Knee Infection* Infection at 7 Months Post Op - Back to Crutches

[newlybionic]

Your mom is doing great. You can’t compare yourself to anyone else. Your knees each had their own problems and even between both your knees I’m sure there’s differences.

 

[sistersinhim]

I've heard it said that many older people have less muscle mass so there will be less soft tissue to swell and to heal. I don't know how true it is, but it seems to make sense to me.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Yesterday I ordered my bike trainer stand. I am going to get my pedals to go all the way around!!! I am doing this!!!

 

[Moriah]

I was able to do my stationary bike all the way around this week ! 8/25 TKR

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

@Moriah
Yay!!! Congratulations!!! I could do the recumbent bike at my PT clinic all the way around, but I can’t get my regular bike pedals to go all the way around yet. I am doing this!!!!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Welcome! I had my bilateral on July 6th. I had a big week this week! I went down a whole flight of stairs at work normally!!! I had to hold onto the left hand rail and I went a little more slowly than most, but I did it!!! You’ll get there.

 

[Dep]

@Mrs.Ciz well done on the stairs! I had BTKR on Sept 24. Have you noticed one knee revovering better than the other? I have 98 ROM in the left and 106 in the right. Right knee bends smoothly and straight but the left goes to the side and it clicks a bit! @Roy Gardiner can you remember anything like this? Just a bit worried my left knee won’t recover properly. Thanks. Dep

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

@Dep
Yep, my left knee is recovering faster than my right knee. My right hamstring has been super tight from the first night of surgery. It’s caused lots of bad post surgery behind the knee pain, which radiates down to my calf, shin and foot. It is so much better now and only happens occasionally at 17 weeks post op. But man did it hurt for the first 3 months. That hamstring has also affected my range of motion in the right knee. Flexion is getting better, but extension in my right knee is still a problem. It makes me limp sometimes. I stretch it out multiple times every single day. And I often sleep with a heating pad behind the right knee and hamstring. It helps with the pain and loosens the hamstring. That said, the front of my left knee cap is a lot tighter than the front of my right knee cap. I was wondering if all the heat therapy on my right leg somehow helped with the tightness in the front as well. Who knows.

I ordered a bike trainer stand for my road bike last week. It should be delivered tomorrow. I want to get back on my bike because it helps so much with range of motion. Last time I tried (3 or 4 weeks ago) I couldn’t get the pedals all the way around. I will get there!

 

[Dep]

Good idea @Mrs. Ciz - my physio has given me unlimited access to his gym which incudes a static bike. I raise the saddle and do 15 mins three times a week. When did you start driving? I haven’t started yet. Went back to work yesterday- from home. The country is locked down, which helps me really. I admire your optimism - best of luck. Dep

 

[Roy Gardiner]

On another thread:

I ordered a bike trainer stand for my road bike last week.

It should be delivered tomorrow. I want to get back on my bike because it helps so much with range of motion. Last time I tried (3 or 4 weeks ago) I couldn’t get the pedals all the way around. I will get there!

If your leg is stiff and swollen then using an exercise bike for training is not a good idea; but you can still use one for mobility exercises - even if you can't make a single rotation!

• Set the bike to zero resistance
• Set the saddle as high as possible and rock the pedals back and forth as far as you can with discomfort but no pain
• Repeat several/many times a day, but don't go mad. Diminishing returns will apply; my guess is that half a dozen reps would be enough
• And if you get any pain or swelling in the 24 hours after doing this, cut it down until you don't

With full rotation:

• Set the bike to zero resistance
• Set the saddle low enough so that a single rotation is a challenge; difficult but not painful. When a rotation becomes easy right from the start, lower the saddle a max of 1cm.
• Gently turn the pedals, through discomfort but without pain.
• Continue until the knee is 'warmed up' and the rotation is now easy, or for 2 minutes, whichever is the shorter time.
• Repeat several/many times a day, but don't go mad. Diminishing returns will apply; my guess is that half a dozen reps would be enough
• Do not pedal fast or for more than 2 minutes, this is a stretching exercise, not training.
• And if you get any pain or swelling in the 24 hours after doing this, cut it down until you don't

Here is a bit more chat and some pix and how 'healing' and 'training' are different

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

@Dep
I had my bilateral done in 7/6/20 and I started driving again the 2nd week of September. Driving used to hurt my right knee. I could literally feel the bones rubbing together when I lifted my foot off the gas and put it on the break. Now driving doesn’t hurt at all!!!

