PKR 1 month out<

[sistersinhim]

It's always a relief to get that first visit over with! It's normal to have xrays at each follow up visit after a tkr. Yours at 6 weeks in also completely normal. It's great that your OS is happy with your recovery! That is always such good news!

 

[Mutti3]

Great OS report! I used a TENS unit during my recovery, it worked well.

 

[pacosmom]

@sistersinhim and @Mutti3 - yes, good feeling for sure. I had a visit at 2 weeks, for staple removal, but he didn't say too much at that visit other than to get started with PT lol This visit did for sure put my mind at ease about the swelling coming back. I was pretty confident that nothing was wrong with the implant, but was also nervous he wasn't going to be happy with the progress and want me to do more aggressive PT. I was thrilled when that was not the case!

And good to know about the tens treatment. I go to PT tomorrow, so we'll see what she says.

 

[Jockette]

I also had X-rays taken at every check up:
2 weeks
6 weeks
10 weeks
18 weeks
7 months
One year!

I think I had more check ups than other people do. I had a partial, though, and I wonder if he was keeping a close eye on it.

 

[pacosmom]

That's interesting @Jockette! I had a partial also. I'll be curious to see if he keeps doing x-rays and if I have that many check-ups. I do have a visit scheduled for 10 weeks.

 

[HoneyB]

I truly hate all of the x-rays, but understand why the doctors want them. Part of my job deals with radiation hazard permissible exposure limits so the x-rays make me cringe a little bit. So glad you had a good doctor visit and it put your mind at ease!

 

[pacosmom]

Well I got my tens unit a bit ago- thank you Amazon! I love it, wish I would have gotten one weeks ago! My biggest issue is where to use it first lol my back has been so sore, I’m sure from limping around and sitting on the couch all day. I don’t really have a lot of pain in my knee, but am hoping it’ll help wake up my quad.

 

[chicklet]

On some of those long boring days when I knew I needed to do nothing except rest, ice, and elevate, I would put the tens unit on my knee (crossing the streams) for 30 minutes while also sitting on a heating pad to make my hip and butt feel better, and put ice on my knee. Then I would move the tens unit down to my calf for 30 minutes to try and loosen up that muscle and wrap the heating pad around my upper thigh, no ice for a while. Then I might take a break ...get a shower or something ...then go back to the recliner. Leg elevated on 3 pillows, ice pack on knee, tens unit on thigh to wake up quads, heating pad under the hip on the other side or maybe wrapped around my foot that sometimes hurt. The combinations of ice, tens, and heating pad are endless. (Just no heating pad on the knee.) I’ve never been able to sit still very long, then with knee replacement came the antsy, can’t get comfortable, need to change positions thing which didn’t help me stay in one spot very long. Fiddling with all my “assistive devices” helped me stay put longer. Plus, of course, texting, checking news stories online, watching TV, checking in on Bonesmart on my phone, playing solitaire on my laptop - all at the same time!!! (The A.D.D. is REAL, y’all!)

With the tens unit I can’t say that I notice any immediate change, but I do think it has helped. And I don’t just mean in keeping me occupied, although it has, for sure!

 

[kneeper]

I don't have a very high pain tolerance, but I wouldn't say it's really painful as much as just super achy if that makes sense.

Total sense to me as that's pretty much how I described mine.

 

[pacosmom]

Just past the 7 week mark and I’m just feeling so frustrated I feel like I’m so far behind everyone I see at therapy, or people I hear about. I’m at a loss as to what more I can do. I stopped the pain meds which is fine, other than a half a pill on PT days. I don’t have much pain- just this crazy swelling I think my PT finally realized that her bending it for me is not the answer- it might look good while I’m there, but then the next day it’s so swollen I can’t do much of anything! She’s at least stopped doing it. I feel like PT is a waste of time, what I really need is to have the swelling go down and I think everything will fall into place! I’ve tried elevating, ice, a tens unit, walking more-walking less, massaging my scar & quad muscle. I’m scared my quad is going to disappear altogether at this point. I know it’s been hard to get it working again, but it’s just floppy and achy all the time now.

I was so sad yesterday, my husband, daughter & I were volunteering at the Special Olympics and I was so looking forward to it. All we were doing was scorer table for basketball. I never dreamed when I signed up I’d feel this crappy still. It was such a long walk from where we signed in to the gym, by the time we got there I was crabby & couldn’t wait to get home we also do another volunteer thing with a camp for kids with severe skin disorders. The kids come from all over, by plane, and we meet them after their plane lands & bring them through the airport to the group, as they are without their parents. That is this coming Sunday and I had to back out. There’s just no way I can do all that walking. Makes me sad.

I feel like I must be doing something wrong that my quad isn’t working, I can’t bend well and I can’t walk well either. I’m not super happy I had this done at this point.

If you’ve read this far, thank you and sorry- was a bad day!

 

[HoneyB]

I think maybe you've hit the "blues period." I hit that at about 6 or 7 weeks with my LTKR. My knee felt well enough that I thought I could do some normal things, but every time I did one of those normal things, my knee and I felt horrible. On one of those days, I made a quick trip to a shoe store to pick up a pair of shoes. It's a type of shoe I've worn forever, so no searching involved. I just needed to pick out the box that was the right size. From there, I went to the drug store for Tylenol. After that, I stopped at Chick-Fil-A to pick up something to eat. While I was standing in line at Chick-Fil-A, I suddenly felt so tired that I thought I might faint or be sick. I got my bag of food, went to the car, drove home, and felt pretty sorry for myself. I think we all go through this. I believe there's a post about the blues period in the bonesmart library.

