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TKR Feel so alone

@Flash1955 please don't beat yourself up. I am 12 weeks today and only just started walking up stairs like an adult. Paid for it next day as pushed that little bit too far. Swelling, so obviously put paid to most things except good old ice. I refuse to beat myself up any more, take each day and praise yourself for the slightest achievements. It's taking me still to today to walk properly but I am getting there, not going too far but at least each day a little better. And, that's the secret with this nuisance that's hanging around with us, you cannot rush it, it will only do things when it's ready. So, try to praise yourself, don't let PT tell you what to do, you don't need them. I had two sessions and been doing ok on my own. We have the support here, fabulous advise, fabulous people, together we can do it. As @Qdogpa says, time is our friend xxxxx
 
Well said, Andy Pandy.
A little improvement each day, multiplied by 365 days in the year (which is as long as full recovery can take) equals success
 
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Good morning everyone, the weather in the UK has been lovely and I have spent lots of time in the garden

Tomorrow I enter into week 8. I am now walking about in my house unaided but when going outside for a short walk I rely on one crutch or my husbands arm. I still have a limp but I am trying to mimic how my other leg moves when walking. I am now able to cook a full meal for my family on my own but after 1/2hr-1hr my knee is very swollen, feels very tight and doesn’t want to bend. Once we have all eaten I then sit on the sofa to elevate and ice my knee.

Walking up the stairs normally is still difficult, my bad knee still feels weak but walking down the stairs normally is still proving a major feat.

I am still doing a few exercises in the morning e.g. sitting on the edge of a chair and bending my knee back as far as comfortably possible, laying on my bed and bending my knee with the help of a band, as directed by hospital physio the day after my op. And lastly leaning my operated leg on the bottom stair and bending my good knee to enable the muscles to stretch behind the bad knee. ( I have not received any physio support since coming out of hospital due to Covid 19) Should I be doing anything else now to improve the bend and stretching of the knee? My flexion is still at 90 and my extension has not improved since a week after my op. I can still get my whole hand under my knee when extended and laying flat on my bed.

Am I doing everything right at this stage of recovery?

I hope you all keep safe and well x
 
:flwrysmile: Good Morning you are doing everything right for this stage in recovery, going up and down stairs are still difficult for me and I'm at the 6 month mark, but I know that eventually one day it will be natural.
Prior to our surgeries most of us walked with a limp for a good number of years so learning to walk "normally" takes time and practice, walk on a flat even surface stand as tall as you can and then concentrate on the heal to toe movement of the foot, try wider steps and try to look ahead. ( I recently walked into a tree branch and whacked my head as I was too busy looking at my feet :flabber: :rotfl: ) enjoy the beautiful English weather ( likewise here in the Algarve we have woken to a glorious sunny day :) Enjoy Sunday and stay safe and healthy xx
 
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I had walked watching my feet for over 20 years. Finally, when my knee was almost a year old I walked with my head up! What a celebration! But, I big but!!, by not watching my feet, I stepped into a hole with my tkr leg and broke my foot and ankle. Guess what, I'm back watching my feet. :boohoo:

My suggestion is to always be aware of where you are putting your feet. You can look down and then back up, just know what's in front of you!
 
Sounds like you are doing pretty well. I found standing for any length of time difficult to lead to stiffness and soreness for quite a while. Can you get some help with dinner? Sit down for some of the prep? Or prep things in stages? One thing I might do is say, chop the onions ahead of time so I wasn't doing everything at once.
 
@Flash1955 - just catching up with your journey here. Congrats on being able to prep a whole dinner at this point! That is huge. :thumb: The pain, swelling, and fatigue afterwards are understandable! Think about all the motions you are doing as you prep the meal which require muscle movement to stabilize. Your approaches to walking more evenly and stretching the back of your new knee sound very intuitive. Just don't try to over-stretch. One I did to help with bend is put my foot on the 3rd step and gently...very gently...lean into the knee. Over the months you can add a bit more bend at a time. :xmark: You may want to wait a couple weeks before trying that as you don't want to irritate any of the newly healing tissues. I still do it today (even 7 years later) as it just feels good to get a deep stretch into the knee, then shift the position slightly to stretch the back of the other leg.

And just a thought … don't think of your new knee as your "bad" knee - embrace the technology that allows us to get this new "equipment" and be able to live our lives more fully again! You now have your new knee and your old knee! :dancy:
 
Hi everyone.
I am now in week 8 of my recovery. My flexion has improved a little but my extension is still terrible, pretty much the same as the day I left hospital. Not sure what I am doing wrong, perhaps I should be working harder on the exercise. I only do 2 knee flexion exercises and 2 extension exercises a day. Should I be doing more? I am starting to walk a little better and weather permitting I go out for a short walk once a day holding onto my husbands arm as my knee is still giving way occasionally. I now do all the everyday household chores and I hope these are also helping me to recover,
I now sleep with a pillow under my whole leg because without this my knee aches and keeps me awake. I think this is because the extension is so bad!
I still feel that I would be further along if I had some support from physio at the hospital and I find it hard to accept that i have been left to my own devises. I am so grateful for BoneSmart but still feel very neglected by my surgeon etc.
Please stay safe everyone.
 
It's not unusual for extension to take longer to achieve than flexion. That's because the large muscles and tendons at the back of your leg have to be stretched slowly and gently.

