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PKR JusticeRider’s rehab adventure

WFD said:
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
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WFD, so far, I have only tried kneeling in 4 point, with my hands on the bed in front of me. I admittedly haven’t tried an upright kneel yet! Maybe I should be braver and start working on it.
 
JusticeRider said:
I admittedly haven’t tried an upright kneel yet! Maybe I should be braver and start working on it.
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I would wait a while to work on this, after you’ve healed more. You’re still less than a year out. Patellofemorals can be very tricky. Don’t rock the boat too early.
 
Your pot roast! LOL. My ham. Your baguettes. The buffet.
Those were the days! NOT:rotfl:
So glad they're behind us now.
And kneeling is very overrated.
 
JusticeRider said:
Maybe I should be braver and start working on it.
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I don't know if it is something you can work up to. For me, after the first few months of healing, it was just not a problem - I didn't do anything to get used to it or build up a tolerance or anything.

My surgical knee is so full of scar tissue it might be acting as a built-in internal kneepad that holds everything in place.
 
@Jockette good to get your advice on that. After everything I’ve been through, I have no desire to rock the boat! I told my surgeon beforehand that if I couldn’t kneel afterwards it wasn’t that big of a deal because it’s already been so long since I have been able to do it. There’s plenty of time to try it in the future. No rush!
 
@beachy our buffet is a bittersweet memory! Sweet because we had humor and solidarity to get us through, and bitter because swollen knees are just the worst! So glad not to be served up on a platter anymore :loll:
 
@WFD good to know! It remains to be seen if mine will feel ok at first or not. Who knows, maybe the metal femur head pressing on the plastic kneecap will feel like nothing at all!
 
I emailed my OS and received this message. "Yes you can kneel on your total knee replacement. At this point your incision is very well healed and swelling has improved. Recommend kneeling on a pad and not directly on a hard surface." I tried to kneel on my carpeted stairs and did pretty well. I am going to practice! My husband two years ago bought me a garden kneeler/seat with arms/legs that help you to stand. I look outside and I'm a little overwhelmed by everything I had to let go.
 
@Flashlight thanks for passing that along! Who knows, maybe kneeling is in my future after all? Meanwhile, I think I need to get one of those garden kneeler/bench thingies you mentioned. My gardens are absolute jungles. I decided to prune my willow shrub and ended up literally laying on the ground underneath it to lop off the canes at the base. I must have been quite a sight rolling around down there in the dirt. The good news is I was able to get down onto the ground and back up without hurting myself! And managed to get the shrub pruned in the end. But still, I do not recommend my technique! I think some new equipment is called for.
 
@beachy , I told my husband he needs to build me a little crane with a comfy body-length sling that I can lie face down in and hover over my garden beds to weed and plant. He can just steer the crane wherever I need to go. No kneeling or squatting required! :heehee: We could make a killing selling them to joint replacement patients! Might be a little spendy though. Better yet, we’ll have insurance pay for them and the hospital will send you home with one after surgery! Problem solved.
 
Hey all just checking in. In two days I will be celebrating my NINE MONTH kneeaversary!! I can hardly believe it. Progress continues in significant ways! I’ve read where others have said that their progress continued at this point but slower than before. I have had the opposite experience. I think because I had swelling for so long. Things are improving so much faster the last three months or so! This month I have really felt things in my leg ‘waking up’. The muscles are starting to fire better and feel like muscles again. It’s like my leg is remembering what it’s supposed to do after all this time. It’s been almost 3 years since my injury. 3 surgeries later, I finally feel like my body is ready to work! I’m still not 100% by any means, there’s a LOT of improving still to come. But it’s amazing to feel that glimmer of my previously strong and fit body. I am not working out at a gym or anything but do my barn chores, ride my horse, and do lots of walking. I am gradually adding in more hills and doing more on trails. I’m still not doing what I would consider ‘hiking’ because the trails are still very easy but it’s getting closer! I can just SMELL the mountains.

