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TKR Di's Recovery Thread

newlybionic said:
I've figured that old people ( not like us youngsters) have probably slowed down their physical activity so they can just sit in their recliners most of the day and continue to use a cane for the rest of their lives.
Click to expand...
Careful, Marian! I'm almost 75 and that's not me! It's not Josephine either - same age as me and still working! :heehee:

While I admit that I didn't have to go back to arduous, 12-hour shifts, life in a rocking chair and using a walking stick are not for me. In 2 weeks' time, I'll be travelling for 36 hours, with multiple flights, to get from here in NZ to the UK, and I will be spending almost 4 months based with my daughter and her family, including a lively three-year-old. I'll be doing a couple of trips to Europe as well.

It is possible that younger people find it much harder to devote time to resting, because they are used to being active. As you get older, it's easier to realise that "good things take time" and to be patient.
 
My dad's recovery was much easier than mine, with BOTH of his knees. But he stopped pt at the 2 week mark with both knees because his insurance didn't cover it. I believe doing his own pt at home without someone pushing him helped. He is the one who does the shopping, the laundry, the lawn mowing while mother is in pain with her knees.
I also think the fact that I was forced to do nothing for longer than a month helped me to recover quicker once I was allowed to be more active. I just didn't do as much walking because of the "other" knee and it continues that way. However I do still ride that bike. Yesterday I rode 5 miles on top of shopping and washing/waxing the car. Oh and @Newbie tkr , I took the day off from school. :yes:
 
...hmm...interesting.
Woke up this morning, rainey, cool again today in western PA. Knee yaking already (shuttt- uppp!!!). :swoon:
Taking it easy today- certainly don't want to be outside until it hits 80 degrees.

Coming up on the three month mark in two weeks- yah! Whatever that's supposed to mean.

Still feel like a cripple- hate this.
How long is swelling of knee going to last? Don't have f/u with OS until June 2nd...
 
Good idea to stay in today. Have you been able to do any cooking yet? Today would be a good day to bake or cook if I was staying in. But cleaning is in the agenda for the morning.
 
I believe many of those that had replacements years ago have forgotten what all they had gone through. Time helps us to get over the really bad things that we've experienced. What really gripes me though, is hearing them say that they had to exercise really hard to get back to normal. We know that's not true. So many people tell us to do the therapy like we're supposed and we'll get back, too. I just smile and tell them thank you, and that I know it.
 
My OS told me swelling can last up to a year! It's hard for me to put any jeans on because of that. It's supposed to hit 80 by the middle of the week here. Then I'll have the excuse it's too hot to go out.:heehee: It was beautiful here yesterday and I kept saying I'll go for a walk. I never did. Some days I just feel like :old:
 
Hi Newbie,

Same here sweetie, I thought I was doing so very well, walked around the shopping centre (that's mall in UK) , just to 2 shops mind you and sat in a restaurant on Thursday for lunch.
Friday as I'd done so well I decided to walk around a local park, only a small one and then walk around 2 shops! By the end I was hurting but thought nothing of it, boy was I so wrong! Yesterday and today I have not been able to do much as the knee is moaning like mad at me and is swollen again! As I know I'm only 3 days behind you!

My consultant told me that I would carry on healing for a year but that the last 4 months of that I would barely notice the changes at they would be so slow! So what was I thinking at only 10 weeks.

I agree, feeling like a cripple sucks, but then I'm used to it so you'd think I wouldn't be so affected but we are.
Got your PM will answer soon.
Hugs for now xxx
 
@KarriB
No, no cooking yet Karri. Busy helping my sister work on cleaning up the back k yard, poop-scooping (i know, tmi...lol) mowing the lawn...promised her I'd start cleaning all the patio furniture and seat cushins...this work I need to balance in with my own rehab on the knee as well as keeping up with my own cleaning, vaccuming, laundry. You get my drift. Really want to try the recipe you sent and I will.

@Eyesnlegs
Sorry to hear that what you thought would be a minimal excursion for your knee turned out to be a killer...But I totally empathize with you...even though it's only been 10 weeks for us and WE BOTH KNOW that it will take much longer, I STILL think I can do more with the knee than I'm supposed to. After all, I have worked out for so many years before surgery, but seeing now that this may not make much of a difference in my recovery.
Look forward to hearing from you.
 
