TKR Fire wolf recovery<

[Fire wolf]

Ok, highlight of my weekend...... I *kicked* a soccer ball around in the yard with my niece! Now I use the term kicked loosely, as it was more like lightly tapping, especially with Spence's leg, but still, it was nice to play with her again for a little bit.

 

[Pheebs52]

Well, it just took me about 30 minutes to catch up with you @Fire wolf! What a splendid 4 month report! That's only 2 weeks away for me, but somehow, I don't think I'll be where you are physically, lol. Regardless, I'm thrilled to see all you can do; woot!

You're so right when you state that we all have different goals and measure our progress accordingly. Another example of why comparing knees is useless, eh? I'm afraid the goniometer App would depress me, so I'll hold off on that; hah!

It's great that you've been sleeping and napping so much on weekends to build up some stamina for the work week. So much healing occurs during sleep, so keep rocking those zzz's, guilt-free.

You played soccer? Your niece must've been thrilled, but not more than you; huzzah!

 

[Pheebs52]

P.S.: Last night, I thought of you when I had kneel on the bed to turn the ceiling fan on, lol! Yep, you were my inspiration for that little trick!

 

[Fire wolf]

@Pheebs52, I'm not sure that I, or more notably Bionic Spence, should be the inspiration for anyone! He has a mind all his own, and once again astounded and amazed me with his latest *trick*! So, I was at work, and one of the employees had his dog with him, just a chihuahua mix, small and low to the ground. Well, she is a little skittish, but I am a huge fan of dogs, so I wanted to give her a chance to meet me more on her terms, as she seemed curious. So I crouched down, yes, crouched, stooped, whatever you want to call it with Spence as the lead knee, and other knee almost touching the floor! I didn't even think about doing it! I just wanted to get down to doggie level and present myself sideways so she could approach. No pain, no difficulty getting up, just *normal*. I actually didn't even realize what Spence had just done until I was walking down the hallway afterwards! So he continues to amaze me and these things give me hope of a much more active future!

 

[Jockette]

I'm sure you enjoyed kicking that soccer ball! I felt that way when I started carefully bowling at 12 weeks! I only scored a 70 that first game, but I did get a strike and one of the men with us said, she's back! Bowling is the only thing my knee lets me do ( though at the moment I a taking a few weeks off) it is lagging in most other areas.

I wonder if I have been too timid in my recovery and been afraid to do things and have babied it too much. I am retired and have a quiet life so there aren't all that many things I have to do. But I do like to bowl! My approach to the throw line is not yet like it was before surgery but I've learned to throw a different way.

Patience, patience, patience!!!

 

[Fire wolf]

@Jockette, I don't think that there is such a thing as babying a recovery from tkr too much. Please don't look at anything that Spence does as *normal*, as neither he nor I are quite right! I would have not even considered careful bowling at 12 weeks, or at 16 weeks for that matter! Celebrate the accomplishments, be gentle with yourself, and yes, have patience. Good things come to those who wait! Carbon under pressure for lots of years forms diamonds! Life is too short to stress yourself out over a tkr. Yes, easier said than done, and I am guilty of my fair share of stressing out over this recovery, but I am discovering that my stress over it doesn't make anything heal any faster.

 

[Jockette]

Well said, thank you!

I was so excited to bowl again, I thought to myself, take that, PT, I will rehab my way!

And my ball is light, only 8 pounds, and I only bend from the waist to throw, not the knee yet.

 

[liam2015]

wow Fire wolf...you are really forgetting your new knee as evidenced by crouching down to meet the little pup face to face. even better is that you were able to get up normally with no pain. success again. hope things are getting a little easier for you at work with respect to your new knee and getting around in general!

 

[Fire wolf]

@liam2015, I think that I keep forgetting about Spence due to pure exhaustion more than anything else! So he tries to sneak in his little shenanigans because either he thinks I won't notice or to try to wake me up, I'm not sure which! Of course, he could just be bored and trying to entertain himself! In any case, I am happy that he hasn't done anything that has created any major pain! Some mild pain and swelling I can deal with, and that generally is an everyday thing, but is getting better as time goes on. Every day is an adventure in Spence land!!

