TKR Bionic's final op - fingers crossed<

Good morning @Bionic it was lovely to read your positive thread. It sounds like you have turned the corner.
Now to enjoy the Easter weekend. My daughter made her simnel muffins again and I also took our second Christmas cake out of the freezer! I’m not sure we really need it but hopefully our friends will help eat them.
Enjoy the sunshine x
 
I don't like boiled eggs particularly...but for some reason Easter eggs taste so much better.
Peeling back a happy decorated shell...That little smudge of dye that leaked in ...love it.
Happy Easter friend:SUNsmile:
 
@JDinCT this is the simnel cake.
I must admit I have made more attractive cakes, but hopefully it will taste good.
The balls on the top represent the apostles minus Judas.
 

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What are the balls made of?
 
@Jockette
The balls and the toping are marzipan. I guess you could use fondant icing but marzipan is traditional.
You brush beaten egg over the top and then put it under a high grill for a few minutes to give it a bit of colour.

We had a piece after lunch and it was actually nicer than it looks. The cake is very moist. I don't think it will last for long. :)
 
Thanks! I had to look up marzipan, I don’t think I’ve ever heard if it. It sounds tasty.

I think it’s nice to have a tradition of certain foods at holidays. My family no longer does that. I think my generation in my family is just going with what’s easiest.
 
It was Physio day today. I alternate, seeing 2 different physio's each week. So it's been a week since I saw this particular one and she noticed the improvement immediately. She said I am walking better and can see that I am sitting more easily with a bend.
She got me face down on the bench today, which was much more comfortable than I expected ( I might try sleeping that way) and bent the knee towards my bottom. Although it didn't go as far as she was hoping she said she can feel that there is still room for improvement.
So she said just carry on at home with the exercises as I have been doing.
I see the other physio on Thursday followed by an appointment with the OS.
 
That is all great to hear and interesting that you have two physios. I hope you had a lovely Easter x
 
@SurreyGirl
The physios say that they each have their own ways of doing things I.e. Slightly different exercises, and they compliment each other. I feel quite privileged.

Yes, had a lovely Easter thanks and the weather couldn't have been better. I hope yours was good too.
 
Late update from Thursday

Saw the physio who put me through my paces but only for a few minutes. He was trying to help me push my knee backwards and we didn't get as far as we had the previous week.
It was hurting quite a bit and I had tears in my eyes, so we stopped but I could see from the look on my husbands face that he was uncomfortable because I was hurting.
I think physio was disappointed and so was I.

If I want to do this, and I do, how does everyone else get through the pain barrier. I had already taken oramorph as OS had suggested, half an hour before but it doesn't seem to help.

After physio I then had an appointment with my OS (physio had popped in to see him before me). OS said physio is very pleased with me but not to be surprised if improvements are slow. He reminded me that pre-op my bend had been very limited and apart from the knee I had 2 hip replacements last year and have just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis too.

On the plus side I went shopping by myself on Friday for the first time since the op. Its an hours drive each way as well. That seemed like progress.
 
@Bionic you must be very frustrated. I have no words of wisdom for you. Do you ice well before you go to try and reduce any swelling? If it is really painful though it is telling you not to do it.
Well done on your shopping trip. That’s a big drive to have to go for shopping. I have driven first time today to the shops but it’s only 5 minutes.
Hope you are having a good weekend x
 
Going shopping by yourself is a big milestone! :happydance:especially with an hour drive.

You’ve heard us say this before but you are still very early in this recovery that takes an average of a year. For most of us, ROM is not fully regained this early, especially with limited bend before surgery and 3 major surgeries in 8 months. That takes a huge toll on your body.

Forcing your leg like that until you are in tears is not going to help your ROM. It will only further upset a knee that is trying its best to heal. Please don’t do that again.

There is no rush to regain ROM, either flexion or extension. It truly will come on its own as you heal. Mine did. My ROM improved in my second year.

Patience is the biggest thing we have to exercise in this recovery.

Recently I compared this recovery to baking cookies. My chocolate chip cookies take 12 minutes to completely bake. If I take them out earlier, at 2 minutes, 4, 8 or whatever, they will only be partially baked, and not all that tasty, because they’re not done yet.

