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TKR Greda's recovery story<<

@Josephine
I thought it had been 3 years since I have done stairs foot over foot but it has been 5 years. After the lateral release in 2013 I never really recovered. I had the immobilizer on for a long time and then PT overworked the knee to the point I had tendinitis for what seemed like forever. Then I had to wait for my OS to decide I was old enough for aTKR. Anyway doing steps one foot at a time seems normal so I thought I would need to practice. You were right about increasing Tylenol and Percocet I have had less pain today than I have had in a few weeks.
 
I cut my husband’s hair, also! (I just did, a few minutes ago!) Yes, once we start that, it’s our job. I’ve been doing it for over 42 years! Thankfully he’s half bald now, so electric clippers do the job much better! Incidentally, his brother does his own hair with electric clippers, but my husband has not been so inclined! Oh well, he does tons of things for me, and like I said, it’s easy now.

I hope your leg continues to recover. I don’t have stairs in this house, we’ve been here 3.5 years, and I always wondered if that was why I’ve never been able to do them since surgery, because I don’t have them to reaclimate my knee to doing them.
 
Please tell me about your lateral release post op. I also had that done with my partial, and all my discomfort is in the lower lateral area of my knee. It’s been 21 months since my surgery.
 
When I had my lateral releases years ago, I was put into an immobilizer for 6 and 8 weeks. This last medial release had no immobilizer. I don't know if it's normal to not have one now or not.
 
Maybe when a release is done with a replacement they don’t want to imobilize it?
 
Who knows? Maybe things are different today.
 
I have had 4 lateral releases and had 4 different OS. The 4 OSs all had a different protocols.
One in 2000 was use an immobilizer and staying off the knee until he said I could take it off. I think it was about 8 weeks.
The next one in 2003 did not use immobilizers. The biggest difference was it was an open incision vs a scope. The incision was almost 5 inches long. It was the first surgery I had that was not a scope so it was harder to recover from.
The 3rd one in 2006 was like the first one with immobilized for 8 weeks staying off it. Then I did PT with the best PT person I ever had. I healed well from this one
The 4 lateral releaseI in 2013 had this OS had me wear an immoblizer but I could put weight on it. In fact I was told to do all my normal activities with the immobilizer on. The immobilizer kept slipping and was a huge pain to do anything. I tried PT and things just got worse. I never recovered from this lateral release. The PT was really aggressive trying to build my quads and ended up with tendinitis. I switched to a different PT office and they taped my knees and that did help some. I just kind of gave up. I still wonder if I would have done the immobilizer the way I had in the past and kept weight off it would it have done better. To me it made little sense to wear an immobilizer and keep weight on it. After working with PT and the OS for over a year my OS thought a TKR would be the answer but I was too young at 43. I would go in and get cortisone shots and just keep hobbling along.
 
Oh Greda, that’s a lot of procedures for your poor knees. I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. And isn’t it surprising how different doctors have different opinions and protocols for the same procedure.

I hope you will heal well from the TKR procedure and all will be well for you.
 
I know I'm chiming in a little late, but--if I tried to cut my husband's hair, I would probably end up divorced....
 
@Motherbone & @Jockette
When I first started cutting my husband’s hair he was very critical. I told him if he wanted me to continue he takes what he gets. Lol. His hair was receding and he didn’t want to pay for someone who did not have much to cut. In the last few years his hairline has not receded so I guess I am stuck for a while. He likes it really short so I use clippers too.
 
My husband has always been ok with what I could do, he just didn’t want to pay for it.

My father, on the other hand, had a mirror and always watched my mother as she cut his hair and advised! I don’t know how she managed!
 
