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TKR Jozilla Part 2 - 9/8/14 LTKR

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[Bonesmart.org] Jozilla Part 2 - 9/8/14 LTKR
Hope you and yours have had a wonderful Christmas holiday with lots of family fellowship and sharing of gifts and lots of good food to eat.


I’ll be looking for you at the BoneSmart annual New Year’s Party. It’s been a very eventful year for most of us---and will be a very eventful year coming up for others of us looking forward to surgery in the new year.


Remember to bring food and drink to share---and pictures are always appreciated and loads of fun to share.


SEE YOU AT THE PARTY!!!!!
[Bonesmart.org] Jozilla Part 2 - 9/8/14 LTKR
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Happy new year! Finding Bonesmart was the best thing I did in learning about this surgery and the right way to do things! I am 3 weeks out and yes I am happy I have had my rtkr. My PT seems astounded by my progress and the only thing I can say is it has to be the mantras. I take my pain meds and ice ice ice. It has to be the key to my progress. My PT is beyond wonderful and I am so glad he was assigned to me for my home care. I now go to his facility and no horror stories. I use the tens machine, then cycle and treadmill. Then stairs and ice. I have not been measured in two weeks but I am so close to being able to doing a full rotation on the bike. I actually think I could but I am a little nervous to go all the way around! My knee looks great and it is hard to describe how all this feels. No pain at all in the knee. My major discomfort has been the quad which has ached since the surgery. I was not in great physical shape either as my walking was almost nonexistent and I could not make it thru a store. I did do preop exercises but stopped them due to a bakers cyst. I now have a straight leg and knee that works! I am truly astounded by this surgery. Fatigue has been the biggest surprise but it is improving. Have faith in your surgeon, follow the mantras and come to this site for support. The prospect of having my life back makes 2014 a year to look forward to and is soooo exciting! Peace to all!
 
That is so awesome, @Jozilla! Keep up the great work! I think having a PT who "gets it" is key to the healing process...I am also fortunate to have a great PT.

Have you tried warming up your quad before exercise with some heat? I started putting a warm facecloth on the quad for a minute before exercise and it worked beautifully for me, and lessened the discomfort later. I also massage them between exercises and during the day when I feel they need some extra TLC. Icing after exercise also helps sooth them and reduce inflammation.

2014 is going to be a great, pain free year!!
Carolyn
 
I love the warm facecloth idea! Have a Happy New Year! Hugs to Ziggy!
 
Jozilla. Sounds like a amazing recovery. Congratulations. Its great to hear. It Gives me hope and motivation to follow the mantras and to take my ipad with me to surgery. Just to look up bonesmart if I need advice or anything. However let me caution you a little. you may feel great and may try to push a little too hard. Please remember the damage to the bone and soft tissue that needs to heel. Id hate to hear another setback story. I suppose its avoidable if you dont overdo it this early on. Best of luck. Keep posting
 
Hi @icep707 - so glad to hear from you. I am basically a very lazy person which is why I think recovery is going so well. My biggest achievement in three weeks was cutting up a small cheese and pepperoni platter while sitting! I only do PT twice a week which I think is just right. I do very minor exercises during the day but do try and walk around about five minutes every hour. My main concern is still stamina and I tend to nap several times a day. I had my iPhone with me and was texting in recovery while having ginger ale. I was terrified of the spinal which turned out to be the best thing ever - at least for me. Everything on this site was so helpful to me. Keep reading - soon we will be reading of your recovery!
 
Hi Jozilla ... Just dropped by to say I hope you have a great year ahead and your recovery continues smoothly and without any little speed bumps. It is good to see that you are doing relatively well and showering comfortably. There is nothing quite like a shower to perk one up. Best of luck for your tests on Friday - hopefully they will provide some sort of answer to the low platelet mystery. Take Care and be kind to yourself ... Ellen
 
Four weeks today! Time is going fast. Due to the snow storms last week my doctors appointment was canceled and rescheduled until tomorrow. As he is a blood specialist I am sure I will be undergoing a battery of blood tests to figure out this low blood platelet thing. The knee is definitely improving at least in my opinion. It feels much better walking and stairs are also much better. I have PT later today so I will see how that goes! My main pain is still more stiffness in the quad area and I do find a little heat - very little heat -on those muscles helps. I still ice all night long and I find that very soothing. My hubby was 60 and we celebrated yesterday. My son and daughter their other halves and two grandchildren came over. We watched football and enjoyed a great take out meal from a local restaurant. It was great to laugh as my 11 year old granddaughter and 8 month old grandson provided great entertainment. It was only for a couple of hours but I was exhausted! So today I will be doing nothing until PT later this afternoon. Hope all the December supernovas are doing well!
 
Good for you!! Glad to hear healing is going well! Keep up the good work!

This supernova is also doing well, thanks...:egypdance:
 
Sounds as though you are doing all the right things. My knee is 4 weeks old tomorrow and is also doing well --cooked my first very simple meal for husband last night :) My energy level is much better after getting off narcotics and also taking Vit C and Flinstones w Iron. I ice a little and elevate a lot throughout the day.
 
I went to the blood specialist yesterday. My blood platelets increased three times and are now normal levels. Hooray! I am however extremely anemic. It certainly explains the exhaustion I am feeling. My doctor felt that this is most likely due to the surgery. I have been taking B12 and folic acid for years because of deficiencies. I love the flinstone vitamin idea @Chihuahuan. I have just purchased MegaFood Blood Builder which is made from organic beet roots and does not create havoc on your stomach. It is high in vitamin C, B12, folic acid and iron. Hopefully I will start seeing results in about ten days.

