TKR 8 Month Update

[SuperSnapper]

Sounds very cold where you are but worse weather on the East coast Brrrrrr. It's mild here for November and some of my spring bulbs are sending out shoots! We need frost to kill all the bugs. Hope you are ok tonight and snuggled up warm and toasty.

 

[kneeper]

Cycling motivates me, so I'm to ride my exercise bike twice a day. It hurts like the dickens near the top of the pedal stroke (the most bendy place) but frankly I do enjoy being on the bike. I put on music with a beat and pretend I'm not so slow. Then I ice and elevate. I hope it works!

Sounds good. You don't even have to bike super long to get the benefits and you can increase time as you go on in your recovery. I found it was helpful to loosen me up.

 

[Clipless]

Five weeks out and a bit better; I'm driving my manual transmission car and walking cane-free. I still walk slowly and the limp varies. Today at PT I did some interesting new exercises on a big table with springs and pulleys (pilates-type movements I guess). My therapist applied kinesiology tape around my knee in hopes of reducing the lingering swelling. Flexion is 95°!!!

 

[Monkeyknee]

Did the tape work? I am a little over six weeks out and still pretty swolen. My OS was not concerned about the swelling and said it was normal for the first few months.

 

[Clipless]

@Monkeyknee No, the tape didn't do anything. If anything, my swelling is actually worse.

 

[ConnieJOS]

@Monkeyknee

That sounds about like my OS. When I have talked to him about swelling, even what seems extreme to me, he just says something like "yeah they do that sometimes." I guess it's just part of it.

 

[SuperSnapper]

@Clipless Glad you are moving in the right direction

You are doing so very well. It's very encouraging to read your reports.

 

[Clipless]

Thank you, @SuperSnapper! I can pedal the stationary bike a little better each day. I hope this reflects real improvement!

Someone wants to give me a puppy. Darn it, why this temptation now?? I am not the sort to easily turn down a puppy.

 

[sandbar525]

Oh my @Clipless That's a tough one! Very tempting but might not be the right time considering RTKR pending in 2015. Good luck with your decision on that one. I hope they didn't show you a picture!

 

[Clipless]

Yes they sent pics, darn them, omg so cute. Part of me wants to rationalize that since I'm home for six more weeks I'll have time to train & bond with him. We'll go hiking, he will chase frisbees at the beach and be the best dog ever. Then my sensible side shouts, "WHAT, ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!" Lol!

 

[Clipless]

Hi I changed my thread title just to ask, why on earth do I still need a cane? I'll wake up some mornings and don't seem to need it, walking almost normally. Then later the same day or the next morning that strong feeling deteriorates until I'm back on the cane. Is this par for the course for some of us? I'm five weeks out, had severe quadriceps inhibition at first- for example, it took me 20 days to manage a straight leg raise. Frankly it's still difficult. My limp is fairly painless but I'm kind of worried something is wrong.

 

[sandbar525]

@Clipless Oh wow...puppy pictures. I'm afraid your on your own with this one. I'm too much of a softie to make a reliable decision without emotion! I don't envy you, Diana!

 

[Jamie]

Hi I changed my thread title just to ask, why on earth do I still need a cane? I'll wake up some mornings and don't seem to need it, walking almost normally. Then later the same day or the next morning that strong feeling deteriorates until I'm back on the cane. Is this par for the course for some of us? I'm five weeks out, had severe quadriceps inhibition at first- for example, it took me 20 days to manage a straight leg raise. Frankly it's still difficult. My limp is fairly painless but I'm kind of worried something is wrong.

Here's why you may still need a cane. You are still early in your recovery. You have just had your knee suddenly put into correct alignment after years of it sliding more and more out of that correct alignment. As you knee got progressively worse, your body compensated to keep you moving. Now it's having to readjust to the new normal in terms of alignment. This takes time....months sometimes.

The fact that you have any limp at all says you need that cane to help you walk with a normal gait. If you allow yourself to limp, you are training your body to walk that way. You want to instead train it to do a natural gait with good strong strides. A cane (or sometimes even a walker) is an aid to get you to that goal. Once you can walk like that with the aid, then you may be able to stop using it. At that point most people just carry the cane around for a bit until they are stronger. It is quite normal for your leg to fatigue during the day and revert to those gimpy ways.