Here’s some ‘natural PT’ for you: my husband was working on the brakes in his old pickup. He needed me to get in and pump the brake pedal while he bled the brake fluid into a pan. This is a big old 70’s model pickup…everything is stiff and the pedals go waaay down to hit the floor. It was actually pretty hard to pump the brakes from all the way up to all the way down like I needed to. It was actually hurting my (good) knee a little bit. I found myself going with two feet and using my left (operated) leg to help. To my surprise, it didn’t bother my new knee at all! It actually felt stronger than the other one. And I thought “this feels just like a leg press! Natural PT!” Haha

Some interesting developments medically speaking that I think help to explain some of the difficulties I’ve experienced with this surgery. I have a new doctor because my other one moved out of state. My new doctor immediately diagnosed me with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. Basically my connective tissues are too stretchy. I suspected this was the case after taking a ‘quiz’ last year to see if I fit the criteria. It explains so many things. Including why my knees and hips are so wacky. It also really sheds some light on other joint issues I’ve had, and a whole bunch of other quirks and challenges I’ve had that have nothing to do with my joints. My doctor said this can complicate joint surgery in many ways. My knees hyper extend easily and I have realized that’s why walking too fast was causing me some pain. It’s harder to control my knee joint mobility when I’m going faster. So at faster speeds I can get some hyper extension and that hurts. Now that I know that, I have been able to walk quite a bit faster being very conscious not to hyper extend. PT says it will get easier as my muscles, tendons, and ligaments get stronger.

The other thing my new doc did was order a full blood panel. It turns out my ANA markers were positive again, which signals an autoimmune disorder. This is the third time it’s tested this way (it can be a fluke) so it’s significant. However, I have very few symptoms. So they call it borderline lupus. I was aware of this before but my other doctor didn’t go into much detail. This one did. In short, this can cause inflammation in the body and in particular, a heightened inflammatory reaction can be triggered by trauma (like surgery!) so yeah, this may have been part of the reason for all that swelling. It’s all been very eye opening.

My new PT is amazing, and I think I’ll talk about that in a separate post because this one has become very long! But she found all sorts of interesting things, including some icky scar tissue from my first hip surgery in 2015. I never had any manual work on it, just PT exercises. This was a ‘mini open’ surgery with the incision along the bikini line. So under the incision there is some significant scar tissue that causes a little pop in my hip that can be bothersome. Now I know why it does that. I have unconsciously developed little workarounds to avoid it that are not helpful for my knee. She is going to work on that and have me do some self massage on the scar too (not fun). I can see that it definitely needs to be done. These bodies of ours are so complex! And all connected.

Anyway! That’s enough from me for now! If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading and also for all the support from everyone here! I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have had BoneSmart to keep me sane. This community is a treasure. Hope all the new knees out there are busy healing and you are all hanging in there on your healing journeys! :flwrysmile:
 
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JusticeRider said:
My new doctor immediately diagnosed me with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. Basically my connective tissues are too stretchy
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So so pleased to hear of your really positive progress.
The hypermobility diagnosis is interesting. I was definitely a bit hypermobile when I was younger- I could put my hands flat on the floor with my legs straight. I am sure this contributed to joint issues later on. Those too lax connective tissues don't offer enough protection to the joints and too much over extension can cause damage.
Really pleased you have a good PT now.
She sounds like my pilates teacher- really interested in getting to the bottom of things rather than just following a script.
 
sistersinhim said:
can still do this and I see it as a blessing and not harmful at all. After googling it, most agree that it is not harmful
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Just giving it as an example though of general joint laxity- like my thumb hyper- extending. I still wonder if hypermobility contributed to my joint issues
 
@sistersinhim and @EalingGran , here’s a quote from an excellent paper that breaks down the different aspects of joint hypermobility.

“Experts estimate that up to 10% of the general population may have some degree of hypermobility, with women affected about three times more often than men. Most hypermobile people do not develop any problems from their loose joints, but some suffer chronic pain and other symptoms. Those who do suffer chronic joint pain and other symptoms related to their hypermobility or to the looseness of other tissues that often accompanies hypermobility have a condition called joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS).”

So hypermobility isn’t a problem for everyone, as seems to be the case for you, sistersinhim. But for some it actually causes a whole array of challenges. If you are curious, the paper is called Joint Hypermobility and Joint Hypermobility Syndrome by Alan G. Pocinki, MD, PLLC

So much of what he describes about JHS apply to me and things that have bothered me my whole life (including joint pain that started in my late teens). I almost cried when it explained that I feel exhausted in the morning for a reason and I’m not just lazy…that things I have been ashamed of for years, like bladder issues, have a medical explanation. It’s really a life changing diagnosis.
 
Thank you, JR, I will definitely read this. Maybe it will help explain some of my past and current joint issues.
 
@sistersinhim , it’s a very informative paper. Maybe some of it will resonate with you too. Another term for JHS is Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, if you want to google further. I had no idea how many areas and functions of your body this could affect, but like I said, it was a relief to have an explanation for so many issues I’ve struggled with. Let me know if you find it helpful (:
 
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