PKR Clunky Knee

Hi Jockette yes i did thanks. I booked today off work so i could rest up. Its still frustrating that i have to live life around my knee and i still get frustrated at myself. Like most people on this forum i have good days and bad. The bad days are getting less. I look forward to the day when i actually don not think about my knee.
 
You are having a very normal recovery, 3 months is 25% healed. As you know, it does get better. As we continue to heal, the recovery time from an overdoing experience gets shorter.

You were very wise to take a day off after a busy day yesterday. That’s great that you have a job where you can do that. Try not to think of this recovery day as something negative, think of it as giving your knee the best opportunity to heal. @Roy Gardiner has a great way of saying this, “when you are icing and elevating and watching telly you are not 'dossing around' you are 'engaging a carefully considered proactively designed heuristically programmed dynamically structured recovery programme'.”
 
Thanks Jockette its encouraging to. This forum is so supportive. My wife get a little annoyed at me when i get frustrated. But i guess the only people who can understand are the people who have been through this experience.
 
Thanks Jockette its encouraging to. This forum is so supportive. My wife get a little annoyed at me when i get frustrated. But i guess the only people who can understand are the people who have been through this experience.

Fortunately for me, my wife having had an amputation due to shattering her ankle 14 years ago allowed her to be able to empathize to a point.

BUT (bigg butt :snork:) the long recovery she still can't understand. While recovering from her amputation was a year plus long journey, it wasn't joint related anymore. When I have pain she still doesn't understand and now nearly 6 months out she has all but forgotten about it as she asks me to do something like climb up a ladder 20 feet and I am like em - HELLO. I've gotten myself up the ladder to 8 feet but that's as far as I am comfortable with and there also has to be something for me to grab onto. And, I am good with that. I don't need to be climbing ladders unless she wants to collect on my life insurance as I am worth more dead than alive. Hmmmm...:chinstroke:

The point is, I don't think anyone can't completely empathize with us unless they've gone through it and even then, everyone's journey is so different.

I too get angry at myself and frustrated, but I either come here and type away or I internalize. In my case, after what my wife has been through, I feel like what I have gone through is virtually nothing compared to her. She is now looking at a possible knee replacement or both knees. She is scheduling an appointment with her orthopedist to see what the options are. Remember, she literally only has one leg to stand on so if she undertakes this journey, that will make me internalize my journey even more.

I know relationships are supposed to be two way but sometimes us men just have to shut up and suck it up and I know from experience how difficult that is.
 
Thanks Jockette its encouraging to. This forum is so supportive. My wife get a little annoyed at me when i get frustrated. But i guess the only people who can understand are the people who have been through this experience.
I feel your pain. My wife is getting annoyed some days with having to drive me around and do the "man" chores that I normally do. Mainly she is mad i had this done mid summer ruining our family summer activities.

Since my knees we're in such good shape except for one spot right medial I believe the doctor figured I would be up and running very quickly. After surgery he actually said I now have a knee of a 20 year old. Unfortunately, it now feels like the knee of a 90 year old now.

Pre operation I had no knee pain whatsoever unless I had to do some unexpected running and I could not play tennis without a puffy knee the next day. I am extremely active and like doing athletic things so walking the dog for exercise was not cutting it for me so I took a risk and had this done.

Anyway, now I wish I waited till January so I could have enjoyed the Michigan summer.

Are you doing any physical therapy to increase your knee strength and flexibility? Or just activities of daily living?

I am going against the Bonesmart way for now and am following my doctor's aggressive rehab plan. I am working very hard to increase flexibility as fast as possible and then will start working on strength training because my right leg quad is like pudding and is not not providing my leg with much stability..

My OS messaged my PT after last Friday's report showing only 90 ROM saying he now wants me in there four days a week in addition to my self guided home PT on off days. I am making progress but it seems to be better measured weekly then daily.

Right now the short term goal is to be able to spend three days hunting up north walking the thick woods for grouse early October. Unfortunately, I can barely walk down the street let alone climbing through thick woods. I will be cutting it close but I think I can do it since that will be a full three months after surgery.

Good luck with your continued recovery!
 
BeesKnee,

Your wife should have voiced her opposition before the surgery, just saying :snork: . My wife has been egging me on for years to have this done but for some reason I needed and xray saying that my bones are degrading because of the fact it had developed to "bone on bone" in a matter of 14 months.

We don't always listen to our spouses but "I get it".

You aren't even 4 weeks out yet so everything isn't even healed. As someone who is frequent member of the ODIC club and a Founding Member of the "Bonehead" club along with @Ghostpipe , I can safely say you will be able to go on that hunting trip in October.

Early on it's grinding and arduous PT but it gets better and when you have your final session you will know you are ready to tackle it on your own.

The advice here isn't for everyone, some of us are too thick headed to listen anyway, I don't know anyone like that of course :whistle:.

I am of the belief that you recover how you want to recover. There are two types of pain and this surgery sure confuses you because there are some really weird pains that come with this.

Once I figured out which pains were expected, which ones were not, I could file them in "good" and "bad" categories:

1) Good pain to me is when you exercise and get sore, usually because you pushed yourself. There is a lot of that in this recovery.

2) Bad pain in my book is when you know something isn't right.

