TKR Fast Recovery

R&B Skater

new member
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Jan 25, 2019
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Had out patient surgery Jan 15, 2019. In at 11 am and out by 7pm to home.

Used BoneSmart site extensively before surgery to be able to ask questions of surgeon and make best decisions. Have been wanting a TKR since I tore my meniscus playing indoor badminton 3 years ago. Now I'm bone on bone so I get to have a new knee!!

I was doing weight lifting, dance roller skating, badminton, stationary biking, gardening and walking prior to surgery. Hiking and snow shoeing were too difficult. By end of second day I was off my walker. By day 6 after surgery I took a 1½hr very slow walk with walking sticks outside.

I've taken very little oxycodone and depended on max acetaminophen. Had pain pump for first 3 days. Using ice machine was given to me at discharge. I highly recommend it!

Pain level max 4/10 & usually low except when doing heel slides & leg straightening. Nights on the couch are tough due to discomfort. I'm at day 10 post surgery & can do 10 toe raises on surgical leg alone, go upstairs fine and downstairs with care. I have 0-119 degree ROM.

My PT says I should be hiking within 3 months and I'm now hoping to start dance R&B quad roller skating indoors in 2 months, as skating is easier on knees than walking. I consider myself very lucky, though I'm still recovering from broken ankle surgery due to a fall while hiking and only got my cast off Aug 22, 2018 from that . I'm ready for a good summer!
 
It sounds like you are having a good recovery!!! I had a really easy recovery with my second knee! Just remember that you just had major surgery and you need lots of rest to recover. Two hours on the couch for every one hour up. I will give you the recovery articles we recommend for those with a new knee.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines. Don’t worry:

1. Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now; they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for TKRs


The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Energy drain for TKRs

Elevation is the key

Ice to control pain and swelling

Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Welcome to Bonesmart! What an amazing recovery you are having so far! If you obey your knee, you should continue to have a good recovery!
 
I bet your parents had a fine time keeping track of you growing up! I too am having a really good recovery. Where did you have your surgery? I think the good recoveries are linked to the best surgeons.
 
You're doing great! I was doing great too! Same thing... walking with my poles, feeling good!

Just cautioning you... as you feel better and better you will be naturally doing your thing... and your thing may be simply too much. If you start swelling badly or pain… you've done too much. I was the poster child for TKR, at 9 weeks my progress screeched to a halt after my PT had me on the wobble board, the half round balance ball, and squats against the wall! It's super easy to be over confident because it feels so darn good to move again!!! And I think our nerve endings aren't quite working well... because I never felt much pain to say NOOOOO don't do that! So Swelling hours later was my "Over done it monitor" that I'm going to listen to from here on!

So be careful! The advice from the administrators here is super! I really liked the depression after surgery article... It explained my restlessness... and feeling helpless... hence pushing myself to not feel those things!

You're doing great! be mindful and you're on your way to a super positive post surgery experience!
 
You seem to be doing well, discomfort trying to find a comfy position was always annoying but I put a pillow between my legs and that helped.
 
I had my surgery at Kaiser Permanente Washington at the Seattle Central Kaiser Surgery Outpatient site. My surgeon was Dr Jung who has done thousands of knees over many years.

Two of my friends have had very successful TKR surgeries with him 15 years ago, 3 years ago and most recently Aug 30, 2018. He only does Zimmer Persona TKR. Mine retained the PCL but lost the ACL. He does not do surgery that retains ACL as he is not comfortable with the track record of the hardware needed and he is more confident of a positive outcome. My research said that the surgeon is most critical, so I decided to forgo trying to find a surgeon to retain my ACL. Only bruising was slight yellow discoloration.

I hear you about not doing too much. I tried 10 minutes biking but my range of motion wasn't quite enough to make it worthwhile doing. Walking 1 1/2 hrs definitely caused a little more swelling the next day, which I try to take into account on what I do that day. Thanks for the feedback.
 
I'd really like to offer you some structured advice but in order to do that, I also need to ask you some questions. Are you willing for me to do that?
 
Started driving an automatic car today, 17 days post TKR surgery on right knee. Physical Therapist said my goal to roller skate at a Valentines Feb 15 skating event with out of town DJ is reasonable given my recovery up to now. I'll keep you posted!
 
Physical Therapist said my goal to roller skate at a Valentines Feb 15 skating event with out of town DJ is reasonable given my recovery up to now. I'll keep you posted!
I'm glad you're having a great recovery so far.

However, you've just had very major surgery, an operation from which it takes a full year for all your traumatized tissues to recover completely.
Just because you can do something doesn't always mean that you should.

Quite honestly, I think that roller-skating just a month after this major surgery would be foolhardy. Although there may not be the same impact with roller-skating when your foot hits the floor, you are likely to fall. And you'd be falling at some speed onto a hard surface. Although the replacement hardware is strong, you could cause painful damage to your soft tissues. Are you willing to risk that?

