TKR Am not dead!

[deb57]

I have also decided that taking a Tylenol 3 with codeine when I am working on my ROM at home at night makes a big difference in how far
I am able to push into pain. I have been not taking any pain pills for months but also started with the Tylenol 3 with my physio appts.
We all have to find what works for us but it is helpful to hear what others are doing. There is strength in numbers and sharing so we know we're not alone. Best of luck!

 

[Ms.fixit]

I know, I know..rest, elevate, ice! I am! I even bookmarked the "progression of activity after tkr"

For some reason..probably because I am American..I am beginning to wonder at the 5 week mark if I have rested enough and should be trying to do some more stuff now. Not that I want to,I'm just feeling guilty.

I have not driven since December, I have not done ANYthing but go to PT and come home to my little bed.( I do PT here, as well as a Pilates based workout once or twice a week, with my therapist's Ok.)

I'm worried that if I have my way, I will never go anywhere or do anything again. I am waaaaaay too happy just lying around. Does everyone feel this lazy and tired for this long? Halp!

 

[speccybecky]

You need to put the guilt behind you and just rest with gentle exercise..you still early in recovery so just cut yourself a bit of slack and be kind to yourself

 

[Jaycey]

I don't think it has anything to do with being American! It has to do with recovery. This surgery zaps your energy. You need to roll with that for awhile. But I can tell you that one day very soon you will start seeing the energy return. Suddenly you will want to do more. You will relish that walk in the sun - without all the pain. Just let it happen. There is no timeline for recovery!

 

[Ms.fixit]

Thanks everyone..Thus far I have not had anything remotely resembling energy. My poor old Mom is all alone these past 5 weeks with only her aides in NYC, and she misses me terribly. She needs a walker, and she needs to have her pill caddy loaded properly, so she doesn't overmedicate herself. She has a brain injury and dementia, and needs a ton of special care, so bringing her here isn't an option.
All I have to do is hire a car service, get into the thing and let them drive me, but I just can't seem to do it yet. I don't have any family to help me, either,my husband has his hands full with me and he's the only other relative I have.. so it's hard to rest properly with this on my mind. Maybe by the weekend I'll feel stronger.
I'm going to focus on Jacey's post and assume that I will feel some motivation at some point.....

 

[Ms.fixit]

Aw, Jeez..I just realized I'm posting too many threads..sorry!! Merge me if you need to..I still don't quite know my way around.

 

[RestAssured]

Hello! Postoperative recovery makes you tired! Think about all your body went through and now you are doing PT plus some gentle Pilates at home! Well, I can understand you being tired. I know you are worried about your Mom, but the more stress you put on yourself, the more viscous the circle of fatigue becomes! Isn't there any type of home health care agency that could check on your Mom?

 

[Ms.fixit]

Hi Sonja! Yup, my Mom has a very good agency that looks after her, but we can only get them a couple hours a day, due to financial constraints. She also has a social worker who oversees everything, but my mom is not an easy person and has gotten on the bad side of her. I don't blame the social worker one bit..hell I grew up with the woman and until the brain damage turned her into a very nice seven year old girl ,she was no sweetheart..my own childhood was pretty much a nightmare. I am actually very grateful for her illness because she is so sweet and appreciative now and I will remember these happy years later when she passes, not the abuse.

Her main aide, Bridget, genuinely loves her and it's mutual, thank goodness, but Bridget is very much in demand and can't always be there, so things fall through the cracks.

I appreciate your reminders of the stress my body has undergone..I need them! I've always been like this..afraid to rest for very long...left over from ancient conditioning. It's very hard for me to take good care of myself..I don't really have much sense of what's normal, so I need people to help me with a reasonable frame of reference. Feel free to keep it up.

Now, could you put Myra and Brandy in a cab and send them over here? I was at PT today, whimpering away, when the receptionist brought a 4 month old dachsund named Buddy over to visit with me. Black with brown touches and one blue eye. I told my PT guy to give it all he had while I had Buddy with me to distract me and give me kisses. It worked too.
(I worked for 12 years at an animal shelter as an adoption counselor and rescue worker, and I forget about
everything bad when there's something fuzzy or feathered close by. Best medicine in the world, isn't it? .

