Recent content by Want2hike

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    Bilateral TKR 15month update....finally normal

    2 year update. Knees are still doing great. The left knee still klunks and my final bend in both is about 120 degrees. Not enough to squat or sit on my feet (have never in my life been able to do that) but enough that I can comfortably sit on a bar stool or tuck my feet behind a chair leg (first...
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    Introduction, staged TKRs or bilateral?

    You may want to discuss surgery duration with your doctor. I didn't ask but everything I googled led me to think it would be a 4-6 hr surgery and I was worried about the same thing. I sent my husband back to work during my surgery, so he didn't waste all day in a waiting room. In reality, my...
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    Bilateral TKR 15month update....finally normal

    1 year 3 months update: I feel confident in saying that all the post surgery healing is finally done and my knees are now the new post-op normal for me. The bend in both knees is around 115-120. This allows me to to everything I could do presurgery, plus more. I can finally comfortably sit on a...
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    Ice Packs and Electric Blanket - anybody else do this?

    I'm always cold, so icing was torture for me. The only way I could even tolerate it was wrapped in an electric heating blanket. Even at PT, they provided me with heating pads over my core while I iced my knees.
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    Bilateral TKR Exercise post op 1.5 yrs

    I'm at 13 months BTKR. While I have been able to go up and down stairs since 5 months, it hasn't been a smooth process. When I first tried to do steps without a handrail, I would just do the last 2 at the bottom, then worked my way up to the last 4.... then the last 6.... I still find it...
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    BTKR.... Hospital to Rehab or Hospital to home?

    For me, home was the right choice (no stairs and family to help).
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    Bilateral TKR 15month update....finally normal

    1 year update: Went to see my doc for my 1 year checkup. All looks good and I come back in 2 years unless I have any problems before that. The bend in both knees is around 110-115. He said I could continue to improve for up to 5 years! Much better than the 90 degree bend I had before surgery...
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    Losing Weight

    Everyone is different, but for me, exercise is for building strength and increasing overall health and doesn't really help me lose weight. In order for me to lose (or not gain) weight, I have to be very aware of how many calories I am consuming and not go over my limit. In 2009 I weighed 350...
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    TKR 6 months out - clicking in knee

    Hi GinGer, When I returned to work at 8 weeks post op, I started to get more swelling in my ankles and calves. I bought knee high mild compression socks (Amazon had fun colors) and started wearing them. It reduced the swelling and general achiness. I usually didn't wear them to bed but I found...
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    TKR Sleep is back - now for more recovery!

    I had quite a bit of ankle and calf swelling (this is something I experienced even before my surgery). When I went back to work, I found that it got worse. I fixed that problem by wearing knee high mild compression socks; they really helped to keep the swelling down.
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    Bilateral TKR Hello!<

    You will get to the point where you can sleep on your side again. At 2-3 months post bilateral, I was just starting to be able to comfortably sleep on my side. The top leg needed to be offset from my bottom leg (not directly above it: legs do not touch each other) and I needed to put a...
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    Moving Forward On Two New (Conformis) Knees

    My insurance only covered nursing homes and not orthopedic rehab centers. My doc only agreed to do my bilateral if I went home from the hospital. I was released from the hospital about 72 hours after surgery. My mom came and stayed with me so somebody was home with me the first week (so husband...
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    Bilateral TKR October 23, 2017

    I was terrified before my BTKR but am so happy that I did both at once, rather than spreading it out.
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    Introduction and BTKR Conundrum

    Having a bilateral, I can't compare whether it would be more or less painful than a single, but it wasn't nearly as painful as I imagined (drugs are your friend). The stabbing and aching bone pain was completely gone, and replaced by muscle pain. Somebody on this site once described it as...
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    Hmm I wonder...

    As others have said, the recovery is longer and harder than many surgeons lead patients to believe. My surgeon told me that I might be able to go back to work at 4 weeks, likely 8, and maybe as late as 12 weeks, to a primarily desk job. I think I had a fairly quick and easy recovery, especially...
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