@Jockette, thank you for the reminders!
I got my bandage and steri-strips off yesterday and have now transitioned to the cane. I read over my operative report, my xray report, and the synovial biopsy. Good news is that I do not have RA! But the biopsy said, "Reactive fibrosis and chronic inflammation. Some of the inflammation is associated with foreign material which is most likely related to to the knee prosthesis." I overthink things. My polyethylene insert was recalled for improper packaging that COULD lead to oxidation and cause the the insert to wear out 7x earlier. So, I wonder if the inflammation was due to microscopic debris from the insert wearing out early.
The lab was supposed to examine the insert microscopically, but all they did was identify the brand, the size, and the model number. I also wonder just how "off" things were during the first surgery. During this second surgery, the surgeon rotated the femur component as much as he could and then placed a posterolateral augment to get my knee to balance (since he did not get to make the original femur cuts). Basically, the surgeon placed a wedge on the lateral side to tighten up the joint space. I am wondering if the first surgeon did things wrong or did this just happened over time.
I hate to say it at 2 weeks out (because it is early and I don't want to jinx things), but things are different, a good different, from the get-go. This pushes me to think that things were not as they should have been the first time through this. And then, I get angry that my original surgeon only wanted to remove a piece of bone cement (which 3 other surgeons said that it would not fix the problem and would cause more trauma to the knee), telling me that there was nothing wrong with my knee stability and that I might have to accept that I might just be an unlucky person who did not get better after a TKR.
I am trying to push aside my anger because it doesn't help my recovery. I would rather put that energy into recovery. Recovery is hard. But, it is like a light switch went off in my head and I am realizing that this time around is so different from before. I am not in as much pain, don't have as much swelling, and am meeting milestones earlier (with less effort). I am just venting, I guess. It's like I am obsessed with trying to find out why things did not go as expected the first time through. Can anyone relate?