TKR 10 may op

Thank you for the support Bonesmart. Yup am at the wish I'd never had it done stage. Decent sleep is a distant dream; difficult for hubby too I'm the cook and planner and now it's down to him and wonderful instant meals
 
All temporary.

You’ll do fine for a while on simple meals. Anything your husband can make will do (as long as you like the taste! :heehee: ). Yes, good nutrition will help you heal, but sometimes we just have to let go of ideals and get through the day. I told my husband I’d be happy with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or even a bowl of cereal. He was good with breakfast foods, too, and breakfast is good any time of day.
 
Now nearly 4 weeks into recovery. Saw physio last week who is happy with progress. However I now seem to have stopped improving. Still having pain, not able to properly heel toe walk, hubby says I'm swaying rather than walking properly. Stayed at home yesterday as thoroughly fed up. When is any sort of normal going to happen? Most members are quite a bit younger than me not sure why.
 
Hello Parks,
Four weeks is really early into a recovery that will most likely last a full year, possibly even longer as it does for some. You will have ups and downs so please try to lower your expectations and go easier on yourself. Your body is healing from
controlled trauma and you will get better. It takes a lot longer than a month and you will not notice improvement daily. Reflect back weekly and you’ll see your progress.

When is any sort of normal going to happen, you ask?
Normal will happen gradually over time, relax and allow your body to heal. It is healing.

Following is an explanation of heel-toe walking, along with a visual -
This involves striking the ground with your heel first, then rolling through your heel to your toe, and pushing out of the step with your toe.
It takes a concentrated effort, but I believe you'll notice a difference. Give it a try.
1654514129117.jpeg
As far as others being younger than you. Consider yourself lucky that you had a healthy natural knee longer than many. That is a blessing and most likely insurance this new knee will last your life time.
Happy Monday…I hope you have a great week!
@Parks
 
Here is another visual on expectations vs reality of recovery
D1E8B9F2-39AF-4244-881C-DB41A5D1FB4A.jpeg
Tap / click on image to expand.
 
You are in the angry-tissue stage and will be for about another month. You will see ups and downs. Sometimes it's even one step forward and two steps backward. I think when we start to feel better we then do too much and pay for it later. Before you know it, though, you'll be doing 2 steps forward and one step back! Patience is one of the hardest thing to do during this recovery.
 
6 weeks today. Trying to remember how far I've come. Now happily going out without stick and feeling more confident that nothing bad is going to happen. Still struggling with going downstairs properly and knee complains bitterly if I get over confident. Sleep is getting a bit better, but have to take 2 stronger OTC pills to help.

Unfortunately today is not starting well with regard to stiffness and pain, think that maybe going back to my stretch and flex class. Although I try to be careful.

Not seeing surgeon until 1st July so no one to tell me whether this is normal. Sick of not wanting or able to do things. Only one meeting with physio at 3 weeks who said fine don't need to see you again.
 
You’re only six weeks, at the beginning of your journey. Yes, that is normal. I’m a couple weeks ahead of you and one day I’m doing great; next I regress but it’s normal. It’ll happen again.

Marie
 
rollercoasterexample-gif.74641
This describes our recovery to a T! Up and down, up and down, etc!
 
Yet another question.

I'm now over 7 weeks post op. Pain, or more accurately, ache still there all the time, along with stiffness. I had one physio session at 3 weeks and then left to carry on.

I am walking about 3 to 4,000 steps a day and stretching when I can. Someone suggested static cycling is that a good idea? If so how long each session. My husband's gym says I can use the gym for free for short sessions.

Nervous about seeing surgeon for first time tomorrow too.
 
Your stiffness is caused by swelling that comes from overworking your knee. 3-4000 steps a day is too much for a knee that is less than 1/6 of the way healed. I think you need to be icing and resting more.

If you use the bike make sure you use no tension and do it only for 5 minutes the first time and see how your knee reacts. You might need to wait another month or so, which is nothing unusual.
 
Yup sistersinhim you're spot on. Have had a miserable evening and night. Will back off exercise for a while and let knee settle. All very frustrating!
 
@Parks I know it's difficult. But I think you will have a much easier time if you stop trying to push through this recovery. As Jockette said earlier - all this is temporary. Let that knee heal and settle. You will continue to see progress for many months. Still early days!
 
@Parks so hard- but less is more. I still get achy when I overdo it (13 weeks) and take a Tylenol all part of the process!
 
One thing I would do is to do what I thought of as "under-doing" and see how it went. If I didn't suffer afterward, I'd try just a little bit more the next day.

My PT told me if you hurt for more than an hour after doing your exercises you've done too much.

As you mentioned you had a miserable night. So often it doesn't feel too bad when you're doing something but all that activity--daily activities plus any exercise--catches up with you at the end of the day.
 
0k I'm now nearly 10 weeks post tkr can someone please tell me when I will no longer ache after walking or gym. Wondering whether being older makes a difference. I understand that it can take a while but although I have good rom but I'm not able to do decent walks.....so fed up.
 
10 weeks is about 1/5 healed in this recovery that takes an average of 52 weeks (one year) What you are experiencing is very common. Try to reset your expectations and slow down the things that cause the aches and give yourself more time to heal.
 
You'll keep seeing improvement but you'll need to pace yourself a bit still. Like Jockette said, give your body time and space to keep healing.
 

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