[TKR] Dale's recovery journey<<

I had a broken ankle and foot during my recovery. It happened just short of my knee mark and on the same foot as the tkr. My knee reacted badly because I couldn't walk on that foot at all. My knee wanted to walk, but I couldn't. Of course, it didn't help that I fell directly on the knee itself, too! I was icing foot, ankle and knee for weeks! Once I got back to walking some, the knee recovered some, though it's still not as good as it was before my fall. Once you get walking correctly from your broken foot, your knee will recover nicely.

 

Before my tkr I always watched my feet when I walked. Afterwards, I had finally gotten secure enough to walk with my head up. Well, then I stepped in a hole, rolled my foot inward and that's when the breaks occurred. Guess what??! I watch where I put my feet again! I don't want anymore falls!

Amazon sells a shoe for a broken foot bone. If you need more than the steel insert, check them out. I wore mine for a month or so. I even rode my bike with it on. I was thrilled to be able to do that again.

 

In my case it could be because I had both knees replaced, but I've had this discussion with quite a few members. The first months to a year or so after my TKR, I noticed my balance was... off. Not bad. I was perfectly stable on my new knees, but some things just threw me off.

At first, the first months, I found myself shuffling sometimes, falling back into the old knee-sparing, limp-balancing habit of how I walked before surgery. One reason that happened was because I WAS afraid of falling. So I walked protectively. I worked on getting rid of that "protective" gait and that got normal.

I also noticed that if I looked around when I walked, I would wobble if I looked to the side (or anything not straight ahead) for very long, and especially if I looked back over my shoulder. Wobble. A wobble can easily turn into a fall. I worried about if I would always be wobbly, but... you got it, I worked on that. I made a point of looking to the side on occasion, or behind me, just to train my brain to be used to it.

Falls are never good. Most of us are older and have knee replacements, and that's a caution-inducing combo. But I've found that as I continue past recovery -- I'm twenty months post-op now -- I've gotten better and better on these new knees. Yes, the muscles get stronger again. The brain relearns balance and adjusts to a new, better gait. I bike. I walk on snow and even ice without fear of falling (got my good Wisconsin winter legs back!) and now only fear wet floors. I fell once (pre-bad knees) on a wet floor. There will always be fear of wet floors.

 

I'm back to hiking, but still find going down a steep hill scary and will go down sideways. I had to go down backwards for over 25 years, so going down sideways is an improvement! You will get there and be able to go down normally, I'm sure!

 

@Elad1002, as simple as this may seem, I personally believe you need to relax and quit worrying so much. Unless you are showing symptoms of metals allergy, worrying does nothing but create anxiety which detracts from your ability to focus on healing. Check out the articles on metal allergy in the library (here is one: https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/metal-allergies-and-knee-replacements.3988/).

Your focus needs to be on healing and working to improve your functional activities each day.

 

I agree with the others, quit looking for trouble where there is none. Stress slows down recovery. You don't want to be doing that. A metal allergy is very rare. Your knee is healing very well. Once that foot is healed, there'll be no stopping you!

 

It's good that you got out today. I change of scenery is always a mood lifter!

 

@PJohnson Hi and Welcome to Bonesmart! It would be great if you would start a Recovery thread so we can get to know you better.

If you need help starting a thread just let us know.