The former I can push through (although not advised by @BoneSmart ), the latter I try to be smart enough to take it easy (no comments from the peanut gallery!).

Our approach to this is unique and I find @BoneSmart to be a good place to have conversations and get ideas even if one doesn't buy into the same approach.

Chin up all - it gets better!
 
That`s some great insight MerlinWizard. I certainly overdid it today. Started work at 6;00 am and did not finish until 5:30 pm. My knee has been angry with me all day I have had two really bad days back at work one was a couple of weeks ago and today. By the time i arrived home i was limping badly not sure what i have done to annoy it. I am over three months post op but days like today it feels like 3 weeks not months. Hopefully a better day tomorrow.
 
In this year long recovery, 3 months is 25% healed. I know you need to go to work, but I suggest you rest as much as you can when you’re not at work, and especially this weekend. Normal activity is good “natural PT” but it can also be too much, when your knee reacts like this.
 
getting ready for another week at work. Last week was not so good suffered with pain and stiffness most days. Coming up 14 weeks post op. I am not due to see my surgeon until December. I am thinking of giving my Physio Nurse a call. She discharged me in June. I am a little worried about my ongoing pain i am having. She did say that if i had any issues to give her a call it may just help to settle my over worrying brain.
 
Ginger1210, I’m sorry to hear that last week was tough for you. I think calling your Physio Nurse is a good idea for peace of mind.
A few days last week I had lateral pain, clicking and popping feeling around the kneecap and now on the weekend it’s gone. I am 2 weeks ahead of you and feel that just now it is getting better, certainly still a rollercoaster with ups and downs.
I hope this coming week will be better for you. Hang in there. :console2:
 
Seems I am on about the same path as you. My knee doesn't feel clunky, just very stiff. After a PT session it feels good for a few hours then feels stiff all over again. About a week ago I stopped using a walker and only use walking sticks when I mosey around outside. I can put weight on it without pain so while it seems I am making no progress, when I think back a week, I am always ahead of where I was.

I need to order some type of cain for when I start driving and go into stores on my own. Wish I lived in England or it was my left leg :).

How did your Micro-Fracture work out. Mine lasted almost 10 years. Now I kind of wish I had him try it again. At least after that I was getting around fine after a few weeks and was playing tennis in 4 or 5 months.

Fortunately my job allows me to mostly sit. Still I need to prop my leg up as sitting with it on the ground it starts to swell and hurt.
 
Hi beesknee unfortunately the micro fracture did not work for me i think i had too much degradation of my medial meniscus that it was to little to late. As i am aware micro fracture can be successful in small areas and it is dependent on age as well. After my last key hole surgery i changed surgeons. My new surgeon took one look at my scans and X rays and said micro fracture would have never worked on me and the operation just caused more trauma to my knee. He carries out more partial knees in The UK than any other surgeon with a high success rate. Having said that I am still left shocked at the cost physically this procedure has had on me. 3 and a half months post op and still in recovery mode. Bonesmart has helped me understand this and i am trying to be patient.
 
Heading into week 15 post op. I manged to go swimming on Friday night after work. Enjoyed it 40 lengths front crawl, if only walking was so easy i still get sore and stiff after around 10 minutes on my feet but i am noticing small improvements my pain level is dropping its mainly just below my knee cap and tendon area. I am guessing this is the doe-nut feeling many members of bonesmart mention. Ice and elevation is still my best friend.
 
Another tough day today by 5 o clock i was really struggling at work and could hardly walk. I have only done short walks which amounted to 2 miles. My Physio Nurse called me today and was concerned i was still experiencing pain and stiffness at nearly 4 months. I am booked in to see her again on the 26 of August. We shall see? I know after days like today it feels like i am going backwards. Sat now icing to calm my angry knee down. I know by what other members on this forum have mentioned that it a year plus recovery. but i am a little worried how quickly my knee seems to get angry.
 
Good idea to get it checked out. I do wonder if your job is too demanding for a young PKR, but I know that you have to work. I know I couldn’t walk that much at 4 months.
 
Hi Jockett It maybe my job but i am office based now and just do short walks. We shall see what the Physio outcome is but i am not very hopeful i guess i am a slow healer or just unlucky. After suffering for 5 years with persistent pain i was so looking forward to returning to a normal life. It is a worry because i can`t see how i can continue to work like this it is exhausting for sure.
 
Another tough day today by 5 o clock i was really struggling at work and could hardly walk. I have only done short walks which amounted to 2 miles. My Physio Nurse called me today and was concerned i was still experiencing pain and stiffness at nearly 4 months.
I wouldn't have considered 2 miles a short walk at 4 months. Especially on top of being back at work.
 
Next week will mark my 4 month post op. It is certainly a roller-coaster ride Some good days some bad. I still have pain and swelling especially just below my kneecap in the inside of my knee. Booked into to see my Physio on the 26 of August. She is a little concerned about my ongoing pain. I can do most things now but it does come with a price. My Wife thinks i am being to hard on myself, at the moment i am at a crossroads i think i was a little more mobile pre-op than i am now but as you good people say i am only a quarter healed.
 
I still had a lot of issues and limitations at 4 months.

What a blessing that your wife is so supportive. :roseshwr: Not all of our members have that. My husband was awesome in my recovery, best care giver ever!:roseshwr:
 

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