Pookerbear
new member
I had my left knee replaced 8 1/2 weeks ago, and last week I suddenly developed an excruciating pain behind that knee I'd never felt before. I live alone, and in order to fight the combination of panic and depression, I began googling knee pain post-surgery and came across this wonderful forum! I have been "lurking" for the last week, reading page after page of posts from 2007 (my search results somehow brought me to one of the older pages, and I was initially too busy devouring all the old posts to find my way to the main site until tonight). I registered in order to thank everyone who posts to this forum; you have all been a source of inspiration, information, and comfort to me.
As for me, I am progressing daily...I had the unfortunate luck to have the nerve which runs along the outside of the knee hyper-extended during my surgery, and have lost all feeling from about mid-calf on the outside of my leg, down my ankle, across the top of my foot, and in my big toe. Because I've lost both motor and sensory nerves, I have no control over the muscles in my ankle, leaving it weak and prone to buckling on me. As for my big toe...who knew it played such a critical role in being able to put a shoe on! LOL!! I've been forced into wearing Crocs as much as possible, simply because they have a strategically placed hole I can stick a finger in to lift my big toe up and flatten it out to match the other four! As my foot slides into any kind of footwear, the big toe touches the bottom of the insole, and starts to bend under with the forward motion, and I have no ability to lift the toe up!
I am returning to work next Monday, and am concerned about being able to put in an 8 hour day right off the bat! I have an office job, so I spend most of my time at my desk working on a computer, so it isn't like I will be doing any physical labor, but I guess I'm just a little afraid to be going back to work after 8 weeks off. Anyone have any advice, anectdotes, cautions, concerns or general words of wisdom?
Thanks again to everyone past and present for letting me know that while I may live alone, I don't have to go through my recovery alone!
As for me, I am progressing daily...I had the unfortunate luck to have the nerve which runs along the outside of the knee hyper-extended during my surgery, and have lost all feeling from about mid-calf on the outside of my leg, down my ankle, across the top of my foot, and in my big toe. Because I've lost both motor and sensory nerves, I have no control over the muscles in my ankle, leaving it weak and prone to buckling on me. As for my big toe...who knew it played such a critical role in being able to put a shoe on! LOL!! I've been forced into wearing Crocs as much as possible, simply because they have a strategically placed hole I can stick a finger in to lift my big toe up and flatten it out to match the other four! As my foot slides into any kind of footwear, the big toe touches the bottom of the insole, and starts to bend under with the forward motion, and I have no ability to lift the toe up!
I am returning to work next Monday, and am concerned about being able to put in an 8 hour day right off the bat! I have an office job, so I spend most of my time at my desk working on a computer, so it isn't like I will be doing any physical labor, but I guess I'm just a little afraid to be going back to work after 8 weeks off. Anyone have any advice, anectdotes, cautions, concerns or general words of wisdom?
Thanks again to everyone past and present for letting me know that while I may live alone, I don't have to go through my recovery alone!