TKR Flutter1’s BoneSmart Success

Flutter, beautiful artwork! And wonderful, hopeful report on your recovery. Keep up the great work!
 
Greetings! It will be 12 weeks next week since I had my RTKR. I am still a member of the "over-doers club" about once a week. A bit sore in the night from hiking and just carrying old items to the curb for bulk-pickup. We are cleaning out a storage area that is under our second-floor sunroom. I did catch my husband before he put out my vintage wooden croquet set that had been my parents from probably the 1940s or 50s. Generally, I am a minimalist but it is such a cool thing to have.

The weather this week has been glorious, but hot and humid are expected to return soon enough. So it will be back to the treadmill and video workouts and strengthening. We are under an indoor mask mandate for public spaces again, but at least the weather should be nice enough here for about three more months for plenty of outdoor "spaced" activities. The hope is that the variants will burn themselves out by then. Fingers crossed.

My new knee has really changed my life. My blood pressure is now down so low that we are reducing my BP med dosage to almost nothing. My mood is much improved even on days when I have some pain and stiffness. For those of you struggling, just hang in there. I never hesitate to call my surgeon or even my regular GP if I am worried about new or unusual knee pain.

Healthy wishes to everyone, especially to @smokey1 and @Sandy11.
 
Glad to hear things are continuing to go well for you, Flutter1. As you know, we will still have our good days and bad days,but the good days are definitely outweighing the bad .
 
Thank you JoWo and Smokey1. The 12 week anniversary of my new knee passed this week and I forgot to even celebrate! Though tonight I am a definitely a member of the over-doers club. I did a strength training routine this morning as usual, which was fine. But then before dinner, I decided to advance to a 45-minute treadmill (or should I say the "dreadmill") walk with intervals on the incline. I think I will need to get out of bed to take an Advil, which I resort to very rarely.
It was sooo hot here today -- 98 degrees. Hence, the treadmill experience. Also, everyone I know is suffering from very itchy oak mite bites. Oak mites are just lovely microscopic buggy creatures that feast on cicada eggs, then drop from the trees onto all parts of your body and bite you. They will be gone soon, I hope. Cicadas -- the gift that keeps on giving!
Otherwise, I think I am doing okay. I still do not regret having only 3 weeks of at home PT and no outside PT -- except for one session with a specialist who helped with balancing my body and my walking gait.
Hang in there everyone. I hope @FourCats is feeling better. Her last post was a bit worrisome.
Healthy wishes.
 
Hi! Well, I am heading into Week 15 tomorrow. Really don't think about the knee that much. (Except coming down stairs the normal way sometimes. )
I guess I am one of THOSE active people again after 15 years of one pain or another in both knees. We have a trip planned to visit our son and his girlfriend a few hours away in the mountains. Hiking and boating fun will happen. Although there have been a number of copperhead sightings (and bitings), so we will have to be very observant.
School starts here tomorrow and it will be interesting to see school buses roll by after so long an absence. I am looking forward to cooler weather expected later this week.
Sorry - not much knee talk this time. Life is full! Hang in there everyone.
 
Hi all! It has been almost 5 months since my TKR in May. This is only MY experience -- comparing ourselves to others in this journey can only result in disappointment! I just hope I can give someone encouragement and hope that progress does happen. It just takes time.
  • I hardly think about my knee these days unless I have done a bit too much. If I am very active during the day, my knees can be sore. But it is nothing like the bone-on-bone pain of pre-replacement days. I could hardly walk a block without unbearable pain.
  • Today I met my goal of logging 6 miles a day of walking. I even jogged for a few minutes.
  • We have been ruthlessly de-cluttering our home. On my feet for hours. I could never have taken on this project prior to my new knee.
  • Hiked every day during on our 5-day trip to the mountains to visit our son and girlfriend. On our last day, our son says, "Wow, you guys look great." He was smart enough to omit the "...for your age." We are an ancient 64 and 65 years old!
  • Tomorrow is my husband's last day of work -- ever! We both are looking forward to a more active lifestyle. So many more options of activities to try together and with family and friends.
  • Weight and blood pressure both down and medication reduced.
I probably will always have some stiffness in my knees (TKR and a partial in the other). Going down stairs like a normal person is still a challenge. Up the stairs not a problem as long as I am not carrying heavy items. Life is not perfect, after all. Keep moving forward friends. Here is the vista that at the end of a hike in Western Maryland.
FBE6A06A-988D-426C-A975-0F2653724FE6.jpeg
 
