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TKR Fireball's TKR recovery

@WFD I may not be the best person to answer this as I find my sense of smell is not the best (sinus issues) but I don't notice this unless I smell my hands after application. I have diclofenac gel and that has a very medicinal smell to it that I find strong, but I don't really notice the biofreeze.
 
WFD said:
mendogal said:
super concentrated menthol
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Does it have an overpowering smell? I’m thinking of trying it on my very sore shin.
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Only when I use it on my neck, and I do have a preturnaturally acute sense of smell. If it's a concern for you, I believe they make a roll on which allows tighter control of dosage.
 
As I have been trying to get back to work, I find sitting up in a chair to work (I'm an IT supervisor working remotely at the moment) my knee doesn't seem to like that for long periods of time. How long does it take for it to not swell when sitting up for more than a few hours?
 
I hope you might be able to get that leg fully elevated for breaks during the workday (as you're remote, is putting foot and ankle on the desk, a towel or small pillow underneath, an option? Add an ice pack?).
Also short, even two minute walks to loosen it up.
 
Returning to work at seven weeks, all be it remotely, you need to use caution. Start off very slowly, just a few hours and over time build up to full time. I would think you are still fighting the exhaustion, and if your taking Gabapentin, 100 mg, 4x a day that might slow down your thought processes also.

Your motto still needs to be elevate and ice - that is what your knee should like best.
 
What you’re describing is one of the main reasons we caution people not to try and return to work too quickly. Ideally you would phase back into work at about 10-12 weeks out. Many folks don’t have the ability to do that and try to do it sooner. But as you’ve found, that can cause problems like swelling and pain that will slow your recovery.

Right now, your main job is recovery and that means doing the things that will promote healing and improving. Sitting up for extended periods of time is not on that list, so if at all possible I suggest you postpone trying to work for at least another month or so. Every person and every surgery is different, so you might need even longer or at least an option to work from home partial days for a while.
 
mendogal said:
I hope you might be able to get that leg fully elevated for breaks during the workday (as you're remote, is putting foot and ankle on the desk, a towel or small pillow underneath, an option? Add an ice pack?).
Also short, even two minute walks to loosen it up.
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Sometimes I try to put it on the desk, mostly I use the shower chair I have to elevate it just a bit, but it's not above my heart, so I only can stand about a half day like this. Once this gets too much, and depending on if I need my monitors, I am usually in my bedroom with my leg up and icing for the second half of the day.

@eaglemom - Considering the lack of sleep, the exhaustion really hasn't been bad. I may sneak a cat nap in if my schedule allows, and thankfully the end of the year usually slows down a bit at work, although I'm sure this year is going to be a bit different at least for me.

@Jamie - Really, I was a bit pressured by my boss to come back, and part of me wishes I would have waited a bit longer. I originally thought I'd be fine with just 2.5 weeks out of work, but I completely misjudged the amount of pain from this. This is my 4th knee surgery, and with those and being told 'you're young, you'll bounce right back' I was given a bit of false hope. Then add on the complication of not being able to move my foot, it was a big mental blow on top of the pain from the TKR. My saving grace at the moment is my ability to go from my office to my bedroom as needed and work from either. And I still get to go to PT while working, so that is extremely helpful as well. They are being pretty good about allowing me some flexibility. But I agree, if you can stay out longer, do so. My mother in law had hip replacement Sep 3 and they wanted her to come back after a month! She got it extended and may have to do so again.
 
fireball84 said:
This is my 4th knee surgery,
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We only have information on your recent TKR and your 1999 ACL repair. Would you like to tell us about the other two so we can add them to your signature? Having all your history there can be helpful when we are sharing information and advice. It might also attract others who have been on similar journeys.

Let us know!
 
@benne68, I had ACL reconstruction on the left knee in 2001, which is the one I just had knee replacement on. The right knee had ACL reconstruction in 1999, and in 2022 I had what presented as a cyclopes lesion removed from that same knee. Their official write up was right knee arthroscopy, loose body removal, lysis of adhesions. The pathology for the tissue they removed said it was consistent with a tenosynovial giant cell tumor. Tenosynovial giant cell tumors (TGCTs) are a rare group of non-cancerous tumors that develop in the joints, bursae, or tendon sheaths. I'm pretty sure they cleaned up my meniscus issues while they were in there as well. My knees have been issues for me since I was 15.
 