The same is true of our knee at 2 months, or 3 months, etc. It needs time to finish healing.
 
It is frustrating when we seem to go backwards in recovery, but I can't see that forcing a knee that doesn't want to bend more is going to help. Does it help if you try bending it just as far as you can without it hurting and leave it there for 30 seconds or a minute and do it frequently through the day? When my knee was proving difficult it seemed to help. :console2:

Good news on the driving and shopping though :yes!:
 
@Lindylee
Thanks for the information.
I am already doing as you suggest and husband is helping to push the bend a bit further but of course he only does it to the point where I say stop. He then holds it there for a few seconds.

This knee op is really frustrating
 
husband is helping to push the bend a bit further but of course he only does it to the point where I say stop. He then holds it there for a few seconds.
This is not going to help in the long run. You are way too early in recovery to be pushing your ROM. It’s not necessary.

We were told to do the same thing. We only did it for one weekend and we stopped.

My ROM came along when it was ready to, as I healed. Your tissues are far from healed at this point.

One of our members, Bertschb, kept a record of his ROM process. He agreed for us to post it for those of you that are afraid you're stuck. The key is to have patience! Bertschb says:

“I'm 12 months out from my surgery and have some advice based on my experience:
1- Stop going to PT (all it will do is make your knee swell and reduce ROM)
2- Don't worry about your ROM
3- Be patient - VERY patient!!!

Here is my ROM history (more or less):

1 month - 60 degrees
2 months - 80 degrees
3 months - 85 degrees
4 months - 90 degrees
5 months - 90 degrees
6 months - 110 degrees
7 months - 120 degrees
8 months - 125 degrees
9 months - 130 degrees
10 months - 135 degrees
11 months - 140 degrees
12 months - 140 degrees

I spent waaaaay too much time worrying about ROM. I thought I'd be riding my bike a couple months after surgery but it took SIX months! Looking back on my surgery, if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have wasted my time with PT and I wouldn't have worried about ROM.”
 
He was trying to help me push my knee backwards and we didn't get as far as we had the previous week.
It was hurting quite a bit and I had tears in my eyes, so we stopped but I could see from the look on my husbands face that he was uncomfortable because I was hurting.
I think physio was disappointed and so was I.
I am already doing as you suggest and husband is helping to push the bend a bit further but of course he only does it to the point where I say stop. He then holds it there for a few seconds.
Please stop allowing anyone to push on your knee. It won't help with flexion. In fact, it could even slow down flexion development, because it will keep your soft tissues angry and inflamed. That leads to more swelling, which is a physical barrier to flexion.

PT and exercises should never hurt. Discomfort is OK, but pain is bad. PT that causes pain is bad PT. Don't allow it. It's bad for your knee.

If I want to do this, and I do, how does everyone else get through the pain barrier. I had already taken oramorph as OS had suggested, half an hour before but it doesn't seem to help.
There's no need to try to work through the pain barrier. It's counter-productive, doing more harm than good.
Myth busting: no pain, no gain


It's never a good idea to take pain meds so you can get through PT. Pain is a warning sign that you are doing more than your nee can handle. Mask the pain by taking meds before PT and you may miss that warning sign and unwittingly harm your knee.

"If it hurts, don't do it," is a good motto for this recovery.

In any case, it's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself.

OS said physio is very pleased with me but not to be surprised if improvements are slow. He reminded me that pre-op my bend had been very limited and apart from the knee I had 2 hip replacements last year and have just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis too.
Your surgeon is correct. Past surgical history does have an effect. Try not to worry about ROM, because you have all the time in the world to achieve it.

There's no need to rush to get ROM (Range of Motion) because it can continue to improve for a year, or even much longer, after a knee replacement. There isn't any deadline you have to meet:
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR

You're not quite 2 months into a recovery that takes a full year. Instead of stressing about achieving flexion as fast as possible, aim for slow, steady improvement. Time is on your side.

Your PT therapist has an agenda that says you should achieve a certain degree by a certain date. That's what she/he was taught, but it doesn't apply to everyone. Your knee is following its own schedule, which is slower. Try not to get caught up in the PT's numbers game, but let your knee improve at its own pace.
 

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