TKR New Knee Me

I am at 2 weeks post TKR tomorrow. My last home PT was on Thursday and I got 90 degrees on their way and 98 degrees the way I do it myself. She said that was excellent and I was doing great. So I would think you are fine but this is all new to me!!
 
Glad your recovery is going so well Danemark. It's important to keep a positive attitude and know your knee will get better in time. My knee was so bad for so long to expect it to turn around so soon is unrealistic. I need to be reminded to be patient and give my knee time to heal. Good luck to you on your recovery.
 
Thank you Sisterdinhim. After a weekend of icing, resting, smaller dog walks and long afternoon naps my knee is feeling much better. I should know better then to push my knee to soon. I have read enough posts on this site to know recovery takes time and less is more.
 
Hello Ouch 1313
Tomorrow I’ll be 6 weeks out from surgery and I can identify with you. At 5 weeks I felt I turned a corner and my pain had finally subsided. So I started swimming daily at our community pool. Plus doing more for myself. Plus we are having a huge heatwave in The PNW of the US. So I must go out and water my plants.
My knee hurts more than it did at 5 weeks.
I must be doing too much and not icing and elevating enough.
In a week and a half I go back to work partime. 7 1/2 weeks after surgery. I think my first day is 2hours. But I must walk and stand, I also have a stool to sit on.
If it’s just too much. I’ll have to tell my partners I must take more time off.
I’m a self employed hairdresser, 2-3 months is a long time for me to be off work and my partners to do pick up for me.
I’m wondering if I’m really going to be able to pull it off. It seems like I can only do one thing a day.
I’m going to have to explain to my husband that if I’m back at work that’s about all I will be able to manage.

This sure is a longer journey than I anticipated, but I can tell already that my new knee is more stable.
 
BeesKnees, it's like we both did the exact same no, no. Started to feel better then took it a little too far. I have read many times on this forum that your knee is in control now and will tell you when you're doing too much. I'm finding this to be so true. Just a word of advice on returning to work. This was my experience anyway, you need not to push it. You will be tired. Slowly work back into your routine. Bring ice take a break between customers and elevate, ice. I'm going on 3 weeks back anywhere from 4-6 hours a day. I'm feeling better every week but I'm going slowly. Good luck to you on your return to work and recovery.
 
After a weekend of icing, resting, smaller dog walks and long afternoon naps my knee is feeling much better. I should know better then to push my knee to soon. I have read enough posts on this site to know recovery takes time and less is more.
Yay!! I'm so glad that less has turned out to be more for you! This recovery is a huge learning experience. Sometimes, that learning hurts! Then we know the knee isn't ready for that and to stop it. Maybe it can do it in a few weeks or a month. It's trial and error and each and every knee is different. What one knee can do now, another one won't be able to. Even on the same body both knees recovery differently! Patience and listening to your knee is the key!
 
I have a question. I'm mentally having difficulty adjusting to knee. Has anyone else experienced this? 9 weeks post-op and the knee feels so foreign to me. I'm having difficulty trusting it. Any tightness or pulling sends me into a panic. I have been so protective of my knee for years against pain and instability that I have the same reaction to my new knee. This seems to me like a bad rabbit hole to go down. Any advice? Also a question about pain meds. I'm currently taking 2 -3 50 mg of tramadol a day, is this enough? Would more help me with the discomfort of the knee. Are discomfort and pain the same thing. Am I just going crazy here? I'm honestly really struggling with this and any advice, encouragement would help.
 
Another request, could my thread name be changed to "New Knee Me" Thank you.
 
We're change it for you.
 
I've changed your thread title for you.
I'm mentally having difficulty adjusting to knee. Has anyone else experienced this? 9 weeks post-op and the knee feels so foreign to me. I'm having difficulty trusting it. Any tightness or pulling sends me into a panic. I have been so protective of my knee for years against pain and instability that I have the same reaction to my new knee. This seems to me like a bad rabbit hole to go down. Any advice?
Some people do have trouble for a while accepting the new knee as part of themselves.
The feeling will fade gradually, as you learn to trust your new knee.

It's still early days and you've had years of protecting your old, arthritic knee. That's a habit you will gradually learn to forget. Right now, you still feel as if you need to protect your new knee - and, indeed, you do need to protect if from people bumping into it. But, you will gradually come to realise that your new knee is strong and reliable. It's actually pretty tough. Even if you fall and land on it, it's unlikely to be damaged. You'll get bruising of your soft tissues, but the knee implant itself will be unharmed.

Your new knee is gradually going to stop hurting - unlike the old knee that hurt more and more each day.

Believe it or not, there will come a day when you actually forget about The Knee. Your life will no longer revolve around "Can my knee handle this?" You'll just get on with the life you've wanted for years.

I've had both my knees replaced and they feel so much a part of me thta I get quite a surprise when I see those big bits of hardware on an X-Ray.

Also a question about pain meds. I'm currently taking 2 -3 50 mg of tramadol a day, is this enough? Would more help me with the discomfort of the knee. Are discomfort and pain the same thing.

