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TKR Claire's recovery journey<

I’ve enjoyed reading your journey, you’ve progressed so well. I hope your stray stitch problem is healing - pretty brave of you to treat it yourself :).
Take care
 
@NavyGunns, thanks, I know you're right. I'm trying so hard to focus on getting it right with the walking but have improved very little in the past few weeks. I find when I'm barefoot in my house I walk well but with shoes I aren't doing so well. I got a good pair of new shoes so there's no wear from before my op.
The pool was good, although I've been a little sore since I went and I'm back tomorrow. I suppose its to be expected, it's not pain as such, just discomfort.
I'll see what the PT has to say tomorrow.
My return to work has been put back a week by occupational therapy as they want to see how the hydrotherapy goes so I've another month to work on things.
That said I'm on half pay now so I'm hoping I'll be good to go by then. :)
 
@Clairebear , I was just reading how you find barefoot walking easier than with shoes, and I am the same. I wondered if I was the only one to experience this. Hope we both find improvement soon!
 
Hi @Mom2Lucy. Great to know I'm not the only one , thank you. I see I'm a couple of weeks in front of you and wishing you a good recovery.
I've been a little anxious about whether I'll be ready for my return to work in 3 weeks time. Whilst at hydrotherapy today I was chatting to a PT and explained my concerns. She said to me that my new knee would never feel the same as my old one and that returning to work would help me focus on something other than my knee. I get where she's coming from and just wondered if returning to work really does help you to put the feel of the new knee to one side at all whilst it continues to recover?
 
@Clairebear , I just got home from a chiropractor appt, and my chiro worked on my right foot. Apparently something was out of alignment, she said what she did should improve the circulation in that foot. Maybe that’s why we’re having shoe trouble? I won’t know for a bit, I guess, but maybe something for you to check into also.

I’m not sure if work will be a distraction ; I think the knee might be on my mind more than ever, lol. At least for awhile. (I’m not scheduled to return to work until sometime in January. My job is a mix of sitting and standing, constant motion, so my biggest fear is forgetting to move in one direction only. I’ll be afraid of twisting my knee.)

I guess you’ll know ahead of me if work is a distraction, please keep in touch!
 
@Clairebear, I know that for me, getting back to work really helped me move my focus to something else. Of course, my knee continued to remind me it was still there but not as bad unless I overdid it.
 
Thank you for all your kind and supportive comments . @grandma chris, all the very best for your recovery. I think my recovery has been helped so much by the advice on here which helped me to relax and stop putting pressure on myself in the first few weeks. I've had my down days and still struggle with annoying tightness even when sitting.
@NavyGunns, Thanks, I'm just gonna go for it work wise and fingers crossed it'll all be good.
@Mom2Lucy Thanks for the advice, please let me know if it's helped. It's a tough one as my limp seems to be solely from my knee but I understand that's not always the case.
I start my 2nd week of hydrotherapy on Tuesday so hoping to see some results strengthwise soon. The limping does seem a little less already
 
:wave:Hi Clairebear! I’ve been following your posts and I can feel your worries about returning to work in a few weeks.We are all different in our recoveries but I hope I can help release your fear a little bit? I work as a nurse practitioner, on my feet a lot with intermittent sitting for charting, lots of stairs, long hours (10 hr days, 15 hr nights and 24 hr shifts on weekends :bawl:) and I was literally petrified to return. But I went back yesterday with reassurances that my coworkers would carry the heavier tasks and encourage me to rest as much as possible. Wellllllll..... that plan went right out the window as we ended up with a very busy day and I just fell right back into the job. No breaks, constant standing and moving around. :sad: BUT guess what? My knee held up! It didn’t bother me much, I felt it , but was able to function fairly well. I had been so worried that it would be screaming in pain and I wouldn’t be able to focus but it didn’t:yahoo: I’m at 10 1/2 weeks and have felt stronger only within the past week. So I’m not sure if this will help you or not but I hope you can worry a little less. I am only working 3 days a week for the 1st 2 weeks so I have rest days in between which is phenomenal! See if you can negotiate that! I’ll be sending good thoughts! :loveshwr:
 
@andpeaches , thank you. Wow your shifts are very long, I thought mine were bad!
I'm so glad things are working out for you. I've decided that I just have to try it and see how things go as being at home is driving me crazy.
My shift pattern is 7am to 7.30pm 3 x a week and 4 x a week one week in the month. Nights are sometimes scheduled, the length of the shift is the same.
I have 2 weeks annual leave left to take before April and have been told I can use the days to shorten my weeks which is good.
I've got a meeting with my ward manager on the 11th of December, the week I'm due back.
There's no pressure at all from my employer to go back.
My knee is still so swollen and tight, I'm just not sure if I'll be helping it or hindering if I go back in 2 weeks.
 
Definitely delay return as long as you’re able to! I had almost exhausted my leave time and wanted to use the left over time to work only 3 days/ week when going back. I was also getting a little house bound and was feeling ready to try going back. My knee still swells after being up on it and then stiffens when I sit too long, and I was really afraid I would collapse in tears at work. But that didn’t happen! And truthfully for the first time I didn’t think about the blasted thing all day. For that I am so grateful. You’ll know when you’re ready! I swear I wasn’t ready at 9 weeks but something changed this week. I hope the same for you :loveshwr:
 
@Clairebear, definitely play it by ear as to how you feeling. If you can take even an extra week then do it.

I have realised that recovery is a full time effort. Once you're back at work other things like icing, rest and exercises full away.
 
The more time you can give your knee for healing and resting, the better. If you can wrangle more time, do so. Your knee will thank you. If you must return to work, do everything possible to give yourself (and your knee) breaks. Even a little elevating and rest during the shift can help.
 
@Josephine , I wondered if you could give me your opinion on a change I've noticed in the last few days please?
My knee above the knee cap became tighter than normal and a little more swollen. This carried on for a couple of days. I reduced my activity and increased my icing.
It's very difficult to try and explain but yesterday my knee cap looked more prominent and the areas of swelling seemed to have decreased. At the same time though I have a clicking sensation on bending which is also causing moderate pain. However, the mobility of the knee seems to have improved and I was walking today without my usual limp.
Obviously the increased mobility is a positive but the clicking and pain are a little concerning.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
@Josephine, I started hydrotherapy a couple of weeks ago on my surgeons advice. I was very sore after the first 2 sessions so haven't gone this week. The PT was focusing on flexion and that's not an issue, I wanted help with my gait.
Apart from that I aren't doing the exercises, just going out for short walks and getting on with normal daily activities ie, shopping, driving, housework etc.
 
I went to pool therapy once, at 4 weeks post op. The session was 50 minutes long, countless knee bending exercises and walking: frontwards, sideways, and even backwards :yikes: ! I was so scared walking backwards. My balance was not good, there were a lot of people in the pool so the water had a lot of movement to it. I couldn’t wait to get out. It took 3 days to recover.
 
Thank you @Jockette. My sessions are an hour twice a week and I thought they'd be beneficial but now I'm not so sure. I'm not saying that they've done any damage but I've taken the week off due to the increased stiffness and discomfort. Today has been a difficult day, my swelling has increased alot and the pain on bending in a certain way has been awful around my knee cap. I'm going to speak to my GP after the weekend.
 
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