Dragonkeep
new member
Webbie73, I called my machine an elliptical too but it was the NuStep. It worked perfectly. I posted a photo of it on my post-surgery account.
Revision TKR HELP - 16 months out and in pain<
- Thread starter Scheherazade
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Carolina Writer
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Scheherazade
member
Hi @Carolina Writer, thanks for checking in on me. My initial recovery was so rapid that I seem to have plateaued and it's aggravating not yet being perfect. My legs feel so heavy and exhausted so much of the time, and that exhaustion just seems endless.
Bad few days. My husband is out of the country and my mom came to stay with me, but she's not in great shape herself.
Still, I'm progressing quite well, considering.
Bad few days. My husband is out of the country and my mom came to stay with me, but she's not in great shape herself.
Still, I'm progressing quite well, considering.
It's only just a month since your surgery and the energy drain is still enormous.
Try not to expect too much of yourself. Good things take time!
Try not to expect too much of yourself. Good things take time!
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Celle has it correct. The body is taking all the resources it can muster to heal a major trauma. Remember the mantras and try to take it as easy as possible to allow the body maximum scope for healing. Don't sweat it, healing happens all by itself 
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Scheherazade
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Thanks @Roy Gardiner - I am just floored by the support and help on this forum. Some doctor friends scolded me, initially, when I told them I was spending time on a forum like this. They said people get freaked out by all the horror stories, and there is a self-selection of disgruntled patients. I let them have it because this site has been, if not a life-saver, at the very least a mental health saver and a perfect source of essential advice and companionship as well. Thank you BoneSmarties!
Glamg1979
graduate
@Scheherazade I agree with you about this forum. The support and education are such blessings! I belonged to a group like this one that helped me through my breast reduction surgery 4 years ago so when I knew I needed the knee done I went searching again on the internet and was blessed to find BoneSmart. There is no way the Dr could teach us all that we learn here and frankly I don't think they want us to be "in the know"
Understand Dr's point of view too. I have tried different online fibromyalgia support groups and they are more depressing than uplifting and talk about horror stories.....no thanks.
I am so glad to hear your recovery is going so well! Plateauing is where we need to dig down deep and be patient. Your knees are guiding you!
Understand Dr's point of view too. I have tried different online fibromyalgia support groups and they are more depressing than uplifting and talk about horror stories.....no thanks.
I am so glad to hear your recovery is going so well! Plateauing is where we need to dig down deep and be patient. Your knees are guiding you!
Very true! The body is an amazing thing but you need to let it do its thing and heal.
Clipless
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Hey @Scheherazade , love your positive can-do attitude! I hope you told your party pooper friends that not everyone here is disgruntled... I'm not! In fact I'm extremely happy about my surgeries, also grateful for Bonesmart's online repository of information about TKR recovery- it keeps my imagination from running wild.
I do see the occasional catatrophizer who is probably having an absolutely normal recovery but can't be reasoned with by anyone. I steer clear of those threads. Then there are those who have suffered unfortunate complications and just need some support and good advice. Bonesmart is a mixed bag, really. I'm here daily for now, but you'll see less of me as I heal. Take care!
I do see the occasional catatrophizer who is probably having an absolutely normal recovery but can't be reasoned with by anyone. I steer clear of those threads. Then there are those who have suffered unfortunate complications and just need some support and good advice. Bonesmart is a mixed bag, really. I'm here daily for now, but you'll see less of me as I heal. Take care!
KarriB
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I'm one of those individuals who had a rare complication, but I'm still happy I got my new knee. Without it I'd probably be completely sedantary.
@Scheherazade as others said, you're just a month today and had a bilateral. My infection and second surgery happened at week 4, so I didn't experience a normal recovery after that time, but I was just feeling as though I might be able to go to my parents home for Thanksgiving and was planning on making a few side dishes for the big dinner (of course not all in one day). Of course, none of those things happened because I was in the hospital for Thanksgiving.
@Scheherazade as others said, you're just a month today and had a bilateral. My infection and second surgery happened at week 4, so I didn't experience a normal recovery after that time, but I was just feeling as though I might be able to go to my parents home for Thanksgiving and was planning on making a few side dishes for the big dinner (of course not all in one day). Of course, none of those things happened because I was in the hospital for Thanksgiving.
