestly didn't believe me! How's that for encouragement?!

So I'm no longer at PT (I'm at 8 weeks), and my swelling has gone way down, and I can tell I'm bending my knee so much better. No, I haven't had it measured, and I've decided I don't even care about the number anymore. Since I've quit obsessing about it so much, I feel so much better.

By the way, I'm still having to take pain meds. I went for a walk (15 min.) last evening, and woke up in the middle of the night hurting so bad. I had to ice it before I got relief, as the pain med didn't even help it. I've just come to realize this recovery will take as long as it takes. I can tell a lot of things are better (like driving now), but I've still got a long way to go.

I hope you can soon embrace that thought and just relax with it. I know I was getting myself all upset, too, and it was not good for my knee or any part of me.

Take care, and I'll continue to watch your progress.
Liz