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TKR Here it is - my LTKR recovery thread

Nine weeks tomorrow. My recovery has slowed up and progress over this past week has been nil and even think I've gone backwards. I had been sleeping well but for the past few nights I haven't and the trick of sleeping with ice on doesn't work anymore. Last night it kept me awake at times at it was aching. It swells up after I've stood up for a few minutes and it is getting a bit hot sometimes. I've had physio today and although she doesn't think I have an infection she has told me what to watch out for.

She also changed my daily routine and I'm to do very little until Saturday except for gentle heel slides with my little skateboard and exercycle for 5 minutes two or three times a day. After the days off I'm to only do one set of exercises each day in the early evening and alternating one day for strength and one day for stretch and just do gentle heels slides and 5 mins exercycle to get going in the morning. She advised doing the exercises in the evening in case I over do it and then I can ice and elevate all evening and not panic that I should be working.

I was managing to walk around 2km every day but I'm only to do that on the strength days and on the others just a short gentle 10 minute walk for fresh air and sanity. And I'm to go back to elevating much much more than I have been doing.
 
I felt like I stagnated at about the nine week point, too. Just keep plugging along. You'll notice a few small things here and there.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
Margaret,
You PT has you on the right track for the week, to do gentle exercises and rest your LTKR so it can heal.
 
My TKR was 2 days after you and I also feel like I have stalled out. I'm still having trouble getting to sleep at night, but seem to able to nap just fine during the day. Hang in there, I hear it gets better. :)
 
It does get better. Little things are healing while you feel like nothing is happening, so don't despair!


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
Its a while since I posted. I'm now 3.5 months post of LTKR. Lots has happened in the past 6 weeks, principally selling our house and moving to the north of New Zealand where its much warmer weather. The move out of our house wasn't very tiring for me as we had packers come in and do everything. But since getting here two weeks ago and starting to look for a house I've been on my feet for a couple of hours at a time, getting in and out of cars etc etc. So my knee hasn't had too much TLC.

So how is the knee? I can now walk up and down stairs foot over foot but only if I have a handrail - one handrail going up and two going down. The knee still swells up but soon goes down with elevation. I was still taking diclofenac 75SR night and morning during the move but now I forget most times. I occasionally take paracetemol (tylenol). Any pain/aching is generally through the back of the knee and the calf and hamstring gets tight and sore. I find a heated wheatpack helps ease the tension. My phone app says my ROM is around 120. If I sit with knee bent for any length of time it is painful to straighten and to walk on for a few steps. If I sit with it straight/elevated and then walk its not so bad. I do remember with my right that I had this for a lot longer than this, maybe 8 months or so.

Physio - I had a final double appointment three weeks ago with my old physio and she gave me a very thorough treatment and massage. She also told me what to look for in a new physio. Today I saw a new physio and have decided not to go back again. She wants to get me into the gym as soon as possible, get me on all the machines - leg press, hamstring curls etc and ramp up the weights. I'm not a gym person and she didn't listen when I said I have all my toys and prefer a home based routine. She basically said I could do that as well as go to the gym three times a week and she'd be there with me once a week. I've since had a talk to my old physio who's advice was to get back onto the latest home exercise programme she designed for me and to find a theraputic massage therapist whom she'll give instructions to if need be.

Long post sorry.
 
I agree with you decision about PT.
 
Hi Margaret. It's always good to hear your updates since I'm just a couple weeks ahead of you -- I just hit the 4 month mark. Like you, most of the pain/aching I have is muscular and generally in the same areas you described. It all seemed quite a bit better a few days ago then today seems worse again. Who knows? I probably overdid something.

I also think you are making the right decision about PT. It sounds like your old therapist was a gem and she probably has you ready to do things on your own with some therapeutic massage thrown in.

I still have some swelling and stiffness too but, eventually, we will both get there.

Congrats on the move!

Roxie
 
Hi Margaret, it's good to hear that you're getting along with your 2nd knee recovery. With me, I think, that span between 9 weeks and four months really seemed to drag. In general, time flies when I feel good and crawls when I don't.

It sounds like you're like me, in that I acquired for home use pretty much every piece of equipment I used in outpatient PT (except the Pilates Reformer).

Share your secret, if you have one, for achieving great early flexion despite swelling. Did you start bending sooner in the hospital?
 
Hi again, Margaret.
It sounds as if you've made slow and steady progress, and that's good. :)

I read you long post quickly and didn't realise that you have moved to the North Island. Whereabouts?
I'm glad the move wasn't too stressful for your knees and I hope you're now settled into your new home.
Will you still have clients, so that you can still work, or have you decided to retire?

