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TKR ACK! OMG! TKR on May 29th

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, Remember whats important is doing it. Please don't get caught up with the numbers. They are just numbers. I just had my right knee done June 4th and the PT was so upset that I was still at the number I was at she was working herself into a :hairpulling: The day before I relax and the number came up she wanted. The secret is not to let it get swollen and score. Don't push. the minute it hurts, Please stop. When I had the first knee done I really pushed and boy did I pay for it. And please keep pain control. It is so important. 1ELLISEA when did you have your surgrey? I had my June 4th. We are so close to the same date, We can help each other and get to the full recover line together. Take care and do keep working but do not push. Easy does it, Please. I just looked at the clock and see its almost 3:30 in the morning. I must get back to sleep but I will wait to take a pain pill first. Good night or should I say Good Morning. :puppysmooze:Tashia:sleep:
 
AGH. I wrote a whole response and the forum logged me out and so lost the entire post. AGH!! It does that a lot lately!!
 
Ok, the short version as I am not rewriting my response that disappeared.

I am comparing myself to people at work who returned at 4 weeks and in much better shape than I am. Also, most Bone Smart folks seem to be doing really well at this point too. And my PT, who specializes in knees, says I am way behind others at this point.

My ROM sucks, I am in pain, can't really walk and haven't a clue when I'll get a good night’s sleep. I am concerned this was a mistake and I am destined to be one of the 10% that is worse off than before a TKR.
 
Is there anyone who had a horrible ROM and pain at 4 weeks that made a miraculous recovery at week 5? I'd like to hear about it, it would give me some hope all is not lost.
 
Elise's,

I have been up all night also. I don't have pain per se but nausea and vomiting are my nighttime companions. Please try to be good to yourself and push back against thoughts like " I'll be one of those who will be worse off!" . I don't know much but I do know we must control the drama in our own heads ....if we don't who will?

Pain management folks call that sort of crazy talk "catastrophsizing". It makes pain worse. Push back, try to find amoung all the good advice on this board few statements that will pop the crazy talk conversation bubble you are having with yourself right now!

My mother does this all the time. Over the years she has managed to make herself a house bound victim in her own mind. She actually told me this....

"You know, having yout knee replaced is just like an amputation, they cut off the ends of your bones!"

I didn't tell her about my surgery till post op week 4. She promptly sent me a get well card suitable for a terminal illness. If I took her responses to heart I would be seriously depressed. I can't select a new Mom, but I can refuse to get stuck in her crazy talk world of drama and debilitation.

Please give yourself and your body a break. We are remarkable, you are remarkable, you body is amazing and miraculous. You will recover and the decisions you made for your health will be proven to be wise. The sun is up....let's see if we can nap before the alarm clock goes off. Ok?

Hugs,

Chris
 
Chris, my mother regularly sends wrong cards! I had an anniversary card for my birthday! My son got an age 9 card when he was 16 ( she didn't notice the age) And they invariably have the price on the back. She s not ill or anything it's just her. We have learned to laugh it off!
Elisea , you are the worst stage. At weeks 5-8 I thought I'd never recover but it does get better. Hang in there and take the pills!
 
When I logged in this morning I had a good laugh about the birthday and get well cards. That remark about the age appropriate cards is too funny. Thank you for that. We had a relative who would send "you know you are getting old" type cards to us when we were still teenagers.

I once sent a card to my sister who had broken her leg wishing her a speedy recovery. She got it about 2 years later and thought I was being funny. The only thing we could figure out was that it was stuck in some mail chute and they found it when they cleaned it out.
 
Well yes, but you'd think you'd remember the date of your firstborn s birthday! :happydance: :gaah: :happydance: :giggle: :rolleyes:
 
1ELISEA said:
Is there anyone who had a horrible ROM and pain at 4 weeks that made a miraculous recovery at week 5? I'd like to hear about it, it would give me some hope all is not lost.
Click to expand...
Yes!!!
I cried doing my home PT at week 4 and I'm a tough old biddy. The medial side of my knee hurt, the front of my shin hurt, the tendons behind my knee hurt.... I felt like a total failure and a complete wuss. By week 5 the pain got better and I was able to cut down my pain meds. I think the deep tissue massage I was getting weekly helped.

