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Knee Infection Finally Finishing Up

Is there any possibility that the brace has shifted? Are you allowed to take it off and reposition it maybe have it off for a bit of time would give your legs some relief.


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I am at my 2 week mark and everything seems to be going OK. Unlike the normal TKR my leg is still in the KAFO brace (knee-ankle-foot orthosis)...these fancy names:) The plastic front of this brace is really irritating the staples on parts of the leg, even with the extra padding I put there. Today I just hung out on the bed with the leg out of the brace and worked. I think the hardest part of this process is having patience. I can't wait to finally be able to bend the knee. I see the OS on Thursday to start taking out these staples and I know it will be another couple of weeks before I can start doing anything with the knee. I am just so tired of having to be immobile. I can get up to go to the bathroom and that is pretty much it. I am not having a lot of pain any more and just take the pain meds at night. I know that will probably change when I get active. So right now I am just on a holding pattern. Here is a current picture:)
 

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That is quite a scar, but it looks better than it did! You are being prayed for by many of us! Keep up the good healing!
 
Peggy, you've been so patient for so long! Just a few more weeks. :yes: I'll be interested to hear what your doctor wants you to do when you're allowed to bend. I bent the knee for the first month, then kept it straight for the 2nd month. When my OS said I could bend it and do non-aggressive heel slides, I asked what those were. He put his foot behind mine and slid my foot about an inch or two. That was all he wanted me to do and try to walk normally. My leg felt very weak and unstable when I began walking without the brace. I had to wean myself from it. The knee was stiff a first and I concentrated on bending when I walked instead of sliding my foot along or lifting my hip.
 
@KarriB All I know for sure is that once they know the grafts are healed they would adjust the brace to allow me to bend just so many degrees a week. I will get more details on Thursday. When is your trip to Disney?
 
I forgot that your brace is the adjustable kind. That will keep you from over doing things or accidentally bending too much. To be honest I was only supposed to be in the imbolizer for 2 weeks, but when the seeping continued my OS decided to hold off. At that point he wanted to special order a brace for me but I said, "nah I'll be done with it soon". Haha! The OTs sewed the Velcro onto my brace so it would fit better and not fall down as easily.

We fly out around 6:00 am, March 29th. So that gives us a whole day that first day. This will be my first time flying with the TKR and the TSA.
 
The human body can be so amazing how it heals. Very impressive at just two weeks.

Patience certainly being tested but there is light at the end of this tunnel for you.
 
@KarriB That will be great for your trip. There should not be a problem with TSA. When my husband and I were flying we just let them know at the first TSA desk that he had a knee replacement and they put us through a different line. I hope you don't get too much snow...we are getting record breaking heat. This weather is crazy.
@Bikesouth Thank you..I hope things start turning for you. It has to be so tiring not knowing what the problem is..especially when you know there is one.
 
So far NO snow! I'm a weather freak and love a good storm. I kept waking up through the night to see if it had started. We weren't supposed to get a blizzard, just 4-6 however an hour away has 8 inches. Is your weather warmer than usual? We have a record warm winter going with very little snow.

Another friend going has flown quite a few times with her TKR, but she other pieces of metal in her body too. Hopefully it will be easy since it's an earlier flight. I never really went south through the winter because I've always been teaching. So it's weird (but easy) to be pulling out summer clothes to pack while I'm still wearing winter clothes.
 
@KarriB enjoy your time in the sun! We've had 8" of lake effect snow here today. I went for a walk in it I'm exhausted!
 
So glad everything went well.


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Peggy, you're doing great. I'm at the point with my cracked patella recovery where I'm opening up the brace one click a week and can bend my knee while sitting down. I'm still supposed to walk with it locked in. It feels so liberating on Monday morning to click to the next spot. I'm up to 70 now, which makes it easy to get in and out of the truck--finally.

It's a long road. I know you're locked in for different reasons, but I know you're going to enjoy it just as much as you're allowed to open things up.


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Appointment went well today. Took out most of the staples and they are very happy with how it looks. Here are the new pictures. The 3 rectangular shapes on the X-ray are part of my brace.
[Bonesmart.org] Finally Finishing Up
[Bonesmart.org] Finally Finishing Up
[Bonesmart.org] Finally Finishing Up

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That sure was a lot of staples! I bet you're happy that part is over. Just a few more to go. It's amazing how the human body can heal itself. It's great that everything is going well for you now. You have certainly been through so much.:friends:
 
Whew! I bet you were glad to have that done! I'm happy the docs like what they're seeing!
 
How long did it take to get all those staples out? It looks like you're healing nicely. Prayer works!
 
@sistersinhim Hi Paula! It probably took about 20 minutes...I needed a breathing break about ½ way through:) She just nipped and I talked all the way through...I like to concentrate on other things during this stuff. I am a firm believer in prayer so I have no doubt it has helped throughout this process:)
 
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