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newlybionic
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@Scheherazade youre doing well. I think if I had found this forum earlier in my recovery than I did the problems I had would have been answered very quickly. It was the feeling of feeling so alone and not knowing what to do that made my recovery seem to be too slow. The majority of people on this forum are glad they had it done. Some take longer to come to that realization like I did. Very few had serious complications.
Carolina Writer
junior member
It's good to hear from you. Keep hanging in there. You can do this.
Kelly
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Scheherazade
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Just wanted to share a milestone - yesterday was my last day on Lovenox. At first I didn't mind, but after about two weeks I began to dread - just slightly - the twice daily shot in my side. I did develop a mnemonic so I could remember which side to shoot on: "right at night." And at first my husband thought it was funny when I would say, "I have to go shoot myself." Then he just thought I was being morbid.
I don't really understand it, but even though I was on blood thinners for a month, I never developed any bruising anywhere around my incisions and barely have black and blue marks from the twice daily shots. Very strange, I think.
Wishing everyone speedy and complete recoveries. And once again, thank you so much everybody for taking the time to help one another here.
It is truly amazing and restores my faith in humanity (which has taken quite a beating these last few years of gruesome brutality out there in the world.)
I don't really understand it, but even though I was on blood thinners for a month, I never developed any bruising anywhere around my incisions and barely have black and blue marks from the twice daily shots. Very strange, I think.
Wishing everyone speedy and complete recoveries. And once again, thank you so much everybody for taking the time to help one another here.
It is truly amazing and restores my faith in humanity (which has taken quite a beating these last few years of gruesome brutality out there in the world.)
newlybionic
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On your last injection!! I'm glad you're doing well!
KarriB
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Rehab nurses were unhappy with me because I couldn't give myself the Lovenox shots. I refused and had a friend shoot me every day. Check this one off your list! 
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Scheherazade
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One step forward, one step back.
Today I went to outpatient PT for the first time. I was told that my appt was at 8:30 a.m., but I should get there by 8:15 to first fill out forms. We pulled up to the building which has a valet parking style semi-circle in front and the driveway continues straight down towards the back of the building. Because it was almost 8:15, my husband stopped the car at the beginning of the semi-circle and goes to help me up to the front of the building, but a car pulled up behind him, so he got back in the car to drive to the back to park. The semi-circle leading to the front door was cobblestone - not fun for those of us walking with assistive devices. Then I get to the steps and there are no railings. I get myself up the steps to the front door and it is locked, with no one (and no signs) in what looks like a lobby. I hobble back down the stairs with no railing and back onto the cobblestone road, where I then start down the very long (although paved, at least) driveway. As I'm hobbling down the long driveway (of course, it is now raining also), my husband comes running up the drive to me. "The front is in the back!" Nice.
We finally get to the back/front and in the door. By this time it is 8:30. I still have to fill out the forms before my PT session can start. The guy at the desk starts SLOWLY going through the forms I need to fill out and sign, and I explain to him I need to sit down. I do, but every chair is built for people who don't need to have their feet elevated. I finally finish filling out the forms and it is 8:45 already. Then the PT leads me over to a chair (with no place to elevate my feet) and starts going through the forms with me. By the time I actually begin my PT session it is after 9:00. I did heel slides (really? for this I needed outpatient PT?) and then a few resistance lifts, then quad sets (yes, the same kind I've been doing since before my surgery), then she takes measurements. Then it's 9:30 and the next patient is in and my PT is paying attention to him. I ask if I can try a stationary bicycle. She tells me to try a Nu-Step machine instead and sets the time for 5 minutes with no resistance and goes back to her other patient. When the five minutes are up she walks me back out to the desk. Total workout time? Maybe 15 minutes.
At the desk they tell me they have no more openings for the rest of the week, but they can fit me in twice the following week, although not with the same PT any of the times. I ask to speak to the manager and tell her how ridiculous that there is no sign in the front that directs PT patients to the back, and, more importantly, ask why they don't immediately and repeatedly tell patients who call to set up appointments that the entrance is in the back of the building? "Oh, ok," she says. "NO! IT IS NOT 'OK,'" I tell her. She repeats her non-horrified bland noncommittal comments, then asks if there is anything else she can help me with. WHAT?!!! I am absolutely livid.