We've seen a lot of people here on BoneSmart who make the mistake of doing too much, too soon. Doing that can set back and slow down your recovery.
 
@R&B Skater did you not notice my post just above yours? I'd appreciate a response, pwease?
 
Wow is all I can say. I know someone who was back dancing after 6 weeks and thought that was amazing. At 15 days post op I'm not doing anything like that amount of walking, more like 10 minutes! Good luck with the rest of your recovery.
 
Thanks for the concerns expressed by the administrators. I researched carefully before my surgery to get the best possible outcome and made sure I was in as good of shape as possible. I have carefully followed the protocol of my surgeon and physical therapist whose recommended exercises have been modified appropriately as I have progressed.

Based on my own and the therapists opinion I am way ahead of the curve. I am aware that my tissue is still healing. However, my emotional being also needs taking care of. I am willing to take the chance that doing what brings me joy and makes continuing doing the daily exercises worthwhile may cause a set back in tissue healing if I have a serious fall. Based on my experience, a bad fall is very unlikely, while the upside of getting a high from skating with friends and exploring what I need to work on to get back in to it fully is worth it to me.

I had a lot of sensitivity in my knee and leg post TKR. It was especially noticeable when trying to sleep and the touch of the covers really bothered me. The pharmacists I talked to said that most lotions for pain such as Icy Hot would be irritating, which I agreed. Pain medicines don't really address the unpleasant sensations. The second pharmacist I talked to actually had a suggestion. She said to try full tights. I was skeptical, however I bought Hanes ComfortFlex heaviest denier tights designed to adapt to your body temperature. Much to my surprise they helped tremendously.

It helped that it's winter here and cold. They provide mild pressure which helps blood flow and are snug enough not to move and cause friction. I'm sure it won't help everyone, but it may be worth a try, especially as they are less than $10.
 
@R&B Skater
You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:
  • That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
  • If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
  • Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.
So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.
 
What does R and B stand for?

Your talk of roller skating brings back fond memories of my teenage years. Our church youth group skated once a month with a bunch of other church youth groups. They had a big organ that a man played while we skated. Do they still have that? Cute thing that I was then, I skated almost all the “couples only” skates. Good times!
 
I dance skate to rhythm and blues music. Roller skating is much easier on the knees than walking and it's great for improving balance. It can be easier to more intense exercise depending on what kinds of moves you do. I skate with people from age 18 to in their 70's. Many are returning to it as it's such great exercise and getting into the moves to music makes you forget all your troubles. It's recommended as an exercise for children who don't have muscle tone as it improves their balance. Yes, there are a few rinks out there that have day time sessions with organ music.
 
I met my goal of skating the first time 4 weeks + 3 days post surgery. I did far better than I had dreamed of and of course skated longer than I meant to, 2 1/2 hours. The last half hour I definitely felt my knee. I was thrilled to find that I could do all my fancy moves, including spins, fancy footwork and backwards and forwards, plus spot skating in the middle. I wasn't conscious of having a bionic knee and didn't miss my ACL or quad tendon. That was Friday and went again Sunday. I did have to work Saturday to get my swelling down after Friday's skating. I've been concentrating on icing, easy stationary biking and strengthening without weights. I've limited Range of Motion exercises to once per day as I'm already good, and will definitely improve once my swelling has gone. I also take 1 to 2 hour walks a few times a week. I don't expect to start doing indoor badminton for at least another month or more. I will be ready for mountain hiking starting in June when some of our trails start opening up. I get my 6 week surgeon check up on Feb 27 and will post an update.
 
That's terrific progress, so glad it all worked out for you and you're back skating already. I'm envious of your long walks, 30 mins is sufficient for me at present.
 
Awesome skating at 4 weeks! I’m impressed.:wow:
 
2 yrs after TKR surgery update: After 5 wks from my TKR I was disco roller skating. In 2 months I was playing indoor competitive badminton. By 3 months I did a 8.5 mile round trip mountain hike. At 1 year I skated 8 straight days 3-5 hours a day at an out of town skate event.This summer, 1.5 yrs after surgery, I did hiking scrambles and a 16 mile round trip backpack (very light pack) with 4000 ft elevation gain. I still find it more difficult to do scrambles with big steps and boulders. I had to adjust to my TKR knee not bending as much as my other knee. I've been doing weight lifting to my previous level so I can maintain strength. The TKR has improved the performance of my other knee and both hips that were showing symptoms of arthritis damage. I do not feel the artificial knee at all, and both legs are equally strong now. Don't delay! Get your TKR now! It's made life wonderful again for a person who survives on exercise. And at 66 I'm no youngster.
 

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