TKR Everything Comes to She Who Waits

[bottomshollow]

patient 99, I have found two avatars that I thought you might like to use. They are already sized to fit perfectly as I have tested them. Just right click on the attached picture and "save image as" in your picture files. Then hover your mouse of your user name at the top of the page and from the drop down menu select "Avatar". The click the browse button and find the picture in your files and double click it. Then click "Okay"and you are done.

If you are not interested, my feelings will not be hurt. I just enjoy doing this when the opportunity presents itself.

 

[Fernie]

Fernie You amaze me as well with all you are doing, I mean working, caring for a little one, shopping, etc. Hope you've been resting this weekend.[/quote]

hi, really dont know about being amazing (although guess it comes with the Wonder Woman t erritory! ). Just really trying to get back to normal, even though its far from normal and I always wish I could do more.

busy weekend as usual, being a Glam girlie on fri night with the girls, running around with little one on sat then cinema and lunch yesterday and housey bits! still wanted to get more done but had to admit defeat and get some rest!

have a good week. Fernie

 

[Nu nee]

Hi patient 99, I am just a little ahead of you. I had my RTKR Feb. 11, 2013. I have the same sensations inside my knee. I get the scratchy, sometimes itchy, tingly, sore sensation. And, my knee is so tight some days I can hardly stand it. I am back to work now, and I get home to just zone out on the couch, too tired to think much. I have gotten a lot of good support here. I think one thing is that by 12 weeks the noticeable improvement is not so noticeable any more. It feels like you have gone as far as you are going. There are many people who have walked this road who reassure us that it does indeed get better. I spent two weeks thinking that my surgeon had done something wrong until I found this web site. Everyone keeps drumming patience. So, I guess that is it. I agree that you are doing a lot each day. Slow it down. I find that I have a day that really zones me out and tightens my knee, then I take it easy for a few days and it gets better. Hmmm, what a concept. (Slow learner here) Someone on here said 'King Knee' is in control. Let it lead. We cannot tell the future, but I am willing to guess that you are not in the 1-2% that does badly or at least it's too soon to tell.

Now with the good advice I have given you doesn't mean that I have this down pat. There are days that I really need to take my own advice. This is also a learning experience.

Hang in there.

 

[patient 99]

Hi Nu Nee. Thanks for your message. It helps to know I am not alone. I smiled when you said I was doing a lot each day only to read that you are back to work! I could not even consider that. I have started to keep a diary in the hope that it will show that I am improving. I have set myself a `hope date`. I am hoping that by 1 August 2013 that I don't feel all the painful inner workings of my knee with every step I take. By August we will both be at the 22 week post op stage. Of course, as the knee doesn't pay any attention to any targets my head sets, I realize I could be setting myself up for a big disappointment. Still if it gives me something to aim for surely that can't be a bad thing? What exercise do you do each day? What is your biggest improvement to date? When you are at work how do you cope without elevating/icing regularly? Best wishes Pat 99

 

[bottomshollow]

patient 99, FYI: It is not necessary to use the "Quote This Message" to reply to a post. This feature should be used only when there is a post or several posts on another topic between your post and the post you want to respond to.

To reply to a post, just put your cursor in the dialogue box below the post you are responding to and start typing.

You can quote a sentence or a section of a post by simply highlighting it and clicking on the "Quote Me" oblong that appears in gray at the end of the highlighted selection. This is frequently a better choice than quoting a whole post.

Please do not be upset by this bit of info---many new members have this very same problem---so you're in very good company---and we're not mad at you---just trying to keep the forum neat and tidy.

 

[Nu nee]

Hi Patient 99. I am back to work, but that is pretty much all I am doing. I come home and crash. No cleaning and sometimes barely eating. I have set Aug as a goal date. I hear so many people saying that they noticed a turn at six months. I hope that neither of us gets disappointed.

I really am not doing much in the way of formal exercising since I am working. I do a fair amount of walking, and I get my knee stretches by rolling around my office on my desk chair. I sometimes do some upper body resistance training. I was dong the bicycle, but, I found that afterwards I was more stiff so I stopped that.

Each day I try to remember one day at a time. Actually one week at a time, because I mostly have seen positive changes by the week not by the day. Right now it feels like I am at a standstill. Sometimes I think I have gone backwards. That is distressing to the utmost.

Hang in there. We will make it.

 

[patient 99]

Hi Nu Nee What I find really encouraging is that we both had TKRs at the same time, are much the same age (I'm 65) and are experiencing similar things with our recovery. That I think shows that while its hard and slow we are both OK ie, normal, nothing to worry about.

