TKR Carole’s recovery thread

[luvcats]

Nope, not interested in World Domination. I want to rebuild my business, travel with Beloved, and be able to 'run in' to a shop without planning or hesitation. That should keep me entirely too busy.

 

[Carole4815]

I am going to ramble on about how my own journey through TKR recovery is going lately, and I hope that some of you can relate to the weird stuff I talk about in this post. Recovery is a different experience for each of us. It's a pretty self centered post, and my apologies for that.

TWO RECENT IMPROVEMENTS I JUST NOW EXPERIENCED (RECOVERY MILESTONES):

Today I am at 7 weeks + five days. I guess that makes this my 8th week? Anyway, every day during this week I have seen at least one little improvement, and they are additive so I am getting better much more rapidly than in any other week so far. OK, I'm not Superwoman yet! But at least recovery is progressing better than it was earlier on.​

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1) Yesterday I discovered that I can now stand on my surgical leg alone with my other foot off the ground, not just for a moment as before, but for several minutes if I want to without excessive pain. For balance I touch something lightly with my fingertip to do that, but that's all.​

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Honestly my surgical leg feels as strong, sturdy, and stable as an oak tree (although hopefully it looks a little better than a tree stump! ) I haven't had a leg that could bear this much weight for so long, for probably 50 years and never expected results like this at all. It is better and more reliable, stable, and sturdy than my non-surgical side. So, I am pleased, to say the least. ​

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2) Another little improvement is that last night I actually slept in my bed for the first time instead of my recliner. This has been unreasonably tough for me to do since surgery, for some reason, although not because of the knee. It's complicated and confusing. To make a long story short, after sleeping in my recliner on my back since mid August, now when I try to lie on either side I feel like I am sleeping on a bag of rocks, but only when side sleeping and my bed is nice and smooth and not even slightly bumpy. Who knew I'd have to re-learn how to sleep on my side? ​

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Anyway last night I slept on my side which is my preferred way to sleep, with my surgical knee on top and my knee didn't bother me one bit. I was terribly, terribly exhausted so decided that even if my bed really WAS a bag of rocks, I'd still want to sleep on it, and did so. I pretended I was camping out on a rocky, remote desert and fell asleep right away.​

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Of course with my luck, after three hours there was a loud rainstorm that awakened me from a sound sleep. But still, three hours is three hours. By the time I awakened the bag of rocks sensation seemed to have gotten a little better.​

OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT MY RECOVERY THAT I WANT TO BLAB ABOUT:

Recovery is so individual. I am sure many of you are reading this thread and thinking, "but that's not ME!" and you are so right; we each have our own experiences, and yet I feel I have benefited by reading about everyone's individual experiences and journey.​

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In some aspects of recovery I have been light years ahead of what I expected (I tied my shoes in bed at the hospital, how about that? I could sit comfortably with my feet on the floor really early too. Yay me.).​

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In other respects quite the opposite is true. I am way behind my previous expectations in some things. For example right now I still can't walk more than a couple of hundred yards without resting (boo!!). Despite not pushing myself at all to walk farther, the distance I can walk is improving with time, as I heal. Maybe I should be worried but I'm not, given my years of serious mobility problems prior to TKR. I am thinking that right now I need to heal and get better.​

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My philosophy is why complain about improvements I haven't seen yet, when almost every day I see *some* sort of improvement? I read about others walking an entire mile or even two, and I am GREEN with envy until I realize that I can do other things they can't. What improvements I see generally are a complete surprise to me until discovered, which makes recovery more interesting. Posting here about my little improvements requires me to think about what changes for the better I have seen lately, and this is helpful emotionally.​

 

[CricketHip]

I am the least athletic person on the planet but I was cooperative and did everything they asked of me and more! I tried really hard and forced that first bike rotation, trying to be a good patient.

@Jockette I had to laugh.. because of your forum name, I thought you were heavily into sports at one time..

 

[Tykey]

Great reading Carole, I love the philosophy you mention.

 

[sewhat]

Sleeping in your own bed, I'd like to do that. I'm still in the hospital bed downstairs. When I wake up, I see a Bowflex looming over me. I have boxes piled beside me.

You're right about everybody's recovery being different. In fact, every Knee's recovry is different. I'm here to tell you that my first knee wasn't as "piece of cake" easy as this one. I don't know if it was the pre hab exercises that I did or that I was just lucky, but I'm grateful. I got a printout of exercises from my therapist and I'm going to try to keep doing them along with my PD exercises. I've lost balance control again and have to regain that. Exercise is supposed to help in Parkinson's.

My advice to you is the same as I told you before we had our surgeries, strengthen your leg muscles for the next surgery.

 

[Jamie]

Carole, I love your outlook on recovery. You've got it right and I believe you and your new knee will have a joyful life together.

 

[luvcats]

What a wonderfully positive post! I"m so delighted that you are seeing constant improvements.

