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Bilateral TKR It's finally time!!

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@Threads I got approval from OS to swim at 6 weeks post op visit (my incisions were all healed then) but waited a few more weeks to make sure I could get out. If you pool has stairs you could probably do it earlier than my nine weeks. Since my pool only had the ladder, I waited. I probably could have done it last week. I'm a bit stiff and tired today, but also have been bad and no iced today (going to now). I did have a great nap this afternoon though!!!

You are like me - each week before surgery, my knees were angrier and angrier at the gym - it kind of helped me to know I'm making the right decision. Your surgery will be here before you know it!!!
 
Once again, thanks for the encouragement @ljrfrm. Our pool is fabulous with stairs into the shallow end and a leisure pool that has a forced channel of water going through it. I was walking that frontwards, backwards and both sides but then I realized I needed to work on my upper body as well using the foam dumbbells. I'm lucky in that the water is ozone treated which means less chlorine. My skin is happier in that kind of scenario.

What do you wish you had done more of in preparation for surgery - your legs or your upper body? I look at the people posting and everyone seems so young on Bonesmart. I feel like a Grand Dame or something :yes:

Five weeks tonight I will have gotten through my surgical day! Hard to believe how the time is going.

Take it easy and ice tomorrow so you don't regret your burst of freedom in the pool!
 
@Threads I'm going to take it easy today. My knees are not so happy this morning - and I have PT tomorrow. So today I have a date with my recliner, my ice machine and the remote!

As for surgery preparation, I worked with a trainer at the gym and probably wouldn't change anything. I worked a lot on getting my lower body ready - quads, calves, etc. But I also did a lot of upper body work - which I'm so glad I did. Honestly, as strong and ready my lower body was, I think I lost so much just the first week or two. I think I was a bit naive at how quickly I would lose muscle down there. But it made a difference once I started to move again!! I'm so glad I worked on my upper body as well - it really came in handy and still seem to use my upper body more getting up from chairs, etc. It sounds like you are doing great to get ready. Just keep it up until your surgery date - which will be here before you know it!!

As frustrating as this process is sometimes, I'm SO glad I had both knees done at once, and never doubt that decision. Five weeks will fly by before you know it!!!

And.......age is just a number!!! Our knees probably all feel about the same age - so it's all good :)
 
I was going to say good morning - but it's already the afternoon where you are relaxing, knees up and wrapped in ice:ice: Try to enjoy your down day - hope there is something interesting to watch at the other end of your remote!

Thanks for the warning about initially loosing all the work on your legs that you did prior to surgery, and knowing that in the end, the work paid off.
 
@Threads Although I took a nap, I have been bad about icing - will go do it now but skipped it this morning. Bad girl. Nothing too exciting on TV today (hence the falling asleep LOL).
 
@ljrfrm - sleep is good - very good! No pile of books beside you waiting to be read while you ice?
 
@Threads I've had a book sitting next to me for a month. I'm usually a big reader but for some reason (either meds or just uncomfortable) I just don't have the desire to read. Still haven't iced yet.........going to do it now!!! For real. Next time I complain about my knees, remind me it's my fault for not icing like I used to!!!!
 
Oh no! Don't tell me that @ljrfrm !!! I've stocked up at a used book store - mind fluff kind of books as well as more challenging ones, once I'm off the drugs :heehee:. Trust those knees are really well iced - I've given you lots of time while I've been out and about - so you really have no excuse.
 
@Threads Yes, I was a good girl and iced for several hours. Tomorrow is PT, so I will definitely ice again!!

I am surprised I haven't wanted to read - you may be very different. For some reason, I just haven't felt like it. Weird. I'm sure I'll get into it right when it's time for me to go back to work, and I no longer have the time!!
 
Hi @Threads Thanks for checking in!!! PT went ok. I always start on the bike and it felt so good to pedal, it was a nice stretch. As I did my other exercises, it wasn't so much my knees that hurt, but the side of my knee (IT band) and back of legs (hamstrings). She did some work on them to try to loosen me up - and measured my ROM - I was a but sad that the right side only went up 1 degree (it's at 108) and the left was the same at 114. Now two or three weeks ago, I would have been so excited about that number - but yesterday I was a bit bummed that I really hadn't made any progress this week. But given that I'm moving and exercising more, and not icing like I had been, I think that's part of the problem. All I can do it keep plugging along! So after PT, my legs are a bit achey/tired, but not too painful. I took Tramadol in the afternoon though, as I was a bit uncomfortable. I feel like I'm moving along slower than some other people, but I'm still getting stronger each day, and slowly getting the bend I need. I will get there soon!!! It's probably good for you to see all types of recoveries, to help you get ready. I have to say, even though I'm not where I wish I would be, I'm still making daily progress and able to do so many more things than I could even just one or two weeks ago. I just wish I could get rid of this awful stiffness.
 
