TKR Dear Diary, Surgery Complete
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I love this! You will be fine at the group therapy! Please tell us how you do.
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SnowHare
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Dear Diary - the good, the bad, and the not too ugly
Group physio was fine. There were only 5 of us - the norm is 8. Everyone is at different stages of their recovery, both in terms of weeks post-op and how far along their milestones are reached. One exercise had us lie on our tummies to bend our legs to our bums. It hurt along my incision - it's still tender. They physiotherapist said to try it lying on my side, but that hurt my hip, so she told me just to do leg slides on my back, as it wasn't as crucial for me with my good bending.
She said for the lunge, I could do tai chi tor-yus, which I would actually much rather do.
Did my first outside, 10 minute walk today. It was 12 C outside, with a stiff wind. My husband wondered why I was timing it. I told him it was so I could turn around at the half way mark. When we reached the half way mark, he asked me why didn't I a bit further if I'm feeling ok? Well, duh. I think he's a bit crotchety, because we were walking at a small child's pace. I think he's getting caregiver's burnout. I'm actually not that high needs. We are still eating meals from the freezer, and I help with supper. I now make my own lunch. I started doing laundry. I desperately want to clean the bathrooms, but I think it's a bit soon for that. Maybe next week, or the week after that.
I suspect my husband is resenting the time I am in bed with my feet elevated, or lying down, but it's what is most comfortable. Sitting in the living room with my feet on the coffee table, or on the chesterfield is not comfortable for any stretch of time.
I imagine there are other people out there who have to negotiate some speed bumps with their care providers. I know my husband has issues. His mum was a terrible hypochondriac, and so he had absolutely no room for compassion. At best, he feels helpless and bumbles through things. I was raised with the stoic school of thought. I tend not to complain until things reach a crisis point, and I will manage on my own. Until I can't.
Sorry, I just had to rant, and I have no other outlet.
Group physio was fine. There were only 5 of us - the norm is 8. Everyone is at different stages of their recovery, both in terms of weeks post-op and how far along their milestones are reached. One exercise had us lie on our tummies to bend our legs to our bums. It hurt along my incision - it's still tender. They physiotherapist said to try it lying on my side, but that hurt my hip, so she told me just to do leg slides on my back, as it wasn't as crucial for me with my good bending.
She said for the lunge, I could do tai chi tor-yus, which I would actually much rather do.
Did my first outside, 10 minute walk today. It was 12 C outside, with a stiff wind. My husband wondered why I was timing it. I told him it was so I could turn around at the half way mark. When we reached the half way mark, he asked me why didn't I a bit further if I'm feeling ok? Well, duh. I think he's a bit crotchety, because we were walking at a small child's pace. I think he's getting caregiver's burnout. I'm actually not that high needs. We are still eating meals from the freezer, and I help with supper. I now make my own lunch. I started doing laundry. I desperately want to clean the bathrooms, but I think it's a bit soon for that. Maybe next week, or the week after that.
I suspect my husband is resenting the time I am in bed with my feet elevated, or lying down, but it's what is most comfortable. Sitting in the living room with my feet on the coffee table, or on the chesterfield is not comfortable for any stretch of time.
I imagine there are other people out there who have to negotiate some speed bumps with their care providers. I know my husband has issues. His mum was a terrible hypochondriac, and so he had absolutely no room for compassion. At best, he feels helpless and bumbles through things. I was raised with the stoic school of thought. I tend not to complain until things reach a crisis point, and I will manage on my own. Until I can't.
Sorry, I just had to rant, and I have no other outlet.
Oh, @SnowHare, I'm sorry your husband doesn't understand what this recovery is like -- but I think that's true of most people who haven't experienced it.
You can always have him read a few recovery threads on here and he might be surprised at how well you are doing for just one-month post-op. A 10-minute outdoor walk is great! Good for you!
You can always have him read a few recovery threads on here and he might be surprised at how well you are doing for just one-month post-op. A 10-minute outdoor walk is great! Good for you!
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@benne68
We've been down this road before - a lot bumpier road than this time. He's just forgotten how bad things can really be.