I still can't walk more than a couple of hundred yards without resting

I really suspect this has a lot more to do with how long and how severely you've been disabled. Even though it was relatively recent that you couldn't use the leg at all, you've still been suffering for a long time. I'm having similar issues and I just need to remember that I didn't go into this surgery process at a decent fitness level. I went into it having not walked farther than from a handicapped parking space down to the pool in the rec center, and that was the absolute limit of my ability. It's going to take time to rebuild those muscles that haven't seen decent use in 4 years.

But hey, it doesn't hurt! So having the energy and fortitude to rebuild is going to be a piece of cake!
And who doesn't love cake?

 

[Jockette]

For example right now I still can't walk more than a couple of hundred yards without resting (boo!!).

It took me months and months to walk longer distances, and I did not have any mobility problems before my surgery. And I use the term “longer distances” loosely.

I can walk 45 minutes to an hour in a grocery store just fine. I think the cart helps for some reason, and in a grocery store I’m constantly stopping to look at something or pick something up, so maybe these little breaks help.

However, a little half mile walk around my neighborhood makes my knee hurt and about 3/4 into the walk my pace is dragging. And the half mile doesn’t take 45 minutes to an hour.

I don’t understand the difference, but it is what it is for me.

You are still really early in recovery with lots of healing to do. I will tell you that I continued to see improvements past the one year mark AND past the 2 year mark.

 

[Carole4815]

What a wonderfully positive post! I"m so delighted that you are seeing constant improvements.

Thank you! It is easy to be positive if I "keep an eagle eye out" looking for new little improvements every day. And I love doing that since (like many of us) I have been so limited in what I can do, for so long prior to surgery.

Today's new little improvement? I slept ALL NIGHT (well, 7 hours) in my own bed instead of my recliner, for the first time since surgery. My mattress no longer feels like a "bag of rocks" when I am sleeping on my side, and instead feels more like a "bag of lima beans" so my guess is that another night or two and it will feel normal again. I have NO idea where the bag of rocks thing came from and it makes me feel like I am living The Princess and The Pea story. I guess my sides just got hypersensitive due to not sleeping on them.

I still can't walk more than a couple of hundred yards without resting

I really suspect this has a lot more to do with how long and how severely you've been disabled. Even though it was relatively recent that you couldn't use the leg at all, you've still been suffering for a long time. I'm having similar issues and I just need to remember that I didn't go into this surgery process at a decent fitness level. I went into it having not walked farther than from a handicapped parking space down to the pool in the rec center, and that was the absolute limit of my ability. It's going to take time to rebuild those muscles that haven't seen decent use in 4 years.

But hey, it doesn't hurt! So having the energy and fortitude to rebuild is going to be a piece of cake!
And who doesn't love cake?

You know, I think you are right about why I can't walk farther. In fact I am certain of it, the more I think about it. I didn't know that you were noticing similar issues and that definitely convinced me, since I know you were pretty bad off before surgery too, like I was.

Since being able to walk painlessly is so much fun (after all those years in a chair), I think we may build up our walking distances pretty easily without having to work very hard at it.

 

[Carole4815]

I will tell you that I continued to see improvements past the one year mark AND past the 2 year mark.

I love hearing that! It's such a joyful thing to see these little improvements, day after day, and that is pretty exciting to hear that you are still experiencing them even past the 2 year mark.

 

[luvcats]

Since being able to walk painlessly is so much fun (after all those years in a chair), I think we may build up our walking distances pretty easily without having to work very hard at it.

I agree. It's a very pleasant goal to have. My trick will be to not overdo. I don't like just walking unless I can do it in a wooded area. It's one of the many reasons for walking at the pool and using the elliptical. And I LOVE doing both of those things, and there's the time investment in getting there etc and so forth, so I have a bad tendency to keep doing it until my body says enough, which at this stage is several steps past too much once all is said and done.

I've read some people who were still able to do their multiple mile walks before surgery. It's been a very long time since I could do that. The new joint isn't going to magically give us back something we didn't have. The lack of pain is the gift, the rest we're going to have to earn on our own.

I slept ALL NIGHT (well, 7 hours) in my own bed instead of my recliner, for the first time since surgery.

Woohoo!!! That sounds wonderful! I've been sleeping in my own bed with my leg propped up, and I'm beginning to consider not propping at night. I may try it and see. Also last night for the first time since the 4th, I though about how wonderful it would feel to curl up on my side. I may give that a try too. July never did get to where she would let me do that, but maybe it's been long enough.

 

[Carole4815]

Sleeping in your own bed, I'd like to do that. I'm still in the hospital bed downstairs. When I wake up, I see a Bowflex looming over me. I have boxes piled beside me.

It will happen!!! One day I realized that I could FINALLY sleep in my own bed, and let's hope that happens to you soon. There's something about sleeping in one's own bed that is incredibly satisfying, psychologically. I slept so soundly last night (my first full night in my own bed). And I felt so safe and secure there.

