TKR LTKR - My First Ever!

I'm thinking high protein, low fat, low carb, ie concentrate on protein and offal, collagen etc.

Normally I'd say high fat, moderate protein and ultra-low carb, but i'm not exercising enough for high fat, so I'll target protein and reduce everything else :) :-) (:

My weight did shoot up after the surgery from swelling, and then rapidly started dipping down - but excess eating of carb (blarh! carbs! blurhg!) my weight has just skyrocketed back up.

I'll attach a pic, the first rapid rise is swelling, the rest... there's no excuse. Carbs. Gah!
 

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Yes, both. I am told it's because the soft tissue has to adjust to the new 'shape' of the joint. Hasn't happened for many years, knees now feel as normal as they can, maybe 99%. And vastly better than pre-surgery.
 
That gives me hope :)

Today tried riding my trusty MTB, but the knee was clonking with every stroke, so gave up for now
 
Cycling is good exercise, I'd stick with it.

OK, I'll try again next time the weather is nice (monsoon season here now).

It's weird, I raised the seat a bit, to the point I can barely touch the ground, yet looking at the vid it's clear my legs are nowhere near straight on the power-stroke. Like the geometry of the bike is wrong, yet this is a ridiculously expensive Giant Trance. Great suspension, smooth gear changes, alround great but watching me ride it looks like the seat is far too low? If I have it much higher I'll need a ladder to get on the thing. Mmm.

I'll try another inch...
 
Yes it's too low. Rough rule: wearing a pair of low-heeled or flat shoes, sit on the bike with the heel on the pedal at the lowest point. Your leg should be dead straight. Then as you pedal correctly with the ball of your foot on the pedal, your leg will have a suitable bend.
 
I'm thinking high protein, low fat, low carb, ie concentrate on protein and offal, collagen etc.

You may know this already, but watch out how that diet works for you. Long term, it can stress your kidneys and create nutritional imbalances. Not for everyone, of course, and it sounds like you already have good experience with low carb high protein. But after the stress of a surgery, it might be harder on your system than you might expect.

Your progress is amazing!
 
Long term, it can stress your kidneys and create nutritional imbalances.

Sure, normally I'd go moderate protein, high fat, but for now I have plenty of fat on my belly and so I'm targeting protein (to ensure I get enough).

So today had another go with the bike, with the saddle an inch higher. Was still a little clonky, and some really quite nasty pains popped up about 4 times during a 2 km circuit around the block, so a successful ride but I'll listen to that pain and stick with the elliptical for a while longer :)

Talking of pain, gonna try easing off my painkillers now, by reducing the dosage. Will see what happens...
 
Going for physio again today...

I've already paid for it, so might as well go along. I'm not sure why I'm bothering though, as last time I was set back by pain from the measurement and I'm really not sure they're going to offer me anything I can't get from here or the local chemist?

Maybe she'll have some insight or something. I'll give her a chance, though at this point I very much doubt I'll pay for any further sessions.

Let's see...
 
Well got to admit, the physio session went much better than I expected.

This time she took me to a different room with some proper equipment, where we did leg presses and leg extensions, even some 'slide down the wall' squats.

Managed to give the leg a great workout, all trembly and tired, without stressing the knee. In a bizarre twist, I even agreed to go for another session!

Well reducing my pain meds was partly by force, as the clinic was out of stock and only had a single strip of the paracetamol/codeine, none of the other stuff. So I figured it was a good time to try reducing anyway, and must admit I am feeling it, but nothing too major. Enough to pull me out of a meditation session after Nefty decided to start throbbing for no reason but I think I can cope with the reduced meds :)
 
Aaaaand reduced meds is still a bad idea; lack of sleep from waking up in pain is not much fun at all.

I've had funner.

So reluctantly resuming, for a while anyway.

Went for a walk yesterday in the more hilly parts of the local park, still fairly light stuff but my most demanding walk since the Op. Went OK, other than the lack of sleep mentioned above, though I think that was more the lack of meds than the extra exercise.

