TKR Brownie's Good, Bad, & Uglies

[pudgyknees]

Marianne, I've hosted the family Thanksgiving dinner for more than 35 years and as a good hostess, I've always given my guests a choice: they can have an immaculately groomed house with Rice Krispies and bananas for dinner, or a medium-clean house with the traditional turkey dinner & all the trimmings. Oddly enough, they always choose turkey!
But seriously, until I had this surgery, I had NO idea what recovery from TKR involved. I truly thought I'd be 100% by six weeks, and no doubt family and friends assumed the same. I'd helped my mom when she had her knees and a hip done (years ago) and I know now I should've done MUCH more for her after the surgeries! But like most of us, I was ignorant about the recovery. I think joint replacement needs much better PR!
I hope your family comes thru for you for the holiday--and I hope you can resist the urge to "accidentally" spill ice water down your SIL's back (because you're so unsteady after surgery). Happy Thanksgiving! I hope it's (relatively) pain free!

 

[speccybecky]

It never bothered me having an untidy house. Your real friends are there to visit you not to inspect your housework!
Same when my kids were young, I NEVER apologised for the toys lying about. Children have to play and they were always tidied up at bed time

 

[Brownie51]

Thank you all so much! You said just the right things to me...Yes PR for TKR's needs to be alot better. I saw my OS this am. I had my TKR done the old way, he cut every tendon and ligament muscle in there. I got the op report today and saw it with my own eyes so now I can figure out why each little part hurts.
I hope people will read this next comment about flexion but he showed me a trick. Actually I had already figured it out but hadn't made much of it. He says to get more flexion, you cannot do it by just bending it and he said, god forbid the PT pushing on it. I was laying down and he held by leg up just behind my knee so that my lower leg/foot could hang by gravity. Then you just wait and relax and wait and relax and VOILA suddenly you are in super flexion. I want to find KathyH and have her try that. He said that the quad muscle is so strong that it does not allow you to flex, you have to get it relaxed.
He says I am doing great and he didn't show much interest in my left leg which is killing me today, all swollen up and feels like Louie the Leg Breaker hit me. Good sign that the operative knee hurts less than the so called good knee.
Dr also talked about the sudden drops in barometric pressure causing pain and swelling. He said that if you have any inflammation and swelling in your body it will be negatively affected by the drop. He says that's been true for thousands of years and still is. I will have to let my SIL know that it's not psychological!
Thank you ladies so much!!!! It was so nice to get home and read your posts!

 

[Toothfairy]

That's great news. I'm so pleased for you. Keep up the good work, allow yourself to rest and relax and make the most of this time out from the hustle and bustle.
Take care.
Toothfairy x

 

[Debbie_joints]

Marianne, you should have told your SIL, yes, my house is dirty, thank you for noticing, the vacuum is in the closet. Call her a "B" for me please. Chantel has done the hang my leg too. Need to find something where I can do that myself.

 

[Shubbles]

I did the hang the leg at PT this week too! I used a towel behind the lower thigh near the knee and held it with my hands for 30 seconds at a time. It works!

 

[Brownie51]

Shelly thats a great idea! Debbie I do mine on my scoot chair. I just lean back and hold the back of my thigh and let my leg droop, relax relax and it's quite a surprise seeing how much you can flex without any pain,pushing, etc. Dr said it's all because we have relaxed the quad muscle. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday ladies!!!!xoxoxoxox

 

[Brownie51]

Josephine....I have a friend who has a difficult back problem. I've told her about BoneSmart, how it's helped me. I told her that I would ask you if there is an acceptable equivalent website for back problems. I don't want to just google something unless I know it's as reputable as Bone Smart. This would really help her, she's dealing with so much pain and disability at the same time as taking care of her husband who had a severe stroke a year ago. Thank you in advance! And try to see if you can smell all our thousands of turkeys cooking tomorrow, should be a giant turkey cloud floating your way!

 

[Debbie_joints]

Marianne, ok, so we have sons with the same name, Patrick, and reading through some other posts I see you have a pet named Sophie, I had a cat named Sophie. She is no long with us, but had her for 12 years. So just curious, do you have other kids and what are their names. Gotta see if we share anything else. I have two other children, a daughter, Michelle, and a son, Jon. Now if any of those match too, it would be really weird. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[pudgyknees]

I am SO going to try the hanging leg technique--as soon as I get out of the kitchen! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Brownie51]

Marty how do you feel about your upcoming surgery? What will you do differently if anything?

 

[Nanners]

We do that in PT. Except my therapist puts a light weight on my ankle. She always measures me right after too. Hmmm....