 

[Dep]

That’s great! Bit too soon for me to get behind the wheel so! Doesn’t realy matter as we’re locked down anyway.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

At 18 weeks post op, I’m still not sleeping through the night. I wake up every 1.5 to 2 hours to roll over, readjust the pillows, reposition because I’m sore. I’ve been back at work since week 13, and I’m tired. I’ve been taking Unisom and 15 mg of melatonin for the past 3 months, but they are not working. So I asked my GP for some Ambien. She said no. She was wants me to try Trazodone (an antidepressant) because it’s non addictive. I have my doubts about this. Have any of you ever taken it successfully for sleep?

 

[Spacedust]

I had thoracic outlet syndrome several years ago (very painful shoulder and neck; tingling in my hand) and had issues with sleep as the pain would flare up and be difficult to control. Trazodone was prescribed for sleep for me, and it worked pretty well - better than my usual go-tos of melatonin and Unisom.
I did have a little problem with dizziness initially (a common side effect), so keep that in mind.

 

[newlybionic]

I use trazodone for sleep and it helps me a lot.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

@Spacedust and @newlybionic
Thank you for the feedback on Trazodone. I’ll give it a try.

 

[Jane66]

Hi @ Mrs.Ciz

How are you doing with the sleeping now ? Was trazadone helpful ?
I'm still in wide awake land despite it being midnight

I have noticed you have been online a few times, so I thought I'd say hello.

Kind wishes

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Hi @Jane66
YES! The Trazodone is helping. I’ve taken it for 5 nights now and my sleep is getting better dan each night. I went from waking up 6 to 8 times a night to only 2 to 3 times a night and usually that last wake up is about 30 minutes before my alarm goes off.

At 18 weeks I had my last follow up visit with my surgeon yesterday. It went well. My right knee is still lagging behind my left knee in flexion and extension, but it’s getting closer. The behind the knee tight hamstring pain is finally gone!!! He was happy with my left knee and told me to keep stretching and doing heel slides for the right knee. He said it would continue to slowly improve over the next 7-8 months. And if at that time, I still wasn’t happy with the right knee, I could do MUA. But he did say those don’t always work either.

The best thing about the appointment was that he gave me a letter to take to my school that said I am supposed to limit my time on the stairs for the duration of the school year. Even though I can go up and down stairs normally now, it is so easy to over do it. My school let me use the empty 1st floor cafeteria as my temporary classroom (due to Covid kids are eating in our classrooms), so I didn’t have to go up and down from the 3rd floor several times a day, but they recently started pressuring me to move back to the 3rd floor. Now even if I do move back upstairs, they are going to change my duty schedule so I don’t have to go up and down multiple times a day.

 

[Jane66]

@Mrs. Ciz .

Thanks for your message,it's really good for me to be a bit more patient and look at the members who have had their procedures before me and are all 'getting there '.

Excellent news regards your appointment and hope it makes work life a bit easier.

Sounds like some really positive steps in your recovery ( no pun intended ).

Apart from the insomnia I feel I am very slowly improving.

I'm on a new prescription for zopiclone, a weeks supply so trying not to use them all this week. I will speak to my doc about trazadone next week. It's just miserable not being able to sleep well.

Anyways keep in touch.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

@Jane66
This is such a loooooong slooooooow recovery. I was totally unprepared for how long it would take to feel normal again. Occasionally I will have rare times where I don’t think about or feel my knees, but most of the time they don’t feel much better than they did before the surgery. That said, if I hadn’t had surgery, they would have continued to get more and more painful instead of less and less painful. I like less and less painful better, and I know I’ll get there eventually!!!

I'm glad you got something to help you sleep. I was getting desperate being back at work with no sleep. I should have talked to my GP a month ago.