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TKR Macknit's recovery thread

Well I'm at 4 weeks exactly today and it is definitely a rough, rough day. All influenced by ODIC membership that I have inadvertently decided to join!!!

I obviously overdid it yesterday and I am having a really rough day today, even my Oxy every 8 hours isn't helping my pain levels. I must have walked a little too far and then I had PT, which is still gentle, but it isn't only my knee (which had a valgus deformity that was also corrected!) My hips and back (where I had surgery in July) are really cramping and causing all sorts of issues. This is honestly the worst I've felt since the first week! :boohoo:

Sorry to be a bit on the dark side, but this is truly one of "those" days!!
 
Sorry this is a bad day--rest up and do the ice & elevate thing and know it will be better soon. :console2:
 
Macknit said:
I have degenerative disk disorder and scoliosis....I had one surgeon who kept talking about all this hardware and fusing of the vertebrae...I went for a second opinion and the 2nd surgeon had a completely different philosophy!! I still needed a surgery, but her technique and approach were minimally invasive. The recovery was short and simple and the pain issues I had with my back disappeared!!!
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What spine surgery did you end up having? And what kind of surgeon did it?
 
@Jockette: I ended up with decompression laminotomy, facetectomy, & foramotomy at L1/2 , L 3/4 & L4/5 (3 levels, we skipped L 2/3) and then the L 4/5 had bilateral, lateral recess decompression. Basically, it is a lot of opening up my spaces at the 3 vertebral levels, where the nerve roots travel with a small drill.

She is a Neurosurgeon, who also specializes in pediatric neurology. She just moved to our more rural area and added adults to her clientele. She said adult microsurgery is so much easier since we are "larger" but, it still was surgery done with a microscope. And as compared to TKR, I woke up knowing the pinched nerves were "free". The most difficult part was that the nerves also responded with lightening bolt zingers for about 5-7 days after the surgery. The rest of the pain was gone, and even the incision healed within 6 days....everything about that surgery was the opposite of this one!
 
That’s awesome! I’m glad you had such a good result. Thanks for telling me all that.
 
I'm sorry yesterday was terrible. Maybe it's a 4 weeks thing? To remind us to keep taking it easy? I renewed my membership in the ODIC yesterday for my 4 week too. Ow.
 
I hope you felt better today.

Your avatar is a lovely tableau. St Anthony? St Francis?
 
So sorry you two 4-week'ers have temporarily re-joined the ODIC! That's one club none of us want to belong to ever again if we can help it. :sad: You know what to do; hope you feel better soon..

Better times ahead.
 
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@marieltha Thanks, on the little scene from my garden, it is 2 singing monks and a singing nun that a good friend of mine made. I actually do have a St Francis that she made also, and he sits on my piano!

@Carole4815 Yes I'm hoping I don't join the club ever again! I rested a lot today and definitely feel much better!
 
Today was a 2nd rest and ice day and it has paid off in spades! I am always so surprised how sore I am after gentle exercises in my PT.
I went into the surgery having walked quite a bit over the past several months. It just surprises me how quickly we lose our fitness!
 
Macknit said:
It just surprises me how quickly we lose our fitness!
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How true! And the older we get the quicker we get out of shape. I am longing for the day I walk the Oregon beaches at will. Your back has been a most difficult distraction.
 
@Thatbpguy you're correct... my back has been a big part of this too! We live SW of Bend, close to mountains, rivers and lakes. I'm looking forward to hiking and walking the shorelines! I use the walking sticks that really help my back and knee! Plus it helps maintain upper body strength...I know this will eventually return for me!
 
Macknit said:
@Thatbpguy you're correct... my back has been a big part of this too! We live SW of Bend, close to mountains, rivers and lakes. I'm looking forward to hiking and walking the shorelines! I use the walking sticks that really help my back and knee! Plus it helps maintain upper body strength...I know this will eventually return for me!
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A fellow Oregonian! I lived in KFalls for about 7 years and we would sometimes cross country ski in Bend. Love the Bend area. We cancelled a trip there this past summer due to my knee. But we'll be there sometime soon.
 
Well this 4-5 week has been an up and down journey. PT was uneventful other than trying to get the measurement, I'm slowly getting up to 110 degrees flexion, but the PT definitely is restraining herself! I'm using @Roy Gardiner 's information on how to increase ROM with biking. It is helping without hurting and really I see steady improvement so I'm happy. And the PT clinic is great, no pushing!!

I do have a question though, because my L knee is now beginning to act up AND when the R knee hurts it starts to hurt in the L knee at the same location!! No where near where the R knee was and is pain wise, but I wondered if others have experienced this before deciding on a second replacement? I have been so drained with this I believe I will wait as long as possible!
 
Macknit said:
I do have a question though, because my L knee is now beginning to act up AND when the R knee hurts it starts to hurt in the L knee at the same location!! No where near where the R knee was and is pain wise, but I wondered if others have experienced this before deciding on a second replacement? I have been so drained with this I believe I will wait as long as possible!
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Here is what I experienced. My left knee did start hurting more in the early weeks, perhaps because my right knee was not helping much yet. I was scared about it, especially when I twisted my left knee but that turned out not to be such a bad twist so my left knee still did what it needed to do throughout recovery like a champ. Anyway, by around weeks 5-7, in my case, the level of pain in my left knee dropped to about zero and it now hurts less than it did before surgery on my right knee. Perhaps this could be due to the fact that by that time my right knee was taking on a lot of the work that my left knee was doing previously. For example, when I stand, I notice that I have started shifting most of my weight to my surgical knee because it feels more solid and strong to me, and my left (non-surgical) knee really doesn't seem to have as much of a burden.

My OS asked me on Monday (at 7 weeks) if my non-surgical knee was less painful, and I said it was. Since I didn't want to have my left TKR done until March or April (so that I can enjoy knee#1 first while getting my overall health back where I want it to be for another surgery), we agreed to wait until then and re-evaluate how it's doing. If it is hurting enough by then that I still want that left TKR, he will do it.
 
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My old knee also got much worse while I was healing from my tkr. As it became stronger and took on more of my weight, the old one started to feel better. Now, it flares up only occasionally. I bet yours will settle down, too, as things with your new knee get better.
 
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