TKR Freedom's right knee<

[Suz]

Yay You-!! Because my flexion was slow to return it was 8wks before I was able to bend my knee enough to get in & out of my SUV. Moving my foot from the accelerator to the brake also wasn't happening. Once my flexion hit the 90*s things started coming together! So glad you were able to get out there sooner!

 

[Floridagal]

Yea! Wonderful freedom at last. Enjoy it. The rest will come in time. I find driving pretty easy but I only do short trips so I don't and the knee doesn't tire.

 

[Freedom]

Thanks Uva55 and Floridagal!

My flex is about 70, not an issue for driving though.

I took the dogs out last evening for their run, they were so happy. And so tired once we got back they slept through the whole night!

 

[Floridagal]

Wonderful! I hope you had a good sleep too.

 

[Freedom]

You know, that surprised me. I went out in the car 3 times, once to walk the dogs, had a shower, went to bed and just lay there staring at the ceiling for 4 hours. THEN I went to sleep.

 

[Suz]

Whew.. I hate those nights!

 

[sistersinhim]

Oh yeah. I call those 'diarrhea of the brain' nights. Nothing at all bothering me, the mind just floating from subject to subject with nothing important going on. It is so aggravating! That's when I grab a book. Most of the time that helps.

 

[Suz]

I grab a book or my laptop! Someone around here mentioned a remedy the other day- something about taking a deep breath, counting to 7, exhaling to the count of 4... something like that! Guess I should have written it down huh? LOL!

 

[Freedom]

Five weeks post op today for the right knee (second one). Flex is 72 on my own, 74 with help. I see OS for first post op visit next Tuesday, the 12th. He is not going to be happy.

Left (first one) is a bit over 90; lost ROM during the first weeks post op w/ second knee, as I wasn't moving much.

Today I am down, sad about the whole thing. I so hoped to be moving better than this and feeling more comfortable by now. I do the Frankenstein walk (guess folks on here know what I mean). I CAN bend and walk better when I focus. All this lovely summer weather and I can't sit outdoors as there is no way I could get up out of any of my chairs out there. I'm really only comfortable in bed. I sit up in the living room for 30 to 40 minutes (legs elevated) just for a change of scenery, and to eat meals and such.

In home PT continues 3x week till Aug 2, then down to 2x week. I am driving but I am not supposed to be; I have not told inhome PT I am driving. In fact today one activity was practicing getting in and out of the car; we used her car as mine is in my garage. Hers is easy to get in and out. Mine, I really need more bend. I have to practically scoot onto the console to get in and out! Need the door to open a bit more, but it is all the way open.

Not sure what I will say at OS visit next week, re driving. I will drive myself to that appointment.

The tight stiff feeling is hard to cope with. In home PT says I have a LOT of swelling, much of it directly over the kneecap; she also mentioned I did not have swelling there for the first knee. I was finally able to do one straight leg raise on July 1, and now I can do 10 but those last 2, wow, they are so hard! That and quad sets are my homework to build up some muscle strength. For more flexion, my homework is lots of rest, ice and elevate, and 5 squats twice a day at the kitchen counter.

 

[newlybionic]

You might want to skip the squats for now as they can aggravate your knees and can increase the swelling. Concentrate on the ice and elevating if the correct way. I hope you feel better soon.

 

[sistersinhim]

I agree with Marian. Josephine says to never do squats on a new knee. That is why you're so swollen and that's why your can't bend anymore than you do. Just rest and let the swelling go down. Then you'll see improvement in that flex, I promise!

 

[Suz]

I'm sorry you're down and sad about your recovery Freedom. At only 5wks out it's probable that all of the PT is preventing your knee to heal, in my humble opinion. The swelling is keeping you from having the flexion in your knees you so desire. I speak from experience, when I let go of all but 1hr of 'light' PT a week, I gained over 40*s of flexion in 2wks. And I'm still gaining flexion!

I just wanted to briefly share my experience with stiffness- let your knee do it's own healing per the BoneSmart mantra's for a few days and see if there is any improvement. I believe there will be!

 

[Celle]

I agree with the others. Your knee won't/can't bend properly until you get rid of the swelling.
Concentrate more on rest, ice and elevation, and less on all that exercise. I think that 3 sessions a week is too much.

Now you can do straight leg raises, you don't need to do them any more - and cut out the squats. They put too much strain on a new knee.

I'm going to ask @Josephine to advise you about your activity. She will ask a lot of questions first. Do try to answer them as fully as you can, particularly the ones about your exercises.

 

[Freedom]

I agree with the others. Your knee won't/can't bend properly until you get rid of the swelling.
oncentrate more on rest, ice and elevation, and less on all that exercise. I think that 3 sessions a week is too much.

Now you can do straight leg raises, you don't need to do them any more - and cut out the squats. They put too much strain on a new knee.

I'm going to ask @Josephine to advise you about your activity. She will ask a lot of questions first. Do try to answer them as fully as you can, particularly the ones about your exercises.

Well PT has been focusing on getting me functional. We did the car, as I mentioned. We've done the cellar stairs once (I will need to do laundry down there eventually!) We work on my sitting and getting up from 2 different chairs, she wants to be sure I don't 'cheat' and end up injuring a hip or ankle or something. Getting on and off the bed, I still use the leg lifter by late afternoon. I have on step / threshold I need to go down to let the dogs out the back door, then up same to get back in. We do that twice each session. I have to use the walker for that step, and I often turn sideways to get down, which she would prefer I not do. Going up I am doing ok.

She does some gentle massage the first 10 minutes of each visit, to loosen up the knee.

I agree with Marian. Josephine says to never do squats on a new knee. That is why you're so swollen and that's why your can't bend anymore than you do. Just rest and let the swelling go down. Then you'll see improvement in that flex, I promise!

