Bilateral TKR Lily’s BTKR Journey

LilyinFohills

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I am so happy I found this website even though I wish it happened before , I am grateful to see so much info and advice as well as shared experiences.

I got my knees replaced on August 5th , exactly three weeks ago and I am trying to figure out if my recovery is coming along as scheduled hence my search and googling landed me here .
Looking forward to learn and share !
 
I am trying to figure out if my recovery is coming along as scheduled
There is no schedule, every knee is different. Time is the Great Healer!

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:

There are also some cautionary articles here


We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
@LilyinFohills hello. I am also in NY, Hudson Valley area. And my right TKR was also on 8/5. Not nearly brave enough for a bilateral. Just as a little information - will also need hip replacement & shoulders.

As the moderators say, everyone's recovery is different. For me, at 3 weeks out, I've had some small wins. There have been days my knee felt strong, I put some weight on it fairly pain free & I felt confident I made the right decision. Others, more it seems, where my knee is painful to walk on & I question my decision.

I am in outpatient PT now. I've found a PT with a Doctorate. He owns the business & is not dictated to as the corporate therapy centers are. He makes his own rules & so far seems to be pretty much in line with the BoneSmart mentality.

For me, PT is extremely difficult because of my hips & shoulders. It greatly reduces my ability to rehab my knee & of course that is compounded by the push to get off meds asap. Like 5 mg of oxy will turn me into a raving junkie! Shaking My Head!
But I don't have any pain in my knee to speak of other than walking & I don't know if that is or isn't normal. I am able to raise my leg unassisted now, I made an 85° flex the other day unassisted. My extension is zero from right out of surgery.

More & more I can do things on my own, I still sit in the shower because I feel really wiped out most of the time so I don't want to take foolish risks but I can do some steps, get in & out of car unassisted and Saturday I felt well enough to meet some friends for dinner. That was not the smartest decision though. Too soon for such a thing & I paid for it Sunday. It was fun though.
Hope that helps a little. How are you getting getting along?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi @LilyinFohills
I also had bilateral TKR on July 6th. I’m a few weeks ahead of you. Some folks say I’m brave, but I really think I was a combination of clueless, crazy and maybe smart? I didn’t want to have to do this recovery twice and with my high deductible health insurance, it was much cheaper to do both at once. I’m a school teacher, so with bilateral I’ll miss less time away from my students overall. And lastly, I didn’t know any better!

I’m now at 7.5 weeks post op. I started walking without crutches a couple of weeks ago. Yay! Sleep is still very hard. My favorite position is on my left side. I was able to sleep like that for 1 to 2 hours at at time at about 2 weeks post op. My left knee is recovering faster than my right knee. I’ve been having tight hamstring issues in my right leg, which is affecting that knee’s recovery. I’m working on that in PT. The last couple of weeks, I can go up stairs normally without crutches, but I can’t go down stairs normally at all. I still have to do one step at a time. My therapist says it’s a range of motion and strength issue. We’ve started practicing stepping down in PT.

I think at 3 weeks I was at 100L and 95R for flexion. I’ve kind of stalled a bit as now I’m only at 105R and 100L (based on being measured flat on my back with knee bent. I have better flexion sitting up with knees dangling off treatment table). Extension is only 5 degrees off.

At 3 weeks post op, I rarely went down stairs. My family brought me my meals. I spent most of the day on my bed icing, elevating, napping and walking/ doing my exercises every couple of hours. I was also still taking my narcotic pain meds (Tramadol and hydrocodone, but had to ration the hydrocodone) regularly during the day and night. I dropped the daytime meds first and then dropped the nighttime meds last week. I still take Tylenol and Advil now. I also had to rest several times when I showered, dressed and got ready. Now I’m spending most of my time downstairs, and I’m helping with household chores and cooking. I improve a little every day.

Happy healing to you. Feel free to ask any questions you need to.
 
Hi @LilyinFohills !
I don’t think there is any normal schedule for knee recovery- everyone progresses differently. I had bilateral TKR on Mar 16- the day before everything shut down. I had no formal PT at all as it was shut down & at my post op visit, my surgeon said I was ahead of what he expected so no need to do any PT at all. I’ve been very pleased with my results & am now able to hike & ride a bike again. I hope your recovery goes well.
 

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