According to my massage therappist who has watched a whole bunch of tkr op videos online to help her treat me, the stitches to rejoin the tendon sheet at the front of the leg are what causes the tight rubber band feeling and they take up to 90 days to dissolve.

So hang on in there. I was very down by week 4. Visitors had already got bored by week 3 ("when is she going to get it together, this is taking such a long time") and stopped coming, I was stuck all day in the basement of my house, everything hurt, sleeping was hard, PT hurt, the knee was almost always swollen, and then things started to change. BY the late part of week 5 I was able to get up and down stairs with more confidence so could go into the kitchen and find where the candy was hidden!

I'm week 7 and a bit now, and am sleeping well 5 nights out of 7, can hop about pretty well, but can't go far (about 1 km) without the damn knee swelling and taking almost a day of ice etc to go down. I can cook and clean some - about 45 mins at a time, with rest/ice in between. I still get tired very quickly. I still have limited ROM and that makes normal walking almost impossible, but I still do 2/3 times PT every day plus exercise bike twiddling and just hope that will get better eventually. Meanwhile, I've set my mind to just adapting to be a limited ROM pegleg with little ability to get out of the house and go anywhere.

Taxi today to my second massage treatment of the week. This time she's going to work on all the knots in my back and neck that are caused by so much sitting around, and by havng to sleep in one position all night (plus walking in such a wonky way).
It does get better - honest!
 
Well,vancourverite, all I can say is that for a tough old biddy, you're giving up mighty early in the game. Not even 2 months post op. Some BoneSmarties just take longer to get there than others. And you may be doing too much for you. Maybe you should do 15 minutes then rest and ice. Maybe you should take every other day off for a while. But you should not be setting you mind to "adapting to be a limited ROM pegleg with little ability to get out of the house and go anywhere." That is just giving up----and you're better than that. Please, pick that chin up from off the floor, put a determined grim on your face, and work slowly, easily, and diligently with stretches and bends--off and on all day long for short period of time.

And you, Elisea, are only 1 month post op, and already you're wanting it all NOW, and knee is not ready to give it to you NOW. You're just gonna' have to keep on working at it---slowly and easily.

TIME & PATIENCE---TIME & PATIENCE---TIME & PATIENCE------so both of you, take the time and dig down real, real deep and find some patience. YOU CAN AND WILL GET IT DONE---EVENTUALLY! Take care
[Bonesmart.org] ACK! OMG! TKR on May 29th
 
I am reading the posts on this thread and thinking to myself that you all are so early in your recovery. Listen there is no magic wand that you can wave and "POOF" your knee is better. It just doesn't work that way. A lot of you here are stressing yourselves out. The knee is is charge of recovery, not you. If you push too early you will pay and have setbacks.

It took me 6 months, yes I said 6 months till I felt like a person again. I am an athlete and in very good condition. I trained and worked on stamina and strength till the night before my surgery. I am a get up and go person, I never sit still and this surgery had me on the couch for 2 months. It wasn't until the 9 month mark that I felt I made the right decision to have the surgery. Now at 2 years out I can say it was the best thing I ever did and that I should have done it sooner.

I know it's been said, but I will say it again, "You have to be patient, slow down, a give your knee time to heal." Everyone's recovery is different and you should not compare yourself to anyone. Recovery takes a year or more and there will be bumps along the way. Everyone will get there, but in there own time, some slower than others.
 
5 months for me and I've had my moments! GP said it will be at least a year till I'm glad I had it done
 
To all on this thread,

I think Jerseychick is right, you are all stressing YOURSELVES out. You need to relax, stress makes all you muscles, tendons, ligaments and other various soft tissues tighten up and I am sure this is part of the problem. Please take it from one who use to stress over everything and thru this surgery learned to relax and have patience. What a difference it made.
 
