TKR A New Day

I would not consider flying so near to your surgery without first consulting with someone either your PT or GP You might also need to check your insurance which might exclude anything resulting from the op. And you can bet they have a long list of what is related!! Better to wait till you can enjoy it more but of course it is entirely your call. I hope that you soon start to feel a good improvement in that knee. I am 13 weeks out of surgery and when I saw my consultant at week 6 he said he did not need to see my for a year and I am happy with that as I have had most of my questions anwerered on this site and I know if I have any concerns I would just have to call my consultants secretary to get some answers or see my consultant again. I have to say that it takes much longer to recover than we are first led to believe and I have seen a vast improvement in the last 2 weeks but still would not like to fly just yet.
 
As other's have said, you are very early into your recovery. Personally I would not try to take the vacation, but that's me. It would be so awful if you arrived and spent your entire time in a hotel bed with ice and multiple pillows because your knee is so unhappy. Equally, I know my surgeon would not have approved it either.

Of course you both want a break, that's natural. As was suggested possibly your wife and her friends could enjoy some time away? No one is trying to be disrespectful of what your wanting to do, but many of us have concerns.
 
Hi all. Had my day planned then I started to get dressed. Put my jogging bottoms on carefully. Then the tightness started under my knee. It's tight feels like a band of hard plastic has formed over and under my knee. It's really hard to describe. I get the feeling that this is part of the process. Do I rest ice or do gentle exercises. I'm at a loss any advice would be appreciated. Jcx
 
Then the tightness started under my knee. It's tight feels like a band of hard plastic has formed over and under my knee. It's really hard to describe. I get the feeling that this is part of the process.

Hi @Jcx , I'm on day 55 post-RTKR and despite feeling well along the road to recovery, still have early morning tightness around the knee. It is the main reason why getting out of bed is the worst time of the day for me ... but ... after several minutes of hobbling around and going downstairs, the tightness eases up somewhat. A athlete friend of mine suggested I apply a heating pad for 5 or so minutes on the knee before I get out of bed to "loosen things up" a bit. I've never gotten around to trying it ... but it seems to make sense.

In 2 days I see my surgeon for my delayed 6 week post-op (it'll be 8 weeks then) and will discuss plans for my left knee replacement ... and I'm hoping too to get the all clear from him for a trip to Portugal (which will entail 2 flight legs of 4 hours and 8 hours each). My biggest concern is the potential for swelling ... and for that reason I've started wearing compression knee braces this past week to determie whether they'd help manage swelling - something I haven't done before. The one thing I did notice from all day (but not night) wearing of the braces was that the lower half of my leg would get puffy and my right foot would swell a bit - enough to notice my right shoe getting tighter. (If I do fly out in a couple of weeks, I'll need to wear shoes at least a size larger than normal and hope that does the job.)

Good luck with your recovery. Stay as positive as possible ... and ... if you don't get to go off on holiday, I hope you find great alternatives to keep the Mrs happy! :)
 
Yes, a few days away with easy travel might be nice. As for your post about the tight knee. Experiment with icing and elevating and maybe just a little gentle exercise such as a few heel slides here and there, Nothing too intense when you're having a bad day.
 
Thanks All.
I wanted a quick fix after my LTKR on December 1st. But after reading the post on this forum. I realize it has to be slow and steady. But the real thing this forum has informed me that everything I'm going through is normal. Jcx
 
Overseas holiday will have to be put on hold for the moment. Thinking about just going for days out or an overnight stay somewhere. Jcx

Hi @Jcx , hopefully things are progressing nicely for you! I survived my flights to Lisbon (4 & 7 hours flight legs) with the help of compression socks and compression knee sleeves. Yesterday was my 2nd month anniversary and overall I couldn't be happier with the way my RTKR has gone. That said, my poor left leg isn't super happy but is, of yet, far less problematic than the right one was before surgery.

Hopefully I won't regret taking this trip!

Hang in there! Brighter days ahead!
 

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Hi glidefloss, lm pleased you survived your flight. I hope your break goes well. I've decided to just go for a few days in the country. Going on Thursday for a change of scenery. Jcx
 
10 weeks today.
LTKR. It's been a hard slog just finding things to do all day. Physio got cancelled today because of covid. Driving now so I have got a bit more independence. Been to my mother's this morning and going for a break for a couple days tomorrow. Knee feels very stiff this morning. Do I take it easy or go for a walk or have 10 mins on the exercise bike. Not sure what to do. I'm worn out by all this getting better malarkey . Jcx
 
@Jcx, the rule of thumb is to allow time to ice and rest when the knee is stiff (stiffness suggests internal swelling). With that said, sometimes a very short walk eases the stiffness, a couple laps in the house should do it. Roy Gardiner has some great articles on stretching on the stationary bike vs. training on the bike. 2 mins is all you need for a stretch with the seat at a very comfortable distance from the pedals. The article is posted below. Above all listen to your knee and if it hurts, don't do it.

