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TKR Grandma Chris gets a new knee!

As a result of my poor sleep last night I had some delicious naps today. The silver lining! It's back to the recliner tonight. Tomorrow afternoon is my second physio appointment. I think I will change my tack then and instead of behaving so defensively with the therapist I shall try to enlist his aid. Surely he will have some good tips and tricks to help with my mobility, balance, and strength other than very painful exercises. Before my surgery I had bought an exercise cycle, you know just the pedals. I can ask him about using those, how much and how often. Also, I've been massaging the back of my knee and beside my incision and It's really helping. Today is the third week anniversary of my surgery and I feel quite a bit more energized.
 
I think getting help with your balance and gait is a good idea. But, leave out those strengthening exercises. It's way too early for those! I'm glad you've found massaging your knee helps!
 
So physio was pretty good. The therapist, Mitch, is lovely to look at and a sweet guy. I did a cycle with zero resistance- just semi circles for about three minutes. Then I did something where he tied straps around both legs and I used the good luck leg to move the operated one. Not too badI was on control. I balked when he suggested the leg press. I said I'm not interested in strength training yet. He said that was not strength training but for ROM. I desisted and told him he could write me up as resistant. He said okay, I'll mark you down as resistant but pleasant! Very sweet. We ended up with squats at the counter. Now I am home icing and elevating. I'm going back on Tuesday. Also, today he measured my ROM at 73. That is better than 60 something from last time.
 
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Glad you had a good visit and felt comfortable setting boundaries for therapy!
 
Squats are bad on a new knee. Tell him you're going to leave those off. The rest of the day sounds good, especially your refusal to do the leg press! Good for you!
 
Another good night, Yay!! It's amazing how much better adequate sleep can make you feel. So now I'm wondering about my ROM. A couple weeks ago (week 2) it measured at 70 degrees. This week on Wednesday it measured 73 degrees. A modest improvement but improvement nonetheless. My surgery will have been one month ago on the 20th. I am determined to do this the bonesmart way as it is the far less painful way. I guess I'm having a little crisis of confidence. Every single person I know who has had a tkr says exactly the same - do the exercises, they work. All I'm doing is the ADLs and very occasionally I'll try a heel slide, just to see how far I can go. Is that really enough? I could walk a little more but hard to do that outside as the are the 22 stairs and baby it's cold out there! I guess I'm just looking for a little reassurance.
 
It is always a bit scary if our ROM comes back slowly, as compared to others. And I had the same thoughts, am I doing enough?

My ROM at 21 months is better than at my one year check up, so I am an example of just daily activities and Time for healing works.

You really are way too early in recovery to worry about it. Please try not to.

And I also heard all those comments about doing the exercises. :hairpulling:
 
I just did ADL and didn't measure but once in a blue moon! What I did was to be aware of function. Each little improvement was a celebration! You are improving, that's a time for celebrating!
 
It’s also a one step forward one step back recovery and ROM can vary even in the course of the same day.

The measuring tool is not an exact science, I doubt they can get it in exactly the same spot every single time when they measure, they just put it up near your knee. All the fuss about a number that is not exact. :doh:
 
grandma chris said:
We ended up with squats at the counter.
Click to expand...
It's too early for squats, too, unless they are only the little ones where you only bend as far as you would when going to sit on a dining chair.
Deeper squats are really hard on a new knee.

It sounds a bit as if your lovely PT is slightly obsessed about ROM (Range of Motion). Don't let him rush you on that.
There's no need to rush to get ROM (Range of Motion) because it can continue to improve for a year, or even much longer, after a knee replacement. There isn't any deadline you have to meet:
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR

And, it's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself.
 
@grandma chris ...At six weeks my OS measured my ROM as 90, by eyeballing it, while I sat up; his physio measured it with the goniometer and had me lying on the exam table. She got 71! So almost twenty degrees difference, within a few minutes. Definitely taught me that two people will never get the same measurement, and it’s certainly not an exact science. My own common sense ,seeing myself how I could bend, says I bent to 90 degrees. Take heart that a measured number may not truly reflect what you can do:)
 
I still don’t have a good number if I bend my knee while laying down, and yet my bend is very good in a chair. I don’t know why but I no longer care. Nobody is measuring anymore.
 
I truly believe your ROM will come when your knee is ready. I was also at 70 at two weeks, currently 80 at 4 weeks and hoping to get to 90 and pass muster at 6 weeks with my OS. I am doing about the same activity as you - aside from a little more walking at work. Here is my ROM timeline from my first one 19 months ago - and it seems like #2 is on a similar track.
Weeks 1-3 – 55-70 degrees
Week 4 – 80-85 degrees (or less)
Week 6 – 95/10 extension
Week 9 – 105/8
4 Months – 110/5
5 Months - 115/4
5.5 Months- 120/3
6 Months – 120-125/1-0
10 months – 125/0
1 year – 125-130/0
18 months – 130/0
I'm not stressing about it this time -- we will get there - maybe a little more slowly, but we'll get there nonetheless. :) :-) (:
 
@kmak81230 Were those measurements bends on your own or did the PT/OS “help”?

Every time I was measured, up until my 7 month check up, my PT and my OS pushed my leg to a painful place and documented the measurement. So I really have no idea what my true ROM was, because I was never measured on my own. :blackcloud: That won’t happen next time.
 
All on my own @Jockette -- I have a goniometer and I also asked some of the kinesiology students at my gym to measure me occasionally. My PT for the first knee rarely measured and my current PT measures on occasion (of what I can do) but she will not tell me as she knows of my tendency to obsess about ROM.
 
I wish I’d had a better situation in my rehab and a surgeon who would just eyeball my ROM. :boohoo:
 
Nobody has 'helped' with measuring. Mitch did suggest last week that he measure while helping so we could get a better number. I declined and said that would not be a real number anyway. Today I started using my little cycler for exercise. I was able to get about 1/4 revolution and did that back and forth for a couple of minutes. I'll see how I feel tomorrow.
 
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