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TKR I can’t believe I’m still dealing with this darn Knee^

@Danlovesmary Mary, this is really good news! This morning I am trying to figure out why folks I follow are not showing up and what did I find? This post about your your surgery on Monday! So glad this is going wel for you. Also, I agree on the outpatient PT, I prefer it myself.

On an interesting note, my hubby's name is Dan and I am Mary! Common names, yes, but too funny!

I will now hopefully be able to keep up with your progress.

Mary
 
It's been a week since my MUA. I'm trying to bend it, like the OS said to do but it just won't go! I'm so frustrated! The bad pain I was having before the MUA is gone, thank God! OS said he got 130 degrees, but it will take time for me to do that.

Am I trying too soon? OS said to let pain be my guide, but to not be afraid to try. I have a follow up appt in a couple of days. They will decide then if I should go back to PT. I don't want to spend all that $ on co-pays, but I think I will benefit from PT.

Any advise from the BoneSmart experts? @Josephine or @Jamie - any thoughts?
 
@Danlovesmary Hi Mary! This is my first time talking with you but I started reading your posts before I had my TKR in August. I know you have a group of Bonesmart friends who have followed you all along but I just have to weigh in, too. You've had a really hard time but you have a wonderful spirit. Of course all of this is unsettling but you maintain a generally positive attitude that I find inspiring. Your story will/is helping others!
 
Thank you @sunny-island, that means so much to me! I really appreciate you taking the time to say that.

How are you doing?? You're about 10 weeks out, right? Getting some good sleep at this point, I hope. I was so tired for so many weeks! Still am! Hahaha!
 
@Danlovesmary Thank you for asking - I'm doing pretty well, I think. The first few weeks weren't so great but that's then, this is now. I had one of those hard-pushing aggressive PTs at first but thanks to Bonesmart I left him in the dust (it took me over a month to do that, tho). Yes, I'm sleeping well now - what a huge difference that's making! Today I think I might have overdone it. It's a gorgeous day, I feel good, so we went for a walk on the beach. We walked longer than we had planned, time gets away from you, ya know? Oops. My husband and I love to walk on the beach and getting back to that kind of normalcy makes me happy so if I pay for this tomorrow, so be it! Do you have a beach nearby? I'll be thinking about you and praying for you, too. Your ROM will increase. Being a patient patient isn't easy!
 
@sunny-island, yes! Beach! We are actually 6 blocks from the ocean in Newport Beach, CA! And you are in Florida! On the water or do you have to drive? Nice, right? I have an annual pass to Disneyland (25 min drive) and I have not been able to go for a year! :gaah: I am so looking forward to that being part of my life again.

Disneyland has been quite gracious in keeping our passes "on hold" so we didn't lose the money we had paid for them. I am going to give it a try on Wednesday, meeting a daughter with our two grandsons. I hope I can keep up! The 10 year old is so attentive to Gramma's knee, he will stay right with me...anytime he's around me he holds my arm like I'm about to keel over. hahaha! Lil' sweetheart! The other one, 9 years old, bounces off me like a pinball machine, practically knocks me over...haha!

I'm hoping the surgeon prescribes more PT, I think I need help after this MUA. My knee has not bent much past 90-100 degrees in a year, all the muscles and ligaments and tendons have shortened. I think it's beyond what I can do on my own at home to stretch all that out again.

Enjoy your walks with the hubby! Keep icing! Really nice to hear from you....

~ Mary ~
 
@Danlovesmary Oh Disneyland! My family was living in Santa Ana, CA in the early 1950s and the year Disneyland opened, we went! My dad was like a little kid - my sister and I were his great excuse to go to Disney! It was fantastic. We're about four hours from Disney World, Orlando now. I have to say, I still like Disney in Anaheim better than the one here in FL (this one overs so much territory - too much walking, IMO). I know you'll have a great time when you go on Wednesday with your daughter and grandsons. I envy you!!!

Yes, we have to drive to get to our beach, about a 10 min drive. I would dearly love to be within walking distance as you are. The surf was up today, we usually go around low tide so that we'll have more sand to walk on, it felt good for the water the wash over my feet. The challenge for me is getting across the dunes - going up and down the sandy inclines. It's not even much of a slope really but to my new knee it's the sandy Alps!

Here's hoping you'll sleep well tonight and wake up feeling great, ready for a wonderful new week.
 
Hahahahah! I laughed my head off when you said I'm within walking distance to the beach, @sunny-island! I guess it's really 6 blocks as the crow flies but I have never walked it. lol

How cool that you lived here and went to Disneyland its first year!
 
