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TKR Jan is on the other side

Congrats!! Your ROM is very good. :happydance: You are doing so well for less than a month out. Keep up the good work!
 
jarabas said:
One of the sore spots is right on my greater trochanter. Sometimes it spreads around to the gluteus. This spot is more sore and achy after I do a short walk and when I'm resting. Ice relieves it somewhat.
The other sore spot is the head of my fibula. This spreads around to the biceps femoris and the gastrocnemius.
Again, it is worse after walking and is relieved to some extent by icing.
The pain is worse later in the day. At the worst, the pain gets up to a six and can keep me from sleeping or wake me up from sleep.
Am I doing something wrong? The pt has me taking a short walk each day-about 5 to 10 minutes to the end my block and back. My "assignment" is to take full, heel to toe but slow strides, using my crutches.
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jarabas said:
She did mention that I need to work on my gait as I had been limping for a while before my knee replacement.
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Sheesh! It's only 3 weeks since your surgery and it seems plain to me that your therapist has you doing too much. Your main job for at least the first month is to rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock.
It's much, much too early to be worrying about your gait.

Do you remember this, from the mantras?
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist (PT) - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it

I'm sure that all your odd aches and pains and your pain later in the day are because you're doing too much. That pain keeping you awake at night is your knee saying "You did too much with me today. Now I'm going to pay you back for it."

Cut back your activity drastically - you don't need to do much exercise to rehab a knee - give your knee a break. Since what you're doing isn't working, you have nothing to lose by trying something different.
 
yes--I did cut back and it really helped! My pain had gone way down, no waking at night, the swelling is way down. Yeah and thanks for keeping me on the sane path! :bath:
 
Great news @jarabas and I hope your outpatient PT works out well. Your ROM is really outstanding for less than 4 weeks! It also sounds like you know how to handle those miscellaneous weird pains that visit out of nowhere.
 
Going to my post-op in an hour and sort of excited. Hope it's good news!:phone:
 
I got a lot of good news and good advice today.
My surgeon is very happy with my knee, which he says is strong and just in the right place.
The incision in mostly healed up and I can start swimming in 10 days! :swim::yes!:
I'll start outpatient pt next week.

The pain I am having in my greater trochanter and calf he thinks might be related to a lower back issue that was overshadowed by my knee problems. If it doesn't improve over the next two weeks we will look into this further.
I could see on the x-rays that my pelvis is at a bit of a slant. The left iliac crest is a bit higher than the right maybe because the left wing of the pelvis is rotated forward more than the right?

We went over my meds and I got an okay to cut the time between my doses of oxycodone and tramadol. I can take oxycodone every 3 hours and tramadol every 4 hours to stay ahead of the pain. He isn't worried about the dosage increase although he warned me that I may have an increase in side effects. I will have to decide which is worse for me, the pain or the side effects and try to balance them out.

He wants me to wait another week to drive and at least two more weeks before I return to work. He is advising my workplace that I should go back part time for the first few weeks. I am to check in with him in two weeks before he actually sends any paperwork to my HR. If I don't feel strong enough we will wait.

The entire post op appointment including driving there and back, lots of x-rays, my inr draw and the meeting with my surgeon lasted 4 hours--I was pretty tired by the end. My lower back felt trembly, and I was a bit nauseas.
When we got home I collapsed in bed and slept for 4 hours. :sleep:
Really feeling pretty good now--very little pain and good mobility, except when trying to step up.
Thanks all. :loveshwr:
 
I too had a tilted pelvis that was causing my back to hurt. The back dr ordered pt for it. The pt would physically tilt my hip into place and gave me exercises to help it sty that way. It got resolved.
 
What a great report! :yes!:
I have found a good PT person will be looking beyond your knee.
I have been working on hip and foot issues to deal with a decade of trying to avoid the pain in my knees.
I can walk a short block now without a cane and no limp.
It still takes a little bit of concentration and being ridiculously aware of my body parts, but I feel I have a foundation to build on!

Take care of yourself today...it sounds like you did a whole lot yesterday!!
 
Janmont and Gramanator thanks for telling me about your pelvic/ foot woes.
I think I will bring it up to my pt.
 
:egypdance:I feel like celebrating today--I drove my car for the first time.:driver:
I actually drove myself to pt. It was a great first trip--we have a very curvy road with a really slow speed limit to get out to the main street. Before Taking to the highway:heehee:
I had to jockey my husband's car out, pull mine out, and re-park his. So by the time I did that I knew I could park and maneuver in small spaces.
PT went very well what with a nice massage and some balance exercises that nobody was there to film. Start in the pool next week. :swim:

I have no energy now. I get so depleted so fast. I might start teaching part time in a couple weeks. I'm leery. I'm not sure I can get through 3 hours of class. But I don't have to worry about that today. :happydance:
 
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That first drive is so freeing!!! Congratulations on a step back to your life! I agree - someone should be filming all the hard work we do at PT. Who would have thought balancing on your operated leg and touching a cone would make you sweat? :heehee:
 
Hi all,
I need some feedback. I am continuing to have IT band issues. First some background.
When I walk, I feel the band catching on the outside of my knee and snapping into place.
It really hurts if I walk more than 5-10 minutes. My PT is massaging and doing ?trigger point? work.
She also has me doing side leaning and side stretching 30 secs/3 sets/2x daily and and icing.
Now the question, request for feedback. When I stand, I think my scar looks weird. It has three long side-to-side (across the incision line) puckers--one just below my kneecap, one just above my kneecap and one that is over the quad tendon.The puckers are maybe 1/2 inch deep. Is this normal? It's like a pull when you don't sew a seam up right. I'm kind of afraid that my IT band is somehow messed up from surgery(I lean towards assuming the worst?) Any advice? Anyone else have this?

Jan
 
Hi Jarabas, your scar will look a little better each week. I'm about three weeks ahead of you in the recovery process and my scar has smoothed out significantly in the past two weeks.

I've also had tight IT band issues. The stretches you're doing will help - just keep doing them. My therapist did some massage and I started massaging at home. Be patient, it will get better with time. I sometimes still have the same band catching feeling on my left knee which was done at the end of August. Again, I've found some gentle massage works wonders. A heating pad also helps. I keep the heat away from the actual knee close to the incision site, but the side of my knees and quads feel much better after a little heat.

Hang in there. Everything gets better with time. :good-bad:
 
Thank you so much--it really helps to hear this. I feel reassured and I'm definitely going to try the heat. I have gotten some relief from hot baths now that my incision is completely closed. The other thing was a double dose of movies, Ghost Rider followed by the Avengers. :heehee:
 
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