Stretching vs. training
Exercises to regain ROM are *stretches*, exercises to make you fit are *training*. Stretching exercises are gentle and do not make you breathe hard, sweat or have an elevated heart rate. Training exercises do this.

You cannot do training until healing is complete because it worsens damage to the ligaments and tendons that were affected by surgery. You can easily tell if this is happening because your knee will get stiff, will hurt, will swell up in the 24 hours afterwards. When this happens, stop.

Here is a longer explanation of the training/healing differences https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/post-operative-exercise-–-the-bonesmart-view.25463/

Here are some ROM and extension stretches (there are loads, these are just examples) https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/rom-and-extension-stretches.13159/
 
10 weeks today.
LTKR. It's been a hard slog just finding things to do all day. Physio got cancelled today because of covid. Driving now so I have got a bit more independence. Been to my mother's this morning and going for a break for a couple days tomorrow. Knee feels very stiff this morning. Do I take it easy or go for a walk or have 10 mins on the exercise bike. Not sure what to do. I'm worn out by all this getting better malarkey . Jcx
Glad to hear that you are driving - at 10 weeks thats good. I am at 14 weeks and I think I could drive but I am waiting for our car to be replaced in March before I give it a go. I am fortunate that my hubby drives me to whereever I need/want to go. I am up to 8 minutes on excercise bike but today I will only do a couple of minutes as I am going to yoga for a couple of hours and last week I over did it. If the weather is nice I would opt to go for a walk unless you need to free off your leg from that getting up stiffness and then I might do a couple of minutes on bike and then go for a walk later. Remember that if you go for a walk only walk half as far as you think you should as you need to make it back home. It is exhausting constantly thinking about what we can or can't do and it does change from day to day and week to week but I am starting to get to grips with this. Unfortunately 3 weeks ago I suffered a pulmonary embolist and now have clots in my lungs - I am fine but I am more tired and have to really think about how much I do - for my knee if it hurts I don't do it and for my PE recovery if I am tired I rest and if I get a bit out of breath I stop. It is really frustrating but it is what it is and I will recover as we all will - it just takes patience. For what its worth I only did 2 physio sessions one two weeks after op and one 7 weeks after op, I was doing ok and still am so there is not much PT can add and as it involved a 1.5 hour journey I was happy to take over my own excercise using in the main daily activity only. I am only now trying to up excercise to get fit rather than gain more rom as I found pushing knee only makes it worse, mine improved without the PT and I got the most improvement when I left hospital after the PE when I was on bed rest for three days. Sorry if I have waffled on a bit, take care and look after that knee.
 
Hi All
Thanks for all your advice and tips.
Trying to stay positive the sun is shining and I'm off for a couple of days holiday.
 
Hi All.
Back from holidays it was a welcome distraction. 40 mins drive there and back was tough. My wife did half of it. Went out for a few meals and meet up with my daughter and grandsons. Back home now and did some gentle exercises this morning. Nearly 11 weeks now and can see a lot of improvement. Still a long way to go and hope everyone is coping. Back to the gym on Wednesday and seeing my physio for a catch up. Onwards and upwards. Jcx
 
Glad you had a good break and to meet up with daughter and grandsons. Good to hear that you can see a lot of improvement. Indeed onwards and upwards. x
 
I'm glad that break did you good @Jcx. Time with loved ones definitely has it's place in the healing process. Take it easy at the gym so you don't set yourself back because you're feeling good (don't ask me how I know that :heehee: ). Slow progress is still progress.
 
Thanks everyone for your support and suggestions. 11 weeks today and I'm know it's early days but I'm feeling down. Gym has been canceled for the last few sessions because of covid. Going to wake up my knee shortly with gentle exercises and 5 mins on my exercise bike. My knee in my words today is feeling sticky and spongey. Then when I get ready to go for a walk the fun starts. In my words again a hard crust forms around my knee and is very restricted. After my walk it feels like it wants to shut down and be rested. Do I rest or do I do more stretching exercises . It feels like my day is over and I need to rest. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks Jcx
 
After my walk it feels like it wants to shut down and be rested. Do I rest or do I do more stretching exercises . It feels like my day is over and I need to rest. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks Jcx
Rest and ice are exactly what your knee needs after a walk. Your knee is still a baby and not even 3 months old, or still not 1/4 of the way healed. It sounds to me that you are doing quite well. That tight feeling you are having is more than likely inside swelling. There is very little room in that small knee capsule and just a small amount of fluid will restrict movements. Icing and elevating will help to get that fluid out, releasing some of the stiffness you're feeling.
 
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