One big victory - my wife says I have my sexy, confident walk back :walking:

A lot of the time I can pretty much forget about the knee, other times it's still annoying painful and stiff. For example I CAN walk downstairs normally - but I'm mostly still clutching the banisters, letting the knee go sideways and generally favoring Nefty, especially in the mornings.

Can drive with zero issues at all - until I have to get out of the car in slow motion.

Today wandered around a shopping mall, no issues or problem, until sitting down in a coffee shop. Felt relieved to sit down, almost unexpectedly, then suffered 'restless leg syndrome' in that no particular position was comfortable, especially as the tables had a wide base interfering with my foot placement. Righty didn't care but every few minutes Nefty demanded I move around a bit.

Kind of feel in a weird limbo, where I'm so close to being back to normal, and yet still so darn fragile and tender. Can sum the feeling and situation up by what happened with my father in law tonight...

Went to visit and drop off some food for the in-laws, and my father in law was on the sofa counting out tablets for his wife. I sat beside him and we chatted, including me mentioning the variety of my own pain meds and another med to protect my stomach from those meds, that I had tried reducing but seems the knee is still too tender etc. Then it was time to leave so said goodbye, and in a manly and friendly way he returned the sentiment - and gave my knee a good slap!

I yelped a bit, he suddenly remembered and apologized, which I waved away as he clearly forgot and off we went, me easing myself slowly into the car.

That kind of sums it all up; I'm so back to normal and yet still so far away from it!

Question - I've booked a seaside hotel for new year's 30th December until 1st Jan, which includes a semi-public pool (shared by 8 chalets). That will be about 5 weeks post-op; should be OK for swimming?

Right now there are still some scabs on the lower section of the incision, the ones higher up have been rubbed off by my trousers. I'm showering as normal now, but there's a lot more water pressure, and other people's germs, in a swimming pool.

Sez you?
 
Question - I've booked a seaside hotel for new year's 30th December until 1st Jan, which includes a semi-public pool (shared by 8 chalets). That will be about 5 weeks post-op; should be OK for swimming?
I would be concerned about germs in the pool Bigs. You've come so far, a good swim can happen next time, lol! The seaside hotel sounds heavenly however, for bringing the new year in with great fun and anticipation for recovery! Hope you will share pics with us of your magnificently planned celebration!
(Another reason is that icing often just feels so good, because it reduces the pain)
Boy does it Celle! For 'me', controlled pain addresses so much of my recovery to include my mental well-being. I believe our attitudes are half the battle in how our bodies respond to recovery.
I could never tolerate ice cold anything on my knee if the soft tissue and other areas weren't hot, injured & repairing from traumatic surgery. Because the ice therapy feels so good & eliminates pain tells me what I need to know about it's effectiveness!

I'm open for education always. For today, I'm in the 'ICE-ON' camp!

:ice::console2::ice:
 
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So I took a photo of Nefty and sent it to my surgeon on Whatsapp, he says it should be no problem with swimming :eyebrows:

(apart from how weak and skinny it is...)
 

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You’re two weeks ahead of me, so I’ll be interested in how the pool goes. I’m considering joining a gym with a pool so I can do some gentle water work for balance.
 
To me, it looks like you have some scabs left. I'd wait until I was completely healed with no scabs at all. You don't want to take a chance of getting an infection. What's a few more weeks out of the pool to be absolutely sure you're safe?
 
One place said "once you've scabbed over you can swim" so a bit confusing really.

I think the lower scabs are only there because, being the cautious type, I sprayed it with Onsite spray-on skin covering.

New Question: am I the only one with a crunchy foot?

I find as I walk I can hear and feel the pad of the left foot kind of crunching, from a lack of cartilage or padding?

That foot was damaged from the bike accident 34 years ago but no major bone damage, mostly a matter of "foot drop" and the toes tight and scrunched up, both caused by having the foot up for so long. Hence my insisting on getting on my feet and moving around immediately with this TKR; the moment the doc said the cement was fixed and would take my weight I started walking on it.

But what's with the crunchy foot?

Just me?
 
I don't remember hearing of a crunchy foot before. Maybe trying to get in harmony with your knee?
 

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