TKR Katchmo's Knees: Round Two!

[Celle]

What great news from your follow-up appointment!

I do so wish that PAs and PTs wouldn't express negative (and somewhat inaccurate) opinions. It gets people upset unnecessarily.
I'm glad your surgeon knows better.

An experienced surgeon doesn't have to bend and measure a knee. He she can assess how well it is doing, without that.
My surgeon never asks about ROM. He just says "Show me what you can do", because function is more important than the numbers.

 

[SusieShoes]

How wonderful for you! See, you are doing just fine. My surgeon just manhandled my knees a little, took a guesstimate of the flexion and extension, and went on from there. I think lots of surgeons are most interested in function and patient satisfaction. What you think about your knee is as important as what he thinks. Your surgeon sounds supportive and wise.

You can now enjoy the rest of your recovery without stressing about it!

 

[sistersinhim]

No forced measuring, no questions about PT, no threat of MUA. I just can't believe it! He said he would like to see me in three months but if I'm doing well I can cancel the appointment. I'm so relieved I could cry!

Yippee! What a wonderful appointment you had! You knee was stiffer for your appointment because you worked out the day before. What you should have done, was to rest it a couple of days before, then it would have bent better. But, it doesn't matter! Your OS was happy with your results!

 

[katchmo]

! You knee was stiffer for your appointment because you worked out the day before. W

I considered that but I also have an urgency to get stronger before we leave on a cross country trip in May. My husband bought me a gym membership with a warm pool so I really wanted to try it.

 

[SusieShoes]

I also have an urgency to get stronger before we leave on a cross country trip in May.

That trip will be so fun! Just try not to be too urgent... overworking your knee now will mean less fun later on if the knee becomes a cranky complainer. They can do that. Your knee is only two and a half months into a year long recovery. It's early yet and you still have some swelling and inflammation going on.

But I know what you mean about wanting your knee to get stronger. Stronger muscles support and enable our knees. If you take things slow at the gym and set a schedule for yourself that gives your knees some rest days (and lots of elevation and icing) in-between the exercise, so that they're never unhappy, just well-exercised, you will get to your trip with ready, able, and willing knees. After all, it's a cross country trip... and this is a lot of country!

 

[katchmo]

Hey everyone, been AWOL. I went to a quilting retreat for three full days over the weekend. I got lots done but my knee didn't like all that sitting. Not sure if it's related but I'm on day two of a major fibromyalgia flare. Haven't had one like this in a long time and it's very discouraging. I feel awful. I was very careful about what I ate at the quilting retreat, stuck to meat and veggies, even though they had all kinds of tempting gluten free things. And this is how I am rewarded. Life feels unfair right now! I went to my primary yesterday and she is keeping me on gabapentin and we are increasing the dose due to more nerve pain in the knee as I try to be more active. Hope it helps. Maybe it will help the fibro too, who knows. My trip is inching closer and I want to feel better. Sorry, selfish whining session today.

 

[Jockette]

You are probably tired of hearing this, but you are still in early days. Still not quite 3 months. A 3 day away from home activity, no matter how much you sat and quilted was still a lot at this point.

I found even if I elevated if I wasn’t home I could never get a really good angle that my knee liked and I was always in pain somewhere else.

At 3 months I still felt very tired just visiting with people.

pain in the knee as I try to be more active.

Here is your answer, I think you’re doing too much at this stage.

When is your trip?

 

[sistersinhim]

I agree that you did too much. At three months you should still be icing and elevating quite a bit. Sitting with your led down this early, for that long makes your knee very unhappy. Take a few days and do only the necessary things and ice and elevate as much as you can. This should help your knee settle down.

