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Revision TKR Lovetocookandsew’s long road to recovery

I finally decided to try to see if I can get in and out of our bathtub again. In cold weather I love a nice hot bath, so wanted to try to get in and out. I had hubby stand by while I gave it a dry run (literally a dry run-dry tub and fully clothed-lol) I was pretty sure getting in and sitting down would be easy; I was just worried about standing back up and getting out. But, it turned out to be pretty easy for me, so now I can once again enjoy a nice long soak whenever I want. :happydance:If I hadn't been able to do it, we were going to buy a hot tub with steps for our deck so I could at least use that. But my preference is the tub, a nice book, an iced tea and a long soak. :)
 
HOW do you read a book in the tub? Doesn’t it end up getting wet? Don’t your arms get tired holding it up out of the water?

I don’t know how old I was when I took my first shower, but I never went back to baths. I find the hard tub so uncomfortable, it’s like sitting on the hard floor leaning against a hard wall.

I truly don’t get how you all love your baths!! :bath:

And I have one of those deep corner tubs. It was already here in the house when we bought it. There is very little closet space in this house, it would have been much better to have another closet than this tub. AND it came with giant mirrors around it. Seriously? This is a 55+ community. None of us want to see that much of ourselves at our age! :doh:
 
(The mirrors are gone now, but the tub remains. We are too cheap to spend the money to take it out, and all that would entail)
 
Jockette said:
HOW do you read a book in the tub?
Click to expand...
Lol-I just open my eyes and read................But seriously, it's quite easy and I've done it all my life. It's not uncomfortable to me at all-I enjoy a nice soak and a good book. My arms don't get tired, and I have a nice bath pillow for my head and neck, so am quite comfy. I take showers to get clean, and baths to relax.
 
I saw my OS this morning. He isn't surprised at all the swelling-he repeated that he expected a long recovery this time around due to all he had to do, etc. He wants me to get into a pool and do some walking as it can help to get the fluid out of my leg. I don't have a pool, so will have to join a local gym to use their pool. I'm not thrilled as I don't really want to use that pool as it's always set up for lap swimming, unless there's a class going on. If you try to walk in a lap lane, people get mad because you're in their way. Heck, if you stop for a minute to catch your breath at either end, they have a fit. But, if I'm in the lane first, then they can go into a different lane or wait until I'm done.

Since I need the lane closest to the side to walk due to the depth in other lanes, plus being able to hold onto the side when needed, and many people also like that lane to swim laps in so they don't have to go under the lane dividers, it can be a pain to deal with some of them-especially the old ladies who do laps with a kick board and think they own the place....lol. And they seem to travel in packs and all like to use the lane together as a social event. In the past I've tried going at different times during the day, but it's always busy there and there's not really a time when the pool is empty or nearly empty. There's a retirement complex right across the street from the gym so I think a lot of the residents use that gym's pool.

There really is a large group there who take the pool exercise classes and think they own a certain spot for the classes and also think they own the pool, so try to dictate to others where they can and cannot swim. I've had to deal with them in the past and guess I'll deal with them again. Not fun, but I have just as much right to any part of the pool I choose as they do. I can go at 2 am and there'll be no one there, but that's a pain also. I guess I'll just try it during the day again and see what happens. There's another gym in my area, but they only have an outdoor pool which is closed a lot of the year, plus it's a family gym so is full of kids all day, every day, and there's no possibility of using the pool without getting jumped on or bumped into. And forget using the one lane they have sectioned off for laps-kids ignore it and just take over the entire pool.

My extension isn't quite as good as it was at the last appointment. I know it's due to the swelling that's cropped up, and it will be great as soon as the dang swelling goes down. He also said the post pain I have often will take a good six months to a year to settle down as it takes that long for the bones to adjust to the posts, or grow around them or whatever it is bones do when a foreign entity is inserted. It started out with pain just at the upper tip, but has evolved to pain all along my upper and lower leg where the posts are. Not unexpected to my doctor; it just needs time to heal. At least this pain isn't the sharp debilitating pain I had at first when he explained it was the tip; it's more of a sore, aching pain. I still get that sharp pain occasionally, but for the most part it's just the achy pain. The good news is I don't need to go back to see him for three months-I think by then I should be doing quite well.
 
What a shame you have to deal with the 'owners' of the pool. When I was going to the Y, I'd go about 10am in the morning and many times I was the only one in there. Unfortunately, they've raised their prices too much for me to go anymore. I truly did enjoy swimming.
 
@lovetocookandsew, is there anything else you can do besides the pool, like walking in the neighborhood or on a treadmill? Is it common for revisions to take much longer than the original TKR?
 
@Cementless He really wants me to use a pool. I guess the combination of weightlessness and resistance are supposed to help move the fluid out of my leg. Also, I can't yet walk long distances for some reason, so a pool would take the weight off my knee while I walk.

I'm assuming you meant the recovery time from a revision vs the recovery time from a TKR. I think they're usually similar, but as he explained to me again, with my history and what he had to do this time, he expects a long recovery. Plus, he's known me for years so has a pretty good idea of how I generally recover.
 
I was put in the pool at 4 weeks. It took me 3 days to recover. It was a 50 minute session. Granted it was not just walking (frontwards, sidewards AND backwards :yikes:) but way too many knee bending exercises. My surgeon was big on pool “therapy”.

