10 Days Post Op.....so far, so good

[little red canoe]

@Cats......I looked up gams in the urban dictionary and this is what it said. AMP - gams. A nice, long pair of female legs . Ashley has a stately pair of gams.

yikes. Be careful in Scotland!

 

[mbrown]

Thanks @Celle and @little red canoe

 

[Celle]

Josephine had a diagram to illustrate how ROM is to be measure. Of course I can't find it now.

ROM (range of motion) information


However you measure it, the measuring should always be done the same way. So, if it's measured while you are lying down, always have it measured like that. If it's measured while you're sitting, always have it measured that way. That makes sense, doesn't it?

Oh, and don't get obsessed with the numbers. Function is more important than the numbers. My surgeon doesn't measure. He looks at my knees and says "Show me what you can do."

 

[mbrown]

Keeping me company

 

[mbrown]

My OS on the sidelines of Bama vs Washington game.

 

[L.I.T]

@mbrown, that's awesome - both your pup and your OS. I actually worked (as in my job, not as a patient) for 8 years with a spine surgeon (Mark Wylie) who is the OS for TCU lol! Small worlds.

My right knee was a bit of a conundrum. My first 'issue' was when I was 18, first MRI at 21. Apparently no meniscus tear, but early cartilage degeneration. By the time I had my 2nd MRI (18 years later), my meniscus was torn. My subsequent scope was to try to repair the meniscus, but it had degenerated and there was nothing left to repair. I have no idea when the initial 'tear' would have even happened.

My left knee has always been similar to my right - swelling and pain occasionally but eventually going away. It bothers me some, but my right knee was always the 'louder' of the two. It was just about 2 years ago that I noticed the left crunching when walking up stairs and when bending. This year was the first time I felt the sharper pain in the medial compartment, although I've felt the 'early arthritis' pain for years now.

It's crossed my mind to go ahead and get an MRI on that knee just to see what is going on... But somehow I imagine the meniscus will be like the right knee - Just degenerated. I can press on the same medial 'hotspots' as I could with my right knee and feel the pain. I'm sure the time will come for me to take the next step - but truthfully, I haven't really looked into it b/c I don't want my insurance rates to skyrocket anymore - since I am an employee of my husband, I shop the individual market, and my monthly premium went up to about $650 for next year. I'm a little worried that if they drop the pre-existing clause, I may be in trouble - so I am laying low

Anyhow, my tkr was exactly 7 days before yours. I tried to do the signature thing, but don't know if it worked correctly. It never occurred to me, until today, that there might be a Bonesmart app ha!

It's about time for me to take my meds, which conveniently knock me out. Hope you guys have a happy new year!

 

[mbrown]

I'm so jealous.......my meds do not knock me out.

You're probably right on the MRI. Arthritic knees have little meniscus tears and you don't even know how they got there but there isn't much they can do and you would likely know if you had a big tear, as it would feel a lot different than your arthritic knee

Happy New Year

 

[Arttie]

My OS on the sidelines of Bama vs Washington game.

That's neat. My OS is on the sidelines of the FCS Montana Grizzlies. Part of his training was with a practice that, if I remember correctly, worked with the LA Lakers and the NHL Ducks.

 

[amab]

Roll Tide!

 

[mbrown]

Roll Tide!

My Dr is a Bama guy but I'm an Auburn guy. Of course, I don't care if he inscribed "Roll Tide" on my implant if I'm fixed!

 

[amab]

Good to be "fixed" for a new year..2017!!

 

[Red's Mom]

I'm a Vandy girl but keep track of the SEC! How are you doing Mike? Sounds like you and I are having fairly uneventful recoveries! Happy New Year, Happy New Knees!

 

[mbrown]

@Red's Mom.....it's Martin but I will go by anything. Yes, my recovery has been good and rather uneventful and I'm so thankful for that.

I get confused on the counting. I think I've been a day ahead all along as I was counting my surgery day as Day 1. So I've been 5 complete days and today is Day 6.

Yesterday was a really good day. Was able to have a couple of really good therapy sessions (on my own) and my pain is still very much maintained. ROM is very good and swelling is also very good. Not much to complain about.

