TKR LTKR on June 23

[Jo Wo]

My pt today warned me not to exceed the weight they are using on me because of the risk of patellar tendonitis. Luckily, my home weights are lighter than today's three pounders.

 

[Jo Wo]

Slept well with no extra medication, and was perhaps slightly more stiff than usual for the past few days, but I walked it off while making breakfast.

 

[sistersinhim]

In my early stages of recovery after I was off my pain meds, sometimes I'd wake up in pain during the night. I found I'd just have to get up and ride my recumbent bike for about 5 minutes and the pain would ease up. All my knee wanted was to be used a little bit.

 

[Bikeknit]

As to getting up from the floor. My first knee is exactly one year older than yours so I'm a lot more healed than you. For now you probably need to use something or someone strong and steady to pull yourself up.

Don't think I'd recommend my current method yet but I now do this maneuver next to a heavy sofa. I roll over onto my hands and feet (kneeling is still too weird) and walk my hands toward my feet til I can stand up or use the sofa to help. Way too early to do this but you'll get there.

 

[Jo Wo]

In my early stages of recovery after I was off my pain meds, sometimes I'd wake up in pain during the night. I found I'd just have to get up and ride my recumbent bike for about 5 minutes and the pain would ease up. All my knee wanted was to be used a little bit.

hit reply too fast @sistersinhim. thanks for the tip.

 

[Celle]

Don't think I'd recommend my current method yet but I now do this maneuver next to a heavy sofa. I roll over onto my hands and feet (kneeling is still too weird) and walk my hands toward my feet til I can stand up or use the sofa to help. Way too early to do this but you'll get there.

I do it that way too. It's not elegant. but it works.

@Jo Wo - perhaps your PT would show you how to get up off the floor?

 

[Jo Wo]

I can ask them at some point

 

[Jo Wo]

my discharge papers said to followup with my gp in a month. I had bloodwork done two weeks ago which we reviewed at yesterday's visit. I left my cane in the car and he said he doesn't see any limp, just me walking slowly and carefully.
Kidney and liver function are still great. I have been keeping the tylenol and advil below the daily limits. The tick bite that almost delayed my surgery did not give me any tick borne diseases that they tested for. My postop anemia has resolved. And my overall inflammation markers are still low, which is great. All in all, an uplifting visit full of good news.

As far as any aftereffects from Wednesday's pt, my hips were a bit achey but my knee was about the same. This makes sense to me because I haven't done hip or glute exercises since before the surgery, and all this sitting and lying about dies weaken them. I rode my recumbent for 20 minutes, only did a few of the exercises yesterday and will start back on the full list today. I am going up and down the stairs more often on both feet. I walked down the hill to the mailbox and back. These are all small but welcome milestones.

 

[Sisterpat]

Great report and great progress! Good work!

 

[Rain Dancer]

So glad that you didn’t end up with Lyme disease or anything else from the tick. The standard tests are not great, unfortunately, and have a lot of false negatives. If you start to have weird symptoms, please don’t dismiss Lyme disease as the cause. The more unusual symptoms include sensitivity to light and sound, food and chemical allergies, heart palpitations, difficulty walking, brain fog and confusion. The list goes on and on (and I had them all before I finally was diagnosed). Glad that you are more mobile.

 

[Jo Wo]

thanks @Rain Dancer. I had Lyme about 20 years ago, and no one told me about the brain fog....I got confused driving my kids home from music lessons....it was a drive I made every week. A bit scary, but I figured it out.

 

[Rain Dancer]

That was scary with the kids in the car. I once was driving and didn’t know where I was for about 5 minutes, and I forgot what a red arrow meant at a signal light on another occasion. Sorry you had Lyme too, but at least you will know what to look for. I wonder how many of us are having joints replaced because of Lyme? It is such a nasty disease.

 

[Jo Wo]

That was scary with the kids in the car. I once was driving and didn’t know where I was for about 5 minutes, and I forgot what a red arrow meant at a signal light on another occasion. Sorry you had Lyme too, but at least you will know what to look for. I wonder how many of us are having joints replaced because of Lyme? It is such a nasty disease.

I only felt the lyme in my hips. my new knee replaced one that was injured on a hike 40 years ago. I fell on a rocky downhill trail and my patella snapped sideways and then back in to place. had to hike about five miles to get back to the car. last 5 or 10 minutes it was already dark. the ortho who saw me the next day said this knee would bother me in middle age. it's been rehabbed into health four times until it finally deteriorated badly this winter. any time a tick embeds, usually once a year, I get the doxycycline one day mega dose.

 

[Rain Dancer]

Wow! That must have been a horrible experience while hiking. I probably had Lyme as a child but wasn't diagnosed until I was 50. So I had many years of increasingly weird symptoms until it finally came to a critical point. Fortunately, I lived in California and found a doctor who did the right test and saved my life. I am in remission now, with occasional relapses. I use herbal treatments when I relapse, instead of antibiotics. My knee could have been caused by Lyme and/or a discoid meniscus.

 

[Jo Wo]

while it's certainly clear to me that doing too much of any single activity earns a day pass to ODIC, yesterday's lesson was that putting too many different activities on the daily agenda (grocery run, recumbent bike, ten minute walk, or home exercises) means I will be hanging out at Club ODIC in the afternoon. It took ice and advil to turn down the heat in the knee.

I am going to ask the doc on tuesday (6 week checkup) if it's safe to wade into The cool water of Long Island sound. I wear water shoes because the beach is pebbly, so little risk of cutting my foot. Wish I had a pool at this point.

 

[Jo Wo]

Almost 6 weeks. Coming down the stairs was easier this morning. Easier to get up from a chair. I am cutting back slowly on the ibuprofen and tylenol, which I alternate every four hours, as long as I keep my activity level in check and don't overdo. I struggle with impatience to be doing more though!

 

[Sisterpat]

I think we ALL get impatient with slugging through this recovery! But time will pass and it will all be a distant memory . Your progress is good.
@Rain Dancer, my knee destruction was from Lymes. I agree that the common tests show many false negatives and many people go untreated. I, too, rely on herbals instead of antibiotics to keep things in check.

 

[Jo Wo]

Coming up on 6 weeks Wednesday. Rom is now 117/0. I was stuck between 105 and 112 for a few weeks. Stride is lengthening and feels more secure. Only using cane when tired. Biggest challenge is keeping activity level in check. The PT agrees: only time will get the last swelling down, and it's the swelling limiting the rom.

 

[Rain Dancer]

Great flexion numbers! I understand how hard it is not to over do.

 

[Jo Wo]

The PT said week 5 or 6 most people feel well enough and look around at all the things they need to catch up on, and overdo it.

My mantra for today: My only priority job right now is my recovery.

That requires doing certain things and not doing too many things.