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PKR JusticeRider’s rehab adventure

I, too, hope you feel better really soon. Your knee recovery sounds like it's going well. It's a shame other parts of your body are keeping you down.
 
Thanks @sistersinhim , I’m looking forward to getting back to progressing with my knee. Sunday, right before I got sick, I had a great long walk with a friend over rolling terrain. It has been beautiful the last couple of days and I’ve been missing it! My horse is pacing the fence trying to get me out to ride him! Hopefully I can get out there soon. I’ll leave an 8 month update next week (:
 
Agree it probably is a mixture of both causes. I must have been low in immunity from surgery and post- pandemic illnesses to have got the Strep A septicaemia a month or so ago. I am trying probiotics and zinc capsules to rebuild my defences.
Like you say though Justice Rider - it also is us going out more again and socialising. Hopefully it will settle down. This too shall pass!
 
Hello BoneSmarties! I’m very happy the sun has finally come out in my neck of the woods. It has been a long, wet, gray spring! I’m also glad to finally be feeling better after a nasty upper respiratory flu.

Lots happening here, and as of Monday, I am at EIGHT MONTHS post op! That sounds so momentous! I am 2/3 of the way through this 1yr healing process (though I do think I will be one of those who keeps recovering into two years). I’ll do a monthly update and try really hard not to go too long. Months 6,7, and 8 have been so great in that I actually see big leaps of progress as time goes by.

In month 8, I have been walking 6 miles and adding in more hills (still gently rolling rather than big climbs). Every time I go up or especially down a hill, I am astounded when it doesn’t hurt! It’s wonderful. My knee is slowly remembering HOW to go down a hill after almost three years of not being able to do it without severe pain.

I have been riding my horse and gradually adding more speed. Posting and standing in the stirrups is no longer painful for my knee at all! My hip is more of a challenge riding than my knee at this point. I haven’t been racing up and down mountains yet, but I’m making progress slowly but surely. My horse and I are both so happy to be together on the trails again.

I am going up stairs with no problem and don’t need to use the railing. I am going down stairs better all the time. I’m still relying on the railing for full flights but am able to go down the 4 steps from my porch where there is no railing. I feel a stretch on the front of my knee, but no pain!

I have dropped the seat on my stationary bike a 4th click! I am so excited!! It just happened a couple days ago! I told my husband I had great news and when I told him what happened he said “that’s wonderful but it’s basically unusable for me at this point because my knees are up by my elbows” (our seat is really difficult to adjust). I said “really??that’s great!!!” :heehee:

I have had very little pain or stiffness in my hip. It started bothering me a few months ago but hasn’t hurt at all lately except a little discomfort sometimes when riding or bending wrong. I really think the knee was making my hip hurt, but I also really feel my hip never got a chance to rehab properly from its surgery in 2021 because my knee was so bad. Everything is feeling better together.

And speaking of rehab, I’m going back to PT tomorrow!! I’m very excited. I quit pt about 2 months post op because it was making my knee swell and hurting more than it helped. I decided I would go back when I felt my knee was no longer so reactive and it felt resilient enough to work on strengthening exercises with someone besides me. Well, it’s time! And now that my knee is healthier, I also want to do more rehab for my hip to make up for what it missed the first time. I’ll let y’all know how it goes!

Finally, I was in the barn last night and my dog was running around playing. I actually sort of hopped/skipped/ran a couple of steps without even thinking about it. And it felt great! I was so happy I almost broke down crying. It sounds silly, but I haven’t had that feeling for so long. I’m so grateful to my body for enduring so much and being so strong and brave and letting me help it heal. I’m very glad I had the surgery, and I believe I will get my life back. The adventure continues!!
 
Fantastic news! So glad all is going so well for you and you are back riding more normally. Good luck with the hip- I know what it is like to be juggling different joint issues. Not sure how you manage all your animal care/ barn work. I find all the exercises for my back as well as knee/ hip very time consuming.....
 
What a wonderful update, JR. You're doing so well! Thanks for sharing all of your fantastic progress.
JusticeRider said:
I actually sort of hopped/skipped/ran a couple of steps without even thinking about it. And it felt great! I was so happy I almost broke down crying. It sounds silly, but I haven’t had that feeling for so long.
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Not silly at all, I had a couple of these moments and others have also. I wish you many more.
 
