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TKR Fire wolf recovery<

It's a thin line to walk for sure. And it's normal to find your recovery is not linear. You'll do well for a while and then have a bad day for no reason. That's just the nature of the beast. As long as you stay tuned in to your body, you should do okay.

I would think that walking and stairs may be better exercise for you at this point then. Experimenting is okay but stay with what keeps you out of the "pain/swelling" syndrome. You'll make it!!
 
Thanks, @Jamie! I may just stick to the walking, working, and stairs at this point. If I add anything it will be 1 or 2 reps of 1 thing per day to see how it goes. I do know that I need to work on stretching more. I have gotten lax with that since working, and I think maybe my leg muscles would feel better if I stretched them out a few times a day.
 
that makes me happy to hear @Jamie recommend walking and stairs as an exercise because that's about the only exercises i do on a consistent everyday basis. Fire wolf just be careful not to push anything too far before your test. sounds like you are healing and improving very very well.:hi:
 
Your pictures are great! Reese's and Spence make a cute team. :wink: I will second the walking/stairs combo of easy exercises. Doing stairs more often both made them easier to do, both up and down, but really strengthened my leg muscles. I'm hoping Spence is in fighting condition (so to speak) for your test. You're doing so well and I know how much the re-certification means to you!
 
Seeing your photos helps me keep perspective about my surgery. I didn't have a fall, or bruising or an incision of that length. You are pretty doggone amazing! Hope old Spence cooperates for your test. Let us know how it goes. If the news is good, we all have an excuse to celebrate with a Reese's.
 
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I’d say that’s true; yowza!

I vote for the walking/stairs routine followed by nightly ice. Why? Because I did really well with just that over last week while house hunting. I am now less of a Super Swelling Stiff than usual, and frankly, with all I did do, it “should” be worse.

The knee is a mystery to me, but less really does seem to equal more!


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21 Weeks and counting....

I appreciate all of the comments and supportive feedback from everyone! Seems as if Reese and Spence were a big hit! :heehee: I am all about the celebration with Reese cups after the 10/25 re-certification!

This past week has been a very long and exhausting week for me work-wise. The first and 2nd half of the week involved the 4 hour round trip drive to work, with an 8 hour work day in between, and Wed was a 3 hr round trip drive for work. So between drive time and work time, is was about a 60 hour week. Needless to say, by the time I would get home, make something to eat, do some things around the house, it was time to shower and go to bed, so I haven't done any extra exercise all week. Bionic Spence still gets iced nightly for several hours however. So despite the lack of extra activity, he remains a part of the Super Swellers club! :sad:

I have been trying to make sure that I walk a little more during my work day, even if just for a few minutes at a time, and I continue to go up and down steps a good number of times each day. So I am going with the plan of not pushing anything between now and 10/25, and just dealing with the ramifications that may follow by the end of that day. Yes, I would like to be doing more, but I don't want to go into that situation already behind the 8 ball, so to speak. I just can't believe the difference in muscle mass between both legs, and it is bothersome to me, but I will just have to deal with it for now.

I am wondering if anyone could take a look at the last picture in the group that I posted, and tell me your impressions. To me it looks as if my lower right leg angles outward, which just seems odd to me, but I am not sure if it looks like that because of the loss of muscle, or if there is some other explanation, or if I am just losing my mind.:shrug: I don't limp when I walk, and I don't feel off balance in any way, so it is a curious thing to me.

Do I still have pain? Unfortunately the answer is yes. I certainly wish it was gone already! It is nothing super severe, I am only taking Tylenol which manages it well, but still, at this point I was hoping it would be gone completely. I generally don't have the pain when I am up and walking around for a bit which is nice. Sometimes it creeps in slightly on the longer drives, sometimes not. It is mostly on the lateral side when it comes around, but has been on the medial side as well. So random, traveling and annoying. :sigh: I also have the nice sized "lump" on the lower lateral side which seems to want to persist.

So all in all it seems like the same old same old in the world of Bionic Spence. I continue to hold on to the hope that one day this will all be a distant memory. :whistle:
 
Hi, @Fire wolf, with a 60-hour work week, your plan of walking a bit more at work and going up and down stairs several times a day seems just the ticket. Your days sound exhausting. I used to keep those kinds of hours when I was teaching teachers and visiting their classrooms, and I can't even imagine doing it right now, 4.5 months after my TKR. I would find a way to do it, though, as you have done, so I know that you're often exercising mind over matter. You are one tough lady.

I did look at your photo again, and to me the lower right leg does appear to angle a bit to the right. If you aren't limping or experiencing pain, though, it may just be an interesting individual anomaly that doesn't affect your functioning.
 
Fire wolf said:
I am wondering if anyone could take a look at the last picture in the group that I posted, and tell me your impressions. To me it looks as if my lower right leg angles outward, which just seems odd to me, but I am not sure if it looks like that because of the loss of muscle, or if there is some other explanation, or if I am just losing my mind.:shrug: I don't limp when I walk, and I don't feel off balance in any way, so it is a curious thing to me.
Click to expand...
@Fire wolf, I have gone back two pages and copied the photo I think you're talking about, so it will be easier for @Josephine to advise you. However, she may still need a larger photo, one that shows hip, knee and ankle, so she can measure the angles.

52364-2a32ca8ef64133ff50fa0a7720eb82e1.jpg
 
@Fire wolf, though I cannot offer a professional opinion, in that particular photo it does appear as if your right leg is angled outward. I wonder if your feet were pointed in exactly the same direction when you took the photo? I ask because Gary has corrected me many times for *letting* my tkr foot roll outward.....something I had no awareness of until he mentioned it.
 
Yes, @Pheebs52, that's a good thing to check. I didn't think of that, but my left TKR leg rolls inward. My PT has pointed it out many times.
 
Fire wolf, Pheebs52, Polkadot - all this talk of TKR legs rolling inward or outward made me wonder if maybe that is why I still have pain. So, I just peered over my laptop and observed my legs on the recliner's footrest. :ice: Turns out my non surgical leg rolls in and my surgical leg is straight as can be! Wha???? :scratch: The OS did tell me months ago that my surgical leg had bowed so he had aligned it. Looks like that worked - but . . . I'm in no mood to get righty done any time soon. Please tell me it is possible to walk without hip and knee pain when one leg rolls in and the other is nice and straight. :praying:
 
@phrog, my knee also needed quite a bit of alignment, (bowed) and now, it's straight as an arrow. I can't be certain, but I think if you can keep your consciousness raised about foot/leg posture on the natural knee side, it could make a big difference in walking style and pain level. I say this because it's made a huge difference to me with back/hip issues, but, I have to be aware in the first place and such is not always the case.
 
:thankyou:, @Pheebs52. That's actually really helpful. I've been concentrating so much on my left leg, I hadn't even paid attention to the natural knee except when it hurts getting out of a chair or pedaling the bike. I'll try to multi-task and pay attention to the whole she-bang.
 
@phrog, at first it may seem like an awful lot to process. I had to take it piecemeal; stand, zip up pelvis, walk with heel to toe, equal weighting of feet, yada, yada, yada. Because my back and hip were in so much pain, I decided to get that aspect down first. In about a week, it became habit; phew! At this point, I'm sure your LTKR knows what it's doing, so just try to focus on that wayward, natural leg and foot. It certainly can't hurt and it may very well help.:SUNsmile:
 
Just a little reminder, ladies: This is Fire wolf's recovery thread.
Please can we talk about phrog's knees on her own recovery thread, not here?
 
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