The 5 squats once a day were just added yesterday, did them yesterday while she was here, not since. So they have nothing to do with my swelling at this time as I haven't been doing them.

PT did say yesterday she thinks I am doing too much activity. 5 dogs in and out multiple times a day, feeding them once a day, filling 5 water bowls once a day, feeding 8 cats twice a day, and scooping 9 litter boxes once a day. Just started the litter boxes as of July 3. And one short walk daily to the mailbox.

Now you can do straight leg raises, you don't need to do them any more

How do I improve the quad strength? PT said I should keep practicing those until I can do the 10 with no concentration. Right now, those last 2 really need focus!

 

[sistersinhim]

Wow! With all you're doing, you're doing pt already without even doing prescribed pt. If you look at the activity level for us at 5 weeks, you are doing way too much. I know it's hard not to. I'm alone most of the time and have 11 cats to take care of including the house, laundry and me! Is there any way possible you can postpone pt for a couple of weeks and just do what you are doing to take care of your animals? What have to got to lose except swelling, pain and stiffness?! You and I are so much alike that I know exactly what you are feeling about trying to get back to your old self. But with me, I learned over 20 years ago when rehabbing a knee, less is more! Good luck. My prayers are with you.

 

[dianehelen]

Someone around here mentioned a remedy the other day

That was me , it's called 4-7-8 breathing technique

Place tip of your tongue just behind your two front teeth
Breathe in thru you nose to a count of 4
Hold your breath to a count of 7
Breathe out, thru your mouth, with a whoosh sound with your lips pursed to a small "o" to a count of 8

Do this 4 or 5 times to start out, increase if comfortable

It's a yoga like breath concentration for relaxation. Hope it helps

 

[Suz]

Thank You Diane!

 

[Josephine]

PT did say yesterday she thinks I am doing too much activity.

Well if I were you, I would listen to her!

How do I improve the quad strength? PT said I should keep practising those until I can do the 10 with no concentration. Right now, those last 2 really need focus!

Honey, you are 5 weeks out! FAR too soon to be worrying about this. You have to wait until you are fully healed and recovered before that. Most likely about 3 months minimum.

I've asked you my questions before so I suggest you go back and read what I said to you then. It's in post #52

 

[Freedom]

@Josephine , it is SO HARD to be in slow recovery mode! Heck, even YOU did stairs your first day home! (I DID read your threads). Here I am 5 weeks and just managing the one step. YOU bent down to feed the cat! I am bending at the waist, which PT keeps saying is not good for my back. Well, that's the only way I could bend for the last 8 years.

Too soon to worry about quad strength? I can't get out of chairs! I am only comfortable in bed. I have one chair I sit in, cushions stacked on it, and I have a heck of a time getting up out of it. It is the best of the situation here, PT set it up for me. I did NOT have this issue with my first / left knee.

I came on and posted yesterday (post 109) because I was frustrated and sad. Not really looking for help, I know what to do and not do from my first knee; far as I can tell, I am not doing anything I shouldn't in terms of exercises because I'm just plain not doing ANY! OK, I mentioned the 5 squats, but other than doing them once w/ PT here, I have not done them since.

It is fine for folks on here to say slow down, take it easy. Quite a different matter when it is YOU trying to slow down. I am so frustrated! I know it is 'just' 5 weeks, but I FEEL like I have been in this slow recovery mode for a year or more. I am tired of being 'helpless,' of being confined, of being limited in what I can do. I am tired of looking at things that I want to get done and having no choice but to put it off for . . . weeks? months?
Anyway . . .

Four days ago, I put down my glasses and my hair clip. I have yet to find them. (I have loads of hair clips, that is not the issue except that I know the 2 are together so should be that much easier to find.) I can't even watch TV w/out my glasses! Found an old pair, one arm is broken and taped together. At least I can see. So this afternoon I went to have a quick eye doc appointment (my last eye exam was over a year ago, so no one will use that for new glasses) and ordered new glasses. Total time out of the house: 1 hour 10 minutes. And I came home exhausted, went to bed, sound asleep for over 2 hours.

While I was there, I was explaining to the young lady helping me about my surgery, why I am not able to sit in the chair she offered me, I need one with arms. A man came over to me and said: " Don't worry, it gets better! Look!" And he raised his right leg, so the top of it was parallel to the floor, stood on one foot. He went on, "total knee replacement 2 years ago. You WILL get better, just hang in there!" Gosh, I really needed to hear that at that moment, lol.

Edit to add: @sistersinhim I plan to stop in home PT tomorrow. I explained earlier in this thread why I have kept it on until my first OS visit post op; health insurance, not sure how it works, concerned if I stop PT and then need coverage.

 

[sistersinhim]

I pray that you get better. Your depression is bringing you down in more ways than just emotional. But, not being able to do what you think you should be doing is understandably bringing you down. Try to find something good that is going on with your knee. You don't have the awful arthritis pain anymore. That would have only gotten worse. Now, this surgery pain will get better in it's own time. As you know, you can not force it to heal any faster than it wants to. This knee might have had a whole lot more damage when your OS went in and he might have had to do a lot of extra work.

As far as being exhausted, I think this is normal. I pulled grass and weeds outside for about 30 minutes this morning, took a shower and slept for 2 hours this afternoon. You've had major surgery 2 times in less than 6 months. You're still in healing mode for your first tkr and now have added this one to it. No wonder you're worn out! Please give yourself a break. You are your worst enemy and judge yourself way too harshly. At least you can drive. I can't do that yet! I, too, have to have chairs with arms to get up. I'm still using the walker part of the time in the house when I'm feeling weak. You are normal in this healing time frame.

We all care about what you're going through. Vent as many times as you need to. We will listen and we understand. I will be praying for you!