Well, I had my first appointment with my new PT on Thursday. Y’all, I am so excited about this therapist. She is so cool! The first thing she did is get my entire history of every single injury and surgery I’ve had…in my life! With my very active and somewhat high risk lifestyle, I have had quite a few injuries over the years. It was a long history…! She had a chart of the body and noted every single thing. Then she had me stand in front of a mirror and looked at my alignment and pointed out all these little quirks in my posture and musculature. In particular, my whole left leg was wacky (no surprise)! My right leg looked like a column, all lined up and solid. My left leg was all over the place and kinda mushy looking haha.

She was very kind and nonjudgmental, and talked about how wise the body is and how it adapts and protects itself when it has pain. And that we can also help it to relearn new patterns that are more balanced and integrated to benefit the entire body. She never even mentioned ROM or tried to measure my flexion or push my body in ANY way. It was so refreshing!

We literally started from the bottom up and the first week is all about my left foot. I’m practicing standing evenly on all four corners of my foot and also using a little tiny ball to get in between all the joint lines and roll it out to release tension. I had some holding patterns that have caused tightness in some areas and weakness in others. It’s pretty fascinating! In my appointment she had me do a little mini squat normally, and then manually placed my foot in proper balance and had me do it again to see how different it felt. Amazing!

I have done a lot of PT…YEARS of PT. But I have never had PT like this, so it will be fun and interesting to see how it goes! I will keep you updated.
 
JusticeRider said:
I’m practicing standing evenly on all four corners of my foot and also using a little tiny ball to get in between all the joint lines and roll it out to release
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This sounds very like my pilates teacher's approach.
We sometimes do this with a small firm ball. She is an ex- modern ballet dancer and is very keen on foot exercises and being fully balanced. It seems like a tiny exercise to stand evenly but it does make a difference!
 
JR, it sounds like you have found the right therapist! Yippee! This is so important in this recovery. Please keep us updated on the different things she's prescribing. It sounds so encouraging.
 
Wow, JusticeRider, you sound great. I know it hasn't been easy for you (you're not EASY Rider, ha ha). Your update has been very encouraging. Are you sorry now that you called your knee Pot Roast? Anyway, now I can't wait for 8 months to come up!

Oh, and can I borrow your PT?
 
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Just thinking more about our discussion on another thread about kneeling post knee replacement. I can see why it might be trickier with a patellofemoral replacement and I agree that I haven't seen any papers that specifically addressed type of knee replacement and kneeling ability. In fact everything I Google seems to lead back to that one paper we have both read! It really does seem to be an area that needs more research.
I have also been thinking more and realised why I might find it easier than most people to kneel. My good leg is very good ( 155 flexion/ 0 extension and fully pain-free). Also my PKR is lateral so when I kneel I can 'cheat' a bit and put more weight on my good knee and the unoperated side of my knee. I am now trying to move slightly side to side and put a little more weight on the operated side.
 
EalingGran said:
I have also been thinking more and realised why I might find it easier than most people to kneel. My good leg is very good ( 155 flexion/ 0 extension and fully pain-free).
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On the other hand, my range of motion is terrible (85° at best) but I can kneel without pain, despite all my complications and other pains, so go figure. It probably has to do with subtle differences affecting the nerves and soft tissues.

The only problem I have with kneeling is that the lack of range of motion means that when I kneel my body wants to fall forward onto my face, so I can't do it without bracing my good leg to the front. As a result I hardly ever do it, except for some stretching exercises.
 
It really hasn’t been easy, but for sure the last couple months have been SO much better. If I have to do this again (very likely), I’ll have to remind myself that the first few months will probably be a brutal ordeal that I just have to make it through and endure before things turn around and everything improves. I know every surgery is different, but I have seen a pattern with my 4 surgeries, that my body gets really angry with me for a while and things are really rough for a few months. But then the other side is worth it :) As for my pot roast, well, it really was a big, hot, meaty mess. I really like my little baguette so much better! :heehee:
 
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EalingGran said:
Just thinking more about our discussion on another thread about kneeling post knee replacement. I can see why it might be trickier with a patellofemoral replacement
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Yeah, I’m still very curious about this. After all, when you kneel, the weight is all concentrated directly onto your patella. And when your patella has been scraped out and filled with plastic, as in a PFR, it’s bound to make things feel…different. I know some TKR’s also have their patella’s resurfaced, so I imagine it would be a similar sensation with the kneeling? I just wonder about that, but as you say EalingGran, there’s not much information available. Let me know if you see anything in your browsings!
 
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