Revision TKR Kandy's Journey

[Kandy]

Hello friends,

I have kept up with therapy once a week (and then doing my homework), and it felt like I was just marching in the same rut for a while. If I pushed out of that rut, it felt like pain, stiffness and swelling returned, and I was back in that rut. This past week, I may have turned a corner. Yes, it is still stiff. But, the pain is down a notch. Most of the pain isn't really knee pain, but achey muscle pain, or muscles feeling like jello or even cramping. My muscles are finally getting a work out, and my knee pain isn't flaring with it. My PT could tell a difference between last week and this week. No doubt, recovery has been a physical journey. However, I think it is every bit as much of a mental journey, too. Sleep demons still wake me up, and I would give anything to get a good, restful, full night of sleep.

I want to leave you to ponder this question: How do you define a successful knee outcome for you? I would love to hear your answers!

Hugs fellow knee (and hip) warriors, K

 

[EalingGran]

want to leave you to ponder this question: How do you define a successful knee outcome for you? I would love to hear your answers

I have been doing the knee scores on BoneSmart. I wish I had done them prior to surgery as well.
I am now just into the satisfactory knee function score range and it is encouraging to see my progress in numerical form.
At a day to day level I am measuring success by being able to do everything I need to with minimal pain/ warmth by evening. That is walk 10-15,000 steps/ day, walk up and downstairs normally, kneel for short periods, play with my grandchildren, get up and down from the floor reasonably easily, do a full group pilates class with minimal adjustments etc. I am still definitely improving and getting stronger. I still can't totally ignore my knee but it is getting easier.

 

[Kandy]

Hello fellow knee warriors. I am now 9 months post-op from the revision. Two weeks ago, I was walking and talking to a friend (not looking down at the sidewalk). The sidewalk curved, and was uneven. I rolled my left ankle, twisted my right knee and somehow landed on my rear, facing backwards. It hurt somewhat, but my pride hurt more. My right knee was a little sore the rest of the day. We were going to a college football game that required walking up ramps to the 3rd deck and then climbing some steep stairs to my seat, logging 15,000 steps. The fall happened before getting into the stadium. The rest of the day, the knee was a little sore, as expected. The following day, in our 5th wheel camper, I totally forgot about the 2 steps from the bedroom down to the kitchen. I walked off the higher elevation, just oblivious to the change in elevation (like 15" to 18" in difference), but I landed hard on my right leg and felt a shooting pain about a 7-8 level for wee bit. I never actually fell to the ground but I lost my balance. Maybe 20 min later, pain went down to about a 6 with moderate swelling in the knee joint. Since then, the pain has been reduced (3 or 4 most days) and not really any more swelling. Pain stayed at 5/6 for several days, but has been 3 to 4 for the past 7 to 10 days, and just isn't really improving. At rest, pain is 1/2, but increases to 3/4 with weight on it. About 20% of the pain is in the knee joint and 80% of the pain is in the upper part of my lower leg from the calf around to the front, lateral side. It is achy when not using it, but definitely more of a sharp pain when I do use it. I am thinking that maybe I pulled my calf muscle or something. I don't think it could be possibly fractured because the swelling went away. I am thinking it might be more soft tissue damage, especially because of the location of the pain. Just wondering for any of you that had a fall after the TKR, how long did it take for the pain to go away? Did anyone have pain below the tibia plateau? I feel like I am back to where I was at 3 months in terms of the pain level. It is frustrating, but it is my own stupid fault.

 

[Jockette]

I’m so sorry you fell, then had another misstep.

Last year I fell and landed on my 6 year old PKR. My leg swelled and bruised big time. I had pain and a very poor ROM for weeks. I did get X-rays about 2 weeks later and all was well with that, so it was all soft tissue irritation. It took about 2 months before it felt normal again.

I would get it checked out just to be sure there isn’t anything major going on.