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

[mcirish]

And I also want to say thanks again to everyone who checks in on me, who is giving me advice. I used to feel somewhat self-conscious to make notes on everything in such detail. It just seems so self-absorbed on a superficial level. But I know it helps others to help me as they can understand what I am going through and they can give good advice and support. On the other side of it, if what I type can provide a good point of reference for a few people and maybe offer some insight into what they might have to experience in the near future that makes me feel great that I can actually help someone like you @RedRider or @icep707

I won't say this too often, hopefully not again, but, just like everyone else, I can and do get discouraged, even depressed. Even for brief moments, I feel hopeless and in despair. Heck, I am even a little discouraged right now, but I know that things will eventually get better. Down deep I have no doubts and fully believe that my full recovery is inevitable, it is happening right now. I hope everyone else who is suffering right now, who might read this, just know that about yourselves too. You are stronger than any suffering you are going through right now. Believe it.

 

[referee54]

I won't say this too often, hopefully not again, but, just like everyone else, I can and do get discouraged, even depressed. Even for brief moments, I feel hopeless and in despair. Heck, I am even a little discouraged right now, but I know that things will eventually get better.

What you are going through is all part of the recovery, too---unfortunately---but you are right---"keep your eyes on the prize"---keep looking forward and take the recovery one day at a time---you will get to where you really want to be!

 

[mcirish]

What you are going through is all part of the recovery, too---unfortunately---but you are right---"keep your eyes on the prize"---keep looking forward and take the recovery one day at a time---you will get to where you really want to be!

Thanks @referee54 ...and I definitely don't want to come off like I am preaching to everyone, I am really just talking out loud, trying to shoo away my own doubts and negative thoughts. Just want to be a positive voice. In a way I have been through similar experiences before with surgeries where the OS's, gosh even my family and so-called friends had left me with very little hope for the future for my knee and I was left there alone to figure it out and rebuild my knee however I could....we can never give up. Just keep pressing forward. Something good is waiting around the next corner.

 

[kneeper]

, right now, I really don't have any pain, but not to say it won't show up tonight....mornings are the worst. Very sore...Can a joint be stiff and tight and loose at the same time??? Sheesh. Sure does feel like it. Takes me a while to get the knee "right" where I can walk semi-normally, heel-toe in the morning.

The loose feeling might me the muscles and ligaments around the knee adjusting. Yes, the mornings take a while to warm up.

 

[mcirish]

@kneeper I keep getting flashbacks to my first major ACL surgery, so many similarities as far as the aches, pains and discomfort...I wake up, knee aches, very stiff. I feel semi-exhausted although I have had a full night's sleep, usually a little queasy/nauseous. I was going to ask, but I guess there is no "easy" wake up routine that somebody has come up with. I usually just stretch, do some light quad sets, heel pumps, heel drags. Make breakfast and coffee, shower, get dressed, read my daughter a story and hit the road. Usually takes me a good 90 mins from the time I wake up to the time I am out the door.

The other thing that bugs me is that I am still having problems keeping my leg straight when I do straight leg raises. I get the feeling that the PT guy thinks I should be able to do this, although he just might be pushing me. I do quad sets until my leg is completely fatigued, rest and then the next day, I just don't see any progress or maybe it's just so small an increment it's just unnoticeable. To me, just knowing how much work was done to the knee, it does not surprise me. I just don't know if there is something I am doing wrong or if something is wrong with my knee beyond just being beat up, like maybe the quad tendon healed too loosely so I can't get enough tension going to straighten the knee???

When the quad tendon is cut, does the OS completely sever it or is it just a partial cut???

 

[jeano]

mcirish, honestly, you are SO early on in your recovery I just would not be stressing so much about how well you are doing, when the leg will get straighter and on and on. The knee is in charge, remember? And frankly I cant see how doing ANY exercise to the point of exhaustion makes sense. Yes, the knee and everything adjacent to it has been through the wringer, so why beat on it some more while its still trying to heal?

You surely did give the impression prior to your surgery that you felt you could do the recovery by effort of will and hard work. ("I can do this, Jeano!" ) I personally didnt think you were bragging on yourself, thought you were special, etc, but I did think, well good luck with that, because this surgery flat takes it out of a person, you can only do what you can do, and there will be a price to be paid. Working hard and being strongwilled DOES help people achieve goals. The fact remains that sometimes hard work doesnt bring expected results, or not in the anticipated timeframe. The smartest often do work harder--but not hardest.

Maybe its your PT pushing things, and your PT feeling you should be able to do stuff you cant quite manage yet, maybe its mcirish... I know you are back to work because you have to be, but you DONT have to work your knee to death doing PT in order to have a good outcome. (Here's an overused phrase to chew on, if you like--Dont let the perfect be the enemy of the good.)

