TKR Buckbuck’s new knee<

[Buckbuck]

Awesome sauce @amymj ! A kindred spirit! I’ve only heard of RAGBRAI, but don’t know much about it.

Do you ride a lot? I miss my bikes so much right now. I get jealous every time my husband goes out for a mountain bike ride.

Crazy...I quit racing in 2016 and that’s when my knee really started going down hill. That’s why I know I need to ride regularly again. ‍

 

[KarriB]

My recumbent bike was a godsend during my recovery and I continue to ride it everyday. Just listen to your knee, it’s the boss.

 

[Buckbuck]

Ran across this photo while browsing knee replacement scars. I have to say I’m intrigued.

I’ve been having a really really bad week with pain and vertigo. More to come when I come out the other side,

I have to say I might have to mark this experience with something light hearted like this gentleman has done.

I hope you’re all doing well.

 

[amymj]

wow!!!!! That's quite the photo! Give him credit for his sense of humor! If I am seeing that correctly! I'm sorry your pain is bad this week, Buckbuck. I too am up and down painwise, swelling. Had p.t. last night and was pretty swollen after so I put on some TED hose (which lasted for about an hour! ) and then elevated, iced. Woke up at midnight, took a hydrocodone. I am going to try cutting those down a little bit by bit....sometimes I think the meds mess with my emotional state. I head back to acupuncture on Tuesday. She is so helpful with pain, restful sleep...I saw you were considering? I imagine your vertigo could be helped by acupuncture? It is a constant struggle to find a balance....I think 'oh I feel strong and pain is minimal, let's do some laundry or make a casserole' then I'm slammed back down to the couch with my ice! Only thing I can do is keep perspective! We are making progress! Have a nice weekend! We will be back on our bikes soon!!! (And not the stationary kind!).

 

[Buckbuck]

Hi all,

After four weeks, I’m finding I still can’t walk for more than five to ten feet without severe nerve pain on the outside of my knee. I have a really tight hamstring ligament on the outside of the knee that is also contributing to the pain. It keeps snapping back and forth like it’s stuck.

I have great range of motion, but basically I can’t walk and it’s really beginning to scare me. Anyone have this problem? If so, what did you do about it?

Thanks!

 

[Jockette]

You are probably doing more than your knee wants you to do and it’s telling you that.

It’s only been 4 weeks since surgery. Most of us still had pain of varying degrees at that point and beyond.

If it was me I would rest, ice and elevate more.

 

[Buckbuck]

Thing is... other than two days a week of gentle PT, that is all I do. That is why I’m so frustrated.

 

[Buckbuck]

Boy did I have a couple of bad weeks. I was a little over three weeks in and still taking the oxy. I have a history of vestibular migraine. For those who aren't familiar, it's a form of migraine that manifests as vertigo and usually without pain. I've had it since my 20's but wasn't diagnosed with it until 2015. There are so may causes of vertigo, so it's a very hard thing to diagnose and even harder to treat. Triggers are hard to nail down and usually there are multiple triggers. Once you get one of these babies, they can hang on for months. So...long story short...I got a doozy of a migraine so bad, I couldn't move for nearly five days. It's slowly getting better, but hasn't yet gone away. Presently I only get notice it when I'm lying down and move my head to the right...thankfully it doesn't make me sick any more. I'm guessing it was triggered by the pain, meds, stress and lack of sleep. At this point, I decided to change my meds from oxy to tramadol.

When I was finally able to get back up and move around, I found that the stabbing pain I had noticed intermittently in my knee was happening all the time and I couldn't walk at all. There were a lot of tears. I started counting the days til I would see my OS and reading everything I could find on TKA recovery and nerve pain. Weeks three to five were dark weeks...

Finally got to see my OS on Wednesday. I had been looking forward to talking to him about not being able to walk due to stabbing lateral pain. First, he examined me and looked at my ROM which had gotten to 130/0 and he couldn't hide his delight considering I wasn't yet five weeks out from surgery. Then he asked me how I was doing. I said, "Mostly good, except, I can't walk." His first question was, what have you been doing? I rattled off all of the PT exercises I had been doing. He said...."You're doing too much!" "Stop doing anything and just rest." He said I have he range of motion I need and that I should just let my knee relax and that the nerves should calm down.

Strangely, I went to see my masseuse the next day. He worked on both of my legs and really got into my hips, and my deep psoas muscles and I walking better by the time I got home. This weekend. Has been relatively good. I feel like I've crossed over to a certain degree. I'm only takin the tramadol before bed. I'm able to walk up and down the stairs normally now and I'm more comfortable sitting with my legs on the foot stool normally, rather than on the pillow. Oh...oh...and I'm driving!!!