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Six blocks sounds shorter than it is, I guess! Actually, there's no way I'd walk that far either, which is funny cuz I'll walk for an hour or longer ON the beach!

Well, @Danlovesmary, I hope your PT can help you stretch out those muscles and tendons so that you can walk naturally. The day will come when we'll forget about these crazy knees, maybe forget which knee is fake.

This morning I woke up very aware of The Knee, but I don't care. It will settle down and our walk on the beach yesterday was worth it.
 
And walking on the sand is much more difficult, well done to you both !
 
@speccybecky Oh no it's not!! Walking on the sand, close to the water line, is much much easier than walking on hard pavement! However, I guess I'll have to qualify that, getting to that part of the beach IS a workout as that involves walking over the dune and then going across the soft sand part of the beach. Gosh, here it is 5 am, still dark outside, and I'm wanting to go back to the beach! That's nuts...
 
I suppose if it's wet and flat then yes it should be easier, I was always told to avoid uneven surfaces at first
 
@Danlovesmary
I have lost 12 pounds even though I am eating a balanced diet. At almost 4 weeks out I am doing well but yes, I stop and cry, and I have screamed in PT (that got attention and never again did I scream as my PT and doctor teamed up to help me). I have rested more than I have in the last 2 years (I am a school teacher). I have had nausea from meds, been thankful for ice, wished this were over, thankful for the knee, and happy this forum is here. It is a journey not a goal, and progress should be unique to you and incremental. Blessings to you and welcome to the right place.:-)
 
Hello Bone Smart! I haven’t been in here for probably 4 years. My left TKR was almost exactly 4 years ago. It is still constantly swollen with very little range of motion, and hurts when I move it (and aches for hours after being up and walking around.
My OS insisted there is nothing wrong, a second opinion said, “Sometimes this is the best result we can get”.
I went to therapy for months, maybe 18 months ... I had gotten to 0°extension and about 118°bend. But it always swelled after therapy and ached constantly. For no reason the pt could determine I started to regress, losing bend and then extension at every pt visit.
No answers.
I admit, I gave up. I spent about a year doing nothing but sit In a recliner and get fat (fatter).
Now we are in another state, with new insurance.
It’s been suggested to me (by someone who actually works for a company that manufactures components for artificial joints) that maybe I have a nickel allergy.
I’m so tired. And I’m so sad ... and I’m so very upset that I am SO MUCH MORE than the 63 year old, fat, grandma they (doctors) all see. I was a ski instructor!
 
@Danlovesmary So sorry you are dealing with that knee. Have you had an allergy test? That would be my first priority if you think this might be your problem.

My colleague @skigirl shares your interest in ski instruction and is on the knee side of this forum. Hope we can help you to get back to a better place!
 
@Danlovesmary Sorry for all your pain. Has the knee been xrayed recently to confirm the device hasn't come aloose? I keep having a lot of pain when I made certain movements and the Dr and PT kept saying I was okay and not doing enough. I finally went to another Dr and he determined it was loose.

You know your body and when something isn't right so it may be time for a 2nd opinion, good luck!!
 
Hello, welcome back.

At the risk of being unsympathetic, I say to you that in my view you need to take charge of this and have at it. It looks like you're in a position to do this with your new home, insurance and especially no contact with the original doctors. I suggest you find one or more revision specialists and keep on at him/them until you find an answer -- there has to be one, new knees really do work. I don't believe the "sometimes..." argument, otherwise knee replacement wouldn't be as widespread as it is.

Good luck. And I'm sure there'll be those on here who can help you find the right people.
 
Look into the metal allergy first. Pay for the blood test out of pocket if you have to. If a metal allergy is in play, you would need to know that for the revision anyway.

Then do what Roy says and find a revision specialist in your area and who will take your insurance. Your knee should not hurt like it does. Sure, a person might have to live with a little minor pain that just won’t go away, but that’s a far cry from being incapacitated. You should not have to live on a couch after a TKR.
 
Danlovesmary,
Welcome back, good to see you again, just wish the circumstances were better.
I agree with the others, you will need to find a Revision Specialist, have a metal allergy test, and a full examination.

@lovetocookandsew , a fellow class of 2014 TKR, is having a revision for metal allergy later this spring.
Your story sounds a lot like @RunA42K , doing great, then sudden loss of ROM and pain.
OK to give up, take a break, and now it is time to move forward, new city, new surgeon. :console2:
 
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