 

[OJ2]

So encouraged by stooping, soccer, and bowling. Those are in my future! (Although I did break my wrist the last time I bowled and my daughter has jokingly forbidden me to bowl anymore.) right now I am battling tight calf muscles so I limp around the house, trying to warm them up, and stretch them as much as possible. Not sure why I have them- too much exercise and walking, not enough exercise and walking, going barefoot too much? PT did massage them on Thursday, which helped some. I will try a little more walking today.

 

[Pheebs52]

@Fire wolf, both you and Spence continue to lead the way ahead; whoohoo! Crouching? Yikes! no thought or pain before and after? Even better! There's nothing like a small dog to get us into unusual positions, lol. My short fat Pug, Nemo managed to inveigle me into my first squat on Monday and Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine managed beautifully.

Keep forging that path GF!


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum

 

[Polkadot]

I am discovering that my stress over it doesn't make anything heal any faster.

So true, and so unfair!

I love how you discover knew things you can do just by going ahead and doing them. Way to go, Bionic Spence! You are a true adventurer.

 

[Canada35]

Well, well, well, Bionic Spence has been up to all kinds of things when I wasn't looking! Such a hooligan! Sounds like you are training him well Marie!

 

[Fire wolf]

i am not sure that Spence's antics should be encouraged at this point! He does need to learn to be a team player after all! But I do appreciate the support and positive comments. So yesterday and today I have experienced a bit of a setback. My quad right above my knee on the medial side has been hurting for the past 2 days. I did try massaging it quite a bit yesterday as it feels like there is a knot or something, and I am not sure if I just pressed on it too much over the course of the day causing it to react and still be an issue today in spite of having ice on it most of the night, or if it would just be like that regardless. In any case, it's ice and rest again today. I am getting frustrated that I have been having to spend my weekends doing nothing but icing and resting lately, as it would be nice to be able to do something other that work, ice, rest, but I guess that day will come. I just need the stars to align properly so that all of me is feeling good on a day when I don't have to go to work!

 

[liam2015]

does it hurt at certain times? i get a similar pain when standing from sitting or getting out of the car, but no knot that i can feel. hopefully a day of rest today will help and you can do something fun tomorrow, within reason, of course. spence does need to pay attention.

 

[Canada35]

Nellie also has an uncooperative quad friend who is not a team player. It gives me more pain at this point than Nellie herself. I am finding that heat helps far more than ice on my quad. I lay with leg elevated and ice on my knee for good measure but a heating pad on my quad.

 

[Fire wolf]

@liam2015 it hurts all the time, worse if I am walking or going up and down stairs. I do get some pain radiating up, almost to my groin as well. I am hoping that it is just from overuse. This past week was mostly 2 hr one way commute days of work, still carrying lots of stuff, and of course Spence has tried other things as well. He decided to jog across a street, jog up a set of stairs, climb stairs 2 at a time, *skip* down stairs, and of course we had the crouching experience. Granted all of those things did not happen at once, and were brief episodes, but still, he has been a bit too fiesty!
@Canada35 I may try the heat and ice combo you described. I almost always default to ice, but that is worth a shot! Thank you!

 

[liam2015]

oh that's too bad you have the pain all the time. not that you will know for sure what causes the pain ~ i wouldn't be surprised if it's from the 2 hour round trip drive you make on some days for work. i only have that 2 hour drive once a week while the weather is good to get to the pack walk and when i get home after the 2 hour drive home i can hardly walk at first for the pain getting up. in my case, it goes away. i think and hope/pray it's one of those things that eventually subsides when everything settles and gets back to normal. oops liam going crazy, dh home. feel better.

 

[Fire wolf]

Well, whatever this is, it's not going away easily. @liam2015 you may be right about the driving, as it was 3 days (tues, thur, fri), and on top of that, thur and fri were longer days than normal in terms of work hours. I was going to take a to my office today to grab some stuff I forgot that I need for where I will be this week, but I think resting is a better option. I should be able to make due. I really don't want to spend an hour and a half driving today with things still acting up. I was hoping these days were behind me, but I guess not.

 

[Jockette]

I hope Spence settles down soon! The nerve of him!

I think if I named my knee it would be Drama Queen because that's what it acts like. I'm 6 months post op. I don't expect it to be perfect (but that would be nice!) but come on already, give me a break! And it's "only" a partial! I wish now I'd had a total.