TKR Grumpy Old Woman

[speccybecky]

I'd show my scar to strangers at the bus top.....whether they want to see it or not!

 

[plnppl]

I am doing a lot better now at 12 weeks and am able to go up stairs . I injured myself by getting out of a kick back lounge chair the wrong way and that put my recovery back quite a lot. It built up a lot of scar tissue that the physio has been working on and getting rid of. It is really a day by day thing but my knee is certainly a lot stronger than it has been. So I am not so grumpy these days!

 

[adnil]

I know what you mean about the chair plnppl. I wasn't paying attention the first time I sat in our recliner and my leg fell of the edge. Very bad move. It set me back and I spent 3 days with ice packs on constantly....it really is a day by day thing. So glad you are feeling good and are happy with your progress. keep up the good work....

 

[Jamie]

Excellent report, plnppl!!! You're getting there and it's wonderful to hear how you're progressing.

 

[plnppl]

Hi all! It has been 7 months since my knee replacement and while there has been improvement I find myself wondering if this is what I have to look forward to now. On the positive there are times when I am happy with my new knee and do not feel much pain at all. I can walk further than before I had the operation. Other days I am in a lot of pain still and my knee gets swollen and stiff and I find it hard to move around. I guess I was hoping that there would be more improvement by this stage! Stairs are difficult and going up or down slopes. Some nights I cannot sleep due to pain and can't get comfortable. I do realize that recovery can take 12 months or more and the fact that I injured my knee at 6 weeks didn't help the situation. My other knee is complaining like crazy and will have to be looked done at some stage. Is anyone else experiencing this type of thing? Is this normal recovery or am I still being a Grumpy Old Woman? One really good thing is that my knee has stopped clicking and I am so thankful for that as it drove me crazy! Hope everyone's recovery is going really well.

 

[bottomshollow]

GOW, good to hear from you. Sorry you are not happy with your new knee. I don't know what your activity level is---but I suspect that you are doing much more than Knee can tolerate. What kind of pain are you having (a description, please)? Are you taking any type of pain meds? Are you still elevating and icing? How much physical activity are you involved in? Give us some details and perhaps we can give you some kind of answer or suggestions. Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[plnppl]

The pain that I am getting is varied. Sometimes it feels as if my knee cap is digging in amd making it sore but other times it aches and feels inflamed and feels so sore that I just cannot find a comfortable position. I get a lot of fluid across the knee joint area. While I do try to be sensible I probably have pushed it too hard. I just want to get on with life like we all do. We had an elderly friend staying with us for a few days and that took toll on my knee as we looked after him. I was using heat on my knee as my physio said ice wouldm't be that helpful at this stage but have gone back to using it again. Now I use both! Our weather has been really cold and wet in Australia and I am wondering if that is affecting my knee as well. I have had a few days here and there when I almost forgot that I had a knee replacement and that is what I am looking for as my end result. I know there will be limitations but I am sick of knee pain! I see my surgeon in November.

 

[plnppl]

Also just wanted to say how great this forum is. It has kept me sane during this time and knowing that we are all here for each other and going through similar things is such an encouragement! Thanks to everyone for their support!

 

[Josephine]

I'm glad you found it so. As for your pain, I had pains very similar up to about 10 months but I think probably not as persistent. If you have swelling, I really contest what you PT said about using heat not ice. Heat increases swelling in my experience. Are you still taking pain meds? If so what, what dose are you taking and how often?
How often are you icing your knee? How often and how high are you elevating your leg? What is your activity level? What do you do in the way of housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping and PT?

 

[ewhrn]

ewhrn I think a change from grumpy old woman is essential. I'm 54, and believe it's all in the attitude.

 

[kneeper]

If you injured your knee early on you might think of yourself at more like 6 months than 7. I had what seemed to be weather influenced soreness/pain in my first 6 months or so, so it could be a factor. I like that you're trying ice again. See what helps.

 

[speccybecky]

Grumpy old woman, I could've written that post. I feel exactly the same and I'm at 7 months!
Pain on stairs, but mostly walking pretty good, and then pain when least expected ? I don't ice much now but maybe I should as it does still feel hot at times. I take paracetamol and ibuprofen a couple of times a day. Hopefully we will still improve. Surgeon said it will take a year to settle down

 

[plnppl]

Isn't it good to know we are not alone and that others are experiencing similar or the same things. I am taking Osteo Panadol for the pain as other pain killers upset my stomach too much. I know my title is Grumpy Old Woman but I have tried to maintain a positive attitude as much as possible. The name came from the UK series Grumpy Old Women and when I first posted I was really feeling like that! Not so much these days! It is more frustration at wanting to be able to do things. I am a fairly busy person and do not like to sit still for long so perhaps I have pushed my knee too much but taking it easy hasn't helped overly either. The doctors don't really explain what to do or not do and that is why I found this forum so helpful and supportive! I think that I do need to put my timeline back a month or so due to the injury I sustained in the early days. I am grateful that I have really good ROM. Hope you are improving! A line from a movie I saw recently said, "Everything works out in the end and if it hasn't then it isn't the end yet."

 

[Campervan]

As I comparison, I'm going to compare myself to you - I'm 8½ months post op. Yes I walk much further than pre op, most days. Some days I'm stiffer. Stairs and slopes - particularly down is harder. Past couple of weeks I've finally let go of the handrail. Going down slopes I think is now my confidence rather than the knee. The other knee is doing exactly same as yours.

So if I'm normal on NZ side of the ditch, so are you or Oz side of the ditch!

Never had the clicking. But I can't lift my leg straight - I have extensor (quad) lag which may be damage from femoral nerve block.

Don't know if the weather affects me or not. We've had such dry, even if cold, weather here.