Oh, and there were never more than three patients, including me, in the huge PT room the whole time I was there. A room full of equipment, most of it vacant, and just two or three PTs and no one cared that I had a miserable experience that never should have happened and was completely their fault that it did. I need to figure out how I can warn other PT patients about this terrible place. I was so frustrated and angry by the whole awful experience. Plus, now I have the pleasure of paying for it and having the insurance company waste money on it. . 
Today I went to outpatient PT for the first time. I was told that my appt was at 8:30 a.m., but I should get there by 8:15 to first fill out forms. We pulled up to the building which has a valet parking style semi-circle in front and the driveway continues straight down towards the back of the building. Because it was almost 8:15, my husband stopped the car at the beginning of the semi-circle and goes to help me up to the front of the building, but a car pulled up behind him, so he got back in the car to drive to the back to park. The semi-circle leading to the front door was cobblestone - not fun for those of us walking with assistive devices. Then I get to the steps and there are no railings. I get myself up the steps to the front door and it is locked, with no one (and no signs) in what looks like a lobby. I hobble back down the stairs with no railing and back onto the cobblestone road, where I then start down the very long (although paved, at least) driveway. As I'm hobbling down the long driveway (of course, it is now raining also), my husband comes running up the drive to me. "The front is in the back!" Nice.
We finally get to the back/front and in the door. By this time it is 8:30. I still have to fill out the forms before my PT session can start. The guy at the desk starts SLOWLY going through the forms I need to fill out and sign, and I explain to him I need to sit down. I do, but every chair is built for people who don't need to have their feet elevated. I finally finish filling out the forms and it is 8:45 already. Then the PT leads me over to a chair (with no place to elevate my feet) and starts going through the forms with me. By the time I actually begin my PT session it is after 9:00. I did heel slides (really? for this I needed outpatient PT?) and then a few resistance lifts, then quad sets (yes, the same kind I've been doing since before my surgery), then she takes measurements. Then it's 9:30 and the next patient is in and my PT is paying attention to him. I ask if I can try a stationary bicycle. She tells me to try a Nu-Step machine instead and sets the time for 5 minutes with no resistance and goes back to her other patient. When the five minutes are up she walks me back out to the desk. Total workout time? Maybe 15 minutes.
At the desk they tell me they have no more openings for the rest of the week, but they can fit me in twice the following week, although not with the same PT any of the times. I ask to speak to the manager and tell her how ridiculous that there is no sign in the front that directs PT patients to the back, and, more importantly, ask why they don't immediately and repeatedly tell patients who call to set up appointments that the entrance is in the back of the building? "Oh, ok," she says. "NO! IT IS NOT 'OK,'" I tell her. She repeats her non-horrified bland noncommittal comments, then asks if there is anything else she can help me with. WHAT?!!! I am absolutely livid.
Oh, and there were never more than three patients, including me, in the huge PT room the whole time I was there. A room full of equipment, most of it vacant, and just two or three PTs and no one cared that I had a miserable experience that never should have happened and was completely their fault that it did. I need to figure out how I can warn other PT patients about this terrible place. I was so frustrated and angry by the whole awful experience. Plus, now I have the pleasure of paying for it and having the insurance company waste money on it. . 
referee54
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I am very sorry that you had such an awful experience---I was lucky---my PT folks kept eyes and ears on us and monitored our progress (I use that word very liberally!) and, at times, told me to slow things down. Very compassionate, very passionate, and very professional.
I think you need to investigate finding another PT center,---or express your concerns to some of the higher-ups you can affect some type of changes.
If you and your insurance company is paying for it, you at least need to get something rewarding in return.
I think you need to investigate finding another PT center,---or express your concerns to some of the higher-ups you can affect some type of changes.
If you and your insurance company is paying for it, you at least need to get something rewarding in return.
OP
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Scheherazade
member
Definitely! I spoke to the "manager" and she couldn't care less. I will not go back there and I am going to try to see whether I have to pay for that waste of a session which, if anything, set me back. Thank you for responding and soothing my very ruffled feathers, @referee54!
