Revision TKR Lovetocookandsew’s long road to recovery

Thank-you for thinking of me, @turtle68 . I'm about the same. My knee is still swollen and there is still some pain-sometimes it's just a little pain and other times it hurts more than Motrin/Tylenol can take care of. I'm still using the ice machine all night long plus off and on during the day as needed. My ROM isn't great (it's generally 5/90, although it will get a little higher for a while right after icing) but I hope this swelling will soon subside and I can bend enough to ride my bike again when I have the energy. I still have very little energy-I tried to go shopping for fun the other day and lasted 20 minutes before I felt yucky and had to go home. If that store had electric carts I would have been able to shop longer, but without a cart I had to quit before my mind wanted to. I only had enough time to find a blouse I liked, try it on and go home. It's been just over 6 weeks and I'm really more than ready to have it all behind me and get on with living again....:sigh: And to frustrate me even more, my dang scar is starting to form a keloid in the same place it was before-I was hoping it would be gone and not come back after this surgery. :tantrum:
I see my OS again next week and will see what he has to say.
 
Hi Kim
Isn't it frustrating when you want to get back to doing things and your knee won't let you? I had the exact same experience in Hobbycraft last Tuesday, lots more things I wanted to look at, but my knee had had enough and the energy ran out. But that was my first outing to anywhere other than the hospital, and it did lift my spirits. Ditto with the scar, mine is really lumpy and pulls tight when I try to bend my knee.
Look forward to all the lovey things you enjoy doing, you will get back to them soon.
Love, Tabby xxx
 
After my infection/washout surgery I wanted to get back to life, but knew I wouldn't be able to shop. So I started with just lunches out after dr or pt appointments, I could do this with friends, still elevate my leg while enjoying a meal and energy wasn't a huge problem because I was sitting most of the time. I didn't shop in a store for three months, but I did tons of in line shopping.

Kim, I know exactly how you're feeling. A month after my washout I was finally allowed to bend, felt like I was getting somewhere and then I went back to teaching part time 2 months after the washout. Give it time, it'll come.
 
Kim,
Good to hear from you, sorry your knee is still slowing you down. It is still pretty early, give it time.
I will be interested in what your OS has to say.
:console2:
 
Kim,

So sorry you are still having so much discomfort, I know how frustrating it can be, but hopefully you will turn a corner soon and see improvement. Sending healing thoughts your way:flwrysmile:
 
Sending healing hugs your way Kim~

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It's an even year so they have to do well.....:heehee:

I agree-baby steps when you're learning a new skill. Gardening can be a lot of work, but it's also fun. Luckily we have all automatic watering and since we do square foot gardening in most of the beds, we don't have a lot of weeds to pull, except in the bigger beds, so it's not a huge chore to water or weed like it was years ago. (Of course back then I had 6 kids to help with that...lol) Weeds in the big beds used to not be a problem either, until this danged drought and we no longer have lawns to mow and put the clippings on to help keep the weeds out....sigh.
I actually had to have multiple freezers, but can't imagine not having one! I'll bet your herbs are wonderful!

Six kids! What a blessing! I have one, a 20-year old girl who is such a joy. She just moved to Southern California. I told her she better not come home in Dodger blue :snork:.

I hung some oregano to dry before leaving for San Francisco, and will see how they're doing. I'm just happy I haven't killed the tomato plant. hehehehe
 
Well, I saw my OS this afternoon. He didn't seem overly happy about all the swelling, but said we'll just assume it still has a lot of healing to go. He also said that, while he was hoping I'd come in today and my knee would miraculously be 4 times better than it was right after the surgery last October (It was doing really well at that 2 week check-up,then by the 6 week check, it had already gone back to being painful and swollen), he is still hopeful it will get better and we'll get me back on my bike and in the pool. I told him it would be nice, but I'm totally discouraged and doubtful. He said the motion is there waiting for the swelling to go down and said he thinks it will go down and then I'll be able to do more, but I'm not convinced yet. We also had a long talk about pain meds and the reactions I had, and he made some changes to my chart in regards to pain meds. Overall, my ROM isn't great and I still have a lot of swelling, so he plans to keep an eye on it. I told him that my gut tells me it's the allergy to the nickel, he said it's possible, but we'll just hope the knee gets better as time goes on. I also finally told him about my left knee hurting; he winced and made a face...lol. It was a long appointment and we had a good conversation about my knee, and even about our Giants as he's a big fan too!
 
Oh no, I am so sorry you're still doing poorly. I pray it's not a nickel allergy, but just needs more time to heal. At least your OS is listening to you and cares.
 
Have you thought about getting a test to see if it is a metal allergy to your knee? I remember another member whose OS kept telling her it wasn't and she put up with it for a couple of years. It turned out she was allergic and when the new OS replaced her knee with a gold one she no longer had the same problems she had been having. She's doing quite now well.
 
@newlybionic I actually had the LTT metal test and it came up positive for nickel allergy, so we know I am allergic to the nickel at some level. My OS had the gold knee ready for me this last surgery if he had needed to do a revision right then.
@sistersinhim Thanks! I have a really good surgeon who does listen, and I'm grateful to him. My only problem with him is he is extremely busy, but he has been making a really good effort lately to make time for me, so I don't feel like I did a few years back when I changed to another OS for that reason.
 
So there's a chance your body isn't reacting to the nickel?
 
Lets hope your knee settles down :fingersx:, if not at least you have options. In any case if you need the other knee done, I would insist on a nickel free knee.
 
@KarriB I don't know, all I know is the test was positive for nickel allergy, so it's likely I am reacting to the nickel. We just have to wait and see if it gets better or stays the same. I do know he told me before the surgery that allergies don't get better over time; the allergy to the nickel will apparently keep multiplying.

@Pumpkln I think the left knee might be protesting my limping gait; but if it is starting to have problems I think it'll be a very long time before I even think about a TKR there. Plus, we talked about pain meds in the future today, and he seriously has no clue what we'd do as I have officially exhausted all the pain meds available. He said we might have to get pain management involved, but that they were generally there for chronic pain conditions, so he really didn't know what we'd do. I said that maybe I'd be lucky and never need another surgery again in life. But he has agreed that any new knee will be the gold knee for me, and had taken the time to get one and have it available there for me last surgery in case we needed it.
 
@newlybionic no worries-I can barely remember my own tests and procedures, let alone everyone else's.....lol. And reading back through a long thread again is a pain.....much easier to just mention something on your mind and let the person answer.
 
How did you get tested for nickel allergy? As a teenager I couldn't wear cheap earrings, which I'm sure contained nickel. I'd get sores on my ears, so I looked for nickel-free earrings. Now, cheap earrings don't bother me. Could I have outgrown it? Or maybe the manufacturers aren't using nickel anymore.
 
You have me worried. I also have a nickel and zinc allergy and can only wear gold or silver jewelry (poor me). I thought our knees are made of titanium. I have a Stryker knee. Do you know what you have? I sure hope your swelling goes down soon and you don't need a gold knee!
 

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