Discomfort is being uncomfortable. As it gets worse, it becomes pain.

I think you'll find that transitioning to Tylenol 1,000 mg four times a day could help. You can safely take it with Tramadol, and it enhances the effect of Tramadol. You may even be able to wean off the Tramadol onto just Tylenol.
Check the other medications you're taking, to make sure there is no Tylenol/Acetaminophen in them. If there is, cut back one of your doses of Tylenol, so you stay within the safe limits of 4,000 mg in 24 hours.

You didn't fill in where you live when you enrolled, so I don't know which country you're from. I've assumed you live in the US and so I've called the medication Tylenol. Its other names are Paracetamol and Acetaminophen.
 
Thank you for changing thread name and advice. I will try the Tylenol as suggested and yes I'm in the US, Pennsylvania. I had PT today and the therapist commented on me being quiet the artful dodger when it came to using my quad muscle. It is so atrophyed that I compensate with my hips, back, other leg and everything else but that muscle. He spent almost the entire session working with me on stepping up a 4 inch box and using my quad muscle correctly, i.e. not sticking my butt out when I stepped up and to slightly bend my knee. He explained as you said my new knee is very strong and won't fail me but I needed to strengthen my quad and do the exercises correctly if I was to gain strength. It's all a matter of retraining myself and trusting my knee so I can appreciate the full benefits of the new knee. This is such a learning curve but despite worrisome self my knee joint has no pain, none, the only pain/discomfort is from the surgery and in time this will heal. Will keep at it and wait for that day when I just get up and walk not thinking about the knee.
 
Thank you for telling me your country. I've added it to your profile and now you have that in your avatar, with a little US flag.

It sounds as if you have a sensible PT therapist, helping you with what you need, instead of imposing painful exercises. That's good. Your quads will take a long time to gain full strength, but it will happen.
 
I read the posts of others every day and it really has helped me stay sane. I am getting better but do have concern about swelling. I literaly can walk very short distance and swelling, stand and swelling. Am I just more prone to swelling? Will this subside over time? I do ice all the time but being back to work I don't elevate that much. I only ask because when the knee is swollen I can't do any therapy. I have greatly improved my patience and listen to my knee just concerned about swelling.
 
Swelling like that can go on for a long time. Some people even find that it still happens a year after the surgery if they do more than their knee wants them to.

As your recovery progresses, your knee won't get upset so easily and it will swell less often.

At this stage, don't worry about not being able to do the therapy - you don't need it anyway and you certainly won't need it when you go back to work.
Your activities of daily living are sufficient exercise for your knee.

It's not exercising that gets you your ROM (Range of Motion) - 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.
 
Thank you Celle. I'm finally starting to understand that it's time and listening to your knee that yields improvement. I'm writing this note now with my knee elevated, icing and some discomfort because I failed to listen to my knee tonight and over worked weeding the garden trying to beat the rain. It will rain, there will still be weeds but for now they will just grow with the rest of garden till my knee feels better.
 
It’s not easy to take a step back from all the activity we are used to doing, but it’s worth it. I had my surgery just a few weeks before you, and am still having a lot of swelling, which makes bending tough. I can tell just when walking that it seems to get a little better each week though. Hang in there, it’ll get better!
 
Gardens are forgiving. And rainy summers can be a pain in the behind, but they happen. It helps to plan gardening activities that don’t involve knees, like perusing catalogues for spring bulbs or plotting out a flower bed for next year when you will be up to gardening. Do you have any grandchildren locally who can be bribed to pull weeds? Or neighborhood children willing to earn a few dollars?
 
some discomfort because I failed to listen to my knee tonight and over worked weeding the garden trying to beat the rain. It will rain, there will still be weeds but for now they will just grow with the rest of garden till my knee feels better.
Oh boy, can I relate to this! Being single with at least an acre of cleared land, but patio and walkway were going crazy with grass and weeds growing between the bricks, not to mention the flower beds! I started pulling at about 3 weeks out. I would pull about 15 minutes and then come in and ice and elevate for at least an hour. If I didn't feel well, I didn't go back out. Whatever you do, you have to listen to your knee. Just do tiny bits at a time.
 
11 weeks, trying to stay positive, reviewing my progress but still a long way off from normal. Sleep is still disruptive and simply walking is so laborious. Still going to PT once a week, 5 more scheduled visits and they say I'm doing fine. Rode exercise bike with resistance for 2 miles, felt really good. I'm working on my step ups 4 inch box. Quads are still atrophied but getting better, less energy drain and working most days a full 8 hours. Folks at work say I'm walking better, faster but I'm not pleased with progress. I'm no where near NORMAL and worried I'll never be. I'm not usually this pessimistic but there are times when it comes on like a wave. The only reassurance I get is reading stories exactly like mine on this post. Thank God for that and best of luck to all the other folks who are going through this.
 
This recovery takes approximately 52 weeks (one year ) and you are only 11 weeks into that 52. Does that put it into better perspective?

And, you are doing a lot of activity for 11 weeks.
 

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