This article suggests some ways you can help to increase your extension:
Extension: how to estimate it and ways to improve it

This recovery does take a full year and Range of Motion (ROM) can continue to increase for all that time, so there's no need to rush to get full extension. You have plenty of time.

Try not to feel neglected by your surgeon. It's much safer for you to not be going out to physio, with Covid-19 around. Many people recover successfully without physio, just by letting their activities of daily living be their exercise.
It's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your knee has the potential to achieve good ROM right from the start, but it's prevented from doing so by swelling and pain. As it heals and the swelling goes down, your ROM (both flexion and extension) will gradually increase, whether you do formal exercises or not..
 
Hi Celle, thank you. I have just looked at the extension article that you sent to me and by doing as it said I can get my whole hand and more under my knee so I guess I am still +10.
 
@Flash Don't worry too much about the extension this will improve as your knee gets better, I'm just past 6 months and still can get my hand under mine, but I know from BoneSmart that with time it will improve, walking with a long stride and attention to your gait will help enormously.
Try and stay positive you are doing fine and many people here on BoneSmart have had no PT whatsoever and are doing brilliantly. Stay safe xxx
 
My extension was slow coming in. What helped me most was to walk with a longer stride with a heal to toe gait. These longer strides help to stretch out those big muscles in the back on the knee, but it doesn't happen quickly. Those tendons and muscles are quite large and take a longer time to stretch out than what the front ones do.
 
Good morning.
Entering into week 11 and looking back over the time since my op I can see a vast improvement but ( and that is a big but) I am still disappointed with my
progress. I can remember asking my surgeon what the recovery period is and his answer was “give yourself 3 months and you’ll be playing football again with your grandson”. Really!!!!

My flexion is about 110 and my extension has not improved since day one. I am now enjoying time working in the garden, going for 1/2 hr walks each day with my hubby and generally running the house. Of course all these activities come with a penalty e.g. swollen knee, moderate pain after a while, tiredness and feeling like I have a solid knee that doesn’t want to bend any more even though I ice and elevate throughout the day.

I do a couple of exercises each morning before I start my day but as the day progresses my knee looses its flexibility. I can walk up the stairs normally but my knee is struggling to take the weight (I am not a heavy person) and going down the stairs properly is still very difficult. Should I be doing more exercises throughout the day? I still haven’t had any physio or been back to my surgeon for a checkup due to Covid-19. Feel very neglected since the op but at least I have the support from this group, thank you.

I would welcome any advice as to whether I am doing anything wrong at this stage and, if I am, what should I do to help further this seemingly long recovery path.

I wish you all well and stay safe x
 
Flash1955 said:
I can remember asking my surgeon what the recovery period is and his answer was “give yourself 3 months and you’ll be playing football again with your grandson”.
Click to expand...
A former colleague and top knee surgeon once said that it was only after he nursed his Father post TKR that he realised how complex the recovery can be.The flippant answer your surgeon gave you is just rubbish and cruel.

This recovery takes a year or more. Saying you will be playing football at 12 weeks sets the wrong expectation and only creates frustration and anxiety.

You are not doing anything wrong. Your knee is in charge and it will continue to tell you when you are doing too much. No you don't need to do any exercises. Walking and your normal daily activities are all the physio you need.

Continue to ice and elevate when you can. Swelling can take time to ease.
 
Just try to accept your surgeon is a nincompoop talking codswallop. What on earth inspired him to tell you that is totally beyond understanding.
Other than that, I don't need to add more than what Jaycey is telling you.
You are doing absolutely normally, be content with your progress.
 
Flash, i had my tkr same day as you. I made the BIG mistake of pushing far too much too soon, setting myself goals that were frankly stupid. It was only after week 8 that i began to suffer big style with lots of pain especially hamstring and behind the knee. As SIH stated i had ' abused' the knee. Took it a bit personally but it was the truth. Like you ive been cast adrift since surgery due to covid so made it up as i went along with bad results. Now im sure the folk in the know will correct me if im wrong but i suspect your issue could be similar to what i think mine was. I can also get a full hand under my knee when extending the leg, but ive been walking and exercising as if my leg was straight and putting all muscles etc under huge pressure. Hang in there cos by god it s a lot tougher than we expected, but look at all the good stories on here. So it must get better.
 
Like the others are saying, walking has been the biggest help in gaining extension. I have to keep reminding myself to take longer strides, step onto my heel, and straighten my legs. The more time goes by, the more I realize this is not a race. The advice on Bonesmart has never been wrong. Your doctor telling you that football would happen at 3 months, however....
 
I was lucky that my OS told me that at 3 months I could be back at work and could get around ok, but would be far from recovered. He said a year to feel completely "normal" and he was right. But I will say that by 6 months I was much better than at 3 months.

I think you're doing the right things. Walking and daily activity as you can tolerate. I know I had that "solid" feeling after being on my feet for any length of time at 3-4 months. I didn't even have to be doing anything strenuous. But it did gradually diminish.
 
I can feel your frustration @Flash1955 - especially with your OS setting you up with such unrealistic expectations. Keep on doing what you are doing - your daily living will give you the exercise and stretching you need for a full recovery. Everyone above is so correct. Keep elevating and icing and allowing that wonderful new knee to heal properly and on its schedule.
 
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