PKR I'm Here.... PKR left lateral complete!

[Junebug2]

Hello all...my os never mention recovery. He just said 3 months after surgery I would be glad I had the surgery. Needless to say it was a shock aroo. I'm so glad I found this forum...

 

[mcirish]

@DogLoverx3 hey sweetie, thank you for the nice note. At least somebody cared! lol...that's what I get for going away for so long. TBH I suspect a lot of my discomfort is self-inflicted since I am less than 100% true to my PT regimen. All in all things are going better. Things are going so well sometimes I forget to to take Advil in the morning, but by the end of the workday my knee starts giving me the business :( Still a good sign I suppose.

Sorry to hear that you are having difficulties with our wonderful insurance system. Not shocking to say the least. What's new? How was the move? How was Mexico? How's business?

 

[mcirish]

Hello all...my os never mention recovery. He just said 3 months after surgery I would be glad I had the surgery. Needless to say it was a shock aroo. I'm so glad I found this forum...

Welcome @Junebug2 ! I am sure you will have a pleasant stay here in Kneeville. Yep, some doctors have the ability to tell you what you want to hear and would make excellent politicians. As long as they know a few good jokes and have a working knowledge of rough carpentry I guess we have to put up with them.

 

[icep707]

Mc irish !! ! me friend . How it going ,? what a surprise to see you back here. 2 whole months . I go back to work on the week of the 10th. My manager told me to take a extra month off. Doesnt want me to aggravate it. Apparently he knows a few people that had replacements and had trouble. Honestly ive been fortunate and could of went back after 90 days. Once he said to take my time and recover fully , I jumped on the opportunity to take a extra month. Short term disability covers it as my OS is the coolest ever. As long as I don't miss 6 months at Costco , ill be OK. Wont lose job, benefits or medical or seniority. But im overdue and need to get out and work . My knee is plenty strong . I have no regrets at all. I got back from Newport Beach last month . It was great . The chicks down there in the OC are unbelievable. Undoubtedly the hottest anywhere. I hope you recover fully and that your business succeeds . I know you were contiplating working with someone else. Whats the status. ? How the family .? I finally reconnected with my granddaughter, so thats all good. Only thing is she is heck of shy and not very friendly . Standoffish to put it mildly .oh well . Been enjoying the sports scene. The Bay Area is doing fantastic everything. YEAH !! Well gotta go , its late. I really wish you the best and a full recovery. Iceman

 

[DogLoverx3]

Of course I care! Look up, so does Ice! ;-) Most of our 'graduating class' has recovered fully and moved on from here, but I'm certain that you're still in their thoughts....

I often forget to take Tylenol in the mornings before I leave the house and inevitably have to go back home to get them and by that time I need a Tramadol as well. You'd think I'd catch on and just keep a bottle in the car, but it's already 110 here, so that's no good for a mobile pharmacy. Are you still doing formal PT? I switched to a new OS and he told me to stop PT as it wasn't doing me any good at this point. My issues aren't with ROM, they're with pain and swelling.

You're sweet for asking (or evening remembering) all the chaos in my life. The move is over. That's the best I can say at this point. I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends help me that day. I'm still trying to adjust to the new house. That's a challenge to say the least and it seems to have turned into a money pit. Boo. Mexico however was amazing! Sat on the beach, read, watched everyone play in the water and after careful consideration and weighing my options, I opted for alcohol over pain meds. Worked pretty well too! I'm headed back for another long weekend in October. I need to figure out a quick (and cheap) vacation for the summer though. I get cranky if I am kept away from open bodies of water for too long.

So how is work? Will it slow down any during the summer? Any fun trips for you and the fam in the works? I'm so pleased that you checked back in. I was truly wondering how you were doing with everything. You have a wonderful attitude towards it all and will absolutely get to where you want to be. I'm just sorry your recovery from a partial doesn't seem any easier than that for a total. Keep in touch!

 

[mcirish]

@icep707 Iceman glad to hear you are 100% or at least close to it. Man, i have always been a sucker for shopping at Costco, but it sounds like it's not a bad place to work. Guess it all depends on who your boss is as well, but 4 months off paid with job security is about as good as it gets short of being a gov. official.

Dana Point, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, etc. all pretty great places to chill out...or sight-see lol. Family is good. Maya is growing up quick. She is in the 97 percentile for height in her age range, but only in the 65 percentile for weight. Bean pole. It's awesome just to watch her develop. Soooo smart.

Still contracting with this company. Becoming F/T perm is on hold until they can figure out their budget. Still doing commercial real estate on the side and trying to get a couple of consumer products to market. That is a tough business to break into.