My knee recovery is still going very well. I am not rushing my recovery and am seeing great results. After one month I am so glad I had the replacement done. I have no fear about having my other knee done which should be sometime later this year. My rom measured at 110 at PT on Monday and I was able to do full rotations on the bike which was the best feeling!!
 
:friends: full rotations!
 
Hi Jozilla. I just read through your thread and all I can say is WOW! Sounds like you've had a terrific recovery! I'm so happy for you! It's interesting to read about the different methods for recovery. I wish I had found Bonesmart before my TKR. Would have been wonderful to go into this fully knowing what was to come. I did research for months beforehand and thought I had asked all the right questions, but apparently not. ;-) You're about a week ahead of me (had my surgery on 12/16) and it's been a pretty tough road. I have a hard time living the mantras as I live alone and it's working against me. While I certainly see little improvements each week, and my PT is very pleased with my progress, I am not quite at the 'glad I did this phase'. Darn it.

Keep up the great work! I'm so impressed with and happy for you! I do have a question though. You said at the beginning that you were sleeping with an imobilizer brace on your TKR leg? Never heard of that ....
 
The immobilizer brace was almost the length of my leg and closed with Velcro. I had to use it until my staples came out. When I asked about it in the hospital they said it was to help keep my leg flat while sleeping. It wasn't too comfortable but I did feel like my knee was very protected. I am not sure if they are common or not. I do believe it has been the ice that has helped me the most though!
 
Ahhh, totally makes sense to protect your staples when you slept. I bet it helped you with your extension too! I think you said that you could get your leg totally straight (which I still can't do) early on. I ice as much as I can stand (hate being cold), but know that I always feel better after I do. So interesting to read all about everyone's experiences! Keep up the great work!
 
Jozilla I am 4 weeks ahead of you and still icing--ice is the best. I opted for ice over opiates and have no regrets. Icing this very minute, in fact. (I had to move my "nest" into our living room yesterday since it has been so cold--now I am in the same room as the woodstove and wont freeze while icing.) Congrats on an uneventful recovery. You will love being on the bike, for me it really helped the knee to loosen up and stay loose.
 
Everything is still going good! My rom was 115 last Monday. I still have stiffness though it seems a bit better every day. I see my OS next Friday for my six week checkup. All I can say is time flies. I am riding the recumbent bike for ten minutes now with a little resistance added this week. I still enjoy that the best. I am still happy with my PT and am glad that I only go twice a week. I did take almost an hour ride with my hubby just to get out the other day. We had a nice breakfast and had a nice ride back. I came home and slept two hours. So that would be my only concern at this point. I do still have a lot of fatigue. I am ok lounging around the house which is basically all I have been doing but get a little worn out when I do anything. I am hoping this improves soon. I was anemic when my blood was tested a couple weeks ago but have been taking supplements to boost my iron. It is called Blood Builder by MegaFood and I will let you know if it helps. It has iron, b12, vitamin c, and folate but comes from beets. It does not irritate your stomach the way iron does. I have stopped the Percocet but do have vicodin which is probably half the strength to take if I need it. I am grateful I can say I really did not suffer in pain at all. Not from the time I woke up in the hospital to now. Stiffness yes. Weakness yes. But not pain. I believe every day will be better even if I cannot notice every little change and I have no fear of having my other knee done when the time comes. This site and the moderators' advice and other members too has benefited me so much! Way more than any book or leaflet I was given. So many thanks to all of you who care enough to take the time out of your own life to help! You do make a difference.
 
Hi Jo - Just popping in to say "hi". What awesome progress you have made, especially when you are only about 6-7 weeks into recovery. I am so happy for you. And to be able to ride for an hour with hubby - FANTASTIC. :bicycle1:
I hope this continues for you. I cannot wait until I can ride the bikes at the gym again.

Take Care Jo and keep striding ahead. No doubt there may be a little bump or two :bicycle2: but if there are, I hope they are shortlived and easily recovered from.

Caring Hugs ... Ellen
 
Keep up the great work! I'm so impressed that you've done so well! Good for you! :dancy:
 
Thank you for the support! I have an appointment with my neurologist this morning and am hoping it is not canceled due to snow! I still need pain medication but will now switch back to my neurologist for pain management. He is very sympathetic and has kept me pain free for several years. I do have severe degenerative disc disease both cervical and lumbar and neuropathy as a result. My DH tells me i am having muscle spasms in my legs at night but they usually do not wake me up just him. Thanks to my neorologist I am still able to work and function somewhat normally.

I also have an appointment with my OS on Friday for my six week check up. My only complaint is that they really make it hard getting pain medication from him although I always got it but he would only give a week at a time. Not very convenient when you are recovering from this surgery.

My hubby had a colonoscopy yesterday and I went with him. All went well but he has a history of precancerous polyps and his grandmother died from colon cancer. We are thankful for this test. Sitting for a couple hours in a regular chai was enough to kill my knees and I came home and slept two hours. Big help I am.

I am a little concerned about returning to work soon but will see what my OS says Friday. I think ig will definitely have to be part time as I just don't have my full strength back.

I will try and post later with an update.

JoAnne
 
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