Discouraged by stairs

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Gloria

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TKR December 15, 2008.

Went on a historic home tour yesterday. The house included quite a few stairs. Perhaps 30 in total. It knocked me out !!! Done for the day. What has everyone's experience been with stairs at the same point ?

How much will it improve and when ?? Thanks.
 
Hi, Gloria.....I know from my own knee replacement a year ago that it was easy to get tired when I overdid myself for up to 6 months after. You probably didn't realize (1) how many actual stairs you did, (2) how much walking the tour involved overall, and (3) other associated walking with the tour (getting to and from the car, side trips before or after the tour, etc.). Please don't worry. You'll keep getting stronger with time. All of us overdid ourselves during recovery now and then. The trick is to acknowledge that happened, rest (ice and elevate if you get swelling too), and go on. Those bouts will be less severe and fewer as the months go by.

But....please realize that it can take up to a year (and sometimes even more) for you to completely recover. This is a MAJOR surgery!! Hang in there!!!
 
Hi Gloria... don't be discouraged, be thankful you don't live in a 2 story house! I had my RTKR the end of Sept. and probably go up and down the stairs at least 20 times a day. I feel it more when I'm tired or I've done too much. My husband had his TKR last May and does the stairs with ease. I look forward to reaching that point.
Sandy
 
Hi Gloria
I am a hippy. It seems like knees take longer to recover and may be more painful than hips for some people. So at your point I was still taking narcotic pain meds for my hip. I think you are ok, if you still need them because you hurt, then take them.
I am sure you did a lot of walking yesterday. Jamie gave some good info and advice.
you are over the hardest part it will just get easier and easier
Judy
 
It all depends on how fast you can build up the Quads they are the key to supporting your new knee. I had BI-TKR 14 weeks ago and I can tell a difference each week. The more I work on strengthening my legs the easier stairs get. I still have some discomfort coming down but going up is a breeze. I have stair at work and at home and I noticed last week I could go and come down without using a rail( I thought I would never do that again ) but here I am and loving it. PT is the answer even though you have a new knee the muscles that support it and make it work correctly must be rebuilt through exercise that sometimes is as bad as the knee pain. If you are like me exercise was a four letter word that was avoided at all cost so I was very out of shape, now I ride a bike,walk and don't avoid stairs because they are great PT.

Good luck!

Max
 
I'm a hippie,,,, could someone please tell me why you kneesals are so tough on yourselves? It seems like so many of you are way too focused on how much further you should be in your individual recoveries!!! This is MAJOR surgery & no one is expecting you to lead superhero(ic) lives! Please take it easy,,,,give yourselves more time,& take every day,,,one day at a time!
Just wanted to wish you ALL good luck & to keep up the good work!!!! :). A BIG collective pat on the back to EACH of you! It's Monday,,,,&
I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful week ahead & to think POSITIVE!!!! :)
 
Gloria, I had my TKR the day after you, 16 Dec 2008, and there is no way I would try to do a tour of a house as I am at the moment. I know it would finish me off for the day. It is as much as I can do to go round a supermarket right now. I can go up and down stairs with a hand rail, but not with what I would call ease. So you are obviously doing well now (by my standard).
 
Gloria, I think you are on the right track to take your pain meds on a schedule for a while longer until you don't have so much pain. Your body will tell you when it's time to start slacking off and switching to an over the counter pain med. Also, be realistic about what you should be doing in terms of exercise....LISTEN to your body. If you overdo it (and we all do that), stop and regroup and slow down for a while. You'll get there - HONEST!!!

If you are concerned about the pain being from the surgery, contact your doctor's office and see what they say. The doc or nurse should be able to calm your fears over the phone or with a short office visit.

Keep posting here too...we care about how you're doing!!!
 
TKR December 15, 2008.

Went on a historic home tour yesterday. The house included quite a few stairs. Perhaps 30 in total. It knocked me out !!! Done for the day. What has everyone's experience been with stairs at the same point ?

How much will it improve and when ?? Thanks.

I guess I'll just continue to take hydrocodone. One tab every 4-6 hours for pain. Any thoughts ?

I am scared that it might be a sciatic problem caused by the surgery.

Gloria, you've told us practically nothing about this pain and then drop in the comment that you are 'scared it might be a sciatic problem'.

