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TKR Carole’s recovery thread

judgar said:
You were talking about diets. My daughter lost 32 lbs. she did it by intermittent eating. That’s what iam starting. Not eating after 7pm and not eating till 9 the next morning. I need to do something.
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Thanks for the tip! I lost 53 pounds in a year (3/2018 - 2/2019) by strictly counting both calories and carbs and reducing both until I started losing weight at a reasonable rate, which happened at 1200 calories 100 carbs. Meanwhile I had to completely ignore advice from anybody else, which sabotaged me terribly. This is the only method that works for me when I am mobility impaired. Maybe soon I will not be in that category. :loveshwr:Anyway my doctor was ecstatic with my health improvements and told me my method was perfectly fine for me even though most people think the calories seem pretty low (because for them it is, but for me it isn't). So I guess everybody has their own way of doing this and that's mine so I thought I'd share it, too.

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On another topic, while you were posting this I was taking a photo of my knee today, at six weeks and five days:

[Bonesmart.org] Carole’s recovery thread

Pardon my bragging but I think it looks pretty doggone terrific! Looking at old photos like this one after two weeks, you can see that the scar even seems shorter than it was. People don't even stare or notice it right away any more, even though I always wear shorts.
 
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Your scar looks great, I will be at 6 weeks Tuesday’s. Your looks much better.
 
When my friend saw the stitches on my incision she said my surgeon should take up quilting! :rotfl:
 
You are doing so well using your own approach to PT and also losing weight. Your scar looks like it’s healing perfectly and eventually will be barely noticeable at all. I hope you enjoy your trips to Walgreens as your PT sessions.
 
Good luck on your appointment today! Even though you have no burning desire to go anywhere, I think knowing that you can at any time just get in the car and go will make you feel much healthier and more free, even if you don't actually do it.

I also adopted the 'eat whatever' post surgery approach. At about week 4 I started shifting back to my plan, and by week 5 I was back to trying to stick with it, but still being guided by cravings. I'm fortunate that the plan we're using has a great ap that makes tracking super simple, so it doesn't need as many brains. lol My biggest concern for the first round was to have my second surgery at least at the same weight as the first, and that worked out.

Now I just want to lose enough between now and December to balance all the lovely food I'm planning to eat while on vacation! I plan to use almost no sense whatsoever that week.:rotfl::martini:

Your scar looks wonderful! Nice and clean and well healed. I can still see how much swelling there is though. Patience and time.
 
@luvcats , thanks! I admit that I am terrified because I don't know how this OS appointment today will turn out.

My plan for the OS appointment today is to (hopefully?) avoid all the drama about PT, point out that I had 6 weeks of PT three times a week, and state firmly and unequivocally that both sweetie and I independently decided that I am doing fine and that I am done with PT, period, end of discussion. Hopefully this can be done without mentioning last week's PT incident since my objective is to get better, not to get revenge or get anybody fired.

Then I also need to get clearance to drive again. You're right; just knowing that I CAN go somewhere would be wonderful, even if I don't. I probably will start going to the grocery store once a week, with my rollator, and walk there while shopping for fresh foods.

I need to get clearer instructions on how to get my dental work (cleaning, replacement of filling that fell out, and wisdom tooth extraction) done the most safely, what the timing should be, and so on.

Also if my OS asks, I plan to tell him that I want to wait until at least March or April before my second TKR. In my case it won't cost any more to wait.
 
While it’s nice to be in agreement with our surgeon on aspects of this recovery, keep in mind that you don’t need him to approve your choices and you don’t have to obey his directives. I know you know that.

You are coming along very well, you are using common sense, and you are smart enough to know what’s best for you. You are well along the recovery path at this point, you’ll be fine with what you choose to do on your own. After all, it’s not rocket science! :heehee:

Best wishes for your appointment today.

My final problem with my PT was when they put me in pool therapy at 4 weeks. My surgeon was a big fan of pool therapy.

My first pool session was shortly after totally overdoing it on the bike the week before. . The pool session was 50 minutes! :yikes: Oh my, I thought they’d never let me out. I hadn’t come to the point yet that I took charge of my recovery, and I seemed to be the only one in the pool that was unhappy. There was one other lady that was as unhappy as me, but everyone else was happily doing things, though I don’t know what procedures they had done.

It was my one and only pool session. A couple of days later I called and spoke with the PT and explained all the pain that pool session caused me and she agreed that “it could have been too much.” Ya think? :doh:

They cancelled the rest of the pool appointments and because they had a full schedule in the “land” office, I was not able to switch back to the office on those days, thankfully, so at this point I was only scheduled on Fridays.