 

[kneeper]

You will find that you will gradually get more energy. As the others have said, your body needs rest to recover.

 

[referee54]

For some reason..probably because I am American..I am beginning to wonder at the 5 week mark if I have rested enough and should be trying to do some more stuff now.

Listen to your body---we all recover at different rates. While five weeks seems like a long time, you are still fairly early in your recovery, and your body is still delegating lots of energy towards the healing process.

I have done lots of extrme things in my life time---college football and running and cycling long distance---but I was never so beat as I was throughout the first eight weeks or so of my recovery.

Even when I went back to the classroom at eight weeks, I would come home exhausted.

Listen to your knee; pay attention to what your body is telling you---as the days and weeks progress, you will find that you will slowly gain more and more stamina.

 

[RestAssured]

Now, could you put Myra and Brandy in a cab and send them over here? I was at PT today, whimpering away, when the receptionist brought a 4 month old dachsund named Buddy over to visit with me. Black with brown touches and one blue eye. I told my PT guy to give it all he had while I had Buddy with me to distract me and give me kisses. It worked too.
(I worked for 12 years at an animal shelter as an adoption counselor and rescue worker, and I forget about
everything bad when there's something fuzzy or feathered close by. Best medicine in the world, isn't it? .

Sure, I could put them in a cab but that would be one expensive fee! They are very lovable dogs, and Brandy is more of a "Momma's girl, while Myra is more of a "Daddy's" girl! They love both of us though and I don't think they would like to be away for long!

 

[Josephine]

​

One thread for your recovery please?​

 

[Josephine]

I have not driven since December, I have not done ANYthing but go to PT and come home to my little bed. I'm worried that if I have my way, I will never go anywhere or do anything again. I am waaaaaay too happy just lying around. Does everyone feel this lazy and tired for this long?

Perfect! Just what you should be doing! Energy drain for TKRs

 

[Ms.fixit]

Thanks for merging me Jo..I'm all over the place and couldn't fix it!

Hey Tim; the 8 week time frame helps, thanks so much. I've been pretty hardcore as well (for a fragile person). I was an avid natural bodybuilder for 23 years, was a fitness model in print and video my 30's, always as active and as athletic as my ailments would allow. To hear you say something concrete like 8 weeks, gives me some frame of reference for someone with this lifestyle, and I feel less worried. In the past I've had some bouts of clinical depression and I tend to become concerned if my activity and participation decline..but obviously I have good reason in this case, and it's not an impending bout.
(On the other hand I see some folks at PT who have never moved anywhere but to the kitchen or the car, or who are 9oo years old and they seem to be breezing along.I'm like; "Huh???" Oh well.)

 

[Ms.fixit]

Hey there BoneSmarties..I haven't checked in for awhile and thought I'd update.
Today was week six since my surgery and I saw my surgeon for my follow up today. He said I am "a little behind" on my ROM at 85 degrees and launched in to the MUA speech. I asked him how much ROM I had in the OR, post-op and he said around 125-130. I told him I was going to respectfully decline to have an MUA, that the flexion in the OR clearly shows that any adhesions are brand new and won't be that hard for me to stretch out over time on my own. I also told him about the gentleman I met in PT yesterday.. had his TKR the day after Thanksgiving,was in the ICU the first 5 days post -op, due to an adverse reaction to anesthetic..wasn't "progressing fast enough", had the MUA several weeks ago and only has as much ROM as me! He even said to our therapist, "How come she's doing so much better than me at just 6 weeks?"He also said it hurt like a mother..worse than the surgery.
My surgeon had no response to this anecdote..he looked like he hadn't even heard me..it was a most skillful deflection, I must say..just sit there and look vague, while not speaking. Anyway, I told him he will have to content himself with having me as a sort of control group, representing the non-MUA demographic in his practice. At the one year mark we will compare results. He wants me to come back in two weeks and wants me to be at 115-120. I said fine. I mean, he can want what he wants but it's my leg thank you very much, and it will take as long as it takes. I might not even go to the second appointment, have to think about it.

