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Revision TKR Lovetocookandsew’s long road to recovery

Thanks, Chris. I'm looking forward to the swelling going down as I think it's keeping me from being as mobile as I'd like. I still have a noticeable limp, and I think the swelling is mostly the cause of that. My extension is good, but still needs to improve some, and I think when the swelling (FINALLY) goes away, my extension will be great and I won't limp any longer, and will be able to walk a lot. I haven't joined the gym so as to do some pool walking as we are getting ready to sell our house and don't yet know exactly where we'll be until we buy another one; there may or may not be a gym close enough to use at that point, so why pay for a two year membership from Costco if I may not be able to use it? So, I'm just taking the prescribed "tincture of time" to allow the swelling to reduce.
 
Swelling can get in the way, "tincture of time" is the way to go.
Have you looked into a lymphedema specialist, they may be able to help with your swelling? Kaiser should have someone on staff.
 
I had my 6 month check today. (wow-6 months already!) My extension is good, according to the doctor. My flex, however, is not good, due to the fact that my leg is still quite swollen. He estimated my flex to be 100-not good at all, but not surprising considering how swollen it still is. I asked him if he thought it would ever go away, and he said, "Frankly, at this point, I'm thinking it may not". Not something I wanted to hear, but I'd rather know his opinion and thoughts than not. He also said since many people continue to increase ROM for two years or more after surgery, anything can happen, but considering that my leg has been swollen for 4 1/2 years, it may very well stay like this; it may just be how my body is reacting to everything it's gone through. I'm still hoping it eventually goes away, but at the same time I'm not holding my breath.

He said in order to be able ride my bike I need to be at 120-and I'm not even close, so no bike for the foreseeable future unless things change. He also said the majority of people recover from the stem tip pain by a year, a few take 2 years and a very small few (like less than 5%) don't get over it so need some special special procedure to fix the pain problem . I told him I refuse to be in that 5 percent! (he briefly explained it but I really didn't want to hear anything about another surgery....lol) Mine is still really painful so I'm looking forward to the end of that as it really is keeping me from being able to do a lot. He did a series of x-rays today to see how the bone is healing around the post and to be able to track it over time.

My knee itself is great-rarely any pain, and the little I do have is mostly the occasional ache when I'm on it a lot, and that I can easily handle; which is totally different from the previous years of constant pain. Overall, I'm doing well, other than the swelling and tip pain. I see him again at one year-so I will just keep on keeping on.
 
Overall a great report, with time your ROM will improve slowly, and the tip pain will go away.

Look into a short arm crank for your bike, you won't need as much ROM. It took me a bit to figure out the instructions for figuring what crank arm length you need, but it does make some sense. Both legs will need the same length crank, different length throw off your pelvis.
https://www.bikesmithdesign.com/Short_Cranks/rom.html
 
@Pumpkln Thanks! I've seen something similar to those-but my other problem right now is the tip pain. I'm having difficulty walking due to the pain, so biking would be a bigger pain. I'm going to shelve the biking until spring, then revisit the possibility.
 
So glad you are doing well Kim. On the swelling - have you ever considered lymphatic massage to try to work some of the fluids up and out? I tend to have swollen legs and when my friend-the-massage-therapist did some lymphatic massage on my legs after my knees were replaced, even my doctor was impressed with the amount of swelling reduction. Just a thought....
 
As a fellow Californian, I am sure you will be able to find someone with training in lymphatic or even shiatsu. It seems there are massage therapists everywhere! :snork: Mine started with the ankles and worked her way up. Apparently there is a center in the abdomen where stored fluid can be released and eliminated by the body, but that is way above my pay grade/education. :flabber:

Happy holidays! :box:
 
My OS said he’d be happy with 90 after the infection/surgery. I’m not sure what it is now, but I walk, bike, swim and the TKR is my go to for steps. Give it time, a year after surgery and I was gaining ROM. I do understand the swelling, my RTKR leg always seems bigger than my left.
 
Hi Kim, I am glad to read your report and to hear that you are doing well. I think I remember that you said you too had an Aesculap implant when they revised your knee. How is the zirconium working for you? Have you had another allergy test to see if you are allergic to the new implant? I wonder if the continued swelling is because you have developed an allergic reaction to the zirconium? I was retested and just found out that I am now allergic to the zironium following my revision 8 months ago. Sigh!!! The only thing I have is itching and a huge discoloration right below the kneecap. The knee is working much better. Hopefully your tip pain, swelling, and flexion will improve with time. Let's stay in touch and compare notes. Best wishes, Pam
 
Well, I had my one year post-op appointment with my OS today. As I basically already knew, my knee is not doing as well as we had hoped. It's better than before the revision in one way-the constant knee pain is gone. But, my entire leg is still noticeably swollen, and my knee is also still quite swollen. It also has begun swelling even more, and getting pretty hot, when I do a lot of walking, cooking or standing; generally just being on it for long periods. Cooking dinner every day causes a lot of swelling and some pain now, and I have to take breaks to rest it. He's no more thrilled about this than me, and doesn't know why it's still so swollen. The swelling encompasses my leg from above my knee and some of it continues down my entire leg; I even have a noticeable pocket of fluid on the inner/side area of my calf.

The bone has filled in somewhat around the tibial post, but the femur is barely starting to remodel. You can see it on the x-ray and there's a faint, thin halo where the femur bone has begun to make new bone, but you can see a good amount of new bone filling in the tibial area. He also explained to me that the tibia is straight, but the femur is curved, and my femur is more curved than most for some reason (figures) and we can see the post is almost resting on the side of my femur bone, which is why I still get the sharp, shocking, excruciating unexpected pain all the time.

He told me to stay off step ladders and step stools so as to not be on one, move the wrong way, get hit with the pain and then fall off. He also told me to avoid stairs as I'm having a hard time navigating them (he would usually be one who advocates stairs instead of elevators!) and don't over do things in order to avoid extra swelling and pain. Going down stairs I still have to step like a toddler, and going up is difficult, so I have to use the handrail to take some of the weight off my leg so I can climb them.

My femur could still fill in in the future, but at one year, it should have done a lot more, so my hope there is dimming. That would mean at some point I'll need another surgery to correct the problem; I'm not ready to admit defeat on healing yet, but I won't live this way indefinitely either. I do need to do things at times that require a lot of walking, such as mini-vacation trips, shopping and similar; those times I just have to bear the discomfort and pain.

According to him, my flex is about 90, (he eyeballed it as I don't do measurements...lol) which is less than it was in December.:censored: I need to see him again in about three months and he also said to email him occasionally before that to keep him updated. So, it's some good news, and some not-so-good news. Unfortunately, my knee saga continues.
 
That is so disappointing after all you’ve been through. :console2:

I forget, but I think you had the allergy test done, right?
 
Kim,
Wish you had received a better report, glad your tibia is healing, now it is time for the femur.
Sending positive thoughts,
 
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