 

[plnppl]

Hi Campervan, You are doing well if you are going up and down stairs without a handrail! I still hang on for dear life! Sorry to hear about you not being able to lift your leg. Are you still having Physio and what do they say about it? In that respect I have been very fortunate and had great ROM from the start and can lift my leg but it is an effort. Putting on shoes and socks are a bit difficult as my knee doesn't want to bend sideways but I manage and perch on the bed to do it. I am really starting to think that our weather is playing a part in the way my knee is behaving and hoping with the warmer weather that it will improve. At first I thought that the clicking would go on forever but the surgeon said that my kneecap would probably wear in and it might stop. I think that is what happened as it rarely does it now. NZ and Oz are slowly moving closer due to the Teutonic plate movement so maybe we will end up neighbours! Keep in touch and we will compare notes!

 

[Josephine]

Folks, it's not necessary to use the "Reply" icon in someone's post to reply.
Just scoot on down to the bottom of the page and start writing in the window, okay?

 

[Dulcimer Diva]

Hi, GOW--I'm a couple of years older and grumpier than you but months earlier in my recovery. (A couple of days past two months). My OS had told me that although the "standard" time post-op for allowing driving is 4 wks for the L (for automatic transmissions), and 6 for R, or L with a manual transmission & clutch. I'd imagine it's even longer for a bilateral. But he also said that if driving hurts, you can't switch pedals and brake hard and fast enough in an emergency. And if you are still on regular opioids (which you apparently no longer are but your initial post didn't reveal whether you were at 4 wks) you won't have the reaction time and alertness necessary to be a safe driver, period. I take Norco only just before a PT session, because I get driven to and from there by the center's van; otherwise, I'd cadge a ride or get a taxi. And I wait till it wears off before I handle a car, knife or hot appliance. If you have to choose between driving and pain control, pain control MUST take priority--you'll find some other way to get there safely or it's not important enough for you to go. (For instance, here in Chicago we're lucky to have Peapod for online grocery shopping--the driver will even put your purchases where you tell him to). It's always a good idea the first few times you drive to have a passenger with you who can take the wheel if need be.

As to the clicking and the effect of weather on your comfort level, my OS' hospital's "joint replacement class" told us in advance to expect that on occasion, even years post-op. If the clicking is more of a clunking and feels unstable or intrusive, you might have the wrong size implant. Instability can also be due to muscle weakness (and paradoxically, tightness), especially your quads, glutes and calves. Talk to your OS about a return to PT or some home exercises (done only to a point short of pain) to stretch and strengthen your muscles. Going downstairs and downhill is always shakier and more uncomfortable because it involves "eccentric" (pronounced "E-centric") muscle contractions which require more strength and stability--that's what those step-down exercises later in the course of PT are for. It is not a sign of a failed surgery, nor is it a badge of dishonor, to use a cane--in the seniors' version of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" the author suggested it makes a marvelous "accelerator," and you'll notice that even young and healthy hikers often use canes, staffs, or hiking poles for support and power on uphill climbs and to serve as brakes on descent. (It also gets you a seat on the bus, or helps you hook on to the strap or top rail if you have to stand).

Not all joint pain is osteoarthritis--you can have pain without bone grinding bone. Swelling and stiffness is your soft tissue's way of protecting your joints from what it perceives as further injury. And there's a difference between the joint and ligament pain you get from overdoing, and the muscle soreness the day after increasing the intensity of strength training (the latter due to microscopic tears in muscle fiber that repair themselves and then some with a day or two of rest). But if it hurts WHILE you do something, don't do it, at least not at that intensity. Stop or at least back off a few notches.

I've learned to appreciate the difference between pain and discomfort. And, having suffered from clinical postpartum depression (and being sandwiched between two generations of chronic clinical depression sufferers), I am very careful not to toss around the term "depression" lightly. We have ample reason during our recovery to often feel misery, frustration, discouragement, despondency and even despair--but those are logical reactions to a truly stressful situation. Clinical depression often happens with no situational triggers whatsoever and is caused by biochemical imbalances in the brain and endorphin levels in the blood and the relationship between the two. Counseling and spiritual assistance helps in both despair and depression, but depression almost always requires pharmacological or other medical intervention in addition. Depression is a life-threatening illness and not to be trifled with. Despair post-op is normal. Depression is NOT. If you experience feelings of worthlessness and intractable hopelessness and see no reason to continue living, CALL A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY!!!

 

[Roy Gardiner]

Swelling and stiffness is your soft tissue's way of protecting your joints from what it perceives as further injury. And there's a difference between the joint and ligament pain you get from overdoing, and the muscle soreness the day after increasing the intensity of strength training (the latter due to microscopic tears in muscle fiber that repair themselves and then some with a day or two of rest). But if it hurts WHILE you do something, don't do it, at least not at that intensity. Stop or at least back off a few notches.

Spot on.

 

[plnppl]

It is now just one year since my TKR and I have good flexibility for which I am grateful. What I am not happy with is the fact that I still am unable to walk any long distance without my knee feeling like there is a screw inside that is getter tighter and tighter and then slows me right down. It becomes sore and painful. Is this normal? I would have thought that by now I should be walking further without this occurring. I am wondering if I need to just be patient longer or seek another opinion as my surgeon just tells me that the x-ray looks normal.

Also, may I say "cheers" for this wonderful site! It maintained my sanity on many a difficult day!

 

[sheryl7]

Hi plnppl not a professional or anything, not even ha a tkr, but def think u should get a second opinion, thats my humble opinion, all tho for many they say it may take more than a year to heal, but if u are still in this much pain one year out, I would def seek out some help and make sure all is going on right in your knee.
Hope you get to a more pain free life soon...