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TKR Here she comes just a walkin' down the street

I'm pleased for you that you managed that walk, @greatlakes . What a lovely surprise for you.
It sounds as if you're enjoying your holiday.

When you can, please will you update your signature, so that we see the complete date (year as well)?
How to create a signature
You may not be able to do it until you get home - that's OK. :flwrysmile:
 
Your post about the walk to the river has me sitting here crying (good tears). That single post puts everything we have been through/are going thru into perspective . Thank you so much.

Enjoy that pool!


Shelia
RTKR - 8/23/16
LTKR - 10/11/16
 
I sometimes dig way back in the archives and read a few threads from beginning to end. Came across a thought from 2012 by a lady named Nancy2. She commented on someone else's thread, "sometimes we are warriors, sometimes we are worriers." That says it all, for me.

Seven weeks and a day today, and I'm taking full advantage of my last week of pool access for a while. Water walk for 45 minutes, back and forth, then 15 minutes of assorted pool exercises. At this hotel, if I go in around 11, I have the pool all to myself on weekdays. Bliss! Weekends, have to adjust to more people. I have two more shorter trips planned before winter, so will use pools as much as possible.

Not much change since week six. Still some tightness and stiffness, but overall good. Ice occasionally, and still use my foam cushion frequently to elevate, it just feels good. Re walking, I'm a heavy lady, and I think I'll take a bit longer to drop the cane. I still limp without it. That makes the pool particularly welcome at this point. Might be a while before I take stairs normally, too. But little things, like several trips down the hall to do laundry at the hotel, are now routine. Before the new knee, I would have rinsed out a few essentials in the sink or gone dirty rather than walk up and down a long hall three times.

When I first had my operation, I mentioned that an old nagging ache in my wrist from a break a couple years ago had disappeared. I was hoping it was gone for good, but it's come back. I guess it was just masked by all of the extra nerve and pain medications I was on, but oh well, I can live with that. All I take now is two extra strength tylanol pm at night, and might drop that soon, just keep it around for as needed occasions. Right now I'm working on loosening up the left butt/hip, but that's probably a long term project, I was walking so awkwardly for so many years. I found an online exercise routine for this, so am starting to try some of those exercises.

And that's the seven week report!
 
I had thought my eight week post was going to be just more of the same, but then this morning I had my best short walk ever without the cane to the bathroom. I had been limping and lurching from one piece of furniture to another without the cane, but this morning I realized I was walking rather well. It didn't last for very long, just a few steps, but it was a definite improvement, so that was heartening. I'm in my last day in a hotel on the mainland for my two weeks of water therapy, and have been in the pool for an hour every day except one. Half water walking, half water aerobics. The first few days I went in for half an hour twice a day, then realizing that I felt fine, I started going in for a full hour once a day. And that worked well. Plus I've been going out a couple times a day just walking around outside or in stores for short periods, and going out to hear music a lot at night. I still take great care to lie down with my leg up on the foam cushion for several hours a day in between activities.

Nothing else has changed. Only two ty pm at night, no other pain meds, only ice now a couple times a week. The incision is still very sensitive and still have the rubber band tightness around the knee. Still hip pain, but I think it's loosening up just a bit. I still elevate on my foam cushion whenever I lie down to rest.

Every day I do more and more of the little trips that used to be out of bounds. I'll walk back-and-forth to the car from the hotel room without giving it much thought, I'll go out a couple times a day to do little errands instead of consolidating things. It's a gradual loosening up of the old planning every day around minimizing my pain, which meant minimizing my steps. Stamina and walking without a cane will be the next two biggies. Walking more than a block is ok for the knee now, but not so much for the rest of me, so I need to start building distance. Funny how I can go for an hour in the pool, but walking more than a block on land tires me. But I've got the whole winter ahead of me to gradually increase my distance. The walking without a cane might take longer, and I have no intention of pushing that. Walking with the correct gait is far too important to be in a rush.

Audrey
 
Great report! I'm glad you have Bern able to take great advantage of the pool at the hotel everest you are staying. It sounds wonderful.
 
Great report, it sounds like you are doing well. Energy seems to be slow coming for everyone...I still don't have as much energy as I would like, but we all know this is a long process.
 
Pool exercise is so Wonderful! I'm glad you have been able to take advantage of the pool and your knee has reacted well. I agreee with using the cane. Now with my sore left knee I can tell a difference even when using a cane for light support. I walked faster, straighter and took longer steps when I used the cane. I think in the end it will help your gait.
 
Have fun in that pool and enjoy the benefits it's giving you! You are making good progress!
 
Thinking of you, Audrey, hoping all is well. You're probably back on your island again. :flwrysmile:
 
Is it cold on the island now and does that affect your knee? I hope you and your folks are doing great.
 
