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TKR 09-11 Cheerbubble Thread

I realized I'd forgotten to post for a bit - I was 'stuck' at 92 degrees of flexion for about two weeks and then suddenly last week, I got to 115. I'm not overly focused on it, but it was a nice and quite exciting jump. All the physical therapists where I go to PT gave me high fives. :) So that would have been week 7 post surgery. I'm feeling quite peaceful as I approach the 2nd surgery scheduled 12/04, it just takes time (I like PT, I know that's not everyone's cuppa, and that's okay) and patience. And I have tender feelings for the other people in PT who had knee procedures more recently, I see them and my eyes well up, just sending them good vibes, "you'll get there" mojo!
 
I got the paperwork in the mail authorizing the 2nd TKR, it will be my right knee, and I was informed of an appointment via text today for 11/27. Looks like things are in motion for my 2nd surgery 12/04! I'm psyched!!
Also interested to see how the two compare. The first operation was on the leg the dr said was worse, but it wasn't the knee that hurt me most. I've read on this forum that no two knee operations are exactly the same. I can't wait to be on the other side and 2 months out from the right one!
 
I was "discharged" for my left TKR by my orthopod today, woohoo!! 2 months and 10 days, I'm at 0 on the extension, variable 110-120 on the flexion (the difference is positional), and my gait is "almost" normal. The almost part is the right knee that I'm still limping on. So there will be yet another x-ray in February, when I am discharged (one hopes) on my right TKR. Then there is a recheck in one year, then every two years afterward. Even though it's only halfway through the process, I'm kind of in disbelief that it's been this fast and such a good experience. I'm really looking forward to the right knee and having that behind me. Made my doc smile, I'm so happy with what he's done for me!
(still have to keep exercising and stretching, but PT is done for the left leg now, doc continues to say the rest of my range of motion will come and he believes I will eventually get to the 125 range reliably--do you think he reads Bonesmart???)
MUCH to be thankful for, hope you all have a lovely turkey day tomorrow for those who are celebrating!
 
Shanari said:
doc continues to say the rest of my range of motion will come and he believes I will eventually get to the 125 range reliably--do you think he reads Bonesmart???)
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Oh, yes, most definitely! Many of us continue to see ROM improvements over a year or more. Your OS is up to date on his recovery outlook. You are blessed to have him!
 
My Ortho surgeon had a cancellation, so I have had my 2nd knee replacement! I got in on Friday, had surgery and got home last night. If someone official could possibly change my little signature thingie I would love that, please? So - you know my left TKR was pretty much a piece of cake. This one is NOT. I'm shocked at how much pain this one has and how different it is from the left. At least it is done. Surgery Friday morning, Sat. night had a big crisis thing when the nerve block wore off too early, and then drove home in a blizzard yesterday, in so much pain I couldn't get up the step into the house. We had to drive so slowly because of weather conditions the pain meds had all worn off...grrrr. I'm not a screamer, but I was bawling, sobbing, kind of screaming, and my whole body was twitching in this very weird spasmy way for about two hours after we got home. Nightmare! got it settled in the night and now I'm comfortably ensconced while my husband runs to the pharmacy for new meds. HOLY SCHAMOLEY what a difference between the two procedures...
It's my own fault, isn't it, for calling my left TKR recovery thread "cheerbubble" ?!? ;) ;) (I'm still a cheerbubble, just a surprised one right now!!!)
 
Shanari said:
My Ortho surgeon had a cancellation, so I have had my 2nd knee replacement! I got in on Friday, had surgery and got home last night.
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Please will you confirm that your new surgery date was November 30, 2018? Once you've done that, we'll change your signature.

I'm sorry to hear your new knee caused you so much pain.

Now you're home, I hope you can get on top of it, with a regular medication schedule.

Here is the post-op reading again, so you don't have to go back to the beginning of your thread to find it:
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. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for TKRs


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

Please don't be overwhelmed by the list. The articles are not long and they and contain information that will answer many questions and help you make your recovery much easier on your knee and on you.

We are here to help in any way we can: answering questions and concerns; supporting and encouraging you from start to finish.

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.
 
Yes, first (left) TKR was 09-11-18, second (right) TKR was 11-30-18.

Have gotten the meds on their schedule and am feeling considerably better now, but it still is more painful than the left one was. C'est la vie. Walking is coming a bit better each day, I slept well last night (too well - slept through a scheduled pain reliever dosing) and will set a timer for tonight so I don't do that again. That ride home was horrible and getting past the worst part of the pain took quite a bit, but now I'm on the other side of it and we're just not going to let that happen again!
 
It's great that you're back home! We will change that date for you.
 
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I’m sorry you’re having a tougher time this time. :console2:

How is your eyesight? Any more changes like last time? I wonder if my next surgery will reverse what happened to mine last time. My husband doesn’t think so.
 
Blurry again, @Jockette, to the point that I scheduled an eye exam with my eye doc for February. I want to be off the opioids but this had not improved after I was off them from the previous leg. So weird!

