Bilateral TKR Bilateral TKR

[Twiggy]

My knees are feeling really good. I still do simple exercises, ride my stationary bike daily and do water aerobics 3x's a week. I ice at least once a day. I am so happy I had BTKR, and continue to look forward to improving each day. I am on my 17th week post surgery.

 

[newkneesNH]

Wow twiggy. Great job you have done! I am just 24 days post op of BTKR. And will be where you are in May. Can't wait to say my knees feel great and not stiff. All is going well in my recovery. Just working extra hard on my bends. My muscles are strong and legs lifts and great. I am going through a stage now of tough nights getting comfortable to sleep. I can sleep on left side pillow between knees for about 2 hrs then go to my back again. About 2 am get up and walk around use my massage machine on calves that is heaven. And finally go back to sleep. Any tips to me on bending? Other than exercise and keep working at it daily? How long did you do physical therapy? Out patient? So at this point do you climb stairs easily without thinking about it? I am doing stairs better. We have 2 staircases in our home one is very steep. Will use front stairs for awhile lol. Thank you for all the wisdom and reassurance you can offer me. Can't wait for May 2014 already.

 

[Twiggy]

newkneesNH
I was released from out patient therapy on Dec. 27. I had 9 days in rehab. center, a week in patient and 6 wks outpatient. My knees were bending at 145 degrees on my last day of outpatient therapy. Even though I could bend well I still had swelling and stiffness. I can walk up and down stairs pretty well but going down is stiff tougher. Today I went to the movies and the escalators weren't working and I had to walk up and down about 25 steps. I did it slowly. I can"t remember when I start moving around at night and feeling comfortable it seemed to just happen. It really does take patience, I know after the holidays I had to slow down and not do so much because my knees started to swell again. I still spend days just resting my knees. Of course with all the snow there isn't much you can do. I love to read. Continue on your recovery, it sounds like you are doing well.

 

[chestnc]

@Twiggy, you sound like you are really doing well. Continue to do well and feel well. Best of everything to you.

 

[Twiggy]

chestnc,
How are you doing? I haven't seen your thread in awhile. I will look for it?

 

[chestnc]

@Twiggy, I haven't updated there for a while. I have kind of been all over the board. I am okay Thanks for asking. I actually though fell on ice on Valentine's day. I went into detail on the Blizzard thread. I am okay though. I am so glad to see you are doing great. Keep on doing what you are doing.

 

[newkneesNH]

Have a question when you had your first visit to surgeon after Btkr did you go to appointment using a cane? Walker? Crutches? Getting nervous about the expectations of doctor.

 

[NuNe4Me]

In my humble opinion, I would visit your OS using whatever aid(s) you need to use - show him where you truthfully are at. The OS is working for you - not the other way around. Show your OS where you are at. It doesnt pay to hide the truth. Any OS worth his salt knows it takes a year plus to recover from such a traumatic surgery such as TKR - and you have had two. Be patient with yourself and give yourself time to heal. Demand time to heal if you have to.

 

[Josephine]

Getting nervous about the expectations of doctor.

Surely you jest! Read Annie's post several times and commit it to memory. Or better yet, print off and pin it somewhere you will see it every day! Couldn't have put it better myself!

 

[Twiggy]

I think it is important to remember we all heal differently. I feel I have been very lucky in my recovery and I had an excellent Dr. I had my 4 month visit today and my OS couldn't believe how well I was doing and I thanked him for doing a great job. He said it took two people to make it successful and my hard work was a big part of it.
He told me I was way ahead of the game. I had great PT's and my Dr. was very controlling as to what they could do. I also had the time to focus on my knees and did work out everyday but also had the time to relax and ice when necessary. I retired in June and my husband was a big help.

On the other hand I had Arthroscopic surgery about 5 yrs. ago with a different OS and my pain was horrible and I had a limp for months. Also at that time my PT would be pushing my knee back and forth and it would be very painful.

When I had BTKR my PT'S never touched or pushed my knees per Drs. orders. Good Luck to everyone be patient. I have to say I was going crazy around the 9th to 10th week because it becomes tiresome and I was so tired of working out. Now I ride my recumbent bike everyday for about 40 minutes and am doing water aerobics 3x's a week.I still ice at night and when I feel some pain.

 

[Justrosieinsa]

@NuNe4Me
My 1st appt which was 5 wks after BTKRs, I actually went in a wheelchair, not because I could not have walked in with my walker, but because I was having a terrible time getting up from low seats. I'm 5'11"! I went yesterday for my 2nd appt at 10 wks, drove there myself, walked in with a cane, sat anywhere and got up granted it required some quad strength and arm strenght to get up. I am appreciative of those PT quad exercises even though they are challenging.

Twiggy reading your thread is inspiring me to keep on truckin....

 

[newkneesNH]

Thank you for what you shared with me. It helped me a lot!

 

[Twiggy]

After everything as been going so well, I was walking in my living room carry a book and a bottle of water and tripped over the dog's toy. I fell right on both knees. I'm hoping I didn't do any damage. I iced all day and the right knee is swollen a little. I'll see how it feels on Monday. I have been so careful and tried to keep a slow pace.

Does anyone know if 4 month new knees can handle this stress.

 

[JackiFL]

Oh my word, @Twiggy ! How do your knees feel now?


Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk.

 

[Josephine]

More than! They're tough little blighters, so don't worry about it.

 

[Twiggy]

Josephine, thanks for information. It is a little sore but I think it will be ok, I plan on icing it all day.

Jackifl, Thanks for concern, feeling better. I just can't believe I could be such a klutz.

 

[JackiFL]

@Twiggy I managed to bash one of my knees into the bathroom door frame right before home PT in my first week home.

Imagine her surprise when I said that my right knee was a pain level 4 and my left knee was a 9!

Glad you're doing okay!

 

[Twiggy]

After my fall at the end of February, I had black and blue marks and pain in my knees. I thought they would be ok but, I finally decided to see my Dr. today because I start getting nervous that I hurt the inside. Well Josephine you were right, after 4 months they thought I was safe. I had x-rays and my Dr. said they were fine. He did drain both knees and they both had blood in fluid indicating how hard the fall was. The right knee having more fluid. I am still able to bend my knees well and continue water aerobics and bike riding.
I feel better knowing they are ok and I have to remind myself to be more careful and slow down. I hope this information can help others. These new knees are pretty strong.

 

[JackiFL]

I'm glad that you got confirmation that you didn't damage your joints!!!

:D

 

[Twiggy]

Well I'm almost at my 6 month anniversary and have done pretty good. For some reason the last few days I have had some knee pain. I don't know if I have been overdoing it at water aerobics or what the problem is. I started taking tylenol again. I pretty much had almost forgotten I had this BTKR. Anybody else have this problem?
I hope everyone is doing well. Remember to stay patient.