If you havent read Josephine's account of PT-less recovery from TKR maybe now is the time.

FWIW--now going on 3 months out I am waking up with a reasonably limber knee--actually am able to sleep without a complex arrangement of legs and pillows, and the only thing I do that even faintly resembles "working" on my knee is to see how far it'll bend on the shelf in the shower with some hot water running on it. I've been to work a couple of times now without even bothering to wear a neoprene sleeve on the knee, and when I propped a leg up last night at work for a few minutes it was the non-operated one. I havent taken any Tylenol today and might not at bedtime. That's all due to the passage of TIME and taking it easy when I needed to (or could, depending on what chaos was going on in my life) not because of anything I did in PT in November and early December.

 

[saltyal]

frankly I cant see how doing ANY exercise to the point of exhaustion makes sense.

I absolutely agree! .... that kind of strength training is only appropriate with otherwise healthy muscles, not tissue that's been slashed and stretched open 5 weeks ago.... be gentle in recovery and let rehab take a back seat for a while
Cheers, Al

 

[mcirish]

@jeano

I was just about to drop you a note. Hope you are making through these polar votexes...vortices?...whatever, hope you are staying WARM!!! lol.

Yes the pressure I feel is from the PT and his assistant making wisecracks when I can't straighten my knee all the way. Things like "oh, looks like your left shoe must weigh 10 lbs. or something huh Tom?"....and Frick and Frack will just look at each other and chuckle. I mean, overall, they have been great and maybe I am being too sensitive, but I am trying the best that I can and it is also frustrating to me because I feel like I am hitting a wall. I guess it's that, I am my own worst critic and no one is harder on me than me.

I mean the younger guy made fun of a t-shirt I was wearing (which had faded and looked pinkish....was actually kind of funny because upon review it did look hideous). They try to keep things loose and light there and I hear them wisecracking with other patients, but I don't like being made to feel like I am not working hard enough or that I am behind in the protocol.

I think that I should just be a little more assertive in that regard. I mean, I like kidding around as much as the next guy/gal, but I need to explain to them that everything is on schedule and I am coming along just fine. Sounds about right.

PT-less recovery....can you send me a link??? I searched and I am having trouble finding this article. This was the approach I was taking before going to PT and it seemed to be fine. I know that the PT was helping also, but I don't want to be in a situation where someone else is pushing on me out of ignorance of my situation.

Just gotta add this too:

This excerpt is from a post from around the first week of me being a member here....

"I can definitely take more time if needed, but if my body cooperates and functions as it normally does, I should recover fairly quickly, at least enough for me to return to work in a few weeks. But I know I will have to listen to my body and give it all the time it needs to heal properly."....maybe my tone was overly optimistic and I admit that the reality of this recovery is definitely harder than I had originally imagined, but it was always clear that I was confident that I would recover enough to return to work. I never thought I gave the impression that I was a faster healer than everyone else and that my bones would magically mend in 2 weeks, but I think some people took it that way. I just believed that I could get my butt back into the office in 2 weeks and still function semi-normally, which I did. Not saying I am proud of it because I am not. It's actually a little embarrassing because it gives the impression that I am not in a position in my life where I can take the time to care of myself like I need to. To be clear I think anyone in my position and who is similar in age and health could return to work in 2 weeks (an office job) if they felt the needed to. It's just a matter of wanting to and doing to right things to prepare for it.

 

[mcirish]

I absolutely agree! .... that kind of strength training is only appropriate with otherwise healthy muscles, not tissue that's been slashed and stretched open 5 weeks ago.... be gentle in recovery and let rehab take a back seat for a while
Cheers, Al

@saltyalThanks Al. You can also see my response to jeano for more details, but yes, I feel the same way, I just need to tell the PT back off, in a polite manner of course. I figure that just maintaining my strength until my knee tells me it's ready will be enough.

 

[kneeper]

Well as far as morning loosening up early on I would do a few heel slides and a few leg lifts (maybe 5) before my shower. For leg lifts I was told to do a quad set and lift while the knee was tightened. It can be tough early on. It just takes steady work a little bit each day.

 

[jeano]

@mcirish--I completely understand your situation. You had to do what you had to do.

