TKR AG TKR new knee

[agarrett]

Tomorrow is week three. Lots of good information on the site. Still fighting to get to 90 degrees and 0 degrees consistently, lose a little and gain a little back and forth last week or so. Then saw someone today at week two with 120 degrees, a bit jealous honestly. Tight calf and hamstring/IT band seems to be one of most limiting elements for forward progress right now. Finally extreme bruising is gone, looks like I was beaten very bad. And plain exhausted a lot of the time, lots of naps.


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[lennie]

Just pace yourself and don't worry about your ROM right now.


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[Spex10]

Its very early days yet. Sounds like you're doing OK! Its hard not to compare yourself with others though. Try not to. We're all different. Good luck with your ongoing recovery.

 

[KarriB]

Great advice from lennie and Spex! You're super tired due to the energy drain as your body is working to heal from the trauma of surgery. So nap away! Ask any questions you have and we'll do our best to answer and encourage. You can take a look at this info on energy drain if you like. I found it quite interesting.

http://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/energy-drain-for-tkrs.11953/

 

[Mireille]

@agarrett
Best of luck on your recovery! I'm inching onto week 5 and have finally realized that everyday is different. This forum is great and has been a great source of information and encouragement. All recoveries are different and you'll soon find your own peaceful pace. Feel better soon!

 

[Celle]

And here is your post-op reading:

First are the BoneSmart mantras ....
- rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist (PT) - to do it to you. exercise only gently
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it
- never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can go to sleep!
- be active as much as you need to be but not more than is necessary, meaning so much that you end up being in pain, exhausted or desperate to sit down or lie down!

Next is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) thread.

And here are some very crucial articles
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs

Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Activity progression for TKRs
Heel slides and how to do them

Extension: how to estimate it and ways to improve it
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling

Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR

Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

Don't worry about your knee bendign yet. Your knee is sstill swollen, which prevents it from bending.

MY surgeon doesn't expect 90 degrees until about 6 weeks.

 

[Josephine]

Still fighting to get to 90 degrees and 0 degrees consistently, lose a little and gain a little back and forth last week or so

Don't fight. Whatever you do, don't 'fight'. At 3 weeks out, that's the very last thing you should do as you are in the middle of the "angry tissue" phase and doing that will INcrease swelling and therefore DEcrease your ROM. You see, it's not the exercising that gets you your ROM, it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle and time to heal.

One thing that seems to be missing from all the PT's protocols is that all your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen so it can show itself. In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Exercise as in strength training is counter-productive and does more harm than good. Normal activity is the key to success.

Read the articles Celle has left you. They contain the answer to this.

 

[agarrett]

Thanks for the replies and information. The energy drain article was good. Last night and today was that day for me, just exhausted, lots of naps. The body does need so much time to heal I have found.

 

[zzevi]

Very early in the recovery process, I am sure p/t has lots of input on where they would like your ROM numbers at x amount of weeks. They can be very pushy, to the extent that they cause us more discomfort than good.
Rest, elevate and icing and pain medication on schedule. As others on here will tell you don't let p/t push you or apply pressure to achieve a certain ROM, the more we push ourselves the more we set ourselves up for swelling and swelling equal resistance when trying to move our new knee joints.
( the reason I am negative about p/t is I believe they were the reason I had issues later on in my healing process, and I never could after the 2 wk, meet what they wanted from me, which in turn lead to disappointment and depression on my end. Best thing I did was to be happy at where I was at in my recovery process, others may have been further ahead, but I was just where I should be. )

 

[Red's Mom]

Please never "fight" your body. Be gentle with it, rest, elevate, ice. Don't push or struggle. Keep the pain and discomfort managed with medications. Don't compare, it is fruitless. Be patient, Patient PATIENT. I know how hard that is I've been on the journey for almost three months. You will get your ROM. You WILL get your life back and it will be even better. There will be good days and bad days but if you follow the mantras the good will exceed the bad. One day you will love your new knee - that's a promise!

 

[agarrett]

Getting ready to start week four this Tuesday. Good news is less pain meds and seem to be more mobile and able to walk more. Everyone else is comments how much better I am moving around. ROM is still a work in progress, pretty close to 90 degrees and best measurement at 2 degrees straight. Standing on TKR leg and weight bearing is doing better, anticipate trying to move from Walker to cane at least around house this week. So ready to be back more on my own. But activity, basic activity out for a dinner or lunch and PT drain me big time. Took a two hour nap today, and seems to be fairly routine daily. Ready for swelling to go down more so bending happens easier.

 

[KarriB]

At just 4 weeks the energy drain is still there. If I went out to lunch or dinner (much later and usually on my way from a dr appointment) I always propped my leg up. The best thing you can do for swelling to go down is ice and elevate. It's basically all I did for the first four weeks.

 

[Celle]

Thanks for the replies and information. The energy drain article was good. Last night and today was that day for me, just exhausted, lots of naps. The body does need so much time to heal I have found.

It takes a full year for complete recovery fom a TKR and you are still in the early days.

Your ROM ( Range of Movement) can continue to improve for a year, or even longer, so there's no need to rush to get it.

 

[agarrett]

Got to 92 degrees active (on my own) at PT today and was thinking it was stiff so really excited when it measured over 90. Nice to think now stiff was still over 90.

 

[agarrett]

Has anyone had congestion after surgery. How worried should I be about possible infection in my joint? I am 4 weeks post op.

 

[KarriB]

No worries about that at all, take what you would normally just check the labels depending on what pain meds you're currently taking.

 

[Celle]

Has anyone had congestion after surgery. How worried should I be about possible infection in my joint? I am 4 weeks post op.

Do you mean congestion in your lungs? If so, I think you need to consult your own doctor - PCP/GP.
It could be a chest infection. If so, I don't think it would infect your new joint, but you do need to get it treated, for the sake of your general health.

 

[KarriB]

I thought @agarrett was talking about nasal congestion.

 

[agarrett]

Unfortunately went to doctor today and diagnosed with flu. So spending a few days on hold from PT and knee exercises. Focused on sleeping and beating this flu. Had woke up feeling much worse and assumption is pain meds for knee was masking some of the body aches so wasn't recognizing some of the symptoms.

 

[KarriB]

I'm sorry you have the flu, but I think it'll be good to tak that time to rest, ice and elevate. I used an electric throw to keep the rest of me warm while icing.