And yes, my recovery "nest" around my recliner has a lot of giant Amazon boxes being used temporarily as tables and cabinets all around my recliner. Cheap recovery furniture, I guess.

Today I am going to start putting the recovery stuff that I no longer need (like my metal hospital walker and so on) away in the back of my laundry room where I have tons of unused storage space. One after the other I'll be removing those Amazon boxes, although I plan to stretch this out over a couple of weeks.

 

[Carole4815]

@luvcats , I agree so much with your entire post even though I cut it here to focus on one part of it:

Woohoo!!! That sounds wonderful! I've been sleeping in my own bed with my leg propped up, and I'm beginning to consider not propping at night. I may try it and see. Also last night for the first time since the 4th, I though about how wonderful it would feel to curl up on my side. I may give that a try too. July never did get to where she would let me do that, but maybe it's been long enough.

I was surprised to find that sleeping on my side with my surgical knee on top, was completely painless. July might let you sleep on either side by now, but Newbie? who knows! It might be worth a little experimentation, though.

I have always been an active sleeper who loves flopping around while I sleep because it relaxes me. That is the true reason why my bed is a king sized bed - - before surgery I used to use every inch of it for flopping room. Last night, my flopping was just limited to rolling over on my back, and then back to my side as I slept. Even that was so relaxing for me. As I get more and more used to sleeping there, maybe I'll find myself sleeping on the side where my surgical knee is down. I haven't actually tried that yet.

 

[judgar]

I have slept with my surgical down for a couple weeks now. That’s the only way I could sleep. It’s great your doing wonderful.

 

[Carole4815]

I have slept with my surgical down for a couple weeks now. That’s the only way I could sleep. It’s great your doing wonderful.

That's great! Maybe I'll try that tonight. And thank you.

 

[Ladyala]

Oh I'm so glad to hear you are doing well! Sleeping in your own bed, the way you desire is HUGE!! The stamina will come with time. You are doing fabulous!!

 

[Carole4815]

Thank you, @Ladyala !

Despite less than ideal sleep on the night before last, last night I slept really well in my bed on both sides and my back. The hypersensitivity is almost all worn off on my left side, but still there on my right (surgical) side since last night was the first night sleeping on that side. Hilarious! It will wear off too, though, I am sure, after a few nights sleeping on that side as well. It didn't hurt to sleep on my surgical side at all, as long as I was even slightly reasonable about how I positioned my legs. I loved being able to flop from side to side, as well as onto my back. All in all, I slept soundly in my bed, for about 5 hours. Then I came out to my recliner, thinking I was wide awake, and much to my surprise I instantly fell asleep for another 3 hours. I know this doesn't sound ideal, but compared with my previous sleep trouble since surgery it was great.

Right now I am icing just to make sure my knee is OK with all that flopping and doesn't swell up more. I did try using a pillow under it for part of the night, and that was utterly blissful. My swelling has started going way down on its own this week, although I had a whole lot of swelling so it is still maybe one and a half times as big as the other knee. But anyway, I don't automatically feel the need to ice every day, any more, and have to remind myself to do it.

When I think of how my recovery was going during week 4, and how it is going now, it is like night and day. During weeks 3 and 4 recovery seemed so endless and tiring. But slowly, with one small improvement after another, by now (8 weeks plus one day) I am doing so much better.

 

[Carole4815]

Yet another small improvement - - this related to a big reduction in swelling (FINALLY!). Since surgery my swelling has been utterly spectacular and extreme, involving the knee, the entire leg, ankle, and foot. That's just the way I am. I swell up at the drop of a hat, always have.

Before TKR, I wore Teva Tirra sandals every day; these are pretty sandals with nice non-skid soles, that are fastened with velcro. But that stopped on TKR Day! The hospital required that I wear tie shoes to and from the hospital, not velcro, and not sandals, so I pulled out a pair of New Balance running shoes from my closet, that were a size too big so I knew they would fit on my swelled right foot after surgery. After TKR these were the only shoes I had that would fit; my Tevas would not fit.

Today, ta-da!!! My Tevas fit nicely once again so I am going to wear them all day. I feel like my steps are as sure as a mountain goat's steps, when I wear them. Let's hear it for one more step back to normal life!


My knee is still a little swelled, but not much and soon all that swelling will be long gone.

 

[luvcats]

More lovely steps forward! I'm so envious of your rolling around in bed. I've been feeling so well during the days that last night I optimistically decided that I was probably ready to sleep without the elevation pillows I've been using since surgery. Yeah, no. That lasted about 20 minutes.

I swell up at the drop of a hat, always have.

Me too! Obviously we were dromedary in a past life.

 

[judgar]

I wear the same teva. I wore mine same day of surgery . Still wearing them. I can not wear tennis shoes. So these are my old faithful sandals