TKR Macknit's recovery thread

[Jockette]

So glad you’re ok after that spin in the ice!

 

[Sara61]

So scary for you so glad you are unscathed - you are so brave I hate driving in rainy conditions but not sure I would be brave enough to attempt the snow or ice
followed your suggestion and started taking a paracetamol about 30 minutes before going to sleep and finally seem to be sleeping better
Finally managed to get all the Xmas shopping done so now just getting our bits n bob's ready for our 7 hour journey up North on Wednesday, not looking forward to the weather as we have 14 days of non stop rain and cold temperatures forecasted but it will be nice to see the family and our friends and once we get our fire lit the house will hopefully be toasty and warm

 

[Macknit]

@Sara61... Thanks, I was so grateful that both my vehicle and I were unharmed !

Is North up to the UK for you? I see a lot of ocean on the map. Do you ferry or fly or drive? 7 hours is a long day for our knees!! The fire is always a lifesaver when it is cold. I actually think the dampness is what I feel more. Central Oregon tends to be quite dry, but this past year we've had so much more rain and snow that brings that humidity into the air and I really feel the cold even in the summer.

All is ready for Christmas (other than the wrapping!) Have a lovely holiday up North!!

@Jockette Thanks, I am so grateful that nothing else happened, just a huge adrenaline surge that left me shaky for a good couple of hours!

@Helizabug Your welcome...both DH and I served too. (Only 4 years for me) A growth experience for all of us, to be sure!

@sondrals, you may have the same weather we've been having the warming and then the freezing!! Our winter usually ends in late April to early May , so I too have my concerns! I'm heading over to your thread to check on your recovery!!

Happy week before Christmas week to all!

 

[tlfiore]

@Macknit I wish you and your wonderful family a memorable and peaceful holiday. I am so appreciative of the sacrifices made by you and your military family. Christmas is all about safely receiving loved ones and enjoying the many blessings of family.

Your husband sounds like a truly special guy. I had to laugh when I read about the "do-over" because of the inside-out table covering!

Feel well and continue improving. We will get this step-by-step.

 

[Sara61]

Thank you !!
Portugal has now been my home for over 32 years, although my parents were British, I was born in Germany as my Father was in the Armed forces, having first experienced Portugal on family holidays at an early age, I later decided to work in the travel industry choosing the South of Portugal ( Algarve) As my destination in the early 80 ties.
My husband is Portuguese and he is from the North of Portugal hence why we have a holiday home in the Nacional Park Peneda Geres about 40minutes from Braga.
From the South to the North it is about 7 hours drive- hopefully Mrs. Knee will behave

Prior to my surgery I was often incapacitated with pain in the cold and damp - since surgery although I do feel a change in the weather I'm so much better, will be interesting to see how my knee will react in the North

 

[sondrals]

Yeah sounds like our weather is very similar, especially this year. Yesterday we had a record high of 45, but then it froze again. Lots of ice out there and not much snow now. I think we are supposed to get down to single digits later next week though. Brrrr. Be safe with your driving and I hope you enjoy your holidays with your family!

 

[Macknit]

I agree @Sara61 as we settle into a routine with our recovery, we post less for ourselves and look for those who have just begun this journey! I also believe our attitude is what gets us there! It is important to find joy in the moment.

@marieltha mentioned this her PKR recovery thread:

My beloved encouraged me to let go of wanting and needing, to feel the weight of those lifting, and then to just accept what is right now, and do what I can. Liberating, really.

I think the quote below is very apropos:

For all our recovering, hopeful moments. We sometimes have to look to find the joy! Because, as it says above, you will have less joy but the same amount of ...pain, sleeplessness, snow, depression, anger, etc. We are blessed to look for JOY!

 

[Helizabug]

I love snow! (Easy to say when we don’t get much around here, but there it is.)

This isn’t really about snow, is it?

Truly, a good reminder to seek joy.

 

[Macknit]

@luvcats I see you've been checking in! I hope you have settled back in after your trip and that the knees held up for you!?

How was your Christmas??

 

[luvcats]

Christmas is mostly a non-event for us, but it was very pleasant and restful in the way we like best. I'm actually headed over to make my post but wanted to check in on you and a few others first.

 

[Macknit]

Still working on finding some me time! Christmas Day was lovely and since it was split into different households, I was able to hang in there. The last two days have been a bit extra in helping my daughter, with the 4-year-old twins. Her preschool/daycare is closed, luckily my 3 youngest adult children rotate child care duties so I can I & E and BS for an hour or two....

I actually fell asleep, sideways in one of our overstuffed chairs, while the kiddos had movie time! My knee was fine, but the back wasn't sure what happened to it!!
I thought this time off of work was going to be restful!!? Not sure how that went sideways?? I'm not really complaining...just looking forward to a bit of a routine!