My main impediment is my lateral subcutaneous sural nerve!! If it was not on fire I could do better..it hurts way more than the knee .(FYI this nerve kind of skirts the head of the fibula and goes down the outside of the calf and shin, to insert at the ankle.) Anyone else contend with this? It stabs it burns, it makes me faint in PT(well only once, but it was very exciting for all of us) and the rest of the time it aches. Ugh.

 

[Ms.fixit]

Oh, btw I am driving myself places once again and have begun getting my energy back in general. Did a Fluidity intermediate training session last night in fact, and have begun puttering around the house tending to this and that. It just seems to be happening naturally, thank goodness.

 

[bottomshollow]

Sometimes just living is the best PT of all. Things just sort of get better without you realizing it for a while. Kinda' nice not to be working at it and have it happen. Keep up the good work and don't overdo!

Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[clovergirl59]

You are doing way more than I did at six weeks. I was doing good just to make it to therapy 3 x a week and maybe do a little laundry. I think that my energy did start picking up around 6 weeks. I didn't drive until just before Christmas. Try not to overdo it, this is your recovery time!
Good for you for sticking up for yourself with the os. I don't know why they are so stuck on the numbers. I had an MUA at 8 weeks and I just got to 110 this week. Like a lot of us, I did not bend or straighten all the way for 4-5 years before my tkr and those muscles are not going to stretch out in 3 months. I do have a history of forming scar tissue. I can tell a difference in the way my knee feels when trying to bend now and before the mua. Before it felt solid, the resistance is still there but it feels like a resistance that will eventually give, whereas before it didn't. At 4 months I am finally starting to make some progress. I was going to be happy with 115, but now that I know that I can get 110, I want 120!

 

[Ms.fixit]

Hi Bottoms, Hi Clovergirl! Thanks to both of you for your replies.

I am quite happy with my progress, just a little uncertain about sticking up for myself. I'm doing it , but when one's surgeon furrows his brow and makes his "worried face "as you refuse MUA, it does give a slight pause.

BUT! Since seeing him this week and standing my ground, I have a few more degrees of motion that I got just from working on my own .., so I think I'm doing right by following my instinct. My sural nerve is quieting down too, so whatever tissue is woven in there is also beginning to stretch out. Now that that thing isn't causing me to drop like a rock any time I move, I can focus on coaxing the knee to bend a bit more.

I think in lots of ways I am lucky, the new knee has never been hot, my swelling now is hardly noticeable and I SAW THE OUTLINE OF MY KNEECAP for the first time in 42 years this week!!!!!!. I have one! My flexed knee used to look like a bent noodle..all smooth.
I promptly posted it's little pointy patella shadow on Facebook. I may even make it my profile photo. I feel like a new mother giving birth... to a knee. I'm dilated 10 centimeters,all I gotta do is push! (I know, no pushing..)

I have a Stryker implant..I saw with some alarm that there was a recall of a bunch of them last year, but on the whole they seem to be a very popular brand for active people..any thoughts there? I like what I've read and heard about them overall. I talk to mine;" Who's a good lil' shiny new knee? You are, you are!" It feels very happy in there overall and I'm growing fond of it.
Right now, I am very ready to be free of Doctors and all things medical and resume normal life, but I still welcome all kinds of reassurance around the whole MUA thing. I have read the MUA section here many times and it helps. Even the Royal College of surgeons in the UK says one thing that is missing from TKR is a good control group of patients who refuse MUA, so they can do some good comparisons. I agree. I told my surgeon to consider me HIS control group and this way he will have a point of comparison for future reference. I don't think anyone in his practice has opted out of MUA, and I really think he is a bit too attached to his timetable and protocol and that this aspect of it, as I've said before is to avoid any litigation down the line. If there are complaints at one year, they can point to MUA and say they gave it their best shot.
Me, I think slow and steady wins the race.

 

[Pumpkin]

Great report. Keep up the good progress!
I tore my peroneal tendon(s) about 6 weeks after my TKR, and damaged the nerve. I was told it could take up to 2 years for the nerve to heal. The discomfort seems to come and go. I have about 9 more months until the two year mark, so hopefully it will heal.
Keep to your slow and steady course and you will do great!