 

[katchmo]

Hey everyone! Four months out. I kept waiting to turn that proverbial corner and it finally happened just in the past few weeks! I just have been noticing little things like getting in and out of the car more smoothly, with one continuous motion, being able to go up stairs with surgical leg leading without too much difficulty (downstairs....not so much, but I am at least DOING it, though I have to hold on with both hands for dear life.) I cut my Tylenol dose in half with no discernible difference, so next week I am going to taper it down hopefully completely. After my son's wedding on June 15th I will start tapering the gabapentin. Then today, I went to sit down on the toilet and had a very sharp pain in my nonsurgical knee and surgical knee had to finish the job of sitting down and handled it just fine. It was the first time I could honestly say that my left knee helped out the right one. Though my MRIs are twins, my right knee has been an absolute champ in the last year, doing most or all the work pretty well, but it is getting more and more cranky. Just a month ago, someone asked me if I was getting my right knee done and I replied that there was no way on heaven, earth, or hell, that I was. But today, after talking with hubby, I bit the bullet and called the surgeon. I am scheduled for August 13th. I would wait longer to give my knee more time to recover, but hubs is retiring in September and our health insurance situation will be dicy. So August it is. Almost three months to get a little stronger and healthier. And honestly, knowing what to expect this time seems like half the battle.

 

[Jockette]

I’m glad you’re coming along well! Best wishes for your next surgery. We’ll be here for you! At least you are armed with lots more knowledge going into the second one.

 

[KarriB]

I have a friend who have done both knees in one year because of the deductible. She did one in April, the other in December and did very well. You’ll see an even bigger difference in the next 3 months.

 

[katchmo]

Second day of using both legs to go up down stairs every single time (I'm in a split level so I do this multiple times a day) and I have had no increase in pain, feeling good, so today I am trying no Tylenol. I actually already feel a bit stronger, even after one day. The only thing that had me concerned about doing my right knee was that going down stairs is still quite scary using my left knee. I hope it is much stronger in 2+ months, but I also realized today that I can go down backwards or sideways if need be with no trouble. So that puts my mind at ease. I'm also going to install a second stair rail so I have one on each side.

 

[KarriB]

Sounds like you have a good plan. I agree about a railing in each side, it makes things easier.

 

[katchmo]

Thinking about what would make life more pleasant post op. I stayed at home about two months, mostly because of the weather but also because of needing to keep my leg elevated. Using a folding chair was just not comfortable for very long. In fact I still prefer to keep my leg elevated if I am going to be sitting for very long. So I just ordered this folding stool from Amazon. It has backpack straps so I can carry it easily. And it has a built in cooler so I can carry my cold packs. It just looks perfect.

Price: $28.95
Amazon One Savvy Girl Ultralight Backpack Cooler Chair - Compact Lightweight and Portable Folding Stool

 

[KarriB]

I used an ottoman with pillows to elevate, but this would be a great tool for traveling etc.

 

[Jockette]

Let us know how you like that stool. I had an awful time finding something comfortable to elevate when I was not home, as well as lightweight and portable. My lower back bothers me so it’s very uncomfortable to sit with my leg level with my hip. I don’t remember seeing this one when I was searching for one last summer.

 

[katchmo]

I keep remembering things that bugged me post op so I also ordered a leg protection sleeve dealio, no more leaky plastic wrap for me. And also a handheld shower. Here's a list of all the things I didn't know I needed till after my surgery that I now have:
Leg lifter
Walker tray and bag
Lap desk
Leg wedge
Grabber (I can bend over pretty well but this is for those times, too numerous to count, when I was settled all comfy in my bed or chair and then DROPPED SOMETHING.
Portable stool to elevate leg when out of the house.
Leg cover for showering
Hand held shower

I am thinking of getting a shower chair that has the part that goes out over the tub to make it easier to get in.
The jury is out on a toilet seat and rails. I didn't need one the first time but might this time.

Also, right now my husband and I share the smallest bathroom while my two children each have their own. So my husband would remove my bathseat and forget to put it back. It was difficult for me to move it myself in the early days. So this time I am kicking my daughter downstairs and taking over the upstairs bathroom and setting it up just for me.

 

[Jockette]

You go, girl!

I would like to have found a stool to take places with me, I took the one I used at home sometimes when I went out, but it was bulky.

My other “wish I’d had” is arms for the toilet. I bought a riser as soon as we moved into this house because the master bath had the standard low one, and all the bathrooms in our previous house had the comfort height.

I had a bag for my walker, but a tray would have been nice.

 

[katchmo]

I had a bag for my walker, but a tray would have been nice.

Yeah, I had a system to transport my food: one counter to another, counter to one side of table, to the other side of the table and finally to the table beside my chair. But I spilled things more than once and could only eat in one place!

 

[Jockette]

I’m glad you cane up with an improvement!