My sister, who thinks the world of him, observed that he just isn't the care giving type. He does his best, within his rather limited capacity.
Two of my kids have sort of AWOL, although my daughter did take her dad out to the cat cafe to give him a change of vista. The youngest is still trying to make an effort, which is not a lot, as he is super busy and lives on the other side of the city.
We've been down this road before - a lot bumpier road than this time. He's just forgotten how bad things can really be.
My sister, who thinks the world of him, observed that he just isn't the care giving type. He does his best, within his rather limited capacity.
Two of my kids have sort of AWOL, although my daughter did take her dad out to the cat cafe to give him a change of vista. The youngest is still trying to make an effort, which is not a lot, as he is super busy and lives on the other side of the city.
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Re PT - I would absolutely not be doing lunges at one month, nor at two months.
Re your non caregiving spouse - I'm so sorry. Yes, there are many members who have had the double burden of healing post op and feeling very hurt and disappointed by their longtime spouse's inability to step up. Sending a ((hug))
Re your non caregiving spouse - I'm so sorry. Yes, there are many members who have had the double burden of healing post op and feeling very hurt and disappointed by their longtime spouse's inability to step up. Sending a ((hug))
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@mendogal
Thank you for the hug. It's much appreciated.
The lunges for me are more like gentle shift of weight going slightly forward. I'm following the tai chi teaching for exercise - be gentle and listen to your body.
I told my daughter that I've been asking for a change of bed linen since Monday. She's coming over tomorrow to change my sheets. I could do it, but it would mean bending my knees and stretching to reach. I don't think I'm really ready for that.
I think I have a gum infection, so I'm going to try and get in to see the dentist tomorrow.
The blues have arrived. I'm feeling demoralised and frustrated.
Thank you for the hug. It's much appreciated.
The lunges for me are more like gentle shift of weight going slightly forward. I'm following the tai chi teaching for exercise - be gentle and listen to your body.
I told my daughter that I've been asking for a change of bed linen since Monday. She's coming over tomorrow to change my sheets. I could do it, but it would mean bending my knees and stretching to reach. I don't think I'm really ready for that.
I think I have a gum infection, so I'm going to try and get in to see the dentist tomorrow.
The blues have arrived. I'm feeling demoralised and frustrated.
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Understandable. Hang in there.
Time for a bit of self TLC and pampering. I'm glad you reached out to your daughter about the bed linens!
Is there a friend or neighbor who you can call to ask to come by for a visit, bringing a little something so you need not be serving them?
As you're able to get out for a ten minute walk, might you have the stamina for a very brief excursion - like if your daughter or a friend were to drive you, even just to look at a different view for ten minutes, or a 15 minute cafe or bakery or library or (what normally lifts your spirits?) seated stop?
Time for a bit of self TLC and pampering. I'm glad you reached out to your daughter about the bed linens!
Is there a friend or neighbor who you can call to ask to come by for a visit, bringing a little something so you need not be serving them?
As you're able to get out for a ten minute walk, might you have the stamina for a very brief excursion - like if your daughter or a friend were to drive you, even just to look at a different view for ten minutes, or a 15 minute cafe or bakery or library or (what normally lifts your spirits?) seated stop?
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I am not surprised this hurt. That is a tough exercise. Go easy and don't be pushed to do stuff that doesn't feel comfortable.
I think you must be doing really well. I found it very difficult getting down and up at your stage. I don't think I could have lain on my tummy that early. I still use some thin knee cushions when I lie on my tummy to do cobra pose to strengthen my back.
Sending hugs!
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OP
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Dear Diary: Happy 5 Weeks
Things I have learned:
Be patient
Don't overdo it
It's hard to knit on your back while icing
I went to the take to make on Saturday and really overdid it. I didn't mean to, but I did. Then I went out for lunch, which entailed a wee bit of a walk. At the end of lunch, I dreaded the walk to the door, I was so knackered. Sunday was the first jammie day since my first few days after the surgery. I iced most of the day and did not do my exercises. I'm down to once a day for them, because I do both the stage 1 and the stage 2 exercises.