When I told my surgeon at my 6 week check up that I hadn’t done well with the pool, and I asked if I could stop going to PT, he said, let’s compromise. Instead of 3 times a week, just go twice. I was mad that “ he wouldn’t let me stop” and I also inwardly snickered because he didn’t know I was only scheduled once a week. :heehee:

I got brave at that point and cancelled some of these Friday appointments and I was discharged from PT, with the PT’s full approval, the Friday before I turned 8 weeks.

So, all this to say, do what you feel is best for you! :loveshwr:
 
Well, @Jockette , your PT situation sounds like it was pretty ideal. She agreed that that session was too much? She gave you full approval to quit PT? I cannot even possibly imagine that my PT would ever dream of doing either, even though my last session injured my knee (which is now almost recovered, though).

At my initial visit, the PT insisted on a goal for me. She stated my goal should be walking for an hour without resting. This after all my years of severe mobility problems. I told her that was unrealistic and 10 minutes would be a better goal, but I think she wrote down an hour so now she can point out that I haven't met "my" goals.

The facility is part of the orthopedic group, of which my OS is the lead surgeon.

Perhaps he will regard my attitude as non-compliant, and given that, he may also refuse to do my second TKR this spring. But at this point I am willing to risk it. And if I go back to him next spring or summer, walking nicely on my presently new knee, he may forget and schedule me for knee #2 anyway.
 
My PT experience was far from ideal.

She didn’t give me full approval to quit PT, she approved the stopping of the pool sessions. Then, I was not able to reschedule those pool appointments to the office, so they were cancelled and no one mentioned it again. After 2 more sessions I had met the occupational goals, so they discharged me. He did tell me to keep up the exercises and to drop them a card when I had full extension (which I did not have at this time) because then they know they “did their job.”

I had found Bonesmart by this time and I knew “they” did not get my extension back, my body did it as it healed. I did not send them a card.

Pleasant as all my PTs were, they had a modified aggressive approach and caused me a lot of set backs, both physically and emotionally, and I still deal with the emotional aspect.

I won’t deal with them again.
 
Oh, OK, I just didn't get it when reading your previous post, I guess.

I'll post later about what happened and how, or if, any or all of this was resolved. Scary but then the best opportunities in life thus far have all been a little scary at first.
[Bonesmart.org] Carole’s recovery thread
 
Carole, I know you don't want to have a "scene" with your surgeon, but he really does deserve to know how you were treated at therapy and the setback you suffered. Perhaps your sweetie would volunteer to provide the conversation starter for this so you don't have to. It would be a shame for these folks to push this horrific nightmare on other unsuspecting patients.

Maybe once you get to the surgeon's office you'll be more comfortable sharing some of the important points with him. Please don't be afraid that he will not perform your next surgery. I've never known that to happen to someone because of differences in therapy. All you have to say is that you aren't refusing therapy....just that you will prefer to use a different therapy clinic on the next surgery. Then when you get to that recovery you can decide what you want to do post-op. You are in control of your therapy.
 
I'd lost 95lbs in the past year and a half, A while back I finally figured out how to get on the scale because apparently I'm weird and eat like a fiend after surgery. I'd gained 2lbs, I keep saying it must be the new knee weighs more than my old one. I'm sticking to that story, though the additional 3lbs I somehow managed to gain I need to do something about.
 
sondrals said:
I'd lost 95lbs in the past year and a half, A while back I finally figured out how to get on the scale because apparently I'm weird and eat like a fiend after surgery. I'd gained 2lbs, I keep saying it must be the new knee weighs more than my old one. I'm sticking to that story, though the additional 3lbs I somehow managed to gain I need to do something about.
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Terrific, @sondrals ! I dropped another 2 pounds of bloat last night, or maybe that loss was due to the reduction in knee swelling I am starting to notice. I know it wasn't fat, not that quickly.

Still, I am expecting to find it easier and easier to lose fat as my knee heals and I get more active.
 
Well done @sondrals! That's a lot. I've lost about 70 in the past year. I still have such a long way to go!

I just stopped by to see how the appointment went. You're either at a shooting range, spitting tacks in fury, or maybe you and Sweetie have gone off to practice your driving!
 
WAHOO!!!! NO MORE PT, I'M DONE, DONE, FOREVER DONE!!!!

Just sayin'.... :rotfl:

Not only that, he wants to do my other knee any time if and when I feel ready for it. I mentioned March or April and he said fine, then or any time.

:happydance::yay::loveshwr::wave::spin::dancy:

It could NOT have possibly gone better.

He has no problem with me quitting PT entirely, or with me using the rollator or with doing my other knee whenever I want it done.
As for driving.... I CAN DRIVE!! :wowspring:

Next post-op checkup is in late November.

After this my sweetie and I spent the rest of the afternoon celebrating, having fun, laughing with joy, and so on. I ate a huge lunch (oh well! diet tomorrow).
 
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