Can you provide me with a bit more information, please?

What kind of pain is it?
Where is it?
When did it start or has it been there all along?
Does it come and go or is it constant?
Have you ever experienced a pain like this before?
What pain meds are you taking, do they give any relief?
Are you able to sleep?
What makes you suspect it might be 'caused' by the surgery?

There might be more but you get my drift. More info please.
 
Gloria Im totally impressed with your achievement! I had my TKR Dec 8th and I STILL cant go up stairs one at a time with each leg. I still go up one - with left leg and then the same stair with the right leg. No strength to raise a step with the sore knee. You are doing brilliantly even going to a day out llike this - i couldnt do it yet - -

kipper - not good at stairs!
 
What kind of pain is it?

My knee burns. My entire leg aches especially behind my knee.

Where is it?

See above.

When did it start or has it been there all along?

Leg started about 3 weeks ago.

Does it come and go or is it constant?

Constant without pain pills.

Have you ever experienced a pain like this before?

No

What pain meds are you taking, do they give any relief?

Yes, hydrocodone. 1 tab every 4 to 6 hours provides relief.

Are you able to sleep?

Yes but only with the pain pills.

What makes you suspect it might be 'caused' by the surgery?

I have never had this type of pain before. Only since the surgery.

Xrays this coming Monday to look for other problems.
 
Gloria, your pain sounds exactly like what I had between months 3-6. It was "caused" by the surgery only in that it was soft tissue swelling around the knee when I pushed too hard and did too much. If you get pain like this, it's a sign you need to slooooow down! When it comes, take the pain pills. That's what they are for....to relieve your pain after surgery. You are still barely into recovery from MAJOR surgery.
 
Quite so, Jamie! Nothing more for me to add!
 
I, too, had the "pain behind the knee" thing. I still do, to a certain extent. My PT has narrowed it down to weak hamstrings on that leg, so I am now doing exercises to strengthen them. I am not balanced (you all knew that, anyway). My TKR knee does all the quad work and my not-operated-yet leg does the hamstring work.
 
Gloria I am just over 7 weeks out now from RTKR and I went in with some quad and hamstring strength (although diminished) from years of working out. I am just now finding I can do shallow stairs (one flight) going up without the handrail reasonably well and not so good (need stronger quads) down. And of course the fear of falling going down which doesn't help. What the brain fears - rational or not - sometimes happens. You are about a month further along and I imagine that a house tour might have steep steps which would be much more tiring and difficult to do. The stairs in my home are rather steep and more like attic stairs and I have trouble with them. You tend to think you feel better than you really are.. at least I do. So you overdo. You have to balance between being too cautious and never testing yourself or trusting your new knee -- and wiping yourself out!!! I went for an unexpectedly long, long hilly walk last Sunday with my husband - about twice what I have been doing. Not by choice. Got somewhat lost. I was totally wiped out so I took some Advil when I got home which helped alot. I don't get pain so much as just aching around the incision area and also - like everyone I guess - back of knee and a little top of the knee swelling. I thought I would sleep like a log because I was so tired but I was tossing and turning all night. Not pain. Just not sleeping. So your body can react differently than you'd expect. Bottom line -- if you do alot one day...and you get tired and you get pain ---just cool it for a few days and take it a little easy on the (mandated) exercises. I can tell you as a former marathon runner that totally physically healthy people overdo it all the time and get aches and pains and get wiped out for a couple of days. So add that to the fact that for some people it takes many months to recover totally from an operation as major as this one --- well -- you can see how easy it is to push too fast. We are all so eager to jump back into life - especially when you've been limited in the activities you could do before the TKR. It's hard NOT to overdo!!! We all just want our lives back, on our own terms. Now. And I think because the new knee is so nice and stable and gets better and better -- we just forget there is a rather long process - what Jamie says - at least 6 months to (for some) more than a year before you are "normal". At least, Gloria you ARE doing things and getting your life back so don't get discouraged. Just ratchet back a bit....
Stephani
 
Well said, Stephani.....thanks!
 
Remember when you were young(er) and ran up and down stairs without even thinking about it! I don't think it's ever going to be like that again, but just climbing steps with stability and confidence would be great!
 
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