I now have 2 bags of charity yarn and one bag of charity fabric.
I've been having a lot of trouble about waking up at 4:30 every morning in excruciating pain. I thought long and hard about the type of pain I'm having and why every 4:30. First off, I normally just sleep on one side all night, so I thought position must be the problem. I tried sleeping on the other side. Same thing.
Then the light came on. I have nerve pain in my arm and hand that is alleviated by doing reverse stretches in my neck. I also do the same with my back. I've had back problems for many years. Some time ago, the doctor told me that I likely had damaged my nerves. I saw a neurologist last year, and he said I have functional neurological disorder. Given all this information, I decided to try doing the reverse back stretches - think arching your back as far as it will go. I did a few of those before bed, and the past few nights, no more waking up in excruciating pain.
I think that not being as active, and sitting and lying down a lot more than I normally would do, has been causing my back problems and the nerves further downstream. Just guessing.
Milestones:
I made a big pot of chili, with beans I cooked myself. I did the cooking in stages - the onions, beef and spices in the morning, cook the beans on timer in the instant pot, dump everything together at night.
Did a load of laundry.
Reduced the oxy to a quarter of a table x3/day
This week I can graduate to a cane, if I wish.
Nap time.
Things I have learned:
Be patient
Don't overdo it
It's hard to knit on your back while icing
I went to the take to make on Saturday and really overdid it. I didn't mean to, but I did. Then I went out for lunch, which entailed a wee bit of a walk. At the end of lunch, I dreaded the walk to the door, I was so knackered. Sunday was the first jammie day since my first few days after the surgery. I iced most of the day and did not do my exercises. I'm down to once a day for them, because I do both the stage 1 and the stage 2 exercises.
I now have 2 bags of charity yarn and one bag of charity fabric.
I've been having a lot of trouble about waking up at 4:30 every morning in excruciating pain. I thought long and hard about the type of pain I'm having and why every 4:30. First off, I normally just sleep on one side all night, so I thought position must be the problem. I tried sleeping on the other side. Same thing.
Then the light came on. I have nerve pain in my arm and hand that is alleviated by doing reverse stretches in my neck. I also do the same with my back. I've had back problems for many years. Some time ago, the doctor told me that I likely had damaged my nerves. I saw a neurologist last year, and he said I have functional neurological disorder. Given all this information, I decided to try doing the reverse back stretches - think arching your back as far as it will go. I did a few of those before bed, and the past few nights, no more waking up in excruciating pain.
I think that not being as active, and sitting and lying down a lot more than I normally would do, has been causing my back problems and the nerves further downstream. Just guessing.
Milestones:
I made a big pot of chili, with beans I cooked myself. I did the cooking in stages - the onions, beef and spices in the morning, cook the beans on timer in the instant pot, dump everything together at night.
Did a load of laundry.
Reduced the oxy to a quarter of a table x3/day
This week I can graduate to a cane, if I wish.
Nap time.
OP
OP
SnowHare
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My previous post was written on Monday. Today is Tuesday. Still exhausted. I did not sleep through my alarm, but I crashed and slept for 2 hours this morning. It's harder to walk, and I'm still hurting. I put the groceries away, and that is my 10 minutes of activity for this portion of the day.
I'm sorry you are on the ODIC bench! You did quite a lot this weekend for just 5 weeks post-op. know it's hard to figure out that fine line between doing too much and just enough.
Give yourself some grace and let your body recuperate from the overdoing. You are still early days in this year long recovery. Slow and steady.
OP
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Dear Diary - Happy Week 6!!!
Last week's field trip to the Take to Make took me until Friday to recover. I hurt a lot, and I felt a lot weaker walking. I was managing walking around the house without support, but last week, I had to use a cane indoors.
Fun stuff from this week:
Reducing the Oxy from a quarter tablet three times a day to twice a day. Going to add in some Advil, if I need it. This, plus the Diclofenac should keep things manageable.
The insomnia has begun. Yay. I take a prescription anti-histamine, sort of industrial strength Benedryl. and it's helping with the chronic itchiness I have, but I'm not sleepy on it.
