PKR JusticeRider’s rehab adventure

[EalingGran]

was a relief to have an explanation for so many issues I’ve struggled with.

I know what you mean.
I was aware of some of these issues but this paper is a very clear summary and ties things up well. Thanks for sharing it.
I have definite autonomic issues with postural tachycardia and poor peripheral circulation. I am sure there are probably a lot of links like this to joint issues that are only just getting understood.
I think I probably overstretched some of my joints with yoga when I was younger- because it was one form of exercise that I was "good" at. I am now trying to work on strength and muscle development.

 

[JusticeRider]

I have definite autonomic issues with postural tachycardia and poor peripheral circulation.

I think I probably overstretched some of my joints with yoga when I was younger- because it was one form of exercise that I was "good" at.

Same here, EalingGran.

 

[benne68]

Just catching up with your recent progress update, @JusticeRider, since I've been away for several weeks. I'm so happy to read about how well you are doing at the nine month mark.
I suspect you will be doing some real hiking soon!

And I love your suggested PT exercise with the brake pedal.

 

[JusticeRider]

Hi @benne68 good to hear from you! Hey, maybe every PT’s office should have an old pickup truck parked next to the stationary bikes for brake pedal leg presses
Well, it turns out your prediction came true sooner than I ever expected…I ‘accidentally’ went on my first real hike yesterday!!

I thought I knew every single trail within a 30 mile radius of me, but I discovered online a new trail I had never been on. I was so excited…fresh trail! It sounded pretty easy, starting in a city park and going into the forest for a while, popping out onto streets here and there. Lots of wonderful little trail walks like that around here, but this one would be a new adventure for me!

There was an 8 mile loop or a 5 mile loop, so I planned to do the 5. I read the stats ahead of time, but what I didn’t know is that all of the elevation loss and gain happens in the first 2 miles and the rest is basically flat. Long story short, the first mile drops 500 feet down and the next mile goes 500 feet up. Much steeper than I have done since 2020! A half a mile down, my leg muscles were quivering! My knee felt fine, so I stopped and put on my compression sleeve and continued, hoping the switchbacks would become more gradual. But they didn’t!

I got down to the bottom of the ravine and there was a beautiful creek and big bridge, so stopped and took some pictures and rested a bit. I headed up the trail and went another steep half mile uphill before thinking better of it and turning around. My legs were tired and at 1.5 miles I was going to end up doing a 3 mile hike on steeper hills than I had done in years. I was a little worried about hiking all the way out! I was going reeeeally slow on the way back down and up up up. My hip tightened a bit on the mile uphill but not bad. I was pretty worried about my knee but it actually performed really well up that hill.

I made it all the way out and was so happy to see the park peeking through the trees. When I got back to my truck I immediately popped two ibuprofen. When I got home I put my legs way up and iced for an hour. I was very concerned about what the consequences might be. But you know what? Aside from some very mild swelling in my leg, everything was…totally fine! I couldn’t believe it! I am elated Today everything feels fine. I am so proud of my new knee and my whole darn body!

 

[EalingGran]

Sounds like a beautiful walk. Well done!

 

[benne68]

Wow! I'm so happy to read this. Isn't it great when our new knees surprise us like that?

You are doing just great, @JusticeRider. Hope the next hike is a bit gentler, though!

 

[sistersinhim]

That is fantastic! Your knee was such a good girl and didn't throw a temper tantrum for using her!

 

[JusticeRider]

You are doing just great, @JusticeRider. Hope the next hike is a bit gentler, though!

Thanks Benne and all! Yes, just because you can doesn’t always mean you should! I will be back to finish that hike soon, but meanwhile I will continue ramping a little more gradually. And now I know to bring my trekking poles next time…!

 

[JusticeRider]

Question about scars. My incision scar is thin and flat and white, just as I would hope it to be. But around it is a darker ‘shadow’. Is this normal? Does it just signal more healing? Or is it permanent?

 

[sistersinhim]

I don't think it's anything to worry about and a sign that you're still healing.

 

[EalingGran]

Looks very good to me.
My scar is much more purplish but that is more to do with my peripheral circulation- I have old mosquito bites from years ago that are still rather purplish.

 

[benne68]

I think your knee looks great, @JusticeRider. In fact, your incision looks better than mine (an I had my surgery 11 month earlier... ). I also had some dark discolored areas (more than you do), but they gradually faded over time.

