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Bilateral TKR 2½ weeks and going strong on BTKR

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MissJ said:
Hi, Ray
The PT activities don't hurt in and of themselves - in fact, I enjoy a lot of them. As for the swelling - well, this a.m. I got out of bed, fixed/ate my breakfast, then sat with my legs elevated for an hour watching TV (following Dr. Gardiner's prescription). When I got up, the knees were stiff. Nearly any activity promotes this log-like feeling...or like my knees are wrapped VERY tightly in elastic bandages. Will ask the OS about it next week; I'm sure he'll have some oatmeal-like answer for me.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments!
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Dear Jeanine,
Yes, you are doing very well, but please try to resist the urge to do too much, too soon! Remember that slow and steady is the best way. Recovery is a sprint, not a marathon and "good things take time". You'll actually get there quicker if you do less. Seems illogical, doesn't it? But it's true!

Yes, your legs will feel stiff after resting, for quite a long time. It's 19 months since I had my TKR and my knee still feels stiff when I first get up in the morning and after I have been resting for a while. It soon loosens up again. I don't know what causes it, but I'll gladly accept that over the pre-op pain that I had.

You say that you get a log-like feeling after almost any activity. At your stage in recovery, I think that what you are feeling is is internal swelling, inside your knee capsule. It's a form of pain and is telling you that you need to ease up and do less.

Best wishes, :flwrysmile:
Caryl
 
Haha - I just realized that I'm posting my most recent activity in the middle of my thread. Oh well!

Weekend went OK. I spent about an hour in the pool yesterday walking, doing exercises, and "swimming." I put a noodle under my hips and tried to ONLY kick - not stroke - it only took me about five minutes to get halfway down the lane, ha! If I use my arms, swimming feels almost normal - but my arms are doing all the work. Then I came home, took a shower, & made dinner. We needed to do a big grocery shop and hubby ended up doing it on his own, as has been the case since December.

That sort of thing gets me down - then I remember how three months ago (even two months ago) I was still sitting to take a shower & now I feel OK even taking one at the gym, as long as I have my pool shoes on.

At the pool I ran into a another gym member I've been talking to. She had one knee replaced in Sept. and is not pleased with her progress, telling me she still gets the "rubber-band" feeling, but not every day. Hey, I'd take that! She also mentioned she'd be getting a cortisone shot in the non-operative knee so that she could travel to visit her daughter without limping. Immediately I was grateful that I had both knees replaced at one time. Though I have plenty of discomfort and stiffness, that's not PAIN and limping is a thing of the past. Yay!
j
 
FYI, MissJ, this is not the middle of your thread. It was your last post so far in your thread. Where else could it go?

Pool therapy sound cool and relaxing and is pretty stress free on the knees. I know what you mean about being happy with your choice to have both knees done. You're 3 months post op now. Things will be getting better and better as each month goes by.

Take care and keep us posted. We care.
 
Thanks, bottomshollow! (I have to figure out how to make your name a link).
 
:) Love you Miss J! How nice to go exercise at a pool. I can not tolerate chlorine, thus no pool. Sounds like you are back to work, can you get in and out of the Tub yet? How is the numbness on the knee and the shins? I had a bad weekend last, rested, iced and took natural things for inflammation. Feel better today. I worked too hard at PT last Thursday. Going to tell her today. Take care Lady! :)
 
Miss J. it sounds like you are doing well---this period of being almost there will end, like all the others. The knee gets better in stages---and like the beginning stages, you cannot rush them!!! I thought I was okay at six months and then realized at one year, that I was nearly okay.
 
Skigirl, your comments are always so heartening to me. And Gazelle: We'll see what the chlorine has done to my (already wrinkly) face a year from now...As for the tub, I can clumsily step over the edge to take a standing shower, but have not tried sitting down since I'm not a bath-taker. My shower skills (standing, moving around, stepping in/out) are still a work in progress. What natural things do you take for inflammation?

