TKR Almost 5 months post op….struggling, frustrated and worried

Hi again Christie,
You're welcome! Just one more thing...
I am catching up here and noticed JusticeRider JusticeRider’s rehab adventure
shared a quad stretch that works for her, in detail, in her latest post today. No. 443
Check it out and see if it's something you feel you can manage. I know you were wondering about quad stretches yesterday or the day before.
@Christie b
 
Do you know how long I can wait on the MUA? Aren’t they more likely to be successful if done early on?
I was told MUAs can be done anytime. They are only successful if you have actual adhesions, no matter when they are done.


I need to try to do everything I can to try help my situation. I just wish I knew what to do.

At only 10 weeks, and only 3 weeks after an injury, you need more time to heal, even without that injury 3 weeks ago. Take plenty of time to rest and elevate and don’t overdo. Try to relax and let Time do its thing. Balance that with gentle activity.

I fell the day after this past Christmas and landed on my replaced knee, on a hard wood floor. My knee, and leg all the way down to my ankle, swelled up quite a bit. I’m guessing my ROM was way less than 90. It took 2 full months to be relatively back to my normal. This was just from a fall, no surgically induced trauma, like post op joint replacement has. So, it’s no wonder it takes a year to recover from all the surgical trauma our knee/leg suffers.

I did no ROM exercises, just whatever daily activities I could manage. As my leg healed, the swelling went down, I was able to do more. It was as simple as that!

Try to stop stressing out over your knee. You still have a long way to go. Towards the end of my first year I read a post from a member here who said, “stop worrying and just get on with your life.” I printed it out and kept it where I could see it. It was hard at times, but that’s what I’ve done, and it got easier as time went by, and what helps my current situation to be as manageable as it is.

Recently I compared this recovery to baking cookies. My chocolate chip cookies take 12 minutes to completely bake. If I take them out earlier, at 2 minutes, 4, 8 or whatever, they will only be partially baked, and not all that tasty, because they’re not done yet.

The same is true of our knee at 2 months, or 3 months, etc. It needs time to finish healing.
 
@Jockette Thank you so much for your note. I printed it so that I can read it over and over again as needed. I think I told you that I’m a total over/catastrophic thinker and worrier. I’ve become so one track minded over this dang knee & recovery. I worry that I made the biggest mistake of my life and I’m going to limp around in pain for the rest of my life. I’m only 53 & I’m not even a grandma yet! I know you are right, I need to chill out and give my knee a chance to heal. At this point I definitely won’t be agreeing to the MUA and frankly I’m a little upset with my surgeon. Besides scaring me with the MUA threat, he told me early on that at 12 weeks I would be 90% healed - I’m not even close at 10.5 weeks. I think I was just waiting on that magical date based on what he said and it gave me a false expectation. Anyway, thank you again for you help and your time. I really feel like no one that hasn’t been through what we have could possibly understand so I appreciate this forum so much.
 
Sorry to hear about your aggressive PT are you still going? No way should you be having your knee forcibly bent past mild discomfort! It will swell, become more inflamed and is counter productive.

Speaking of doctors my GP told me I would be back to my construction job at 6 weeks after TKR! I definitely can relate to having that magical date and false expectations aa I'm 15 months post op.
The support from this site has helped me put a more realistic expectation on recovery so please keep posting.
 
@2chains Thank you for your note. Yes, I’m still going to PT once a week but I no longer allow him to push my knee. In fact the only time he touches me is to massage it!

That‘s crazy that any doc would think someone could go back to a construction job at 6 weeks post op!! I couldn’t have even gone to an office job at 6 weeks.

How are you doing now?
 
Just now getting downstairs with just use of handrail! Increasing time length of activity windows. I group together short tasks ie. aids to daily living things, to have 30 min activity window and then 2 hour rest. Unfortunately I can't walk for 30 mins yet but hoping soon. Hopeful to be back at accommodated work by July 1.
 
I certainly had unrealistic expectations for my recovery, especially since I “only” had a partial. All I read made it sound like a simple procedure with a quick recovery. I was shocked at how swollen my leg was and that I couldn't bend it. I was angry that no one had prepared me properly for this recovery. Month after month went by and I still wasn’t back to normal.

I live in a 55+ and there were many knee replacements here before me. Even those people didn’t understand what was taking me “so long” to recover. Talk about peer pressure! One would at least think those people would have understood.

I think it was somewhere in my second year, with a lot of healing behind me, and my ROM at a good place that I got angry again, about how we are so pushed (literally and figuratively) to regain our ROM quickly after this surgery, instead of being able to just let our body heal. My ROM came back fine, and continued to improve all through my second year, without painful PT and exercises, and I was angry at all the time I wasted worrying that first year.
 
