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TKR Canadian Girl's Journey

Thank you @suzzee2000, @Tamsmom and @hopefaith - I really appreciate your support. I am pleased with my progress today. I am bending more when seated but laying down and bending is still difficult. I am still limping when I walk but it is getting better. My knee is quite swollen and feels like it is surrounded by a large, tight elastic. But overall a positive day!
 
And as you get further into your recovery, the good days will outnumber the not-quite-as-good days, and ultimately there will only be good days.

Your flexion will gradually get better even if you do not work too hard at it. I got into the habit of doing gradual leg slides before I got out of bed in the morning and still do it to work out the nighttime stiffness. If your knee is very swollen, it will not want to bend very much, so don't push it. Let the swelling go down, and soon you'll see more movement.
 
Hey Lisa I was just sure I was going to have a jump in my ROM at PT today, the knee feels like it is working great and when we measured 108, it was 107 last time....oh well it is feeling better everyday.


4/1/2014 TKR
 
@71Beetle The goal is ice and elevate that knee. ROM will come. I wish there was an icon for this. I hope I don't sound harsh but right now your knee is angrier than all get out, the tissues are very inflamed and it is really not about bend and extension. Trust me (and all of us). That comes a little later. If I am off base some let me know. And I am confessing all over people's threads how I overdid today and tried to decrease my meds too quickly, so I am learning, falling, and getting back up. (Not literally falling but had quite a jaunt down the stairs a couple weeks ago which is on my thread). You are doing wonderfully and I am happy you are here. The support is simply amazing.
~~hopefaith
 
@Wednesday @Tamsmom @hopefaith - I am elevating and icing. I appreciate the reminders and keeping me in check. @hopefaith, I do not think you are off base at all. I am learning from all of you that have gone through this and I like that you take the time to care. My family is very patient and supportive and I love them for it but this forum keeps me real. :flwrysmile:
 
@71Beetle I have a funny story about when I was in the hospital and ROM. The PT (andOT) we're not pleased with me and my"attitude" at all. I had read quite a bit on here before my surgery about PT and the hospital. So one of the last days I was there they measured my ROM (I honestly did not try to push my knee AT ALL). She looks at me and says "that's terrible". I looked back at her, and said "I know". She said " I mean it, that's really BAD". She was the most unkind PT I've had. Later I had to do stairs before I left, because I have stairs and she was telling me that my OS had scoped her and said she needs a TKR. I asked why she hasn't done it. She looked at me, dead serious and said "because PT's are cruel". I just stared at her. My ROM is fine today. I now look back on my hospital experience with some humour and also a lot of trauma. ( but that is for another post).
 
Great story! Old school PT. Most coming up now are not like that, apparently.

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@hopefaith That is quite the story.

I have been fortunate since that meeting with the other OS I saw last week. I saw my OS today and he says I am almost at 90 and thought I was doing quite well. I see him again in 3 weeks. Went to Starbuck's with my friend and spent too long sitting with my leg not elevated. Very sore by the time I got home so I am icing and elevating. Think I am going to try to go back to work part time next week. Have to fit my group physio appointments in and remember to bring ice packs!
 
Wow. That's great, but don't rush into anything. Take it slow.
 
Thanks @Wednesday - I will take it really easy. the commute is 30-45 minutes depending on traffic. My hubby will drive me in for 10:00 and I will work until 2:00 for the first week and see how it goes.
 
@71Beetle If you are limping when you walk then I believe the correct suggestion is to use a cane or a crutch, something. Limping can be habit forming. You want to really concentrate on your gait when you walk. Heel then toe the extend the leg as you push off.

ROM comes in time. For some it is the flexion that is slow to progress; for others like me it has been extension. I am now 10 weeks post-op and still not quite at "0" extension though I am very close. It will all come in time.
 
Hi @Phil75070 - thanks for checking in! Sounds like you are doing well.

I am using one crutch when walking. My husband says that I am not flexing my knee when I walk, I am holding it straight. I do have to get out of that habit.

I am almost at a "0" with extension myself. The bend is what I am getting impatient with. I just have to go easy on myself and remember that it will come in time.
 
@71Beetle

It's still less than a month since your surgery. Please don't get impatient or worried about your ROM yet. You are doing really well.

Yes, do go easy on yourself. Rest is still most important, as are ice and elevation.

I really think that you will find going in to work so soon is too much - but I guess you have to try. Be sure to do nothing else at all on the days you work. Rest, ice, elevate and medicate when you get home - and no PT those days.
 
@Celle Thanks Cheryl. I will ease into it and see how it goes. I most concerned about not having my naps :)
Perhaps I am only napping because I have nothing else to do. Hopefully I will be able to sleep through the night if I work during the day.
 
Hi all! I have a quick question about the scar on my knee. I have heard that massaging around the scar breaks up tissue and causes it to heal better. Does anyone have any information on this and perhaps guidance on how to massage it? Thank you!
 
Some physiotherapists seem to advise it, but i don't think it's really necessary. Your body is very good at doing what it is meant to do, which is healing itself, as long as you give it time.
 
I was told to do the massage thing with a lanolin lotion as well. I'm using coconut butter from Body Shop. I don't know if it helps or not but I've gotten to feel more comfortable with my scar if that makes sense. I tended to avoid looking at it before but now do t feel it's so bad.

I've been working on my flex as well and believe I'm probably closer to 90 now. I think it was only 75 last week because of the swelling, which I didn't realize was there. I start physio at the hospital in Smiths Falls next week. The home PT just wasn't working for me.
 
Hi @MCD - sounds like you are doing well! Congratulations on your flex. Thanks for the tip on the massage as well.

I start group physio at the Queensway Carleton Hospital today. It will be my first session. They have given me extra exercises to do as well that I am working on. From what I understand they have a number of stations that I go through and he physiotherapists help where required. I will be doing this twice per week for 4 weeks.
 
@Wednesday, my knees are ugly for sure. My middle son asked when I was going in for surgery if they were going to make my knees look less deformed. Gotta love the honesty of teenage boys. :snork:
 
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