TKR Joyfull61's Recovery Thread

[Clipless]

When I get out of the bath I bend my knees as much as possible, then place my hands slightly behind me on the edges of the tub and push. Then I gather my feet under me enough to stand. Two tips:
1) Don't empty the tub until after you're out- the extra buoyancy of the water makes it a little easier to get up.
2) Make sure your hands and the tub edges are DRY, not wet & soapy, lest you slip back in. This has happened to me twice. Sploosh!

 

[Joyfull61]

@Clipless, thanks for the tips! I may give it a try this weekend. Worse case scenario is that my husband has to help me out.

When I was taking my first shower at home after my LPKR I got tired and sat on the shower stool. The problem was that I couldn't get up. My husband had to help me up. We were both laughing so hard. This time around, I took my walker into the shower and used it for support. It worked great.

 

[Joyfull61]

RTKR was six weeks ago today.

I worked (kind of!) for five hours then drove to PT. I'm officially tired. I'm at 130/4. Extension is tough.

 

[Celle]

A bend of 130 is terrific!
The extension will come. Just work at it gently and don't do anything that hurts. it's not unusual for extension to take longer to achieve than flexion.
You're probably already doing some of these, but this article suggests some ways of improving extension:
Extension: exercises for improvement

 

[Joyfull61]

Yep. Those are the exercises my therapist gave me as homework!!

 

[Joyfull61]

I'm stretched out on my sofa for the first time in six weeks. It's soft leather that you kind of sink into. It hurts to get up, but not as much as before surgery. I managed a low toilet seat today since my coworker was hogging the handicapped stall. Again, it hurt, but not roo bad and it only lasted a few minutes.

 

[newlybionic]

Great report!!! You are doing really well.

 

[kneeper]

Great progress!

 

[Joyfull61]

Thanks, @kneeper. Extension exercise 3 is a killer! I'm doing this daily, but only with weights while I'm at PT. it's tough, but is helping.

 

[Gramanator57!]

Hang in there, 11/30 surgery buddy.
The little milestones will start to tally up!
I met a friend for lunch yesterday and was able to get up from the "normal" chair almost gracefully.
It made my day!!!

 

[Joyfull61]

Extension is HARD!!!!

PT was fun today. We went to the staircase and I climbed and descended the correct way with almost no pain...just a little tightness. That was a huge success for me. A week ago I was walking sideways down the stairs and one foot at a time. After that, I got a nice IT band massage to try and loosen up that sucker. It is SO tight. That's going to be my focus for the next couple of weeks....lots of stretching and massage. I'm going to get this leg straight one way or another.

After therapy, I bought groceries then came home and made chicken noodle soup. I'm not sore or in pain, but my fanny is dragging. Bed will feel good tonight.

I adore my therapist.

 

[Timetolive]

I agree with you! Extension is hard! I am having a hard time with my extension too. It is wonderful you adore your therapist. Great job!

 

[Joyfull61]

Thanks, @Timetolive.

I'm exhausted from all the activity, but it's a good tired.

 

[Celle]

Extension is HARD!!!!

That's going to be my focus for the next couple of weeks....lots of stretching and massage. I'm going to get this leg straight one way or another.

Extension is going to come. Don't stress over it and don't work like crazy on it. Just go gently.

I climbed and descended the correct way with almost no pain...just a little tightness. That was a huge success for me.

Congratulations!

 

[Joyfull61]

Seven weeks from surgery on Monday. Tuesday, I walked up two flights of stairs to my office for the first time since mid-August! I was proud. This is only Wednesday and I'm having a successful week so far.

I've been dong the extension exercises from this site - the ones my therapist gave me are almost identical. Hanging off the bed is doing wonders. I even dozed off over the weekend while hanging with two pounds of weight on my ankle. It doesn't cause any pain and my extension was at a solid 3 yesterday.

I'm still having a lot of IT band pain though. Yesterday my physical therapist massaged my leg and tried to hit the most painful spots. She then placed this pain relief gizmo on the #1 trouble spot. It was an anti-inflammatory patch that directs the medication on the spot where the center of the pad is. I wore it with a timer for two minutes, then she removed the timer and I wore the patch home and kept it on for a couple of hours. I'd say it took away about 40-50% of the soreness and my leg didn't ache all night. That's a really good thing because I didn't sleep with my polar ice machine, which is the norm. It's really cold here in Tennessee right now and we live in a 100 year-old house with mostly the original windows. Needless to say, it's drafty. Monday night, I slept with a heating pad on my feet because the polar ice hose was making my feet cold even though I wrapped it in a towel. I'm a little stiff today, but working from home so I may have to hit the ice at some point today. I don't want any unnecessary swelling.

 

[sistersinhim]

[/QUOTE] She's in great health and ALWAYS goes in the handicapped stall. I have also had to use the handicapped bathroom stalls for years. More times than not, when waiting for it to become empty, a young, perfectly healthy woman would come out. Sometimes even a child will come out of it. Mothers should teach them better! And what's really bad, is they would come out and look at me like I'm in the wrong for waiting for it to become available!

 

[Joyfull61]

The gizmo in the photo I posted actually DID lessen my IT band pain by about 60%.

@Celle, have you ever seen these patches used before? I have PT later today. I'm hoping for some more massage and another of these puppies getting slapped on my leg!

 

[Celle]

No, I haven't seen them before. They sound good, though.

 

[Joyfull61]

I'll be curious to see how much I get charged for it!

Between PT and grocery shopping, I am bone tired.

There's nothing new for my knees, but the added exercises for my hips keep me there 15 more minutes. Then there was a stop for groceries afterward that took all the remaining energy I had. Thankfully my daughter brought all the groceries inside and put them away. My husband is bringing home dinner. Yay!

Even though I'm exhausted, I'm feeling more normal.

 

[newlybionic]