My energy this week is slightly better than last, though last night after a full day of work followed by 45 minutes worth of PT exercises and a shower, hubby wanted to look at furniture. Why oh why did I practice "sit and stands" at the gym, then go spend half an hour sitting on chairs/couches, standing, sitting again...On the way home I was wiped out. I really detest shopping these days.

Two things are bugging me: One is that I still take pain meds-- 1-2 in any given 24-hr period--hydrocodone. I feel I should be "past" that. Last night I tried to sleep without meds, but ended up taking 2 at about 1 a.m. since my knees were "zinging."

The second thing: I have yet to try getting down on/up from the floor. Anyone got any tricks? I'm actually more intimidated by the getting down than the getting up.

Well, a student in
 
Miss J--don't worry about taking a pain med or two---there are no police on this forum!! Anyway, there will be a night when you forget to take it. I did use tramadol at this stage--it is not as strong as the hdrocodone and I had fewer side effects, you could ask your doc or his nurse about it for you.

For inflammation I take two things. One, I have some fresh ginger in my fridge and I often cut off a chunk and slice it into my tea. Also, there is circumin which I get at the health food store which does seem to be quite effective. Aleve and those drugs make me retain water but I do not have that effect with the circumin. But, I will tag Poppet she knows much more than I do about natural healing aids.

As for getting up and down--it is problematic at first. Here is what I did---I would bend forward at the waist--and put my hands on the floor. Bend your knees slightly if you need to do so. I would then walk my hands out until I could tip over onto my side. That way I could look under the bed for things, for instance. It was quite a shock the first time as I had not dusted in a while!!

To get up I would use my hands and feet to walk back into a bend, then bring your upper body up. Think of how a two year old gets up after falling!!! It was awkward, but I really did have to get down a few times.

At about six months, I could bend one knee and lean on that as I got up. But that took a while---I regarded it as quite an achievement. There was someone on Bonesmart who made a video of getting up---I think you could look for it in the archieves.
 
So, another week passes. Next week I'll mark four months since my BTKR.

The big news: I FINALLY graduated from PT and don't have those appointments anymore. Even though my therapists were great and helped me a great deal (including with some back issues), it's a big psychological boost to know I'm truly on my own for the rest of recovery. I will proudly wear my "graduation Tshirt" to the gym.

The week has been busy - my husband's daughter arrived Tuesday from L.A. to stay for a couple of weeks. Wednesday we went to a play - 2.5 hours long. Last week we'd gone to a shorter play and my knees were restless. This time I took a pain med ahead of time and sat through the whole thing. Yay!

On Thursday, I went to the pool after work. Each time I go I try to really swim (the crawl) a bit more - this time I did about 6 laps, counting back/forth as 1 lap, as well as my usual exercises and some extra lengths of just using my legs. Kicking doesn't really hurt, but the knees feel a little weird. My plan is to do PT exercises at the gym 3x week and swim 2x/week. At some point I also need to work in other exercises for upper body, abs, etc.

Friday I woke up and my legs had that wooden feeling - I iced them before work, they ached and felt stiff all day; getting in/out of my chair at work was not pretty, etc. I spent the evening icing & elevating, and finally took pain pills. Miracle of miracles, though: I slept 7 hours straight! Today I feel pretty spry and will soon be running errands, making potato salad for a party, going to the gym, etc.

I am eager to get to the 6-month stage. In the meantime, there are fewer and fewer "bad" days (like yesterday) - and sometimes the "bad" only lasts a few hours as the knees recover more quickly. Oh, and I chopped my hair short and LOVE it, especially with the swimming. As my sis says, any change in hairstyle automatically makes us feel younger!
 
what a great report. It is so encouraging to remember that your knee really does get better and things sort themselves out after all!
 
my OS says the tightness is the quad that runs down over the patella, and that its a muscle that wasn't used a lot before surgery, and that it will get better, but give it about a year until totally done....
 
schipp4me - thanks for the note on tightness. Today the knees are SO tight and stiff today they feel like they're back at week 8! However I am walking around nonetheless and fortunately don't have a ton of teaching to do today.