I did a daft thing yesterday. I looked after a friend's little boy. I picked him up from school, gave him his tea, bathed him and stayed with him until his dad got home at 7.15pm. By the time I got home at 7.30 I was in so much pain. I so wanted a cup of tea, but all I could do was get to my bed. Clearly that was too much. I wont do that again. This morning the vice-like grip is back and walking is very uncomfortable.

As we can't both be going backwards, we MUST be going forwards - just slower than I was led to believe. On a higher note. What progress do you think you have made in the last week or so? Best wishes Pat99

 

[patient 99]

Hi Bottomshollow, I hope I'm not causing you too many problems as I get familiar with Bonesmart. You mentioned that I could block out a section of a message and a quote me box would appear. This would then enable me to just quote that little bit of the message. The quote box does appear but that's as far as it goes. The dialogue box does not appear. To get round this I am pressing the button to quote the whole message and then deleting everything except the bits I want. Seem OK? Pat99

 

[patient 99]

Sorry bottomshollow, just posted a message and forgot to delete the `quote this message` bit. Will get better I promise. Its my knee you know it makes me a bit dotty. <grin> Pat99

 

[Nu nee]

Hi Pat 99. Yes we are traveling the same road at the same time. I will be 65 in Nov. You are right, we can't be doing backwards so forward motion it is.

I was just thinking today that I was noticing a subtle difference. My knee was still stiff, but something was different. I couldn't really put my finger on it, but, it seemed that I was walking differently. I didn't know why. Of course as I was trying to figure it out, I it changed back to yesterday's walk. So, it is a little bit here and there. Kind of like a tease. I figure that 'tease' has got to be a good thing. A sign of things to come.

You mentioned that your knee makes you a little dotty...I keep telling everyone that I still have anesthesia on the brain.

Keep your eyes on the prize!

 

[patient 99]

Hi Bottomshollow, can you explain what the `Ratings Received` means in the box showing age, location, country etc. A +1 has appeared in mine and I've no idea what for. Pat99

 

[Josephine]

These are the 'likes' and other ratings that other members can apply to your post. As you can see, I just 'liked' your post, so now it say Rating Received are 2. They're not really intended to be of any significance - just a bit of fun.

You can read all about it here "Like", "Agree" and other cute things to put on people's posts

 

[kneeper]

patient99-- you're so right that the Knee pays no attention to our "targets." It just
But it will improve bit by bit. Like nu nee said--watch for the changes week by week.
When you find you've overdone it one day, it's ok to back off a bit the next.

 

[patient 99]

Hello Bottomshollow I thought that if I was writing a message about me that I put it in my thread. However if my message was about another member that I went into their thread. Is this incorrect? What happens if a message I am sending is a bit about me and bit about the other member? Or is it that whenever I write anything, about anything that I do it in my thread?

I wanted to ask you a question yesterday. So I did so by going into your thread. I thought if I put it any where else you wouldn't know I had messaged you. Incorrect? I am sending and receiving messages, but it seems its more by luck, and you are having to tidy up after me. So sorry. This is the first time I've ever used such a site and I haven't got it clear in my head how it works. I would like to continue on Bonesmart, but don't want to be a pest.

 

[Josephine]

@patient 99 Now I have read all your thread, I am totally surprised you have any flexion at all in your knee!

Let me ask you some questions again
Is you knee swollen?
Are you still icing and elevating your leg?
Are you still having pain, if so how much. The usual way to describe this is on a 1-10 scale, 1 being no pain at all and 10 being the worst pain you can imagine.

Now I've read your articles I think I have been doing some things wrong. Is that so?

Very wrong! The best credo for this procedure is not to do anything for the first three weeks except gentle heel slides and walking about the house for essential things only. Getting up for a short walk every hour or so is good as well. However, you are way past that now but are reaping the wind for doing far too much far too soon in your early days. As a result, what's happened is that you have stalled your recovery and need to start again to a degree. When you have answered my questions above, I will come back and discuss this with you some more.

She said I should be massaging over the TKR incision as well as lengthwise friction massage either side of the incision. She said firm massaging would help break up scar tissue. I've tried massaging gently and a little firmer. The result seems to be an increase in swelling. Not what I want. Has anyone tried this? Did it do any good?

This seems to be a standard response to patients who are having problems "just do this and it will all go away" then when it doesn't the patient is still left in a quandary and now feeling guilty that perhaps they didn't massage long enough/often enough/hard enough which is, of course, all tommy rot!

 

[patient 99]

I think I have been doing quite well recently, but today was the day from hell. It started as usual and I decided to do a bit of retail therapy. Put 2 hrs in the parking meter. 15mins later I crawled back to the car very scared and in a lot of pain. It started when I was trying on shoes. I was feeling good so decided to push my foot back a little (about 90). I did it a couple of times then left the shop. I didn't get 10 steps before my knee changed into a heavy bit of wood that wouldn't bend . I could feel severe nerve pain shooting down the inside of my leg from knee to ankle. The tightness around the knee kept increasing and increasing. I started to sweat and knew I would faint if I didn't sit down. I made it to a seat where a kind person could see I was in trouble. They helped me back to my car.

