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TKR I rode the roller coaster. Knee Replacement May 14.

Ziggy100 said:
I can't help reading about the things other people are doing, like climbing stairs at two weeks, mowing their lawns, etc.
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It's difficult to refrain from comparing our recovery to that of others. It's only natural for most to do so, but there are reasons why some recover more quickly than others. Age has major bearing on recovery time, as does the state your body was in prior to surgery, as in the extent and severity of the arthritis in your joint. Also, some surgeries are more involved than others. Then there are pre-existing medical conditions that some deal with. Others aren't able to get adequate restorative rest early on, or eat regular meals due to lack of appetite, both a drain on energy. Our body heals at it's own rate and unfortunately this takes longer for some than others and that's where a big dose of patience comes in, Ziggy. :wink:
Slowly but surely you will get to the finish line. Hang in there! :)
@Ziggy100
 
Thanks for the help. No I'm doing everything in the recliner or in bed. The last time I saw the floor voluntarily was more than 10 years ago. I have a problem with the kneecap on the other leg so I can't kneel.

I actually think some of those people who say they are doing all those things are trying to be macho
 
Ziggy100 said:
I actually think some of those people who say they are doing all those things are trying to be macho
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Or, they are managing it, with difficulty. Whenever we hear or read so and so is doing (fill in the blank) we picture them doing it in perfect health.

I was in a bowling league when I had my surgery. I started back at 3 months.

However: I only bowled one game, not our usual 3, my first time back. For a couple of months my husband carried my bowling ball for me. He helped me get my shoes on because I couldn’t bend enough to do it myself. It took me 2 months to work up to bowling 3 games, and I still could not approach the throw line the same way I did before surgery.

So, I could honestly tell people I was bowling at 3 months, and I was, but it’s not the whole story.
 
Ziggy100 said:
Seems really slow to heal compared to other injuries/surgeries I have had.
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This surgery is unlike any other surgery you have had. Even giving birth is a piece of cake compared to this surgery! Some people do breeze by this surgery, but they are few and far between. And like Jockette said, they aren't telling the complete story. Many have help around 24/7, so all the recoverer has to do are their exceptional activities. Someone else will take care of the other things that need to be done.
 
Thank you for that. I guess I need to keep hearing that.
 
@Ziggy100, in my experience, I have found it counterproductive and absolutely crazy making to compare how other people are doing. We are all different. Yes, I envy people who can do this, or that at the same stage I'm at, and I wonder how on earth they are able to bend, straighten, walk, climb, do pirouettes off the ceiling. If there were an Envy button, I'd be pushing it constantly. But then, that would accomplish nothing.

You and I are about the same age, and I know that I'm not as strong as I might have been 10 years ago. My body doesn't recover and regenerate quite as fast. The last time I got down on the floor, I slipped getting up, smashing my face and getting a black eye. The floor is only to put my feet on, and at my stage of TKR recovery it's heel toe, heel toe, one conscious step at a time.

It's not a race. It's not a competition. It's a process, and the end result is to have a better knee than we started with.

You've got this.
 
Awwwww, that's so sweet. Thank you.
 
Yep, SnowHare has it figured out. :yes:
It will be worth it in the end…slowly but surely you’ll get there, Ziggy!
Happy Monday!
@Ziggy100
 
I think I'm finally getting it through my head that this knee is going to heal-- at its own pace. PT and sleep are going well and I am doing the exercises, albeit not as many as PT recommended.
 
Long before my knee surgeries, I tried to scrupulously follow PT regimens for various things. It was awful!

Comparing notes with my husband, sister, and brother in law - all of us highly motivated to Do Well - we came to a consensus that PTs believe their clients will only do 1/2 of what they recommend.

So I learned to pick and choose among the various exercises for those most helpful AND of those I chose to do half the recommended amount but spread out throughout the day.
 
Thanks Jockette and Layla. Going to PT today and I know she is going to have a fit because I haven't done all the exercises religiously. I can't remember all of them usually. Still feel foggy occasionally from surgery. They told me I would have to do the exercises religiously because I'm only going once per week due to cost. I took my first shower standing up and I am walking around sometimes with a cane, sometimes with the walker still. She told me to stop using the leg lifter so I have. Still have knee pain but less swelling. Lots of concerns that the pain is never going away on the inside of the knee.
 
Your job is to heal. Your job is not to validate your PT or make them happy! Once a week and doing the exercises you remember is just fine.

At just over a month post op, you seem to be doing fine. I took my first standing up shower at post op day 24, and didn't completely give up the walking stick until 8 weeks.

What else have you noticed you've been able to do at home that you couldn't ten days ago, or that's easier?

About the pain... Remember you're only 1/12th of the way through a year long journey. It gets better!
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mendogal said:
Your job is to heal. Your job is not to validate your PT or make them happy! Once a week and doing the exercises you remember is just fine.
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I agree!

Regaining our ROM does not require forceful bending or painful exercises. That is counterproductive.

Regaining our ROM is more about Time than repetitions of a list of exercises.

Time to recover.
Time for pain and swelling to settle.
Time to heal.

Our range of motion is right there all along just waiting for that to happen so it can show itself.

In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Normal activity is the key to success.
 
You're doing fine, Ziggy!
Nod, smile and let the PT's words go in one ear...and out the other. :wink:
Hope you have a good evening and sleep well tonight.
@Ziggy100
 
I'm 10 weeks out now. Walking with a cane, had two follow ups with surgeons pa, and I attend PT once per week.

Some days I feel like I'm really making progress and others I have quite a bit of pain. I don't know if this is normal?
 
Yep, normal!

You're still healing!

Can you correlate your pain with a particular activity the day before, or that morning if the pain is in the evening. Keeping an activity and pain diary for a week can be revealing!
 
Yes...Normal! You're only six weeks into a year long recovery and it's likely activity and PT may be irritating healing soft tissue. Go slow and easy and continue using ice and elevation for discomfort / pain.
You'll get there, Ziggy! :yes: :thumb:
@Ziggy100
 
Found out I have scar tissue left from a heart grafting procedure and also leftover piece of vein from a vascular procedure on the inside surface of my leg at the knee which have been complicating my recovery. PT has been trying to break up the scar tissue, and a vascular specialist is going to inject the small piece of vein. UGH.
 
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