But I disagree that anyone could do what you did if they felt they had to etc. A lot of us (not me, because I was off junk 3 days postop) wouldnt be able to go back to work as soon as you did, no matter how healthy, prepared, and motivated, because they would be stuffed full of opiates and not really able to function. If I hadnt been LUCKY enough (or brain-dead enough) to not need the treasure trove of Lortab I am still blessed with, I wouldnt have been able to hold my head up, drive, or make appropriate decisions at work (a desk job for sure, but a NURSING desk job, so people's lives are sometimes at stake) while on serious pain meds. And serious pain needing opiates for a whole lot longer than 2 weeks, does seem to be the norm. For those who can take opiates and still function more or less normally, that's great. Depending on the work done, the amount of driving needed etc, sure some folks can do it.

As I said weeks ago, sheer fatigue would have prevented me from going back to work. Lack of sleep added to no energy--it would have been impossibly grim to do it. Taking naps is good in theory but sometimes impossible in practice--l've never been able to catnap and envy those who can.

If I were you I would pointedly ask the smarmy PTs if they think its appropriate to mock the person who in effect signs their paycheck, and let them know you'll discusss their humor with their supervisor and see what he or she thinks. Or, since you are probably not the female dog that I am, you can simply say, Guys, you're crossing a line here and I'd appreciate it if you knock it the hell off.

Re how its done in the UK: https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/knee-recovery-uk-style.11830/

Re Polar vortices--I'm still toting the occaisional bucket o hot tap water to the chickens due to freezing temps, but that happens several times every winter. The snow that fell on Tuesday is still lingering in sheltered places here and there--yesterday I couldnt resist saddling a horse for a ride through the snowy woods--last time I got to do this was about 20 years ago when I lived in OH. I did have a mildly anxious drive home from work Tuesday evening late. I drove 13 miles in the snow in about 40 minutes, whereas my husbands BIL left work on one side of Atlanta shortly after 12 noon and didnt get home until 1145 that night. It is good to be a hundred miles away from the city. (Note, my anxiety was due solely to the inexpertise of the other folks on the road--I grew up in WV and could drive in what we had here blindfolded in the mountains with no guardrails.) I also know that NO-ONE can drive on ice and will stay the heck home when that happens. Many motorists in the Deep South have a touching and childlike faith that 4 wheel drive will get you through anything when of course it is useless on ice.

 

[mcirish]

@jeano I recently received an email asking to review my experience and satisfaction with the PT crew. I will give them a good review because they are actually decent guys, but I am going to have some fun at their expense...more on that later . I must say I do have the worst luck with PT offices and the wayward failed comedians they have hired. The last PT office I went to at the beginning of 2013 prior to my ACL surgery, the young woman assigned to me was doing my orientation and we were making small talk and the subject of our children came up. She showed me a picture of her children, then I showed her a picture of my daughter and told the story of how this little beauty surprised us after 8 years of marriage. This gal who is probably 15 years younger than me, that I have known for not even 5 minutes then proceeds to quip "You'd better check to make sure she's yours! hahahaha....ha....ha..." Huh!?!? Needless to say I was not amused, had a nice chat with the ownership and did not patronize said PT clinic again.

Strangely enough, this morning, while I was preparing to rise grumpily from my bed, I performed some morning exercises and lo and behold, I was able to to do leg lifts and keep the darn leg straight....3 times ....I will take it. Perfection vs. good. Good is great at this point.

 

[kneeper]

 

[mcirish]

Thanks @kneeper ....just so weird. I can walk for a good distance almost without a limp, but I can barely keep my leg straight lol...oh well, progress is progress.

 

[jeano]

@mcirish yaaay for straigher and good-er! I am looking forward to whatever prank you inflict on your PTs.

I told one of my guys that I was going to tell the other guy that I'd gone to see the OS with a towel wrapped around my knee and told him "Jason worked me too hard at PT and look how this thing swelled up". They were sooo careful with me. I just loved them. The closest they had EVER come to crossing a line with me was when Jake told Jason that my first day in there I had been really out of it do to pain meds. Which was probably close enough to being true--it just didnt seem to ME that I was out of it.

 

[icep707]

You are doing great . Keep up the great work. Personally id like to see you slow it down but you do have a certain timeframe while I wont. I mean I get 12 weeks than more if I need . And my lifestyle is boring. My kids are grown and out. And I home alone. I rented a room to a traveling RN for another 3 months. She works in intensive care so fortunately she will make share I dont die . Plus my girlfriend is taking 2 weeks off from work and will do the heavy lifting for awhile. Other than that ill be home resting and watching movies.
I really appreciate your thread and your play by play. Its VERY usefull to us pre ops. and im learning THANKS ! I believe you are well ahead of schedule so be proud of yourself. Best of luck. Ivan

 

[mcirish]

Well, had a great time Super Bowl Sunday, but I overdid it a bit and suffered a little setback.....

