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TKR It's The HoneyB's Knees

@mlwreader - I wish the doctor could add extensions to my new knees to make me taller. If he could get me to 5'3" I wouldn't have to have petite length pants hemmed three inches.

On a bright note, I got into and out of my car twice today before I realized I was getting in and out without sliding the seat all the way back. I'm guessing sliding the seat all the way back isn't as helpful for tall folks as it is for shorties like me.
 
I don't know if I really did gain an inch, but the measurements are what they are, so to speak. I feel taller though. When I was younger, my true height was 5'11". I had lost an inch and a half over the years, whether to knees or just the aging process I don't know. And my best friend in high school was your height, HoneyB. I have always envied small women. Grass is always greener I guess. One of my daughters in law, married to my 6'5" son, is 5'1".
 
My one daughter is 5’10”, the other is about 5’6” at the most.

I’m a tad over 5’6”, not quite 5’7”.

My mother was 5’3” and got shorted as she got older.
 
I gained 1/2", from 5' 5 1/2" to 5'6"! It seems as the knees are straightened, we gain height! That's a good by product!
 
I have alway had alot of hair, I think I am about 5’6” with hair. Maybe 5’5 with smashing it down ! I am the tallest gal In my immediate family.
 
Week 8: It’s the week sleep finally returned to me. I’ve slept five (non-continuous) hours every night this week so I’m calling it official, and I'm documenting it for my next new knee adventure. Yay!

In other news, I have a CT scan scheduled for April 23 to be used for building my ConforMIS Knee #2. It looks like I’ll be starting this adventure again for knee #2 in late May or early June, depending on when my new knee arrives. Yikes!
 
I live in a 3-story house. I’ve been able to go upstairs “like a normal person” for several weeks, relying less and less on the handrail over time, but had to do the “step-step” with both feet on the same tread going downstairs because my surgical knee wouldn’t bend enough going downstairs to lower my other foot to the next step. Wednesday and Thursday of this week, I went outside to a "short" porch step (some of our steps are one brick tall and some are two bricks tall – I used a one-brick step) and forced myself to keep my surgical leg's foot on the step, and bend my new knee and flex my ankle to lower my other foot to the next step. It hurt a little, but after repeating this exercise a few times, I felt some kind of loosening or release in the front of my knee and upper shin. It hurt a little and felt wonderful all at the same time. Today at PT, my ROM had increased about 5 degrees from Monday: 0 – 115 on my own, 0 – 120 when gently tugging on a strap, and 0 – 126 with a gentle push (only slight pain) by the therapist.

I described my home-grown exercise to the therapist. First he laughingly accused me of being a Type A engineer (guilty as charged), and then he found a way to get a little bit better, but still gentle stretch on the same parts. He had me stand with my back to a low table (about knee high), flex my knee to bend my leg up behind me so that the top of my foot was resting on the table, hold onto a chair for stability, and gently “squat” with my non-surgical leg to stretch the knee that was behind me. It felt like a good stretch without pain.
 
I didn’t get to watch the Joint Replacement Awareness Day live webcast, but I’m enjoying the on-line video segments from it. I’ve watched my way through the first four of the eleven segments. I watched Segment 4 tonight. It includes a video of a knee replacement surgery. I was almost afraid to watch it prior to my upcoming second knee replacement, but I’m so glad I did. It’s not gory – there’s little to no blood. I can surely understand where all the pain and stiffness came from after watching the video. First, they pull apart tissue like opening up draperies to expose the knee, and then they grab the drill, saw, and hammer and get to work. Wow.
 
Every one needs to watch a video of knee replacement if not gory. This is major elective surgery , does not diminish the seriousness of the surgery.
 
HoneyB said:
I didn’t get to watch the Joint Replacement Awareness Day live webcast, but I’m enjoying the on-line video segments from it.
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@HoneyB Agreed. I watched the videos and not the live feed. Really good information, although I didn't focus on the pre-surgery episodes. I heard one of the physicians refer to a six month recovery time, which I thought might be a little misleading, but that was the only thing that I found slightly off base, at least as far as my own experience goes.

Mutti3 said:
Every one needs to watch a video of knee replacement if not gory. This is major elective surgery , does not diminish the seriousness of the surgery.
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@Mutti3 Oh my gosh I cannot bring myself to watch a video of a knee replacement. I did watch an animated version though. And I have read descriptions. And I have seen on my own legs the horrendous black and blue marks all up and down my legs post surgery. I had both knees done at once, so barring any unforeseen complications, knock wood, I won't have to go through it again, so I'm taking a pass on viewing the surgery video. Thanks but no thanks. Sorry not sorry. :) And all that jazz.

One other thought @Mutti3, my sister in law made the comment that the surgery may be deemed "elective", but given how narrow my world had become, how much pain I was in, and how limited my prospects were for engaging in a meaningful life prior to surgery, she was of the opinion that the "elective" aspect is overrated. Who knows what awful complications might be in store with not having the surgery, in the form of weight gain, circulation issues, and any medical problems that could arise from things like that. For me there really was nothing elective about it - I just had to do it to try to remedy a really awful situation.
 
I think that when medical people talk about elective surgery, they mean that it is planned, and that it doesn't have to be done as an emergency.
 
Just a note for myself so I can remember benchmarks for my upcoming RTKR. Today I’m 10 weeks post-op from my LTKR. My ROM today at PT was 0 – 117 (with and without a strap). I did a couple of new stretches at PT; both were hip flexor stretches, both were gentle, and I felt very little “stretch” with them. The hardest part was lifting my left leg up behind me high enough to place my shin on a chair seat for the exercises. I don’t think I have hip flexor issues. I used a 3-pound ankle weight for my straight-leg leg lifts (all four directions), for lifting my foot from a 90-degree knee bend to straight leg, and for lifting my foot to straighten my leg with a round bolster under my knee. As for medicine, most days I’m taking only two Extra Strength Tylenol at bedtime. I take an extra dose some days. I’m sleeping fairly normally, waking two or three times per night, but going back to sleep fairly quickly.
 
@HoneyB , we recommend not using weights, especially so early in your recovery. For at least the first 3-4 months, your knee needs to heal, before you start trying to strengthen it.
 
Celle said:
@HoneyB , we recommend not using weights, especially so early in your recovery. For at least the first 3-4 months, your knee needs to heal, before you start trying to strengthen it.
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Yikes! I've been using weights for a few weeks. I started out with a 1-pound weight and they've slowly increased the weight in 1/2 pound increments. I've easily been able to do all of the exercises with the weights so I never even considered that I shouldn't be using them.
 
My RTKR is scheduled for June 4, 2018. I'm really not looking forward to starting this process again so soon, but at the same time, I really want to get through with it because I'm tired of planning my life around bad knees. Sigh.
 
HoneyB said:
Yikes! I've been using weights for a few weeks. I started out with a 1-pound weight and they've slowly increased the weight in 1/2 pound increments. I've easily been able to do all of the exercises with the weights so I never even considered that I shouldn't be using them.
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It falls into the category "just because I *can* do it doesn't mean I *should.*" :)

There is no way I'd do that hip flexor exercise you describe. I'd be afraid of being unsteady. :scary:But maybe that's just me. A good PT can show you an alternative. Mine had different options for me for some of the stretches.
 
@kneeper - I had a chair in front of me so I could hold onto the back. I gently squatted on my other knee and it provided a very gentle stretch.
 
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