I got angry again, about how we are so pushed (literally and figuratively) to regain our ROM quickly after this surgery, instead of being able to just let our body heal. My ROM came back fine, and continued to improve all through my second year, without painful PT and exercises, and I was angry at all the time I wasted worrying that first year.
Agee on this and great advice!
 
I certainly had unrealistic expectations for my recovery, especially since I “only” had a partial. All I read made it sound like a simple procedure with a quick recovery. I was shocked at how swollen my leg was and that I couldn't bend it. I was angry that no one had prepared me properly for this recovery. Month after month went by and I still wasn’t back to normal.

I live in a 55+ and there were many knee replacements here before me. Even those people didn’t understand what was taking me “so long” to recover. Talk about peer pressure! One would at least think those people would have understood.

I think it was somewhere in my second year, with a lot of healing behind me, and my ROM at a good place that I got angry again, about how we are so pushed (literally and figuratively) to regain our ROM quickly after this surgery, instead of being able to just let our body heal. My ROM came back fine, and continued to improve all through my second year, without painful PT and exercises, and I was angry at all the time I wasted worrying that first year.

Same here, I definitely wasn’t properly prepared. In fact my surgeon told me not to research it online & that I‘d be “fine”. He said the 1st month sucks. Well, newsflash it still sucks at 2 1/2 months. I’m trying not to stress about ROM and just let my body heal. I stay busy enough taking care of 3 dogs, our home & yard. I’m going to take care of myself and do gentle exercises as I can - and besides that I’ll be icing & elevating. I need to trust in the healing powers of my body and give it time & care - not worry that I’m not at some arbitrary number that my surgeon & PT thinks I should be.

I’m surprised the people in your 55+ community didn’t understand how lengthy this recovery is. The peer pressure is real! I’m thankful for this community of people that get it.
 
Just now getting downstairs with just use of handrail! Increasing time length of activity windows. I group together short tasks ie. aids to daily living things, to have 30 min activity window and then 2 hour rest. Unfortunately I can't walk for 30 mins yet but hoping soon. Hopeful to be back at accommodated work by July 1.

That sounds like a good plan.
 
@2chains, I'm glad I've retired, as at 14weeks I couldn't contemplate going back to a job, let alone one in construction! I'm having to buy la set of ittle step ladders so I an reach my higher cupboards, never mind a hard job. x

I agree. Even in my pity party moments I’m thankful that I don‘t have to stress about when I can go back to work. Today I went grocery shopping and picked my car up from being serviced and I’m beat just from those 2 errands. Icing & elevating now so catching up on here. Have a nice evening!
 
The only one that seems to care about flexation is my PT, and she measures me every time. My OS never mentioned it and I feel that I have had good ROM. I will say, my PT NEVER forces anything and always leaves any specific exercise up to me. My TKR was 9 days after yours. Today at PT, my therapist started a new balancing exercise that she said would help me with field sobriety tests if nothing else. I absolutely would not go back to a therapist that caused me pain. I hope that your pain and swelling gets under control.
 
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I’m a little upset with my surgeon. Besides scaring me with the MUA threat, he told me early on that at 12 weeks I would be 90% healed
You have a good reason to be upset with your doctor. How unrealistic that statement was. I think if OSs would be truthful of the timeframe for healing, many patients would not undergo these TKRs. My doctor was a blessing. He said I'd probably hate him for about 2 months! He prepared me for the pain. But, best of all, I found Bonesmart 6 months before my actual replacement and was armored up going in! I had no unrealistic expectations about my recovery.
I need to trust in the healing powers of my body and give it time & care - not worry that I’m not at some arbitrary number that my surgeon & PT thinks I should be.
This is the best attitude! Stressing over it can actually make the pain worse. Stress has a mostly negative effect on our bodies. Worrying about our recovery can cause us to slow the healing down.
 
The only one that seems to care about flexation is my PT, and she measures me every time. My OS never mentioned it and I feel that I have had good ROM. I will say, my PT NEVER forces anything and always leaves any specific exercise up to me. My TKR was 9 days after yours. Today at PT, my therapist started a new balancing exercise that she said would help me with field sobriety tests if nothing else. I absolutely would not go back to a therapist that caused me pain. I hope that your pain and swelling gets under control.
@DaveJH Thanks for the supporting words. It sounds like you have a reasonable PT. Next month I'm at 16 months post op and hoping for even better!
 