 

[Jammy]

I'm looking at your surgery "bio" - Sorry to come in uninformed here. Did you have a TKR? Looks like you've had some other surgeries I don't know about. But to me your scar looks good. Better than mine, which is still reddish. It will fade in time. Are you sick of hearing that yet? That everything will get better with time? I am!!!

 

[JusticeRider]

@sistersinhim , @EalingGran and @benne68 , thanks! That puts my mind at ease. There’s so much active healing still going on, I was hoping that’s all it was. But I wasn’t sure and thought maybe it would stay that way? Which I guess would be fine, but my vanity wanted the scar less noticeable and the blotches aren’t very pretty

@Jammy , I had a PKR. It was the patellofemoral type so that’s why my scar is so big. They have to take your knee cap out and flip it over and do some things, so they need a big opening. I did have arthroscopic on it before that to try to figure out what was going on. And my hip has had a couple surgeries to repair bone impingement and fix a torn labrum. Hopefully this is my last surgery for a long, long time!

 

[Ayse]

@JusticeRider so glad things are improving for you finally and there's light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for posting about the hypermobility. I read the report you linked and it's amazing how many other things it affects! It was helpful as I've always known I was hypermobile but a few months before my TKR i saw a podiatrist and he did a hypermobile score and confirmed it. It explains why I'm constantly straining ligaments and tendons and muscles.

 

[JusticeRider]

Thanks @Ayse it’s such a relief to keep seeing improvements. I swear, at every stage I would sometimes think ‘maybe this is as good as it’s going to get’. I’m so glad it wasn’t/isn’t!

a few months before my TKR i saw a podiatrist and he did a hypermobile score and confirmed it.

Just curious, did you talk with your surgeon about this and if so what did she/he say? Wondering if they took it into account at all on the surgery or with the recovery guidance?

Also, I’m glad the paper was helpful to you too. Maybe it helped explain some of your quirks too? I shared it with my husband and a couple family members and it helped them understand me better, which was really nice.

 

[Ayse]

Thanks @Ayse it’s such a relief to keep seeing improvements. I swear, at every stage I would sometimes think ‘maybe this is as good as it’s going to get’. I’m so glad it wasn’t/isn’t!

a few months before my TKR i saw a podiatrist and he did a hypermobile score and confirmed it.

Just curious, did you talk with your surgeon about this and if so what did she/he say? Wondering if they took it into account at all on the surgery or with the recovery guidance?

Also, I’m glad the paper was helpful to you too. Maybe it helped explain some of your quirks too? I shared it with my husband and a couple family members and it helped them understand me better, which was really nice.

Yes, I told him and he said it didn't matter. In hindsight and following my ongoing experience that should have been a bit of a flag for me!

 

[Jammy]

They have to take your knee cap out and flip it over and do some things,

YIKES! I am grateful to only have had a Total Knee Replacement! Worried what "some things" are! Are you feeling pretty good now?

 

[JusticeRider]

Yes, I told him and he said it didn't matter. In hindsight and following my ongoing experience that should have been a bit of a flag for me!

Hmm, yeah you’d think he’d have SOMETHING to say about it. It really seems like something that should be taken into consideration, doesn’t it? I wish I had known before my surgery so I could have discussed it with my surgeon but I wonder if it’s one of those topics surgeons aren’t always well versed in? I know next time I will have questions about it!

YIKES! I am grateful to only have had a Total Knee Replacement! Worried what "some things" are! Are you feeling pretty good now?

I don’t know that it’s any worse than a TKR. There is such a lack of info about patellofemoral’s that I really had no idea at all what to expect.

Basically they turn your knee cap over and cut out the cartilage and a layer of bone. They replace that with plastic. Then they cut out the cartilage and a layer of bone from the end of your femur and replace that with metal. Then they put you back together!

I do wonder about what all gets stretched and cut to get that knee cap out and turned all the way over and then back in again Isn’t modern medicine wild?

 

[Jammy]

Ewwww! I am thinking you are in your own Wizard of Oz movie. You're like the Tin Man. The Lion. Or the Scarecrow! Yeah, it doesn't sound very modern. None of it does. TKR to me is very barbaric. I have to hope there will be a better way to fix wrecked knees in the future. There were times I was so miserable, I wished I was on the Other Side. Not good!