I got a last minute invite from my boss to go watch the Super Bowl with the company execs and select friends....in Vegas....yup. Just want to clarify right off that I am not a big casino or Vegas guy so this was like a trip I might do once every 5 years, usually with family or on business....don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about me . Everything was comped. Stayed at Planet Hollywood, which is no big whoop, but it was free, so who's complaining? We got comped admission to a high roller Superbowl party by one of our vendors to watch the game in Red Rock at the Casino/Hotel there, about 30 mi. south of the Strip. Really nice upscale community. I actually took it really easy until after the game Sunday night.....I think I drank one beer the entire weekend, the first adult beverage I have had post op. Been trying to stay away from alcohol since it inhibits healing.....did a good job of icing and elevating. Did not do much walking the entire trip.....until Sunday night.

Anyway....we all got a $500 stipend from the company (see gambling $$$) which I put on the Seahawks. I did actually win my wager (the Seahawks won the game), but....there was a problem at the PH sportsbook and they were sending us "next door" to the Paris Hotel so, I would have to walk "next door" to cash in my ticket ($500 winner!)......in Vegas "next door" means "2 blocks" just in case you don't know as the casinos are gigantic now! I don't know this either at this point, so I head on out the door and start trekking down Las Vegas Blvd. So this is 10:30 at night, after a full day of activity, I am already a little tired and I am going "next door" to cash my ticket....I get down to the street and start walking, checking out the Bellagio fountains, trying to ignore the strip club brokers.....so when I finally realize just how far next door is it is really too late to turn back so I just decide to go for it......when I finally get back to my hotel room I am beat and I start thinking about how far that actually was r/t.....without realizing it, I must have walked about a mile....yikes....needless to say my left knee was about to get VERY upset with me....within an hour and about the time my head hits the pillow my knee starts to ache which I quickly counter with ample norco. Was a little painful all day Monday, but by Tuesday I was fine except for some decent swelling on the lateral side.

At my therapy appt. on Wednesday the PT noticed how swollen my knee was and cut back on my exercises. I was already a little freaked out by the swelling so I had to fess up...... but he said that I really couldn't hurt the implants at this point unless they suffered some sort of hard impact. The swelling was from all the irritated soft tissue that was cut and pulled around during the surgery. Basically the soft tissue was inflamed and needed to recover. Definitely set me back a couple days in my rehab, but no permanent harm done. I still have some swelling today, but that has almost completely subsided thank goodness.

Before anyone can say it first, I am a dummy (the wife already told me so as well). Just one of those cases where what happened in Vegas didn't stay there! Otherwise, things are going well, knee is feeling very strong, more and more like a normal knee every day!

 

[icep707]

Yeah ! rub it in nice and tight !! I now have another hated team, the seahawks! But I actually like their team and coach. They are having fun. With that said I lost $$$ . I can never ever wager for a NFC rival. Its in my blood. The ODIC again, huh!! Im sure I will be a member as well. Im so competitive, even with miniture golf and ping pong. Its that bad. I reread parts of your thread. I almost forgot about the flu shot, migraine, emergency incident. You have come along way in a short period of time..You will be just fine and be successful in your businesses. You are very thoughtfull and deep thinking and self motivated. Keep up the great work. C ya on the otherside Monday.

 

[RedRider]

Ironic you were in LV last weekend @mcirish, so was I.

To instill some optimism and hopefully rekindle your pre-op memories, let me share my weekend with you. My fiance and I were there to watch a concert (no, not Brittney Spears) and we walked A LOT as well; up and down the strip like herded sheep along the sidewalks and overpasses. Let me tell you my knee was in pain, not only the right one but my left was exhausted from overcompensating. Saturday night I dropped to my butt in the elevator because my knee was aching so bad. By Sunday every step was tormenting and I felt like an old man having to sit down on any flat surface I could find. It feels better now, but the whole weekend was hampered by being in pain the whole time. I can't wait to be on the other side.

 

[mcirish]

@RedRider Yea, what's up with Brittney being a Vegas headliner? How the mighty have fallen lol...yep, walking too much was a big concern. I actually did a good job until Sunday night. Strange what $500 will make you do

Man oh man, sounds like you really need to get some work done. I have never had it that bad, but I was definitely on my way and I was concerned about preserving the rest of my joints that were being affected. From what you said in your PM you have access to some top notch research and papers on knee procedures. I would still check out Dr. Bugbee if you haven't already. I believe he worked with or studied under Dr. Kevin Stone (SFRAN). Supposed to be a knee maestro, if there is such a thing. Just scanned over his website again. Definitely handles knee replacements: broken link removed: https://drbugbee.com/

So? So? Details man. Who did you guys see in concert? Any funny stories? How much $$$ did you donate to the City???