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PollyAnna

PollyAnna

new member
Joined
May 16, 2018
Messages
7
Age
66
Location
Enola PA
Country
United States United States
Gender
Female
I had a LTKR on Jan 29, 2018, I aspirated during the surgery and ended up with pneumonia and spending a week in the hospital coming home with oxygen and starting PT in the home three times a week. It was difficult to stay on track with the knee, for the first couple of weeks, regaining my overall strength from the pneumonia... I did 6 weeks of op Pt for the knee after I was off the oxygen, then I got bronchitis, and missed two sessions so, I lost rom, ( I had 110, but was at 100) after the therapist tried to bend my knee, and it was excruciating pain, I decided that I could do everything they had me do at home and a gym three times a week for way cheaper! And nobody to try to hurt me! But now I’ve been doing this regimen for approximately 4 weeks, and thought I should probably be doing more, so I added some weight to my leg lifts, 10 lbs. and I do the bike for Two more minutes making it 12 min total 3x a week... I’ve been having pain in the knee, that I haven’t had since the surgery... so I was wondering if I should back off... I know my leg is weak, when I try to do the leg machines it’s very difficult... I’ve been ice and resting a couple times yesterday and today... not sure where to go from here... ( I had to retire early at age 55 because of my bad knee ) I’m 60 now ...I’ve resumed all my housework and chores, and some outside work, planting, weeding... I tend to tire easily, I take a lot of breaks! I guess I’m looking for some encouragement, my hubby tries, but at the same time I feel like he is pushing me to do more... Today, I should walk, but of course it’s raining...
 
How do I delete this?
 
Last edited:
Hello, @PollyAnna and :welome:. We're glad you found our community!

Looks to me like you've stepped up your exercises -- added weights, for sure -- and your knee is telling you it doesn't like what you're doing. Some people might be able to do weights at three or four months, but other's need to wait a bit longer. You're likely one of them. So stop the weights and the leg presses for now. Just take those nice walks and tone down the exercising. You'll get back to it later once your knee settles down and is happy again.

Also, you're just plain doing too much right now. You've resumed all household chores, too. And gardening. And... well, your knee wants you to slow down. For now. You have a lifetime ahead of you, so what's another month or two of resting more so your knee can do a good job of healing?

Things are downright soggy where I live too. I have skipped my morning walk for two days. :sad: And tomorrow is going to be the same, or worse. I expect to see frogs in the streets soon!

Here's some reading we give to new members in recovery. I think you'll find the short articles interesting and still useful!

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key

Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly

Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds


We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
SusieShoes said:
Hello, @PollyAnna and :welome:. We're glad you found our community!

Looks to me like you've stepped up your exercises -- added weights, for sure -- and your knee is telling you it doesn't like what you're doing. Some people might be able to do weights at three or four months, but other's need to wait a bit longer. You're likely one of them. So stop the weights and the leg presses for now. Just take those nice walks and tone down the exercising. You'll get back to it later once your knee settles down and is happy again.

Also, you're just plain doing too much right now. You've resumed all household chores, too. And gardening. And... well, your knee wants you to slow down. For now. You have a lifetime ahead of you, so what's another month or two of resting more so your knee can do a good job of healing?

Things are downright soggy where I live too. I have skipped my morning walk for two days. :sad: And tomorrow is going to be the same, or worse. I expect to see frogs in the streets soon!

Here's some reading we give to new members in recovery. I think you'll find the short articles interesting and still useful!

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key

Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly

Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds


We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for all the information, I’ll be busy reading and resting! ️
 
Welcome to Bonesmart, we’re glad you found us!

I agree with Susie, take a bit of a break and rest your knee, it still has slot of healing to do.

BoneSmart’s gentle approach to recovery is a bit radical, but it certainly makes more sense than overworking a healing knee.

Yes, it’s raining in my neck of the woods, too! My kids are on their way here for a long weekend, and it may be very long indeed with children 4, 6, and 8 years old stick inside a small house because we are supposed to have rain every day until mid next week!
 
Jockette said:
Welcome to Bonesmart, we’re glad you found us!

I agree with Susie, take a bit of a break and rest your knee, it still has slot of healing to do.

BoneSmart’s gentle approach to recovery is a bit radical, but it certainly makes more sense than overworking a healing knee.

Yes, it’s raining in my neck of the woods, too! My kids are on their way here for a long weekend, and it may be very long indeed with children 4, 6, and 8 years old stick inside a small house because we are supposed to have rain every day until mid next week!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the welcome and advise, I’m in PA, no end in sight of the rain...
 
Hi @PollyAnna
I agree with the others. In your keenness to help your knee, you've been doing too much for it. Time to give it a rest!
You've achieved good ROM and you won't lose that now.

You see, it's not really exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself. The activities of your daily living are enough exercise for your knee now.

Although many people are told that recovery from a knee replacement takes about 3 months, it actually takes a full year for all your tissues to recover completely. Your knee will keep on recovering for all that time, so try not to expect too much of it right now. It's worth being patient with it and letting it recover on its own schedule.
 
Thank you, I didn’t realize I had done that.
 
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