I think there can be a balance with PT, if you find the right PT. I checked out more than one before surgery and asked a lot of questions on the phone about their approach. I have two different PT's at the same place depending on the day. Both are aligned with the same Outlook. The benefit I have found with the right PT is frankly the encouragement assurance that things are going well. I feel like I should give them both pom poms. They both listened under always reminding me not to worry too much things are going well. They completely listen to input I fully understand the assault my body has been through. Be careful about writing off PT fully. It is not always about addressing the knee. A lot of the issues with pain and discomfort are sometimes and I think often due to the rest of your leg getting used to this new normal. Yes, we do non-aggressive work with the knee but a lot of it actually addressed the wide-reaching ramifications in the rest of my leg. Their hands on work of doing trigger release tell my hip quad IT band and calf have been invaluable. If I had not been going to PT I would not have realized that I had triggered IT band syndrome and that does not get better on its own. I am at week 5 and around week 4 they recommended seeing their rmt. Again, getting all of my muscles addressed across the whole leg made such a huge difference. I also have to say that some massage therapy, is one thing you can do that feels like something pleasant instead of challenging and apart from being great 4 the leg and general oh, it was wonderful mentally and emotionally. When I get my other leg done I will likely look at getting massage as early as possible. I believe you have to have no bruising to have massage.
 
@dmk
I am happy you are having a good experience with PT. I have had 8 knee surgeries and can honestly say I only had one really good PT person who actually listened and adjusted their routine to the patient’s needs. Unfortunately, I have lived in rural areas and there weren’t many choices. Before this surgery I lived in another town and tried every PT office in town. The PT people I saw had numbers in mind and their routine that they used with every patient. Many times I would try to do what they asked no matter how much it hurt. No PT office I have ever been to has ever offered massage. I wish we could have great pt people everywhere but like doctors they all go to school in different places and have different philosophies.
 
Thanks to Bonesmart I have learned going to PT is not necessary, and for many of us, causes more harm than good. Mine didn’t do anything important that I couldn’t do on my own.

The PT industry has convinced us that it is essential. I bet if insurance companies stopped covering it most people wouldn’t go and they would recover just fine.

I personally believe that our operated leg needs lots of rest and gentle treatment for months so it can heal, and that over time our daily activities are enough to re-strengthen our leg.
 
So sorry to use the abbreviation rmt. It stands for registered massage therapist
 
Dkm said:
So sorry to use the abbreviation rmt. It stands for registered massage therapist
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Thanks! I saw someone else use it also and didn’t know what it was. I even googled it but didn’t come up with registered massage therapist.
 
Just another update. I saw my pain mgmt Dr on Friday. He agrees with me that it is tendinitis. He refilled my pain meds for I would have enough until I see him until next month. He has been great through all of this. I see him for another issue and I think he stepped in and really has done a great job making sure my pain is controlled. I have noticed a decrease in that sharp pain but still have that ache. I just want to start doing more but know I need to listen to my knee. It will be just my husband and I for Christmas. He is a federal employee who still has to work despite the gov shutdown. I just hope we don’t have to wait too long for a paycheck. That is definitely adding stress. I want to go to church Christmas Eve but am a bit worried that it will be so crowded I won’t be comfortable. I guess I will wait and see how my knee is feeling tomorrow. Hope everyone who is traveling is safe and have nice holidays.
 
I made it through the holidays. We are in the midst of a winter storm. Rain, then ice and now snow and the wind gusts are 40 miles per hour. Makes me glad to be nice and snug inside. I am wanting to practice stairs again. I think I have the tendinitis under control. I go up and down many times a day but may try going up foot over foot once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once at night. Maybe if I spread out my practice it will be better than doing it many times at once. I am just so ready to see improvement. I guess I feel stairs are the biggest issue since we moved to this house.
I was happy that I did decide to go to church with my husband Christmas Eve and managed okay. I was stiff when we left but my hubby was great to give me his arm to walk through the crowd and to the truck. It was a good service and helped my mood.
 
Greda said:
I was happy that I did decide to go to church with my husband Christmas Eve and managed okay.
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Getting out and doing things we love, something as special as a Christmas Eve service is a wonderful way to spend the evening. It sounds like you doing well! Good going!!
 
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