Oh my goodness, @fireball84. Your poor knees have been through a lot. I've updated your signature to reflect this information. Please double check it and let me know if anything needs correction.
 
fireball84 said:
sitting up in a chair to work (I'm an IT supervisor working remotely at the moment) my knee doesn't seem to like that for long periods of time. How long does it take for it to not swell when sitting up for more than a few hours?
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It may be tricky but is there any way you can put a stool under the desk to elevate your leg even a little whilst you work?
I found slight elevation helped or some kind of movement. I had a rocking stool which I used when sitting watching TV and that was brilliant. I have seen little foot pedal stools advertised for exercises for immobile people-I wonder if something like that would relieve the discomfort.
 
@EalingGran since I'm no longer using my shower chair, I've been using that to prop my leg up. It works OK until around lunch time. I'm starting to wonder if it's really my foot swelling or it just feeling like it is due to it being so numb.
 
Thursday marked 8 weeks since the TKR. Still measuring 120. A decent amount of the horrible nerve pain has subsided, and I have pretty much been able to not use anything on it, other than taking the gabapentin. I did have a nice lovely surprise that I noticed last Monday. I am now able to lift toes 2, 3, 4, and 5 slightly. It's maybe a few millimeters, but it's better than nothing. There is still no movement of the big toe though. I also have a very slight eversion of my foot now. Top of the foot is still numb, along with the side of my shin, and the bottom of the pinky toe and below that is still numb. Toes 1 and 2 still don't seem to contract when moving them down, they just kind of flex down but they are straight when doing so. This waiting and seeing process is maddening, I would really love for someone to be able to say for sure if it is or is not coming back. I've been looking at getting a Turbo Med brace that goes on the outside of the shoe since the one they gave me goes in the shoe and kinda makes my foot more numb on the bottom after I wear it for a bit.
 
fireball84 said:
I did have a nice lovely surprise that I noticed last Monday. I am now able to lift toes 2, 3, 4, and 5 slightly
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I hope this is just the start of your foot drop improving. Great news!
 
Starting to regain movement at 8 weeks is, from a neurological perspective, indeed a very promising sign! Please don't lose heart now.

Gentle range of motion by hand will keep things from tightening. Light stimulation by your fingertips, and spending a bit of time each day visualising things moving while touching and trying to elicit movement, may help. I know it sounds "woowoo," but it coordinates the various parts of the nervous system and I have seen it help people after injuries.
 
Back in 2018, I was having foot pain and numbness. Many doctors later and finally it was discovered that a disc was pinching a nerve in my back. The funny thing about this was after three different podiatrists my last one just started dating a pain management doctor so she told me he could help. I was doubtful because so many other doctors over three years couldn’t figure it out. The pain management doctor scheduled me for an EMG where he figured out the problem. Then I found a back specialist, had the disc removed and have been good.
 
mendogal said:
Starting to regain movement at 8 weeks is, from a neurological perspective, indeed a very promising sign! Please don't lose heart now.

Gentle range of motion by hand will keep things from tightening. Light stimulation by your fingertips, and spending a bit of time each day visualizing things moving while touching and trying to elicit movement, may help. I know it sounds "woowoo," but it coordinates the various parts of the nervous system and I have seen it help people after injuries.
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I've been doing both feet together quite a bit. My PT said it helps the brain realize the other side is supposed to do stuff too. And I noticed that curling my toes had gotten difficult, so I started working on that as well, just to help keep the tendons flexible. I've also been trying to help it while really focusing on trying to move it, and while I haven't seen any movement, there are times I feel the nerves tingle below the big toe after trying. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, just in case, but I'm pretty hopeful for at least some (more) recovery. If I could get the pinky numbness on the bottom to resolve, the rest isn't the worst thing in the world. Not ideal, but the knee is doing well so far, so either way, this is already better than before for the knee.

@KJ24 one of the things my doctor is confused about is the issues are from different nerve groups. He was thinking it may be from the back as I have DDD (Degenerative Disc Disease), but I've never had issues on the left side before. Not saying it couldn't happen though, my pelvis tends to shift around a bit and sit kind of canted. I did start seeing a chiropractor at the beginning of the month, just to see if I could get any relief there.
 
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