I've been shopping lots of times since my op and whilst its never easy, I've never had an experience like today. All I can put it down to is pushing my foot back. 90 isn't normally a struggle when I am exercising indoors. In fact I manage a lot more. So who knows????

The upshot of it all is that it has severely smashed the little confidence and well being I was managing to put in place. What a bummer.

 

[patient 99]

Is your knee swollen?
Not in the morning. The swelling increases as the day wears on

Are you still icing and elevating your leg? Yes. In the way you said.

Are you still having pain, if so how much.
It varies, on average I would say level 5 pain. But today (for only the second time ) it was a 10.

`However, you are way past that now but are reaping the wind for doing far too much far too soon in your early days. As a result, what's happened is that you have stalled your recovery and need to start again to a degree. `
Josephine, I have not walked this road before. I did what I was told to do by surgeons, nurses and PTs. The importance of exercising was said loud and clear from the minute I came out of the operating room. I was told not to exercise to the point that it caused me pain, but that I did have to build up strength in my muscles and do the exercises I'd been given 3 times a day. So I did. I was told if it swelled to ice and elevate. So I did - albeit that it transpired that I should have elevated my leg higher. This I now do.

To now hear that you think I have stalled my recovery is devastating. Where the hell do I go from here. Who do I listen to? Too upset to say more.

 

[Josephine]

And re your request for instructions on how to use the forum:

We (I) like members to have their own recovery thread where they talk about how they are doing and ask any questions. However, this does not mean you can't wander around the forum, chipping on other people's threads nor they your thread, so long as your don't derail someone else's thread by asking questions about your own case. Okay thus far?

To reply to another member's post, just scoot on down to the bottom of the page and start writing in the message box. If you want to address your comment to an individual, just start your comment much like you would a letter by saying "RestAssured, that was very helpful, thank you". Then you can start another paragraph to someone else the same way. All in the same post.

Alternatively, you can quote snippets of another person's post - the instructions are here How to quote a post.

And finally, you can find all sorts of educational articles with illustrations about how to do things, including how to find your own thread, in here How To Use This Forum. That's a link, you just click on the underlined bit and get taken to that forum.

 

[Josephine]

I did what I was told to do by surgeons, nurses and PTs. The importance of exercising was said loud and clear from the minute I came out of the operating room. I was told not to exercise to the point that it caused me pain, but that I did have to build up strength in my muscles and do the exercises I'd been given 3 times a day. So I did. I was told if it swelled to ice and elevate. So I did - albeit that it transpired that I should have elevated my leg higher. This I now do. To now hear that you think I have stalled my recovery is devastating. Where the hell do I go from here. Who do I listen to? Too upset to say more.

The first thing is not to panic! We'll just take this a step at a time and get you where you need to be. When the hospital staff gave you those instructions, they maybe overstated things or perhaps you over-interpreted them (or both!). Either way I think they never really intended you to be doing as much as you have been doing and certainly never realised you would be doing it without the benefit of good pain meds. Pain management is the entire key to all this. You cannot do exercises or activity if you are in pain. Pain will also make your Energy Drain and the swelling worse. And the effects of this is in the article about the swollen leg. (see the articles)

But please don't get in a panic. It's all undoable, we just need to get you back on track.

on average I would say level 5 pain. But today (for only the second time ) it was a 10.

Then you need something more than just paracetamol. Anti-inflammatories wouldn't have been enough for you anyway. You needed something much stronger like Tramadol. I have to ask if your GP knows you haven't been taking anything at all for these last weeks.

Not in the morning. The swelling increases as the day wears on

That's a good sign that it's not visibly swollen first thing but there is also such a thing as internal swelling which is largely responsible for the 'stalled recovery' I mentioned. You were getting anxious about adhesions. Trust me when I say this is much more manageable.

First thing you have to do is contact your GP, tell him what's been going on (re the pain and no pain meds) and ask if you can have something like Tramadol to help you get started again.

Then you need to give up all the activity and just stick with the gentle exercises. You are - you said - about 90-100 degrees of flexion so doing pretty well. If your GP is helpful and you can reign in your activity, you should find yourself making strides (pardon the pun!) in the next 2-3 weeks or so.

 

[patient 99]

Josephine, thanks for your latest messages. I do appreciate your taking the time to help me - a perfect stranger. Its a bank holiday today, but I will make an appt. with my GP tomorrow and see if I can get a script for Tramadol. Am off to my bed now to you know what - Rest, ice and elevate. Pat99