Adventuress
junior member
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2022
- Messages
- 26
- Age
- 59
- Country
- Canada
- Gender
- Female
My initial left TKR recovery seemed to go well, with the exception of tingling and numbness in my foot and glove-like feeling from instep to heel. Flexion progressed well, while extension was a little more challenging. Mobility was progressing steadily.
Then 4 months into recovery I tore my right meniscus. As you can imagine this slowed me down, as I had to wait for this knee to heal. This knee has moderate OA degeneration and will likely need replacing. My Dr. and surgeon reassured me that the tingling and numbness in my left foot would resolve in time and I would once again be able to regain much of my active lifestyle.
At the 6 month mark, end of August, I was still needing 1 - 2 walking aids and my mental health was suffering and going back to teaching physical education seemed unimaginable. Thankfully, I was able to get help with mental health and able to switch up some of my teaching dues to handcrafts.
Then another set back. My right foot between the big toe and neighboring toe suddenly started tingling. An x ray of my lumbar spine showed a crushed disc at L4-L5 (Narrowing the space between the 2 vertebra) and considerable osteoarthritis in other Lumber vertebra. A recent CT scan shows mild to severe spinal stenosis at multiple levels along with 4 diffuse discs (so disc degenerative disease) with clear neural impingement from the stenosis on the right side. Needless to say, I stopped wondering when the tingling and numbness in my left foot would be gone and started assimilating this into my new me.
Also, it became clear that the cramping in my left knee, thigh, butt and calf and numbness from thigh to foot was not just part of a normal TKR, it was part of a neural impingement. While uncomfortable, I realized I would have to get used to it. I did not respond well to Gabapentin and decided that the potential side effects were worse than the numbness, tingling and cramping.
Short term use of a muscle relaxant has been helpful (maybe). While my left knee (the replaced joint part of it) is doing well and is now better and stronger than my right knee, the pain in my right knee slows me down and wakes me most every night. The thought of possibly moving forward with a replacement of the right knee is on the one hand somewhat daunting, yet so does the steady decline in mobility due to pain and reducing strength in the right knee.
Over the counter NASID's and prescription Voltaren do not seem to be easing the pain, so I am at a decision point. A discussion I will have with my surgeon this week. My side table is piled with various books on understanding and self - managing Spinal stenosis through specific exercises and diet, as this will be part of whatever I decide for my right knee along with thinking about the underlaying causes of inflammation causing osteoarthritis.
Thankfully, my mental health has stabilized (without drugs) through education and getting back to work but it has been a long and bumpy journey to this point.
Then 4 months into recovery I tore my right meniscus. As you can imagine this slowed me down, as I had to wait for this knee to heal. This knee has moderate OA degeneration and will likely need replacing. My Dr. and surgeon reassured me that the tingling and numbness in my left foot would resolve in time and I would once again be able to regain much of my active lifestyle.
At the 6 month mark, end of August, I was still needing 1 - 2 walking aids and my mental health was suffering and going back to teaching physical education seemed unimaginable. Thankfully, I was able to get help with mental health and able to switch up some of my teaching dues to handcrafts.
Then another set back. My right foot between the big toe and neighboring toe suddenly started tingling. An x ray of my lumbar spine showed a crushed disc at L4-L5 (Narrowing the space between the 2 vertebra) and considerable osteoarthritis in other Lumber vertebra. A recent CT scan shows mild to severe spinal stenosis at multiple levels along with 4 diffuse discs (so disc degenerative disease) with clear neural impingement from the stenosis on the right side. Needless to say, I stopped wondering when the tingling and numbness in my left foot would be gone and started assimilating this into my new me.
Also, it became clear that the cramping in my left knee, thigh, butt and calf and numbness from thigh to foot was not just part of a normal TKR, it was part of a neural impingement. While uncomfortable, I realized I would have to get used to it. I did not respond well to Gabapentin and decided that the potential side effects were worse than the numbness, tingling and cramping.
Short term use of a muscle relaxant has been helpful (maybe). While my left knee (the replaced joint part of it) is doing well and is now better and stronger than my right knee, the pain in my right knee slows me down and wakes me most every night. The thought of possibly moving forward with a replacement of the right knee is on the one hand somewhat daunting, yet so does the steady decline in mobility due to pain and reducing strength in the right knee.
Over the counter NASID's and prescription Voltaren do not seem to be easing the pain, so I am at a decision point. A discussion I will have with my surgeon this week. My side table is piled with various books on understanding and self - managing Spinal stenosis through specific exercises and diet, as this will be part of whatever I decide for my right knee along with thinking about the underlaying causes of inflammation causing osteoarthritis.
Thankfully, my mental health has stabilized (without drugs) through education and getting back to work but it has been a long and bumpy journey to this point.
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