And, even though it was through the PT, it took place in the YMCA pool. I was so afraid I’d get sick. Thankfully I only went once.
 
@Jockette If I had had to use a pool at four weeks, I would have died. But at this stage, slowly walking for short periods of time should be fine. And I won't be doing any exercises-just walking. I just thought about using the hot tub at the gym-it's not as deep as the pool and he did mention waist high water is best. But I'm not sure about the hot water on a recovering knee. Too bad fall is here or we'd just buy one of those family size easy set-up pools and I could walk in circles. Those are about waist high. But it'd be too cold now.
 
And getting into a bathing suit at 4 weeks was PT enough! Thankfully I did that at home and wore it to the session.

I did change out of it there when I was done in the pool. Oh my, that locker room brought back painful memories of mandatory showers in jr high!! :yikes: I couldn’t wait to get home.

And there were so many people in the pool. I thought it was going to be a small group. An all the way around bad experience for me.
 
I have good news and not so good news today. I guess the not-so-good news is first. Yesterday, I attempted to put on sneakers along with socks, for the first time since the revision. I have larger sized socks that stretch a little more than regular socks since my right foot has been a little swollen since shortly after the original TKR, plus lightweight sneakers in a wide size. Last year, I had them tied and never untied them, just used an extra long shoehorn to slip them on. It wasn't possible to get the right one on yesterday until I loosened the laces all the way. Then, after getting them on, they were still a bit too tight, and there was almost no lace left to tie. The sock was stretched to its limit and was also uncomfortable. I wore them part of the day, but eventually just had to take them off and go back to my Crocs flip-flops.

Grrrrrrrrrr, I don't know what I'm going to do for shoes this winter if these wide sneakers are too tight. Oh, my left foot slipped right into the shoe as tied from last year and the sock still fit. (I looked at the shoes and they are still basically new as I had bought several pairs of them late in the season last year and only wore them a short while before my summer shoes came out, and there is no wear pattern at all, so I am keeping them all instead of replacing them)

The good news is two-fold. First, I did a little pool walking and my knee actually enjoyed it. Other than the water pushing me off balance a lot, walking in the pool wasn't a struggle at all, unlike walking on land which is still a struggle due to the swelling keeping me from straightening it all the way as I walk. The other good news is I can now officially walk up and down stairs foot-over-foot! Granted, I need to go slowly and be careful, but I can do it. My leg from the upper thigh all the way down to, and including, my foot, is still a giant water balloon, and is showing no sign yet of going down. But, my OS is okay with it so far, so, even though it's a pain, I will be patient.
 
Yay for steps foot over foot! I can’t do that.

And yay that pool walking went well!

I know how you feel about the shoe issue. It’s my right foot also, that is my problem child. It’s not noticeably swollen, but it has nerve damage. Shoes and socks are painful for my foot. I love my Abeo sandals from the Walking Company, and dread cold weather coming when I can’t wear them.

I wear diabetic socks because they are looser.
 
@Jockette I just looked at those sandals you mentioned. I like flip-flops as I don't like sandals that have back straps, so looked at their Abeo Bayshore Neutral flip-flop. It looks exactly like my Crocs flip-flop, which I love. Thanks for the info. The socks I have are no show/ankle socks and are in a larger size than I would normally wear so as to fit my right foot. They're normally plenty big, but not right now. I'll look at diabetic socks, but hopefully they're not those really thin slinky socks as I like socks that are mostly cotton and have a little texture.
 
My left foot used to be the larger foot. Since my broken bones on the right ankle/foot, that foot is larger. There are now some of my shoes that I can't even wear because the right is too small now.

Great for pool walking!
 
The Abeo flip flop style I wear is the Balboa, and I need the metatarsal foot bed. It’s the style and brand my foot likes the best.

And isn’t it so annoying when one’s feet are not both the same size??? They ought to sell shoes individually!
 
Two weeks from today I'm going to be taking my first flight since the revision. Not looking forward to the whole airport thing, but at least it's not an all day marathon like the flight I took before the revision. I think it's about a 75 minute flight so won't be too terribly bad. Then I plan to hit the pool running (I wish) and do some walking. I've decided to break down and join the gym near my house so as to be able to use their pool. I don't know if pool walking will really help all this swelling go down, but it does feel good to walk with no effort. And I've always loved swimming so hopefully walking in a pool will eventually lead to actual swimming.

If it weren't for all the swelling, I'd be doing great instead of just pretty good. Heck, I'd probably forget I have a knee at all most of the time if it weren't for the swelling. It keeps me from straightening my leg fully when I walk so I still limp more than I'd like, which is tiring and harder than just normal walking. Plus that dratted post pain still rears it's ugly head often. We shall see how my knee likes the airport. It depends on which terminal we have to use-the small one or the large one. At least the airport we're flying to is a tiny one and won't require much walking.

@Jockette BTW, the ABEO flip-flop you like is basically the same as the CROCS one I like.....lol.

https://www.crocs.com/p/womens-capr...deFit&prefv4=&prefn5=lifestyle&prefv5=Sandals
 
Kim,
Glad to hear you are doing well, except for the swelling. Have you tried a knee sleeve?
Have a great time on your vacation!
 
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