You are very early, vancouverite. (you probably want to smack all of us who keep telling you that):heehee: You can reset your expectations about being "fully healed" at a couple of months, but you're nowhere near where you'll ultimately get, I'm sure.
 
1ELISEA said:
Ok, the short version as I am not rewriting my response that disappeared.

I am comparing myself to people at work who returned at 4 weeks and in much better shape than I am. Also, most Bone Smart folks seem to be doing really well at this point too. And my PT, who specializes in knees, says I am way behind others at this point.

My ROM sucks, I am in pain, can't really walk and haven't a clue when I'll get a good night’s sleep. I am concerned this was a mistake and I am destined to be one of the 10% that is worse off than before a TKR.
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Hi Elisea,

People have tried to tell you that recovery from knee replacement TAKES TIME. It is a marathon race, not a sprint.

Please Stop Winding Yourself Up!
  • STOP comparing your progress to the progress others made. Every knee is different, so STOP comparing yourself to "people at work who returned at 4 weeks and in much better shape." They are in a minority and they were idiots to go back to work so soon, anyway! Did they have the exact same operation as you did? Was their knee in exactly the same state before the operation as yours was?
  • STOP comparing yourself to others on this board - some are doing extraordinarily well, but most are plodding along, with many problems similar to yours.
  • STOP listening to your PT telling you that you are "behind". PTs have no business telling people depressing things like that and what do they know anyway? They haven't had the operation - they are taught about the average progress and they are focused on the numbers. Their job is to encourage and help you, not to discourage you.
  • STOP expecting an instant recovery. No one who is at a certain stage at 4 weeks will have a miracle improvement by 5 weeks. Full recovery from a knee replacement takes 6 months to a year. Slow and steady improvement is what you should expect.
  • STOP fretting about not sleeping. Sleep will come, gradually, as you recover. Find something relaxing to do during the night-time periods when sleep is elusive. Make sure that you are taking adequate pain relief, stay calm, and sleep will come as your body needs it - it may not be in long periods during the night, but you can take naps during the daytime.
  • STOP catastrophizing and thinking that what you have now is what you will end up with. It's so easy to think that what you have is "awful", but remember that your knee is still a "work in progress" and the job isn't finished yet. So many of us here can tell you that we continued to improve for a year, or even longer.
I know how hard it is to be patient, but patience really is your best friend. You had a really big operation and it will take months for your body to recover. Be kind to your knee, and be kind to yourself.

Best wishes,
Celle
 
Hi Elisea!
We have been comparing our happiness quotients lately, and I can let you in on a little secret.... I am having a rough time at week 6 because of overdoing it apparently! Tomorrow I will find out if it is a DVT or muscle strain, but no matter what I need to realize that the only way I healed properly with the left knee was by letting it be the BOSS. I am trying to be the BOSS of this knee and I am not getting very far. I think I will give up "some":heehee: of the power to my knee so I can get on with healing and living my life that I have dreamed of for so long!:happydance:
 
Hi Elisea!
Just caught up on your thread and wanted to give you a great big, super, gigantic hug! Wishing you a peaceful sleep tonight.
 
Are you still taking your pain medication? Only reason I’m not in pain is because I’m still taking Percocet alternating with Extra Strength Tylenol. We were at my daughters today and by the time we left my meds had worn off and both knees were yelling at me.
I know you’re frustrated, but I really think you’re going to be fine. Maybe you’ll take a little long than some but maybe quicker than others? :console2:
 
Nyland said:
Hi Elisea!
Just caught up on your thread and wanted to give you a great big, super, gigantic hug! Wishing you a peaceful sleep tonight.
Click to expand...
Thanks Nyland. I am beginning to think I am becoming a Zombie (where is the Zombie Smilie when ya need it) as I am up almost every night. So I post on this forum to pass the time.
I have tried to stay up way past my usual bedtime thinking that it will help me sleep..... noooo.... I am still up only now doubly tired.
 
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