Glad to hear you reconnected with your granddaughter. Forgot how old she is, think you told me once, but kids go through shy phases. Maya did. Could not get her to say "boo" to my dad for a while. Now she waves at complete strangers at the store and engages them....which brings in a whole new set of concerns! Never ends with kids.

 

[mcirish]

Of course I care! Look up, so does Ice! ;-) Most of our 'graduating class' has recovered fully and moved on from here, but I'm certain that you're still in their thoughts....

I often forget to take Tylenol in the mornings before I leave the house and inevitably have to go back home to get them and by that time I need a Tramadol as well. You'd think I'd catch on and just keep a bottle in the car, but it's already 110 here, so that's no good for a mobile pharmacy. Are you still doing formal PT? I switched to a new OS and he told me to stop PT as it wasn't doing me any good at this point. My issues aren't with ROM, they're with pain and swelling.

You're sweet for asking (or evening remembering) all the chaos in my life. The move is over. That's the best I can say at this point. I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends help me that day. I'm still trying to adjust to the new house. That's a challenge to say the least and it seems to have turned into a money pit. Boo. Mexico however was amazing! Sat on the beach, read, watched everyone play in the water and after careful consideration and weighing my options, I opted for alcohol over pain meds. Worked pretty well too! I'm headed back for another long weekend in October. I need to figure out a quick (and cheap) vacation for the summer though. I get cranky if I am kept away from open bodies of water for too long.

So how is work? Will it slow down any during the summer? Any fun trips for you and the fam in the works? I'm so pleased that you checked back in. I was truly wondering how you were doing with everything. You have a wonderful attitude towards it all and will absolutely get to where you want to be. I'm just sorry your recovery from a partial doesn't seem any easier than that for a total. Keep in touch!

@DogLoverx3 no formal PT anymore. My crappy Healthnet plan stops at 12 visits per year. Just hitting the gym, doing stuff at home. Slow and steady. Like you, my rom is great. Probably 145-150 flex. It's mostly just the post-work out soreness and quad weakness that are still lingering. Last night I was at L12 for 30 mins on the recom. bike and then mostly weights, light with high reps. Sore this morning (with some swelling) and still have a little weakness right in that range near full extension. It's getting better, but it's a slow grind.

Have a sister that lives in Chandler. Went there once in the summer, probably 15 years ago, and played golf with her now ex-hub.....118 damn degrees on that course....and humid. We only played 9 holes, but I don't think I will be doing that again! lol

Cheap vaca trip.....Lake Powell? Went there a few times. Loved it.....I think alcohol IS a pain med lol, my first choice anyway heh heh ......we might go to Santa Barbara in a couple weeks so Maya can go to the SB Zoo. And Hawaii is always in play if we can make the time and get some reasonably priced airfare. I have a sister and brother-in-law that live on Maui so the lodging is free! Not a cheap place to vacation though.

 

[1ELISEA]

Hey there @mcirish
Good to hear that your are doing well. It is sometimes better we don't know what is going to happen or we'd find every excuse in the book not to have a TKR. Ya make the choice and go with it.

Wonderful that you are feeling more like your old self. You can tell the post-ops that it will get better, but sometimes that is hard to imagine; and then one day you wake up and feel like you old self. Go figure!

Great avatar; she is a cutie!

 

[mcirish]

Looking for some guidance/reassurance. Knee has been coming along slowly, but making good progress without any setbacks...until today. Had a good workout last night. Intense session on the bike, then good workouts on the leg press, leg curl and adductor machines, high reps low weight. Some discomfort after the actual workout and sore afterward, but still nothing out of the norm. Got up this morning and after I started warming up i noticed a pretty sharp intense pain with every step, but only at a certain point in the range of motion, like if I put weight on the implant in a certain position I get this sharp shooting pain! Didn't have time to call the doctor yet and I also just want to wait to see if it gets better, but it hasn't so far. No swelling beyond the norm either. Just weird. Anyone else experience this?

 

[DogLoverx3]

You have awesome timing @mcirish ! I was just logging off ..... where is the pain? Is it possibly right below your knee. Kind of like you're being stabbed with an ice pick? Sounds like you've given yourself a case of tendinitis and if it's in the area I'm guessing it's your patella. And it hurts. And takes a while to get rid of. You're not going to like what I have to say, but you need to cut out the weights for a while. Bike is okay with no resistance, but any sort of weight training will just exacerbate the issue. If it's Patella Tendinitis, they make a velcro strap that you wear right under your knee, that puts pressure on your patella and helps with the pain. The 'solution' to any form of tendinitis is the dreaded rest & ice. :-( Took mine close to a month to get better. It still flares up, but at least it's better. Hope all else is good with you!