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Hi all! It has been almost 5 months since my TKR in May. This is only MY experience -- comparing ourselves to others in this journey can only result in disappointment! I just hope I can give someone encouragement and hope that progress does happen. It just takes time.
  • I hardly think about my knee these days unless I have done a bit too much. If I am very active during the day, my knees can be sore. But it is nothing like the bone-on-bone pain of pre-replacement days. I could hardly walk a block without unbearable pain.
  • Today I met my goal of logging 6 miles a day of walking. I even jogged for a few minutes.
  • We have been ruthlessly de-cluttering our home. On my feet for hours. I could never have taken on this project prior to my new knee.
  • Hiked every day during on our 5-day trip to the mountains to visit our son and girlfriend. On our last day, our son says, "Wow, you guys look great." He was smart enough to omit the "...for your age." We are an ancient 64 and 65 years old!
  • Tomorrow is my husband's last day of work -- ever! We both are looking forward to a more active lifestyle. So many more options of activities to try together and with family and friends.
  • Weight and blood pressure both down and medication reduced.
I probably will always have some stiffness in my knees (TKR and a partial in the other). Going down stairs like a normal person is still a challenge. Up the stairs not a problem as long as I am not carrying heavy items. Life is not perfect, after all. Keep moving forward friends.
Thank you and enjoy retirement. I have enjoyed following you and JO WO!
 
Wow, great summary, Flutter1!!
Today is my 5th month knee-versary, too! It sounds like your TKR was a complete success, changing your life for the better in oh, so many ways! Congratulations! Job well done!
 
Awesome report @Flutter1! :happydance:Based on my own experience I think you will continue to see improvements for another year or more. Congrats on retirement, So many more opportunities for new life experiences with new pain free knees!
 
Hi BoneSmart friends! I am back to give a 7-month update on my TKR. Here's some "stuff" I did just this past week that I couldn't do before my replacement:
  • Hiked (often joined by my husband and pup) through various wooded parklands every morning for 60 - 90 minutes. Tricky tree roots and rocky spots are not an excuse anymore. Also, renewed an old friendship with a neighbor through hiking different parks together once a week.
  • Walked briskly through our neighborhood at night enjoying the holiday lights.
  • Enjoyed the silent beauty of a white-tailed deer in her natural habitat from less than 20 feet away. Also captured on camera two stunning pileated red-headed woodpeckers in the woods near our home.
  • Joined the local Buy Nothing Facebook group so that I can gift many of our items to families who need them; and we soon will be free of items we have stored for 30 years. This minimalist journey takes a bit of bending, lifting, and carrying and my knees can handle it now.
  • Baked 4 different types of Christmas cookies yesterday afternoon to serve and give to friends and family. Three hours on my feet. I was so grateful and happy doing this again.
  • Starting planning for two dinner parties coming up. Again, I will be on my feet but not worried about pain.
  • Painting on my easel STANDING. This means I can start plein air painting.
  • Finally, I checked in with my friend/neighbor who had a knee replacement revision in September. The first surgery did not have a good outcome. She used my surgeon for the revision and it was a success. However, she decided on extensive PT and somehow injured her lower leg. So sad for her -- but she is recovering without PT now. But it reminds me that cutting my formal PT to 3 weeks of gentle In-home therapy was a good move for me.
Does my knee still get stiff and sore? Yes! Especially in the middle of the night. I still do the occasional heel slide to loosen things up.
Pardon the length of this post. But I always found it uplifting to read positive updates from members, especially when I was in the midst of the pain early on. Thank you to all the BoneSmart advisors who keep us going. Happy holidays everyone!
 
What a great report! So happy that you are doing well. Thank you for sharing and providing a glimpse of what may be possible for those of us who are less along in our recovery.
 
Great report @Flutter1! It's amazing what a difference a few months make, and I'm sure you will continue to improve and that stiffness and soreness will slowly fade away completely.
 
I always found it uplifting to read positive updates from member
For sure!!!! It is important to understand that our freedom from pain is just ahead of us. Thanks for sharing.
 
@Flutter1 Thanks so much for posting! It really helps those of us still in the early days of recovery.
 
What a inspirational post of all of us facing this recovery on BoneSmart xx :yes!:
 

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