@newlybionic
Another yucky, (and a word that rhymes with that but begins with an 'S')
drizzly, gray, rainey day here...
But like you said, weather should be in the low 80s by Wednesday.
I don't know if I can stand this swelling for an entire year- I have beauty pageants to compete in, beach bikini contests...oh wait...what was I thinking?? :rotfl:
That's Kim Kardashian's summer, NOT MINE. Thank God.
But I'll be wearing shorts and baggy cake is all summer, to get some sun on my pasty white legs, lol.
:walking:
 
@newlybionic
Ha, I said baggy 'cake' in my last text when I meant baggy capris-
I'm already 'wearing' the cake. On my thighs, ha ha
 
I've got cake all over! :loll: Since I wasn't out in the sun all last summer because of my TKR in July I am so totally pale I look anemic! Hoping to finally getting outdoors this summer other than to PT or doctor visits.
 
Question for everyone: when can I start doing strengthening exercises for my tkr LEG?
For example: standing on my tkr LEG by itself for say 5-10 seconds at a time
OR, standing on my non-tkr leg while GENTLY swinging the tkr LEG out to the side, straight, about 45 degree angle, say 5 times...
OR, very gentle mini-mini squats, like squating only three inches down 5-10 times
OR, walking forward bending alternating knees, very slowly, very gently
OR, gentle "marching in place to the best of the robin's singing outside my window?

Whadda' think?
 
We usually recommend about 12 weeks. I'd skip the mini squats - you get that sort of exercise whenever you sit down and get up again.
Just go gently and be careful not to over-stress your knee. Remember that it's still a baby!
 
My PTs waited 4 months, but I was riding a bike every day at the lowest tension before I started strength exercises. I think you definitely want to work on getting the bike to go all the way around to help with ROM before starting strength exercises.
 
Yay! :yay: That's great news! My PTs had me do 5 min, then 10 min and I started working up to miles on my home bike. Building up with no tension but going fast will help with your stamina and later (depending on your other knee) you can add tension for strength. I always felt that riding the bike helped loosen up my knee.
 
As others have said, waited for the strength till about 3 1/2 months, but focused on stretching hammies, quads, and knee from day 1. Yay on your bike rotation - I remember that feeling so great!

On the swelling issue, assuming you aren't over-doing the exercise (:no-fin:), I found gentle massage to have been an enormous help! Most of my swelling was gone by my 3-week follow-up with each knee. OS was quite surprised. A friend who is quite skilled in lymphatic and shiatsu massage worked on calves, then sides & backs of knee (didn't want to mess up incision healing), then thighs to help move fluid through the knee and legs. Tremendous relief of pain.

@Newbie tkr , sine you are planning so much time in the sun, remember to put a lot of sunscreen on the scar the first year. I used a 50 ... I remember folks in Hawaii looking at me oddly as I walked around with a white line of 50 down each knee :rotfl:, but better than damaging that brand new skin/scar.
 
@KarriB
OK Ms. Guru... Going back tomorrow and will do 5 minutes but still keeping the seat high enough where I can barely touch the petals, :bicycle2:, ha ha. And totally get the building up the stamina...actually walking on the treadmill now 3x a week at 10 minutes with an ascent level of 6 and a walking speed of 2.0. Of course, before my surgery, was doing 25 minutes on treadmill with ascent of 11 and walking speed of 3.2...oh well, one day at a time...
 
@NightQuilter
Hi NQ: thanks for the feedback. Wish I had access to a good masusse...until then I enjoy doing some gentle stretching on my own. I must say though, after 10 plus weeks post-op, THERE JUST ISN'T ENOUGH to do. Mentally ready to do a 16 hour day. Physicallyn I can do a four hour day, or I should say MY KNEE can do a four hour day.
But I end up sleeping so much because I need to continually rest the leg after some specific one hour activity-
Puh- leese tell me you went through this...I feel so utterly lazy but get so bored after reading, writing in bed, watching tv in bed, yada yada yada that I sleep.:gaah:
 
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