I have graduated to my recliner in the front room. I don't actually recline in it, more like sit with my feet up. I still spend a lot of time on the bed, lounge doctoring and being friendly with my ice machine.
My knee is starting to slip into a straighter position when I'm standing or walking. When that happens, my brain takes over and moves it back to a more bent position. It sort of feels like if I let it go to its new normal, that I will lose my balance and my knee is going to bed back in the opposite direction. It's a really trippy feeling.
Also having the weirdest sensation in my hips, when I do heel slides. It feels like my hip joint goes clunk, like some sort of bass crepidation. Knee crepidation is more like an alto scraping. It doesn't hurt, it just feels weird. Not going to miss the knee crepidation.
My scar complains bitterly, whenever I bend my knee.
All in all, a pretty positive week, even thought it was a one step backwards kind of time.
Using a mirror to help me walk straight, instead of lifting one hip and limping badly.
Not waking up at 4:30 am in excruciating pain anymore - it's probably because I'm not getting to sleep until the wee smalls.
Second physio appointment is this week.
Cookies are not likely ideal recovery foods, but hot damn honey, they provide a nice cheer-up a couple of times a day.
Last week's field trip to the Take to Make took me until Friday to recover. I hurt a lot, and I felt a lot weaker walking. I was managing walking around the house without support, but last week, I had to use a cane indoors.
Fun stuff from this week:
Reducing the Oxy from a quarter tablet three times a day to twice a day. Going to add in some Advil, if I need it. This, plus the Diclofenac should keep things manageable.
The insomnia has begun. Yay. I take a prescription anti-histamine, sort of industrial strength Benedryl. and it's helping with the chronic itchiness I have, but I'm not sleepy on it.
I have graduated to my recliner in the front room. I don't actually recline in it, more like sit with my feet up. I still spend a lot of time on the bed, lounge doctoring and being friendly with my ice machine.
My knee is starting to slip into a straighter position when I'm standing or walking. When that happens, my brain takes over and moves it back to a more bent position. It sort of feels like if I let it go to its new normal, that I will lose my balance and my knee is going to bed back in the opposite direction. It's a really trippy feeling.
Also having the weirdest sensation in my hips, when I do heel slides. It feels like my hip joint goes clunk, like some sort of bass crepidation. Knee crepidation is more like an alto scraping. It doesn't hurt, it just feels weird. Not going to miss the knee crepidation.
My scar complains bitterly, whenever I bend my knee.
All in all, a pretty positive week, even thought it was a one step backwards kind of time.
Using a mirror to help me walk straight, instead of lifting one hip and limping badly.
Not waking up at 4:30 am in excruciating pain anymore - it's probably because I'm not getting to sleep until the wee smalls.
Second physio appointment is this week.
Cookies are not likely ideal recovery foods, but hot damn honey, they provide a nice cheer-up a couple of times a day.
This happened to me with my first TKR. I had been walking with a bent knee for so long that my leg couldn't figure out how to be straight! Weird, isn't it, how are bodies adapt -- and then it takes long to un-learn that adaptation.
Sounds like you are progressing well. Have a great week -- and try to avoid the OCID bench!
OP
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Dear Diary: Surgeon Followup
I saw the surgeon today.
Good stuff - I am now bending at 128 degrees. The clinic physiotherapist was quite impressed.
Not so good is my extension, at 8.
We discussed my pain. She agreed with the group physiotherapist that it could be from overdoing it, or maybe I may have twisted my knee. I had a couple of nights this week of excruciating pain at night, so bad, I thought about adding some oxy to the ibuprofen-acetaminophen-diclofenac cocktail. I normally have a fairly good pain tolerance.
She did identify another possible problem, after she examined me. Evidently there is a small muscle in the knee area that is very, very weak. She taught me how to engage it without engaging the quads. She said she could just feel a bit of a flutter when the muscle engaged. She checked my other knee and said it was weak as well. I need to practice lying down and engaging this muscle. I have been overcompensating with my quads. This might explain the pain I have, especially doing sit-stands, as the pain is exactly where this muscle is.