You've had enough experience with PT to be completely capable of doing it by yourself and I'm sure that following your old therapist's plan is the right way to go.
 
@Celle I just realised I hadn't come back after you posted. I've moved to the Bay of Islands but still haven't found a house to buy so we're renting for a while. I do still have my accounting clients, well two-thirds of it. There were a few clients that I couldn't do their work remotely.

My LTKR is now 4 months and behaving reasonably ok. It's still stiff on startup and I've worked out not to get up immediately if I've had it bent for a while. I need to straighten it for maybe 10 or 20 seconds and then stand up. If I do this it doesn't hurt so much when I take the first few steps. I'm finding walking up hill not too bad but downhill not so easy. I'm conscious that I'm keeping the left knee stiff both going up and going down so am trying not to do that.

As regards my RTKR with the quad lag - it does still have the lag but I've notice the quads now have much more bulk them when I tense them.

The apartment we've been renting has 17 steps to get into it. I come up holding one handrail, foot over foot and go down holding both sides. This apartment has a wonderful spa bath, which I've used a lot. I haven't bothered trying to find a new physio but I have found a wonderful hairdresser.
 
I love the Bay of Islands. We were there a couple of summers ago. You've moved from one picturesque place to another.

I'm glad your knees are doing OK and the LTKR hasn't had the same problems as the right one did.
 
I can now walk 4km in 1 hour 10 minutes. I did it yesterday on the pavement, with some hill work. I did it again today down and up a hiking track with some steep inclines but I used my tramping poles. I've found that I've been keeping my left 4 month old knee stiff when I attack upwards inclines so with my poles I'm able to put my weight through the poles and then try to put power through the quads and thus walk more normally. I also found that the poles help me get my gait working more smoothly.
 
Campervan,
Great report, glad this recovery is going much smoother than the right knee.
 
Now 5 months post op. I have found a great new physio who's treatment protocols are similar to my old one. Lots of massage. I'm meant to be doing a few exercises for strengthening the inner range quads as they are weak on the left and of course not firing property on the right because of the femoral nerve damage. She is treating both knees now as the right hamstrings have decided to tense up again. I walk 4km in total down a track and back up again about three times a week and with my tramping poles and its getting easier I think. Physio said to use the poles even if I think I don't need them as it'll make me engage the butt muscles more.

I do still have some pain, particularly on startup but it goes away after about 10 seconds. Downstairs still not great, upstairs easier but I still like to hold one handrail going up and two going down. Might just be a confidence thing.

Still not found a house to buy so now in a furnished rented house where we can stay indefinitely. The apartment was good but we had to get out now the tourist season has started.

I've joined a local choir and its great to be back singing after a 3 month break following my move north. This choir is much much bigger, around 50 singers. We're singing Rutter's Gloria for Christmas. I haven't sung in Latin since I was a teenager so its a challenge for me but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. My biggest worry is that I won't be able to stand for the two 40 minutes on concert day. By then I'll be 6 months post op. Fingers crossed!
 
Fantastic progress report- thank you for posting! I can't wait to be back to hiking with two new knees, must be wonderful. What an era we live in, right? Have you considered cycling, or do you already? Not much can beat cycling for nice, strong glutes and you live in a mecca for two-wheeled fun.
 
It's good to hear that you're making progress so steadily and also that you have joined a choir.
You've found a compatible PT, too. That's great! :yay::happydance::flwrysmile:
 
Merry Christmas everybody. Its now 7 months since my LTKR and 4 years for my RTKR. I saw my surgeon for a review yesterday and he's pleased with the progress on both. I do have a little inner range quad weakness in the left causing a less than 5degress lag and the right that had all the nerve damage issues is now also less than 5 degrees lag. The right lag has improved since I last saw him 7 months ago. The right is slightly weaker than the left and he expected that because of the nerve damage.

I do still have startup pain and aches/pain if I overdo things as I did yesterday. I sat in the car for the 3.5 hour drive to his surgery and I drove the first 1.5 hours. So I was stiff after that but felt fine after a walk to a coffee shop and things were awesome when I saw him. ROM measured 120 on the left without any exercise. So at 7 months that for me is awesome as when I saw him at 8 months on the right it was only around 105. After the surgeons we went Christmas and clothes shopping so I was walking around for a few hours from midday to almost 5pm so I've joined the ODIC. I've been achy and found it hard to do stairs today. By tomorrow I'm sure I'll be back to normal.
 
:merry christmas: Margaret,

It's good to hear you're making steady progress.

We're in Auckland for Christmas, staying with our son and his family.
We all went up the Sky Tower yesterday, as part of out oldest granddaughter's sixth birthday treat.

With a four-year-old here too, it's going to be quite a busy Christmas!

Best wishes!
 
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