TKR Annie's new knee recovery thread

[NuNe4Me]

Breathing is so important when you can't do it. I can breathe today!!! =)

Watch out for The Flu Bug - the first four days are tough.

I am so happy the hives are gone!!! =)

So.....I am negotiating a phase-in return to work with the grocery store. I am bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball between Doc and employer. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork....

 

[NuNe4Me]

I never should have looked at that YouTube video. WHAT was I thinking?!?!? Now I can't get it out of my head.

Knee is doing pretty good. I did a few local in-town errands (Post Office, etc.) - my knee protested whenever I hit a bump in the road. I still feel like I have a metal toolbox in my right knee - but I am getting used to it, I guess. It isn't as noisy now as it was in the beginning.

I'm absolutely amazed at how well I can do steps now (up) - it has been years. Going down is slower, but still better than before surgery.

Docs put me on Lyrica for my Neuropathy. Man, that stuff makes me sleepy! I take it right before I go to bed.

Docs want me to go in for another MRI. Is that going to be OK?!? From what I have read, I guess it will be. (???) Docs keep testing me every (approx) five years for Multiple Sclerosis.

Hang in there! It gets better!

 

[Ellejay]

Hi Annie,
Funnily enough I asked a radiologist only this week what would happen if I needed a MRI. She said most replacement joints are MRI friendly these days, but they always test first, and if there is a problem you get a CAT instead.
Good news on your walking around, and doing stairs, you sound as if everything is going really well, I'm very pleased for you.
Lyn xx

 

[NuNe4Me]

Thanks Ellejay.

 

[NuNe4Me]

We each have our different ways of coping with the pain.

 

[NuNe4Me]

My new "bionic" knee is feeling better and better every day. I am simply amazed - I didn't realize how much it was hurting me before the surgery.

Started back to work, using BoneSmarties' concept of "Phased-In", which, by the way, both my OS and employer love. After a couple of hours back at the old work site, which is FILLED with drama, which is THE main reason I hate it so much - I began to relax because I realized my new "bionic" knee was doing okay - I can do this! =)

Hang in there BS peeps (people). Listen to the BS Experts! There IS light at the end of the tunnel! =)

Annie

 

[icep707]

Great thread ! Just read the whole thing . Hope your aunt is doing well. Its too bad you found bonesmart after your surgery but than again maybe it is not . Some stories can scare the bejesus out of you . I have a physical job as well as a butcher for a Costco in the San Francisco Bay Area I dont have to return till week 12 an im at week 4 now . But alot of the job is dealing with the drama . I always say my job is more mental than physical. You need aligator skin to work at some places. Did you ever find out what exactly caused those hives ? Well keep up the great work , hope you get the job thing figured out . Best wishes

 

[NuNe4Me]

Thanks for asking icep707.

The only thing we can figure out - and this is simply theory - is that my body was rejecting my new knee - which was the exact thing that I was terrified might happen.

My OS used the titanium joint replacement, rather than the nickel joint replacement. And I took extra doses of antihistimines for months. I used "self-hypnosis" (telling myself over and over: I don't have time for hives. My body IS going to accept my new knee. I AM going to be okay. I don't have the luxury to get sick.). Gradually I needed the antihistimines less and less. Gradually everything got better. Then, all of a sudden, one day the hives were gone! =) So, what caused the hives? We don't exactly know.

I have Celiac Disease - which is something I don't talk about very much here on BS because I don't want the focus of this site to get distracted. I believe that it is very important to help others get through the traumatic beginning stages of recovery from this knee surgery. My body has turned against me since I have developed Celiac Disease - which is an autoimmune disease. I am allergic to more and more things as I get older - the list gets longer and longer.

I am not the only one on this site that has a major health condition besides getting a tkr. But, I am trying to keep the focus off me, and instead trying to help those that are terrified in the beginning stages of tkr recovery. I know how scared I was - I was there - Josephine saved me.

I am hoping, by posting my stages, that I can encourage others. There IS light at the end of the tunnel. Keep The Faith.

 

[kneeper]

Yes, sharing our own experiences with the tkr process is all part of helping each other.