TKR Coming along<<
- Thread starter Elad1002
- Start date
This is exactly how I felt, and to be honest, I still struggle with it, and I’m almost 2 years post op. It hard to “just move on” when some things affect us very deeply.
grandma chris
graduate
I'm not sure that the advice is to lay around all day. I didn't do the exercises my PTs wanted me to do but I did walk, did some heel slides and even the occasional light squat. I am not a poster girl (!) but I am doing pretty well. I also started doing some water exercises when I was permitted entry to the pool. I did water cycling, some water walking, etc. It's all helped quite a lot.
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Elad1002
senior
Lindylee
post-grad
Elad, I do feel for you. I wonder if it might help to 1. Keep a diary and 2. Write yourself a timetable. 10 years ago I was diagnosed with a potentially life threatening illness and, for me, keeping a diary was very cathartic. I wrote down all my feelings and what I was experiencing physically and emotionally. As time went on I could look back and see how far I'd come. It wasn't plain sailing by any means. There were good and bad days, but I got there in the end. For nearly a year my life was just one round of hospital visits, tests, operations etc. I reached a point where I wanted to be more than my illness and I had to make a real effort to move on. At that time it was joining a gym that gave me a new focus. Obviously, that might not be an option at present for you, but maybe if you scheduled a timetable for yourself to include some gentle exercise, some social activity, some of the chores that you're able to do plus something that you consider a treat (could be time to read a book, do a jigsaw puzzle, listen to favourite music, relax with scented candles, eat a bar of chocolate, learn a craft, whatever you enjoy) it might help you focus and realise that you're not actually lying around doing nothing. It's often easy to think we're doing nothing when actually we're fulfilling our usual daily living activities. 
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Elad1002
senior
@Lindylee
Thank you for this well thought out response. I believe journaling would be a good thing right now. I do need social interaction and would love to get some of my life back. I've been cooped up in my home due to snow and icy conditions through most of this recovery..I will get through this.
Thank you for this well thought out response. I believe journaling would be a good thing right now. I do need social interaction and would love to get some of my life back. I've been cooped up in my home due to snow and icy conditions through most of this recovery..I will get through this.
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Elad1002
senior
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Elad1002
senior
@Josephine
When bending knee to go upstairs, having new pain under kneecap towards the right side. Could this be scar tissue, it's a new symptom.
When bending knee to go upstairs, having new pain under kneecap towards the right side. Could this be scar tissue, it's a new symptom.
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Elad1002
senior
@grandma chris
Hello, hope all is well. Any tips for going downstairs? I understand you have to squat with the surgical leg which is initially rough. Did you keep practicing till you got it? How did you strengthen enough to squat?
Hello, hope all is well. Any tips for going downstairs? I understand you have to squat with the surgical leg which is initially rough. Did you keep practicing till you got it? How did you strengthen enough to squat?
I said that going downstairs is harder than going upstairs, because it's a bit like trying to do a one-legged squat, while balancing on one leg.
You need enough strength and balance in your operated leg, before you can do that - and that takes time.
When you go down a stair, you bend your good knee, while stepping down with your operated leg. Your good leg can do that easily. For the next step, you're going to be using the same action, but you'll be bending your operated knee, while stepping down with your good knee. Don't forget to hold onto the rail for support.
I didn't mean you had to practice doing squats. You'll get all the practice at mini-squats that you need, because you do them every time you go to sit down on a dining chair.
If you want to try going downstairs one foot at a time, try it on the last step of the flight, so that your first attempt will have you stepping down onto the ground with your good leg.
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Elad1002
senior
No, don't practice. Give your leg a bit longer. It's not quite ready yet. It will be ready to do stairs one-legged later.
Lots of people take ages before they can do stairs one foot at a time.
Don't worry about it. One day, your leg will be ready.
Lots of people take ages before they can do stairs one foot at a time.
Don't worry about it. One day, your leg will be ready.
ebungalow
member
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@Elad1002
Last year, when I was recovering from the LTKR, I read a tip from someone who suggested going downstairs backwards, foot over foot.
I found it very helpful. I have stairs in my house that have a sturdy handrail beside them, so I held on tight and it wasn’t scary.
Forgot about that until today when I just did it to take laundry downstairs.
Works well, doesn’t hurt, gives a bit of a stretch, and feels like a bit of progress when going downstairs in a forward direction isn’t comfortable.
Last year, when I was recovering from the LTKR, I read a tip from someone who suggested going downstairs backwards, foot over foot.
I found it very helpful. I have stairs in my house that have a sturdy handrail beside them, so I held on tight and it wasn’t scary.
Forgot about that until today when I just did it to take laundry downstairs.
Works well, doesn’t hurt, gives a bit of a stretch, and feels like a bit of progress when going downstairs in a forward direction isn’t comfortable.
robert johnson
member
Now that is a true statement. Years. Many years. Especially going down.
It's usually months, rather than years, though.
robert johnson
member
I'm sure you're right about that. I had an unusual recovery. At 3 months post-op, I was literally in my infancy, looking back on it and considering how good it is now.
That was me. My OS, back in the 80s told me to go downstairs backwards. That takes a lot of pressure off of the bad knees. I did this for over 30 years. Now, I can go down like a normal person. I suggest you try going downstairs backwards. But, always hold on the the rails! One good thing about going down backwards is if you fall, you fall up and down down the stairs!
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Elad1002
senior
@ebungalo
@Celle
So I tried walking backwards down the stairs, a little knee pain but can go slowly. I'm making it a goal to go downstairs normally. Because I work in healthcare, we have to be able to use the stairs, rather than the elevator in a fire drill, not sure how I am going to navigate this, I will try to get a doctors note. I'M GOING BACK IN A FEW WEEKS and very nervous about it. I walked for about 45 minutes slowly in the Mall today and very little swelling as a result. I later did my 10 minutes on the recumbant bike and again, no ill effects. I'm playing it by ear. My knee does not feel like a knee, not sure what if feels like, I hope one gets used to it over time.
@Celle
So I tried walking backwards down the stairs, a little knee pain but can go slowly. I'm making it a goal to go downstairs normally. Because I work in healthcare, we have to be able to use the stairs, rather than the elevator in a fire drill, not sure how I am going to navigate this, I will try to get a doctors note. I'M GOING BACK IN A FEW WEEKS and very nervous about it. I walked for about 45 minutes slowly in the Mall today and very little swelling as a result. I later did my 10 minutes on the recumbant bike and again, no ill effects. I'm playing it by ear. My knee does not feel like a knee, not sure what if feels like, I hope one gets used to it over time.