I don't know where your ROM is, but I read back through your old posts and saw that your flexion was at 100 a while back. My flexion got stuck at 105-108 for four entire weeks (weeks 4 through 7). I was disappointed. I went to my 8-week checkup with my surgeon, he looked at my flexion (didn't measure it), said that it looked like it was at least 100, and he was extremely pleased with that. I was disappointed - he was extremely pleased. He told me I needed to stop putting so much pressure on myself about the number of weeks versus ROM. Maybe I needed to hear that. My ROM started moving again ever so slowly during week 8.

Today I'm 18 weeks post-op for my LTKR and 3 weeks post-op for my RTKR. I'm way beyond tired of this journey. I just reminded myself today that at least my bad parts were replaceable parts that could be manufactured and bought. I didn't have to go on a waiting list for a donor part. If I can just hang in there and be patient, in just a few weeks I'll start to feel kind of normal again, and in a few months, this will be mostly in my past. Hang in there! We'll get there.....eventually! I know how you're feeling!!!

 

[Jockette]

Oh, @pacosmom, you are doing way too much for your 7 week old knee.

You really need to save all those good intentions for a later date. Right now you need to take care of you.

I’m glad your therapist stopped forcing your knee to bend. That is not necessary, and as in your case, it just increased your swelling. A swollen leg cannot bend.

I’m at a loss as to what more I can do.

You are trying too hard. Slow down, rest that knee ice and elevate it. A lot. Make sure you have a cloth between your skin and the ice.

what I really need is to have the swelling go down and I think everything will fall into place!

Yes, and the way to do this is to rest, ice and elevate. While you are resting, icing and elevating, go back to page one of your thread and read again the recovery guidelines you were given.

I’m going to ask @Josephine to come and discuss this with you.

This is a very long recovery and you are only 7 weeks into it. We all progress at different rates. I totally understand how it feels to see others progressing faster than we are. I felt the same way. I had a partial, also, and it was not the quick recovery I read about beforehand.

 

[pacosmom]

Thank you, that not having to wait for a donar part sure does put things in perspective! I think I wrote it wrong previously- I can straighten mey knee just fine. Putting my leg straight all the way, I was able to do that very early on- I just can’t bend it past about 100 degrees, give or take, depending on the day.

I’m going to go look in the library for the post you mentioned

 

[pacosmom]

Thanks @Jockette. I guess 7 weeks just feels sooo long! I did ease up on doing things at the 6 week mark. I just get so antsy and “blah” feeling sitting around for days on end. I guess patience isn’t really what I’m good at lol never have been

 

[Jockette]

You will need to dig down deep for patience, like we all did. None of us like this long recovery, but doing things that our knee is not ready for just backfires and we feel miserable, as you found out.

I’m sorry you had to back out of your next volunteer effort, but you did the right thing. This recovery seems to take forever, but it truly is temporary. You will get back to those things you want to do, just not yet.

 

[SusieShoes]

I agree with HoneyB and Jockette. You are expecting too much from your new knee this early in recovery. Seven weeks is still early days... and you're doing really well with ROM.

You mention thinking PT might be a waste of time. I thought that too around five weeks! I knew I could do as well at home by doing a walking program instead and resting my knees more. So at six weeks I quit PT and... I was right! My recovery went absolutely smoothly after that.

Consider quitting PT. You can always go back if you change your mind. In the meantime you will probably find that by listening to your knee and doing the activities you feel are of most benefit, your recovery will be less tedious.

Soon you will be doing a lot less sitting around, but right now your knee is telling you what is enough and what is too much.

 

[Smythe89]

I’m sorry you’re struggling. I’m curious if your surgeon put you on another inflammatory meds. I was on Mobic for 6 weeks. I’m not it made a difference...I have nothing to compare it to. It could be worth asking about...

 

[Celle]

I can straighten my knee just fine. Putting my leg straight all the way, I was able to do that very early on- I just can’t bend it past about 100 degrees, give or take, depending on the day.

Bring able to bend to 100 degrees is just fine for 7 weeks post-op. It's pretty good, in fact.

Don't compare your knee to anyone else's or to the expectations of your PT. It's own its own schedule for recovery, not yours, not your surgeon's and not your PT's. It knows what it's doing.
Where are you in recovery?? (TKR)

In any case, in spite of what you've probably been told, there's no need to rush to get ROM (Range of Motion) because it can continue to improve for a year, or even much longer, after a knee replacement. There isn't any deadline you have to meet:
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR

Your knee is doing just fine and it's going to be OK. As it continues to heal and its swelling goes down, it will gradually bend more easily.
It's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself.

 

[sistersinhim]

I can’t bend well and I can’t walk well either.

Welcome to being at the 7 week period of recovery. Your knee is less than 1/6 of the way of being healed. You have found out that doing something else really angers it and you end up paying for it will swelling and pain. It ain't worth it!! Treat your knee like the toddler it is! That means lots and lots or rest, icing and elevating! You'll find that it will become much less angry and you will like it much better!

I guess patience isn’t really what I’m good at lol never have been

Very few of us were good in the patience thing!

 

[pacosmom]

I’m sorry you’re struggling. I’m curious if your surgeon put you on another inflammatory meds. I was on Mobic for 6 weeks. I’m not it made a difference...I have nothing to compare it to. It could be worth asking about...

He did not mention any inflammatory meds.... he want overly concerned at the 6 week visit, said it was pretty normal. I will ask at my 10 week visit if it hadn’t gotten better by then!