I'm still having a hard time sleeping, my knee aches and swells like crazy when I walk for more than five minutes, so I have to ice constantly. This also means I need to rest constantly and stay off my feet. I ordered a desk for my bed, so I can work with my legs flat or elevated. Basically, I plan on staying off my feet for the next few weeks.

 

[sistersinhim]

It does sound like you have turned that corner! And listen to your OS. He's a man who knows the BS way works! The bed desk is a great idea! I wish I had had one after my tkr. Hey, there's always one for the next knee!

 

[Jockette]

Wow, I’m sorry you have such awful headaches.

It’s amazing to me how different all our recoveries are. You have the fabulous ROM number we all want, and yet you are in a lot of pain and have trouble walking. Yet some others have low ROM but not as much pain as you have.

And how awesome your doctor told you that you are doing too much and to rest! Don’t many of us wish ours would tell us that! I think that will help your pain a lot.

 

[amymj]

I'm so sorry you have been miserable!! But so relieved what your doc said! Its hard for us to rest, its because we're told to, rather than "choosing" to! At least that's the way it is for me! So sorry about your headaches and vertigo but sounds like that is coming around too!! When it rains, it pours!! Hang in there, keep us posted!

 

[Buckbuck]

Hi All,

Thought I’d check in with an update. I can’t believe I’m at just past 8 weeks. Although I’m still suffering from vertigo (four weeks now), I’m functional. I notice it the most when I’m in bed or now when I do yoga. Strange how the brain compensates. While I get dizzy, I don’t get sick any more because I’m used to it. I am going to have to go on the Whole 30 diet to cut out all the possible triggers and slowly add things back in.

After listening to the doc and cutting out the PT and just resting, I was able to walk short distances without the sharp, terrible pain. I took a couple of weeks and just rested as much as I could. I have had to travel by car to Boston a couple of times for business and once to California (although I was fortunate to get upgraded to first class). The travel definitely increases the swelling, but was able to walk with relatively low pain and brought my trusty walking stick with attached seat so I don’t have to stand for long periods when chairs aren’t around. We even took a couple of days after business and went wine tasting two weeks ago. It was helpful to bring a freezer bag on the plane so I could ask the flight attendants for ice to use during the flight. I also had wheel chairs bring me to and from the flights to baggage claim.

This week I’ve been able to spin on the bicycle in the garage for 30 minutes with small increases in wattage (with the doc’s blessing), swim on alternate days for 20 minutes and as of yesterday, I’m back in the gym working on my upper body. I also did half of a yoga class, altering poses as needed. The one other thing I’ve found which I know will be a life saver is a studio called Lymbr. They focus only on self assisted stretching for 30 or 60 minutes at a time. The therapist was blown away by how tight my left side is vs. my TKR side. I’ve added 60 minute stretching sessions and therapeutic massage twice a week which is helping the rest of my body which is pretty wrecked from limping and lying in bed for hours on end. In order to help with the swelling, I’m using topical diclofenac and CBD, as well as KT Tape (I’ll add a pic) and of course icing.

I’ve really noticed a difference in functional ability since adding the massage/stretching and swelling modalities. My ROM is better than my left side now and the only real difficulty so far is walking down stairs which I do slowly. I’m completely off the narcotics and am trying to keep the amount of oral nsaids low for the sake of my kidneys. I’m back to the office every other day for half days and work the rest of the time on my bed with a lap desk and laptop. I suppose the two things that bother me the most are walking, sitting with my knees bent and pain at night while sleeping. It really helps to be able to sleep on my side again since I’m a side sleeper, but it just aches at night. They tell me that won’t go away for at least another month to two months..and I guess in some cases for a year.

I’m not so cocky that I’m of the belief that things will be totally peachy from here on out, but after seven really dark weeks, it’s really nice to be on the road to recovery and back in the land of the living. During those times, I scoured the internet for positive stories, so I figured it might be helpful to some to read that things do get better and there is a light in the tunnel (it’s not really the end of the tunnel, so...).

Best to all of you with your individual recoveries. We’re all in this together!

 

[sistersinhim]

I'm sorry to hear about your vertigo, but your being able to manage with it is really admirable! Your knee sounds like it's coming right along just fine.

 

[amymj]

Good to hear from you, Buckbuck! Was wondering how you were. Sounds like you're making progress!!! Good for you for being able to get that much exercise! My energy level allows me to do some short errands, appointments, resting in the afternoon. I'm trying to take it a little easy as I return to work (dental hygienist) next week for 5 hr days four days a week, for two weeks. Am up for it socially! We'll see how it goes physically! I'm still doing p.t., been released from my replaced knee, am now working on correcting some bad habits with my gait that I seem to have acquired the last 16 months! Glad you are well and I hope that stubborn vertigo leaves you soon!!!