I need a reality check from other people who've had TKRs done - will any of you help? that fierce, serious pain is fading but it was SO different from last time. I was thinking back and realized, in the hospital I had a different PT person. This time, the day after surgery, he made me "march" while seated in my chair, lifting each knee off the floor while in a bent position, 20x. Then he had me do 20 fully extended leg lifts. The day after surgery!! The next day, 2 days after, he made me walk 2x (he called them victory laps) and go up and down a full flight of stairs, not the little practice stairs that we did with the left leg, he hauled me clear down to a concrete hospital stairwell, 10 steps up, 10 down. I was quite doped up and didn't object although I asked if he was sure...now I think about that, who exercises on a fresh incision? Perhaps I'm being crabbity but as each day passes, that burning terribly ouchy pain is fading and now this right leg is much the same as the left leg was. Has anyone else had to exercise the day after surgery? The exercises I did last time were more like gentle muscle squeezes, not full extension leg lifts, a set of 20! I think he wounded me and that's why the pain was so awful. Please tell me if I'm being kookoo!
 
All that while still in the hospital sounds like it could very well explain the different pain you have. It makes me so angry to read of PTs like this. Especially, like you said, you were not able to think clearly to refuse to do them. :blackcloud:
 
That sounds like a torturous hospital experience - with my first they had me in the cpm machine in the hospital - with this one the first PT was gentle - basically told me not to do anything to tick off the new knee. The day 2 pt wanted me to do a bunch of heel slides, got out the goniometer, and had me walking around trying to work on my gait - I had to put the brakes on this obsession with ROM and gait less than 24 hrs from surgery.
 
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I am a bossy wench, the only reason they got away with it was that I was still fuzzy from surgery. My ortho believes the BoneSmart way - anything that makes you swell reduces healing. This second experience was entirely different than the first leg, at least in terms of what "PT" meant. First time it was butt-cheek squeezes! I go back to get staples out tomorrow and I do believe I'm going to bring this up with the doc at that time.
 
The PTs I had in the hospital were great. No exercises, no measuring, just short walks, and those practice steps to be sure I could navigate them.

My PT even cut a walk short because he didn’t like the way I looked, he took my blood pressure and it was 90 over something and he said, we’re done here. He gave me a choice of walking back to my room, or being pushed in a rolling recliner. I chose to walk, but he was right next to me and his assistant was right behind me with the recliner.
 
That is what I think it should be like, @Jockette, in my opinion! and that's what my first experience with PT in hospital was like. I'm crabbity now about what happened. I don't like feeling that way, almost like I was taken advantage of in a diminished state.
 
I feel the same about some of my out patient PT experiences. I recently did some research about emotional upsets from hospital experiences and realized that first time my PT forced my bend to an excruciating level, one week to the day after surgery, that I was violated by someone I trusted while I was very vulnerable. It affected me very deeply. The forced bending continued at every appointment, though not as painfully as that first time. I now have a very strong aversion to any therapists and I won’t be going to PT next time, I will have trouble trusting them in the future.

Interesting that your vision was affected again. I was just getting ready to see about new glasses again now, but in light of your second experience, I think I’ll wait. I will probably be looking at more second opinions for my knee in January with a good chance of revision. I think I’ll wait until after all that happens, in case I have another vision change with the surgery again. No point in getting new glasses now if there’s a good chance I might need new ones again a few months later.

I never found out what caused such a drastic change over night with my current surgery.
 
I've been paying attention to my vision, just buying different cheap cheaters, but my eyes did not recover fully between surgeries. I can't account for the why of it, but it's just a truth that something changed. Whomever I've asked has told me outright, "There's no connection between your knee surgery and eyesight changing," to which I say 'rubbish!' Glasses that work in the a.m. do not work in the p.m. of the same day? there's a link somehow, whether it is medication/opioids, the stress of surgery, anesthesia, who knows what? I'm like you, I don't want to go get new glasses and then need new ones a couple of months later, so that's why I scheduled for late February.

I'm so sorry you were taken advantage of by forcing a sharp bend when you were vulnerable, too. I hate that we have to be so fiercely on guard to advocate for ourselves when we most need to just relax, rest and heal.
 
Shanari said:
My ortho believes the BoneSmart That was the last time I ever did any kind of knee exercises after my surgeries! way
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Be sure and tell your OS about the PT experience that you had this time. He needs to know! After my first lateral release and scope in the '80s, the hospital PT worked my knee so much that later it had to be drained of the blood inside. When my OS asked if I had fallen or something I told him what the therapist did and he 'threw a fit'! That is the last time I did any exercises after any knee surgeries! Just used them in my daily activities. These therapists need training on how to rehab a knee replacement!
 
Shanari said:
I can't account for the why of it, but it's just a truth that something changed. Whomever I've asked has told me outright, "There's no connection between your knee surgery and eyesight changing," to which I say 'rubbish!' Glasses that work in the a.m. do not work in the p.m. of the same day? there's a link somehow,
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I agree, I had the same experience. Mine never resolved either. I had to get new glasses 2 months post op.
 
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