Factors I think contributed include a weather change - we cooled way down Sat. night (tightness began Sat) and today it's cool and has been raining since dawn. I know some people pooh-pooh the weather/inflammation connection, but it's real for me. Then yesterday I stood a lot both at church and home. Last night we went to a great concert; however, our seats were way way way up in the 2nd balcony in a theatre with NO elevator. Likewise, to get from seats to bathroom took some stairs. I could do them all, slowly (thank God for my PT who drilled my on doing stairs foot-over-foot) - but the seat itself was like a bleacher with my hips higher than my knees. The topper: I didn't get to bed until 12:30 and slept very fitfully until the alarm at 6.

Upshot: Today I'm not feeling very cocky about my new knees; in fact, I'm feeling pretty blue that they feel this way at week 15. The day when they feel "normal" is still so far away; the day when I feel normal seems so far away. I would love to go home and do nothing w/legs elevated...but today is a day to do exercises at the gym. I think a 9 p.m. bedtime is in my future.

As Ray would put it, I'm being a girl's blouse today.
 
Oops, Roy! I can hear it now: "Off with her head..."
 
Tomorrow I hit the four-month/16 week mark. I think back to showing up at the hospital - it seems so far away already!

The week has been fair. The two bugaboos continue to be sleep and spine issues. I developed neck stiffness on Monday and it worsened through the week; last night I took pain meds for my neck, not my knees. I can't swim because I can't turn my from side to side. That pain has, of course, not helped the elusive sleep. Today at work I went out to sit in the sun & warm up (inside temp in my office is barely 70) and actually conked out on a bench. Just call me "Professor Bag Lady"! The tiredness is adding up.

As for the knees, I've noticed this week that when I lie down in bed, on my side with a pillow between my legs, the knees actually feel normal. In other words, I don't "feel" them at all. Yay! Weirdly, I bought some "trouser hose" at Target over the weekend (since I don't wear skirts or capris anymore to work). The elastic tops are so very tight I think they act like compression hose; the first day I wore a pair, I walked better and didn't notice my knees because the "rubber band" feeling now came from my socks.

By 8 p.m. at night I can't get comfortable in one position for long. I bend my legs, I straighten them, I lift them, I lie down, I get back in a chair...ugh. This isn't something I read about here on the forums.

I am moving from the "time is going so fast" model to "jeesh I wish the first six months would pass" frame of mind. Everyone says things will improve at 6 months...I am ready to be over pain meds and rubber band feelings and doing PT exercises and tiredness. Whine whine.
 
Hi Jeanie! Congrats on 16 weeks! Can not believe you still have sleep issues...I was hoping mine would go away...I almost dread nighttime now. I want to thank you for all your encouraging posts on my thread. From the beginning you have always helped me through the hills and valleys of my journey. Thanks for being a great friend! :friends:
 
Gazelle, you are so sweet! We all help each other here on Bonesmart.

I'm not sure my sleep issues are completely knee-related; I've had back and neck problems as well, plus I wasn't a sound sleeper before the surgery. I see the GP on the 14th to talk about sleep and meds (why do I still seem to need at least 1/day?). I probably could have slept better last night had I taken 2 pain pills, which is within the dosage, but I just did not want to - so instead I cried out in pain from my stiff neck. I don't think I'm addicted, but I can't take this stuff forever. If I could only take NSAID's...

I have tonight to myself with no plans...so I am very eager to just decompress and watch an old movie with an ice pack on my neck (after I go to the gym). Work is plenty for me to be doing right now, but all these other activities keep popping up. Hubby's summer break ends next Tuesday, which will help a bit in that the gym & dinner will be about all we'll have time for. I really like it when everyone *else* is finally back in school and we're all where we belong.
 
I've gone over 24 hours without pain medication of any kind. I don't think that's happened in 20 years. Wow.
 
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