 

[pudgyknees]

Marianne, I'm not exactly "looking forward" to another tkr, but I need it done (while the left knee was in worse shape and harder to repair, my right knee has always been more painful). So let's just say I'm looking forward to April: I think I should be in pretty good shape by then. I have to say I've had a much easier time than many on this site, and progressed pretty well from the day of surgery. But I know next time I'm going to concentrate more on icing & elevating: it was never very comfortable for me (I think I get too antsy) but I'm planning to force myself to do it. And, if I find the right knee surgery is more painful/troublesome than my left one was, I'm so grateful for all the advice and encouragement I've found on Bonesmart.

 

[referee54]

But seriously, until I had this surgery, I had NO idea what recovery from TKR involved. I truly thought I'd be 100% by six weeks, and no doubt family and friends assumed the same.

You have come to the same realization that many of us have already found---that our recovery was going to be quicker and easier---not because we were suprehuman, but because were were just plain ignorant of what it really takes!

If, as they say, "ignorance is bliss", I was happier than pigs in slop before my TKR---thinking that I would be back and up on my fett (literally and figuratively) in no time! Boy, did i have a lot to learn!

 

[Brownie51]

Marty that is a great attitude. I think the BTKR process is brutal but I sure wish I had been able to do it and have this mess over with! My doc wouldn't pay much attention to my quickly exploding left knee whereas I want an MRI and get this show on the road to see what's going on. My right leg is so swollen still today. Up too much these days. Pitting edema still in right ankle.
Debbie my kids are Charles, 37, ER doc in TX, Amanda, 36 in marketing/communications here is So. Cal., and Patrick 26 in data analysis and lives in San Francisco. None married but the boys with girlfriends and daughter with a wonderful guy. They were all just here. They are a crack up when they are together. All of them are healthy, slim and work out in gyms. Cross-fit for the oldest son in TX. I trained them right...just fell off the fitness wagon myself around 45! My Dad is also fit, still golfs and drives. He turns 95 on Sunday. He lives a couple miles from me in the home I grew up in. I have one brother Jim who just retired, a geophysicist, who lives in Portland with his wife, no kids, no pets. I have my little yorky named Sophie who will be 7 y/o in March but she runs around like a puppy still and keeps me company and never complains! That's my story...anymore similarities? Oh and I'm an RN still working full time and enjoy my career very much.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving or Thursday! xoxoxo

 

[Josephine]

Brownie51, sorry, I have no idea about that. I've never had the need to look at any.

 

[robynhood]

Hey Marianne. How are you doing. Not seen uou on the forum for a while. Hope you are ok. Just checking in x x

 

[frankeliot]

i just happened upon this thread tonite. read some, not all of the posts, but all are really relevant to me. i'm just about 7 weeks out from LTKR. i went back for 3 days 2 weeks ago and 2 part time days last week. this week i'm back to my regular schedule and crying about it. wishing it was thursday, or even wednesday, instead of just tuesday. i was doing so well when i was home i felt guilty about not working. i also have to work for real financial realities. but.........wouldn't mind taking another 5 weeks off. the blues hit this week....everything is supposed to be back to normal but it's not. i walk funny or else with a cane. i hurt and i've been crying much more than normal. seem to need extra support from others who assume i'm better by now. navigating this recovery is hard. are the holidays making it worse?

 

[Shubbles]

You are still very early in this process! We all have the crying sessions, some more than others. I thought it was the lack of sleep or just the constant aching but I don't know the actual cause. I was at PT tonight and I wasn't hurting or anything but all of a sudden tears started welling up in my eyes. FOR NO GOOD REASON!
About going back to work, a lot of people on here say that you shouldn't go back for 12 weeks. Of course I have financial reasons that I need to go back sooner and I just knew that I was strong enough to deal with it so I started back half days this week and I am regretting it! I swell up terribly even with ice packs on at work. It takes hours after work to get it back to where it was before work. So, take it easy and don't let it bring you down. You will get there soon and you will look back at this and think about how silly you were.

 

[Brownie51]

Thanks for asking Patricia. I've had a couple ugly days. Feel like Louie the leg breaker visited my non operative knee. It has fluid on it and is so painful, difficulty walking. Have to use a crutch on my TKR side now to take the weight off my supposedly good knee. I can literally barely walk. Just moving my left leg around is so painful, like all the ligaments and tendons are on fire. Between the pain in both knees it's been awful. Hard to practice the exercises that work both knees so have backed off. I told my doc about the good knee getting worse but he wasn't concerned...now a week later its even worse so I am going to call the office in the morning if it's still bad and if they just tell me to wait until my next appt Dec. 13th, I will go to another OS who treated me before (but doesnt do replacements). I am not a very patient patient! When the pain is bad like this I just tend to hibernate and not want to talk to anyone too much. UGH DRAT ACH!