Here's an example. Your situation may be different....there is no one way to do recovery. It's what works for you. On both my knees, I chose to use a walker most of the time. Somehow I never could get the rhythm of using a cane effectively and I was even worse with crutches. I didn't really go on outings for about 4 weeks, so my use of the walker was in my house and for short walks outside. After a couple of weeks I would walk laps around the house with the walker, concentrating on my stride.....take a long step forward, come down with the heel and roll onto the ball of my foot to then push off for the next long stride. I had to move fairly slowly to be able to concentrate on what I was doing. But each day that stride got easier. Without the support of the walker long strides were not possible and sometimes I even had a little gimpy hitch in my walk (a kind of hoppy limp) if I tried to walk without support. I was stable because of the walker and able to focus on things besides not falling.

At the end of 6 weeks, I did go out to dinner and took a cane. But by that time my walking with the walker had taught me a better stride and I felt safe enough with the cane to use it instead.

 

[SuperSnapper]

@sandbar525 Dogs are a no no with me. Now a really cute kitten that's different. But both make my asthma worse. We've had both in the past but kittens are more independent. We don't have any pets because of the asthma and we go away a lot and I never thought kennels were fair on the pets.
But if you've got more surgery planned, I'd hold out on the dog for now. Stay away from the photographs!

 

[Clipless]

Thank you @Jamie for your response and explanation. Yes, my muscles are all still coming back, and at different rates apparently. I walked into PT without the cane on Friday, but have needed it ever since. I'm going to keep using the cane until I feel much stronger.

 

[Clipless]

6 weeks post-op update: I can ride my spinner bike with proper cycling shoes and clipless pedals. I rely on the cane less & less, but major walking, even just grocery shopping, is really difficult. I saw my surgeon this a.m. He watched me bend (100°+) and straighten (2°), then gave me a few pointers on improving my ROM. I have to quote him, "you have only six more weeks to get to 120°; that's your 'Window of Opportunity', so work really hard." LOL! No, it didn't bother me. Because of everything I've learned here on Bonesmart I know I have lots more time to gain ROM. I'll work on it as hard as I reasonably can without hurting myself.

I found out my knee wasn't perfectly straight before surgery- maybe that's why my hamstring tendons are so contracted and painful now. That, and atrophied/non-firing quad, have been problematic since surgery.

Last night there was major excitement on my normally quiet street. A neighbor spotted a guy breaking into vehicles. This led to a foot pursuit- neighbor tackled suspect, they fought, suspect BIT neighbor, then jumped the gate into MY backyard!!! The SWAT team turned out for this, police dog, you name it. The suspect got away, but I sure think highly of our local police and their quick response. Even after all adjacent properties were searched, I had a bit of a restless night as I remained somewhat on high alert and the men took turns on watch. I hope the bad guy (described as a "druggy type") never comes back.

 

[Clipless]

P.s. I am cleared to begin mild strength training. I think it will improve my gait.

 

[SuperSnapper]

@Clipless thought I'd visit your thread. It's a long way from Yorkshire for a visit!

Glad to hear you are cleared for mild strength training. What will that entail? Will you be back at a gym?

Sounds as if your ROM and extension are pretty good. Bonesmart is great for confidence boosting,isn't it? Without it I think I'd have done exactly what my physio advised (lunges, squats etc) and been in a great deal of needless pain.
Have a good week

 

[referee54]

6 weeks post-op update: I can ride my spinner bike with proper cycling shoes and clipless pedals. I rely on the cane less & less, but major walking, even just grocery shopping, is really difficult.

That is great!!!

I rely on the cane less & less, but major walking, even just grocery shopping, is really difficult.

Please do not be in a hurry to ditch the cane--your muscles are still weak and can tired easily, so use the cane to help with your gait---practice walking correctly---and,when you get tired, stop.

 

[referee54]

I found out my knee wasn't perfectly straight before surgery- maybe that's why my hamstring tendons are so contracted and painful now.

If you want to stretch those hamstrings (which can take some time) use a heating pad on them to warm them up.

I would lie face down on my bed, use a heating pad on the hamstring, and then hang the leg over the edge of the bed and, with ankle weights attached, let gravity doe its work.