I've been screaming from the rooftops about this, but for anyone reading that either hasn't had their surgery or that has a lot of swelling......cryotherapy ice/compression unit!!!! I suppose it could just be a coincidence and maybe I would still be doing well without it, but I think it's played a big role in my recovery.

Still sleeping in the recliner and slept from 11-7. Having very realistic bad dreams though. Not sure if it's the meds or it could also be me getting off the sleep meds. I tend to have much more vivid dreams when I sleep naturally.

Posting a couple of pics of my ROM and swelling, both taken yesterday.

 

[KarriB]

I had some very weird and realistic dreams during the first week or two of my TKR. I'd wake up and really wonder if these things had happened!

Ice is a huge part of a successful TKR recovery and you have the Cadillac of icing machines. I'm sure it's a huge part of why you have very little swelling and pain. So many only ice for 20 minutes, but you need to ice for longer than that and it's possible with a machine.

 

[mbrown]

 

[jaschembra]

There was a link to pictures that I saw last night in the Social Room area, under the Happy New Years. Josephine had posted it. Basically, if your picture is too large, it won't post normally on here (makes sense). You would need to resize your picture first before uploading the file.

I go back to my sister and brother in law who both had their knee scoped - he was walking to the mailbox on day 2 and she was in pain nearly a year. He had no arthritis in that knee and she did. Getting my right knee scoped 2 years ago was the beginning of my TKR's for 2017. There was way too much arthritis clean up and it caused both of my knees to start screaming. Since your scoped knee was just the meniscus I would think it will feel so much better very quickly like you've said.

So glad to hear your pain level is not what you expected. Now, just to keep it that way. I think I'm all set up for Tues.

 

[mbrown]

@jaschembra I will be praying for you. You will be exactly one week behind me.

 

[mbrown]

@Arttie have you already been down the road of Synvisk injections?

 

[Arttie]

@Arttie have you already been down the road of Synvisk injections?

No, I've done the steroid injections for several years. The last time in late September. I was OK for about 3 weeks. My surgeon did not even broach the subject of Synvisk. I guess that I am doing TKR sooner than many here. That being said, the fact that my body hasn't had to make gross adjustments for my OA knees hopefully means that I will quickly adapt after the surgery. I've got bone on bone left medial patella and knee joint. The lateral is about 2 mm. He repaired a partial biceps tendon tear after I was in pain for a year, then doctored conservatively for a year with PT. After 2 years, I went in and told him that I hurt so much I had to hold the arm folded across my chest and wanted to beat my head on a concrete wall so something else would hurt. He said "It's time." Surgery was uneventful, and I stopped the pain meds after 4 1/2 days since the pain was no worse that what I had. He scoped my left knee several years ago and that was also a no pain procedure. I'm lucky I guess. Thank you for the heads up on the GameReady. I'm certainly going to discuss this with him.

He is also a former football player from western Washington, college at Boise State and 1 year in the pros with the Seahawks and retired after an injury the first year. I went in to have a shot one time and had on, for his amusement, my lime green compression socks, Seahawk cammo cargo shorts, lime green Seahawk hoodie and a Seahawk hat. He had to take a picture and share it with his family. I hope you enjoy all the football on TV this season.

Now my right knee is starting to holler at me. The last 2 days aching pain in the posterior. Pressing on the throttle pedal was uncomfortable while driving. Today it seems temporarily resolved. I'll probably start asking about that soon. X-ray shows that the lateral is about 3 mm on that side. I want to do things in retirement. I have been doing deep water running at the "Y" for several years and have pressed through knee pain. I want to keep walking and do want to try to get some more 1/2 marathons completed (have done consistently 15 min/mile pace.) My wife has a goal of seeing 32 home NFL games and we have 17 completed. We're leaving next week for an 11 day trip abroad and I haven't decided on whether to take my unloader knee brace. The OS said I should. It presses on my lateral knee and compresses the nerves leading to the foot causing tingling. I will be taking my walking poles to help while doing some trail walks and things.

Your positive attitude and progress reports give us all hope for the same outcomes.

 

[RMasano]

@mbrown Look like you are doing great!!! Do I remember you saying you had valgus? I might be wrong. But if you did, did the NR straighten up your leg?