Hi guys, I was just getting ready for the nine week post. I'll probably just post weekly updates for a while now. I love to be helpful as far as my experiences go, but after those first couple months, things don't change as quickly. The biggest development since my last post, is that my knee pretty clearly told me it was getting stronger. More and more I'd set out without my cane, without even thinking about it. Only short distances, and only in the house, or go in between the house in the garage. Otherwise, as others have said, I want the cane not just for stability, but to prevent falls. The walk is not quite natural yet. I still focus very hard, to use the correct walking posture and to not limp. I'm a few days late for the nine week report - had another quick trip to the mainland, and got in three more pool sessions. My biggest issue is still scar sensitivity. I saw my pc doc and asked about it, and she said it's nerves still trying to deal with what happened to them, and there's nothing to do but get through it. So, ok, this is a much lesser issue than the bone on bone was, I'll take the trade off.
I still read all of your posts and respond if I can help. Best wishes, and see you in another week.

How 'bout them Cubs! (But send me a pm to discuss the Cubs! Need to save the forum for knees!)

Can't believe it's been nine weeks.
 
I can't believe it's been 9 weeks since your adventure....island hopping, ferries, surgery, motel. What a trouper!
I remember that scar sensitivity. It was annoying, like mosquitos. But guess what? It goes away!

We're very excited here, well, not where I live but my US friends and family, about the CUBS. I wanted to send you a PM to rave about them, off-topic, but I can't seem to find the PM button today.

Good to hear your news.
 
I, too, remember that scar sensitivity. I couldn't stand the sheet touching it. It goes away! As do most of the zingers. I still take my cane to stores or anywhere where it might be crowded. All it takes is one person to bump into us the wrong way and down we go. None of us want that!
 
Greetings Audrey
By the time you read this you will be Island Girl again, Sounds like the pool did wonders for your rehab :swim: that's awesome! Soon you will find that the cane will no longer be glued to your side, I'm just now going without it most of the time and then forgetting where I last left it, once I forgot in my shopping cart and drove off without it :heehee: felt really stupid going back to the cart corral to retrieve it:thud:
 
love the part about forgetting the cane. I can't find mine either. There are situations where I should have it I suspect
 
Hi Audrey, I am an old bonesmart member that disappeared after I got to the "normal" stage of my right hip, and left knee replacement. I saw you had your surgery on Aug. 30th, and I had mine on the 29th. So I read through your posts and sounds like you are doing well. Funny all the talk on here about pooping. Here is what happened to me. I take Miralax every day, so the first night in the hospital, I had a catheter in but I felt the urge to go. I called for the nurse and she said something about a bedpan and I said no. I had IV's in both my hands too. So a couple nurses were there and I got to the bathroom and I pooped. There I was, how the heck was I going to wipe with those IV's in my hands. So I had to ask for help. I was so embarrassed. They got me back to bed and then all of a sudden there were 5 nurses, and aides in my room and they were clapping. They said I was their first patient that pooped on surgery day. Hey, if I'm known for something, I guess it can be for pooping. In fact, I went every day at the hospital.

My hospital also has the group therapy. I liked it the first day, as there were about 6 of us there. Second day there were about a dozen and that was too much.

I was doing pretty well until about 4 weeks when some tendon, or muscle tore a bit on my good side ankle. So it was back to crutches for a few days and then cane again. My therapist has really been working on it too even though he didn't have orders to do anything.

My extension is good, right around zero or so but flexion is in the 107 to 110 range. I only have two PT sessions left. Insurance doesn't seem to care. So our local hotel has a pool that they let people use for $30 a month. You just can't use it on Saturdays. So today I went and signed up and was in there for an hour. I am hoping that will help loosen me up a bit.

I also have a mother to tend to. She is 92 and moved into a senior apartment last year after living in the same house for 68 years. My dad died 10 years ago. So she is loving having people around and she isn't so lonely.

Anyway, I wanted to say hi. Always interesting reading how someone that had surgery close to yours is doing.
 
@Debbie_joints thanks for sharing! The water particularly helped me with strengthening everything, to the point where I started walking without a cane.
I so agree about sharing stories. And want to say I've gotten to feel so many of you are friends above and beyond the face we share knee replacements.
 
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I'm walking everywhere except uneven ground and long walks now without a cane! For those of you in earlier stages, it really does happen naturally, that one day you just know you can take those first few steps without a cane and after that, it keeps happening. It will happen to you too. Thanks for sharing that it happened to you, @Majella.Oh, and @zzevi im keeping my walker in my car in the winter, so if I find myself facing any ice expanses in Michigan, I can whip it out and walk safely.
 
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