The surgeon said he was impressed with my recovery, with the exception of the poor extension. He said to keep working on it. As for the soft tissue pain, he said that some people have more sensitive nerve endings in their soft tissues. Hey, you're talking to someone who has extra nerves in her mouth and needs mega, mega injections before getting a filling.
There is no evidence of undue swelling, nor infection. I have a bit of a scab on the incision, where I scratched at a rash. I can drive now, but should probably do a wee bit of drive just around the neighbourhood, as I drive a standard, and this is my clutch foot. Once the scab heals, I'm good to go back to the pool.
Right now I'm concentrating on walking straight, heel to toe, with an increased stride, hips facing forward, as I seem to be slipping back into old walking habits.
It's so true that everybody's recovery is different. I've talked to a couple of other people who recently had knee replacements. One was fairly pain free after a couple of weeks, another fairly pain free after a couple of months, whereas I'm still struggling. But on the other hand, I totally rock the amount of flexion.
I saw the surgeon today.
Good stuff - I am now bending at 128 degrees. The clinic physiotherapist was quite impressed.
Not so good is my extension, at 8.
We discussed my pain. She agreed with the group physiotherapist that it could be from overdoing it, or maybe I may have twisted my knee. I had a couple of nights this week of excruciating pain at night, so bad, I thought about adding some oxy to the ibuprofen-acetaminophen-diclofenac cocktail. I normally have a fairly good pain tolerance.
She did identify another possible problem, after she examined me. Evidently there is a small muscle in the knee area that is very, very weak. She taught me how to engage it without engaging the quads. She said she could just feel a bit of a flutter when the muscle engaged. She checked my other knee and said it was weak as well. I need to practice lying down and engaging this muscle. I have been overcompensating with my quads. This might explain the pain I have, especially doing sit-stands, as the pain is exactly where this muscle is.
The surgeon said he was impressed with my recovery, with the exception of the poor extension. He said to keep working on it. As for the soft tissue pain, he said that some people have more sensitive nerve endings in their soft tissues. Hey, you're talking to someone who has extra nerves in her mouth and needs mega, mega injections before getting a filling.
There is no evidence of undue swelling, nor infection. I have a bit of a scab on the incision, where I scratched at a rash. I can drive now, but should probably do a wee bit of drive just around the neighbourhood, as I drive a standard, and this is my clutch foot. Once the scab heals, I'm good to go back to the pool.
Right now I'm concentrating on walking straight, heel to toe, with an increased stride, hips facing forward, as I seem to be slipping back into old walking habits.
It's so true that everybody's recovery is different. I've talked to a couple of other people who recently had knee replacements. One was fairly pain free after a couple of weeks, another fairly pain free after a couple of months, whereas I'm still struggling. But on the other hand, I totally rock the amount of flexion.
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Finding that small muscle and targeting it for activation is great and would be remarkable for a USA surgeon - they generally don't pay much attention to soft tissue issues!
OP
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Actually it was the physiotherapist, but the surgeon was 100% supportive that I focus on the soft tissues, since everything else is going well. He wants me to stretch my leg out on the coffee table, put a very light weight on my knee - just a few ounces - and watch netflix.
I was impressed the physiotherapist figured it out. That muscle pain has given me grief on my 5-yr-old knee forever.
I was impressed the physiotherapist figured it out. That muscle pain has given me grief on my 5-yr-old knee forever.
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Generally the BoneSmart approach is against using weights to gain extension because members report overly enthusiastic physios really hurting them that way.
However I know you trust your surgeon, and will totally support you trying his suggested approach, stopping only if there is knee pain or increased swelling - either would prove counterproductive.
Personally I had good results on both knees by stretching them out on coffee table or floor, and with the quads thoroughly relaxed, gently shake the knee up and down. My rationale was that relaxation would be the key.
However I know you trust your surgeon, and will totally support you trying his suggested approach, stopping only if there is knee pain or increased swelling - either would prove counterproductive.
Personally I had good results on both knees by stretching them out on coffee table or floor, and with the quads thoroughly relaxed, gently shake the knee up and down. My rationale was that relaxation would be the key.