The only one that seems to care about flexation is my PT, and she measures me every time. My OS never mentioned it and I feel that I have had good ROM. I will say, my PT NEVER forces anything and always leaves any specific exercise up to me. My TKR was 9 days after yours. Today at PT, my therapist started a new balancing exercise that she said would help me with field sobriety tests if nothing else. I absolutely would not go back to a therapist that caused me pain. I hope that your pain and swelling gets under control.
Hi Dave. You are lucky to have an OS and PT that doesn’t put that kind of pressure on you. I dread going to PT mainly because I know I’m not going to have the number he wants and it’s stressful. I’m doing my best, I really am, my knee just doesn’t want to budge no matter what I do, it’s like concrete. But after listening to the kind ladies here on this forum I’m choosing to be patient and kind to my knee and trust that my ROM will come in time. On the plus side, my pain is minimal at this point and I feel much better since getting off the Oxy. Sleep has improved since starting Tylenol PM. Now it’s just a matter of this annoying stiffness that is causing some limping and dealing with swelling when I overdo it. How are you feeling?
 
I’m a little upset with my surgeon. Besides scaring me with the MUA threat, he told me early on that at 12 weeks I would be 90% healed
You have a good reason to be upset with your doctor. How unrealistic that statement was. I think if OSs would be truthful of the timeframe for healing, many patients would not undergo these TKRs. My doctor was a blessing. He said I'd probably hate him for about 2 months! He prepared me for the pain. But, best of all, I found Bonesmart 6 months before my actual replacement and was armored up going in! I had no unrealistic expectations about my recovery.
I need to trust in the healing powers of my body and give it time & care - not worry that I’m not at some arbitrary number that my surgeon & PT thinks I should be.
This is the best attitude! Stressing over it can actually make the pain worse. Stress has a mostly negative effect on our bodies. Worrying about our recovery can cause us to slow the healing down.
@sistersinhim Oh how I wish I would’ve found Bonesmart before my surgery! I tend to go down the rabbit hole when I research so I listened to my OS when he told me not to research and freak myself out. I put my trust in him and now I’m regretting it. But I can’t change the past so no use dwelling on it. My 12 week post op is in 8 days and I’m hoping I’m at least a little better than the 95 that I was at my last appointment so that he can see that while albeit slow, I am making progress. I know that ultimately the MUA is my choice but I will feel better about my decision if I am progressing. I really wish there was a way to know if you truly have adhesions or not, it almost seems like a crapshoot and it seems they are done far more than the research shows they are needed. I’ve read only around 5-10% of TKRs have arthrofibrosis yet it seems the MUA is performed way more than that.

I agree that stress and worry are not my friends right now. I’m finding things that get my mind off of my recovery and bring me joy. Gardening is my therapy so I’m doing short 20-30 minute stints in between resting/icing/elevating. Playing with my 3 dogs. Spending time with my parents and my adult children. I’m enjoying a long epsom salt soak every day and reading novels that I never seemed to have time for before now. Just trying to stay positive and trust that this knee will sort itself out given enough time and patience. Thanks again for your words and help, I appreciate it so much!
 
My 12 week post op is in 8 days and I’m hoping I’m at least a little better than the 95 that I was at my last appointment
Rest, elevate and ice as much as possible. Your flexion is in there, it's just hidden because of swelling.

Even though your knee might not look swollen from the outside, you are likely still inflamed inside and that's what is restricting your bend. Once the inflammation goes down, your flexion will naturally improve.
 
The only one that seems to care about flexation is my PT, and she measures me every time. My OS never mentioned it and I feel that I have had good ROM. I will say, my PT NEVER forces anything and always leaves any specific exercise up to me. My TKR was 9 days after yours. Today at PT, my therapist started a new balancing exercise that she said would help me with field sobriety tests if nothing else. I absolutely would not go back to a therapist that caused me pain. I hope that your pain and swelling gets under control.
Hi Dave. You are lucky to have an OS and PT that doesn’t put that kind of pressure on you. I dread going to PT mainly because I know I’m not going to have the number he wants and it’s stressful. I’m doing my best, I really am, my knee just doesn’t want to budge no matter what I do, it’s like concrete. But after listening to the kind ladies here on this forum I’m choosing to be patient and kind to my knee and trust that my ROM will come in time. On the plus side, my pain is minimal at this point and I feel much better since getting off the Oxy. Sleep has improved since starting Tylenol PM. Now it’s just a matter of this annoying stiffness that is causing some limping and dealing with swelling when I overdo it. How are you feeling?
I feel pretty good. I am lucky to have had a fairly uneventful recovery so far. I started water aerobics today and I think that I will like the way it lets me exercise without straining the knee. I certainly underestimated the recovery time, but partly being 64 slows things down. One of the OS that I talked to before choosing who would do my surgery said that at 3 months, most patients would still regret having had the surgery done, but that at 6 months they would be glad they had done it.
 

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