@ljrfrm - is it a recumbent bike that you use? I've got one in the basement that could be unburied. However, I would have to master those %#^# stairs before I could use it. I should have been using it all along, but just haven't :-( Don't get discouraged - it looks like you're on a plateau now with your ROM, one day soon the RT will give you your numbers, you'll notice that the stiffness is less and you'll be ecstatic with your progress. Isn't that the way with most things that you learn in life? You are teaching two new knees to behave and maybe they are acting like 2 year olds right now :)
 
@Threads Yes, it's a recumbent bike. I have a bad tailbone so I'm unable to ride the other kind. I wish I had one here at home now. It's kind of a pain to go to the gym for a 10-15 min ride now, but if I had one here, I think I'd use it. I did buy a little portable pedal type bike for $30 off Amazon and use it daily, but it's not the same.

Post-surgery, I spent the first weeks just rocking back and forth on the bike (at PT). Then I was able to pedal backwards. Finally I could go forwards - it's a process (like everything with this recovery) but you will probably appreciate having the bike post-surgery.
 
Thanks, @ljrfrm - I will add cleaning out that part of the basement to my to do list. We used to have a treadmill but I found I couldn't use it with my knees. So, about 3 years ago our eldest son agreed to trade their recumbent bike for our treadmill. We recruited our youngest son and he and his brother did the heavy lifting and switched machines using our Westphalia with the bed down! Our middle son got off Scott free but it is a long commute from Shanghai. It was the best switch ever. Our daughter-in-law started using the treadmill and she has since lost 100+ lbs which is absolutely incredible. It's helping her maintain her quiet relationship with MS. I should have used her example and stayed with riding the bike but .........
 
Wow! You are doing so great for roughly a little over 2 months post BTKR. I had my own BTKR on May 5 of this year. It's five months now. Some mornings, going downstairs is still a little painful and a bit stiff. Other than that, I feel quite happy and pain-free most of the time.

Wishing you continued success with your recovery.
 
@Wellness in Virginia Thanks so much. I read your posts about how you worked on your ROM, and have tried to follow some of your advice. You seem like you are doing great. It's great to hear how well you are doing at five months - it gives me the motivation to hang in there. I was out all afternoon at my son's soccer game and am so sore now......but I do know that it will get better. Wishing you the best too with you continued recovery!!!
 
@Threads How awesome that your daughter in law lost so much weight. Good for her. I actually lost some weight right before the surgery too - and the treadmill helped me alot, even though I was hindered by my knees. I miss it now, and hope to return - pain free - for more workouts.

You middle son is living in Shanghai? Have you been lucky enough to go visit him??
 
@ljrfrm - our middle son has lived in different parts of China and Hong Kong for about 20 years. Just after I retired (DH retired first), we went and spent 5 weeks travelling to the different parts of China that appealed to us. We walked the Great Wall early one morning before any other tourists arrived. It was like walking through the pages of history. We saw the Terra Cotta Warriers, travelled down the Lee River on a boat surrounded by the karst mountains that you see in traditional Chinese paintings and visited Yunnan Province in the southwest corner on China. I'm obsessed with textiles and a number of the minority groups live in that area. I was able to see their textile work using indigo and see them wearing their traditional clothes. It was a magical time and luckily, we went before the recession of 2008. My knees were just starting to send me signals then but I could walk to keep the muscles around my knees strong enough to take me on that journey.

Today I cooked dinner for our eldest son and family. I can't stand very long so I prepare something, sit for a bit, and do that over and over until dinner has been orchestrated and is ready. Can't wait for new knees!
 
What is with sons and China? Our oldest left the states when he graduated from college, he's 42 now. He moved to Taiwan first, then Hong Kong, and now lives in Shenzhen, China. It is a huge manufacturing hub. (Hello iPhones!) He is trying to come back to the States for longer visits. I've been to visit, but spent most of my travel time in Thailand. When I was with him I visited IKEA for my first time.
 
@Threads and @Jane B. How lucky for your sons!! (and for both of you to visit!!). I love traveling and have never made it to Asia. Someday..........when I have money and two good knees :)
 
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