TKR Getting somewhere at last!

[speccybecky]

Hi Jane, so sorry to hear you're under the weather. Maybe the rest will do you some good.? It's a shame after all the work you put in for your classes, How old are 5th and 6th graders?
I haven't done much exercise, been to gym a couple of times a week, just cycling walking and stepper but when i get home from work and have dinner i can't always be bothered going back out!
I have a follow up appointment, after 1 year, at hospital in a couple of weeks. I don't think i'll get to see the surgeon unless there are problems but am keen to have bend measured. Lying on bed I can bend so far but can then use other leg to push it back further but that causes a lot of clicking and crunching so not sure if i should be doing it? I will ask about the weights exercises that the os had told me to stop doing but that everyone else seems to do.
I am really looking forward to some sunshine and sea, 4 weeks and counting, we have had snow and gales most of the day but it has turned to rain now so hopefully will be washed away by morning. The Canarias at the moment have a sand storm blowing in from the Sahara which makes it very hot but muggy.
Take care, I hope you get rid of your virus quickly, i suppose that is a side effect of working with children

 

[speccybecky]

Today I had my 1 year check up, well 13 months to be precise.
Measured 0 straight and 120 bend, 130 if I pushed it. She said not to push just to do what my muscles could do on their own.
She said 110 is what they realistically aim for and anything else is a bonus.
I asked about exercising using weights. Not a definitive answer- each surgeon has their own opinion. She says i can if i want to but it may affect the longevity of implant and ok just to use body weight. SHe also said they have a surgeon on the staff with 2 new hips who is a body builder! All the niggles I had she said are perfectly normal, that my knee is fine and I am a success

 

[Mutley]

Nancy that's fab news I'm sure your more than happy with what you've achieved so far! I really CAN'T WAIT until I'm a year down the line but no doubt that will be here in the blink of an eye! Glad to hear you are a "success " story

 

[speccybecky]

X rayed today

 

[Toothfairy]

Brilliant news Nancy,
Congratulations,
Toothfairy x

 

[karmigirl]

Nancy what a pretty picture looks great to me.

 

[bottomshollow]

Took a while, but you made it to the end of the recovery road in pretty much the time frame we're all told it will take. And now you give great advice.

Take care----I care.

 

[speccybecky]

I know Judy, I have a wee chuckle to myself when I find myself writing the same stuff I was told and didn't believe at the time!
The nurse said I should still improve over the next 6 months and I told her all about bonesmart and she promised to google it

 

[juniper]

Nancy, Bravo. I am so glad that things are going so well for you. I think bend and extension are important, but the best thing is if you can get through your days pretty much pain-free.

I am already planning a follow up visit to my surgeon. Trying to decide between a follow up and a visit to a new surgeon to consider a revision. I thought we were sort of in the same place, but I know I'm in more pain than I should be. I am still limping often. I think I've been denying that, in spite of trying to exercise and keep my knee flexible, it isn't right. Your message is a good thing. We are knee replacement twins, and I know this isn't the response I'd get, but you are pushing me to get back to someone--old surgeon or new orthopede.

 

[speccybecky]

Oh Jane, I hope you get it sorted out soon. I'm not exactly pain free , stairs hurt, if I sit at my desk for too long it hurts and I limp for a few steps. But apart from then I don't limp. Nurse said it's all good and with the bend I've got, the surgeon is hardly going to want to start again! It's out how I thought it'd be, I thought I'd be absolutely pain free and I'm not. She just said its artificial and will never be as good as the real thing

 

[speccybecky]

Just back from my week in the Canary Islands. Have i missed much? Apart from lots of snow and freezing temperatures...
The resort we were in is carved out from both sides of the cliff in a steep valley...steps are everywhere, hundreds of them! I managed just fine-even danced,
The only slight issue i had was with the beach. It slopes very steeply just after you go in the sea. Going in is a simple, just stand on the top of the slope and your feet get sucked down sand and all. Getting out was a bit different as the tide was turning. Step up the slope and your foot slides back , so you have to time it with a wave from behind and be quick as the wave turns and sucks you back and off your feet. I've done it before knee and landed rolling about in the surf ,unable to get up and helpless with laughter!! I tried but felt the current catch me and I was worried that if i fell i might not get back up! So walked a good way along in the sea and managed to get out where it was a bit shallower. I should probably have persevered and if i'd had someone with me i would've, hubby was 20 yards away on a sunbed snoozing. absolutely oblivious. Knee did ache a bit the next day but i put that down to walking on the sloping sand, and was fine after that. stayed in my window seat for 5 hour flight and was maybe a bit slower than the rest on the aircraft stairs.

 

[Campervan]

Hi Nancy, sounds like you had a great holiday. I too went playing in the sea a couple of weeks ago (nowhere as exotic as the Canary Isles) and my knee ached the day after. I put it down to the pressure of the tide on the knee and the muscles and ligaments working harder to stay in control. And I've been dancing too and no after effects.

 

[KathyH]

Only just seen your 13 month x-ray, Nancy. How did I miss that?! Looking good girl, even though I know you still have some minor issues

Your holiday sounded wonderful. Glad to be back to the lovely English 'spring' - NOT You did really well staying in your seat for the five hour flight.

 

[juniper]

Nancy, Bravo to you, traveling so far...going into the ocean on your own...and then getting out. I am still learning how to push beyond the pain, or my focus on the pain. I think of it as "stiffness" now. Helps me take it in stride. I'm on spring break, but staying home. Glad to have the gym and pool so close by. Bicycle there every day and swim on weekends. I want to stop thinking about my knee when I walk. That is still in the future, but feels closer every day.

 

[speccybecky]

I think maybe I expected too much from this op, I thought I'd be pain free and I'm not. Up and downstairs still hurts, will it always be like this?
And now my oter knee s starting to hurt on stairs, no limping though so I think I'll leave well alone for a while yet, maybe try some acupuncture

 

[kneeper]

It's possible, but my doc said sometimes people take more than a year to completely heal...

 

[speccybecky]

Not posted on my own page for a long time.
Just back from 11 days in the Portuguese Algarve. Weather wasn't brilliant the first week, worst week in June for 40 years, but improved. My knee gave me little or no problems...walked up and down cobbled streets , uphill and down, round old castles and along the beach. The waves were huge so was a bit wary of the sea on my own in case I was knocked off my feet, but swam in the pool with no bother.
And , yes Josephine, I hardly noticed it wasn't my knee! Only a couple of times getting on and off a high coach step did I think..ouch! I sometimes caught myself doing the 'up with the good, down with the bad' unconsciously and tried not to do it. All in all life is good as far as TKR is concerned and it took me a while to get here!

 

[sandyk]

that's great to read hun - sounds like you had an amazing time xxx I'm 15 months on the right recovery and 12 weeks on the left recovery - i have as we all know good days and bad but the left is healing far quicker than the right one did i've already got 110 and virtually 0 so that's good - pain relief is down to minimal and i can walk with the dog twice a day and we do just over a mile each time it's great xxxx

 

[Brownie51]

Wow it's neat to read your last previous post and now the one you just wrote! So it was a little over and year and you are able to walk hike and climb! Those are probably the most remarkable hopeful and 2 posts on here! I am so encouraged Nancy!!!!
Great post Nancy from Scotland!!!

 

[Brownie51]

Sandy that is awesome for you too!!! I am 8 months from my Right and will have left on Tuesday. So maybe the second one is easier! I have a dr who doesn't cut quads this time! That's fabulous you are already walking a mile with your pooch! Tell us what you think has sped your healing!!!! We need to know!
I will alert Josephine about these revelations!