 

[mcirish]

@DogLoverx3 hey sweetie, how are you?It is or feels like it is in the lateral compartment and only painful when i put weight on it. Not so sure that it's the patella. Little bit concerned right now. Have not felt this during my entire recovery until now. Definitely feels like the icepick though! Ouch. Icing it right now.

Icing seems to help it. Hoping that it's just some soft tissue getting pinched or something like that.

 

[DogLoverx3]

Might not be the patella then (der, I had to google where the 'lateral compartment' was) but does sound like some sort of tendinitis. As I've been the Murphy's Law of recovery, I've given myself tendinitis in 2 different areas which mainly only hurt when weight bearing. I'm sorry you're hurting. Hopefully icing it and taking it easy for a few days will help. Tylenol helps too. I'd put a call into your OS to be safe if you're not feeling better by tomorrow. Feel better my friend!

 

[mcirish]

Ice, lunch break and Taco Bell seemed to help immensely. Weird lol! Still sore, but now the sharpness of the pain is gone. Took a second round of Advil too. Just kind of a pressure pain now. TBH I had been pushing the envelope lately with my activities. Long night walks have become long night walks with brief scrambles into the Santa Susana Foothills! Chasing after my daughter has become REALLY chasing her, running sometimes, albeit gingerly. I know, bad boy, but I am nearly seven months in to my recovery! I should be able to do these things. I am not going back to the "Old Tom" level, but just enough to get the heart pumping, have a little fun you know?

 

[icep707]

Did someone call me ? Just kidding. Whats up . Glad to hear you are alive and well. I suggest laying off the weights for awhile. Hope everything is well with your family and employment. The knee will be fine. However, honestly im not a big fan of the partials. I think Josephine is keeping track of the partials that eventually get totals. I dont recall the statistical outcome . With that said, cut back on the weight training and elevate and ice for a couple of days. Im 5 months today and im so happy with the knee, I cant imagine going through a recovery without this forum. It made the recovery very simple and understanding. Keep us posted on that knee , best wishes, Iceman

 

[DogLoverx3]

And here I thought it was supposed to be chicken soup that cured all. My mother lied. Must remember Taco Bell. ;) Glad you're feeling better, but uhm are you supposed to run on a partial? I thought that was a no no. I can't see the pics of your little girl :(

 

[mcirish]

Did someone call me ? Just kidding. Whats up . Glad to hear you are alive and well. I suggest laying off the weights for awhile. Hope everything is well with your family and employment. The knee will be fine. However, honestly im not a big fan of the partials. I think Josephine is keeping track of the partials that eventually get totals. I dont recall the statistical outcome . With that said, cut back on the weight training and elevate and ice for a couple of days. Im 5 months today and im so happy with the knee, I cant imagine going through a recovery without this forum. It made the recovery very simple and understanding. Keep us posted on that knee , best wishes, Iceman

Dr. Ice is in the house. Good to hear from you man. Yep, that was one of the random thoughts running through my little brain. A TKR might have been better given that they did so much work on my knee on top of the PKR. Most of my difficulties have been from the discomfort from the underside of my knee cap. It's so difficult to do any kind of motion from full flex to full extension, even non-weight bearing. It is slowly getting better, just need to keep working through the pain/discomfort. The whole idea behind getting the PKR, or at least the main reason was that I would need a revision at some point more than likely and I believe it is less traumatic to revise a PKR to a TKR vs. a TKR to another TKR.

Yes, I am definitely going to lay off the weights for a while. I only had less than my body weight stacked, about 120 lbs. I think. Anyway, low impact only for a while until things settle down.

Glad to hear you are doing so well bud. Take care.

 

[DogLoverx3]

Whatever time a PKR can buy you before needing a TKR is probably worth it. Just kinda sucky your recovery has been so long. If you can get your PKR to last 10 or so years, you may be able to get away with just having it revised to a TKR once and be done with it. Ice and I are absolutely in for another TKR somewhere down the road thanks to our age. (and I think I'd rather stick a rusty fork in my eye repeatedly than have to go thru this again) :-x

 

[mcirish]

And here I thought it was supposed to be chicken soup that cured all. My mother lied. Must remember Taco Bell. ;) Glad you're feeling better, but uhm are you supposed to run on a partial? I thought that was a no no. I can't see the pics of your little girl :(

Taco Bell is one of my guilty pleasures. Chicken soup is the best though . I only run when I have to. We live in a rural area and there is a real threat with rattlesnakes so sometimes I have to go after her when she decides to run....and she is VERY fast now....ugh. Believe me, I would rather not because it is not comfortable when I have to do it.

 

[mcirish]

You think she knows she's cute?

 

[DogLoverx3]

Love love love!!!! She's beautiful Tom!