 

[Sara61]

Funny how we all miss our normal day to day routines, I think we have for weeks/ months after our surgeries given our knees lots of tlc, then suddenly Christmas comes and we get swept up in the activities and festivities and our "me" time gets less and less. I unfortunately found the odd days where I completely forgot to ice now Mrs. Knee is giving me total payback and insisting that I take more care of it....the swelling and tight band feeling has come back with a full vengeance, to the extent that it's causing alarm bells in my head but other than a lot of standing and possibly the kneeling episode yesterday I'm not sure what has triggered it- it's certainly a rocky road full of ups and downs.
Thankfully today we had a sunny sunny day, which in turn heated our solar panels and I finally got for the 1st time in 10 days a hot shower - thankful for small mercies

 

[Macknit]

@Sara61....not only do the knees cause a rocky road, but the weather can influence us in multiple ways! I'm surprised at the number of people who have their knee act up when a weather front is coming in!? So far, luckily, I haven't noticed any knee reactions eve nthough we have had some major fronts come in this winter.

Then I read that you had to wait 10 days for the hot shower!! Talk about camping! I'm sure you were able to warm water on the stove or fire pit, right??? One thing I noticed was that if I stay in the hot shower too long, I pay with my knee reacting.

I'm still so surprised how sensitive my knee can be! And still feel like I've been in a stall since upping the holiday activities....most likely I just haven't rested enough! That's my goal for the 2020 year!!

 

[Sara61]

Lol camping would be a good excuse haha - unfortunately the plumber whom installed our solar panels installed an intelligent smart boiler device- obviously too intelligent for him as he now hasn't a clue how to alter it... we did manage to get the odd warm shower basically it was whomever was the 1st to get up Anyway we have had a few hot days so plenty of hot water . .my knee seems to love hot showers..
sounds like a good goal for 2020 - think I might join the club xx
Wishing you a very

 

[Macknit]

Happy New Year to you too @Sara61! And to all the recovering and recovered Bone Smarties that have blessed me with their input, insight, and wisdom! Have a happy, healthy 2020!

Glad to hear you were able to fit a shower in, @Sara61, before the intell/smart device kicked in! It is so funny with all of these smart devices...DH got one for the Christmas Lights....had me put it onto his phone, then he proceeded to set up individual clickers for the different sets, and didn't use it . His excuse was he wants to "wear out" the clicker set up, then he'll graduate to the smart set up! Oh well, we all have our limits!

I'm working on knee recovery today...and for my 2020 goal! I'm finding it really has started to flair up after a full work day....in fact I'm seeing that my overall improvement has been so slow still and of course I've blamed the holidays, now I'm blaming work....I'm beginning to think I need to treat it like a mindfulness practice. I have alerts on my phone and when they pop up 4x a day I need to check in with my knee, stop whatever I'm involved in and (as I said earlier) be sure that I'm focusing on resting, icing and elevating! We'll see if this does the trick!

I haven't done any PT for 3 weeks now, some limited walks and recumbent riding, but enough ADLs that I'm sure I have made up for that! I'm going to ask for the pool therapy, starting in mid January...it is so good for my back I think it will help the knee too! I'll see what PT thinks.

Enjoy your New Year's Day!

 

[Sara61]

Yes I'm considering pool therapy although I'm not fond of public pools but really struggling with the tight band feeling to the extent I'm constantly conscious of my knee it's nearly 3 months surely this should have eased off by now- are you still getting the same ?
Thankfully all festivities are over I'm looking forward to getting back into daily routine and as from Monday we'll be back home in the South and PT can resume.
I had,had high expectations thinking I was going to be able to go hiking but sadly reality is that I think the knee is not yet ready nor mentally am I, fear of falling / extra swelling has prevented myself from even trying
Here's hoping for us all big improvement for 2020 and thereafter xx

 

[Grammy Ann]

One of the PT's showed me how to work on flexion on my own. I put my knee straight up in the air and then very slowly and gently bend it as the leg comes down. When it hurts, I stop, use my hands to straighten my leg and try again. No one is pushing on it and I can stop anytime it hurts even a little bit. The key is to move slowly. I am very limber so it went very fast for me but others take longer. Just do it at your own comfort level. Some people seem to have more strength while others have more flexibility so each one has to work according to their own body type. I hope that it continues to improve for you.

 

[Macknit]

@Sara61 I am a month ahead of you and still have the tight band feeling going on. It eases when I have a relaxed day, but it still flairs if I stand alot...I have been slowly adding small walks, but I have to be careful, because that's when I tend to over do things. I only walked 2 times over the Christmas holidays, and I made sure I iced right after.

@Grammy Ann, welcome...I see today looks like another surgery for your Left Knee! I do the flexion work intuitively....it just feels good to put my leg straight up and massage it a bit, then I let it bend slowly, until it was uncomfortable. I have seen nice improvement, which is really why I've not paid too much attention to those numbers, the knee really does need a lot of TIME!

 

[Macknit]

Checking in...I hit 4 months on Friday, January 3, 2020! My life has also slowed down a tad so the knee is feeling better than at the 3 month point. I also took a two week reprieve from my longer walks, and was just doing the recumbent bike for 20 minutes and the elliptical for 15 minutes, with no resistance. This has been a great routine, I'm getting the heart rate up for roughly 30 minutes and the knee is happy. I'm not sure why the walking started aggravating, other than the snow and ice forcing you to walk differently, (Duh, not to even mention I did have chains (Yak Traks) on my feet!)

I'm still using I & E 2-3 times a day and extra-strength tylenol with periodic 1/2 dose tramadol at night if the swelling kicks up a bit. Daytime depends on how the rest of my body feels, some days I don't need anything, some days ibuprofen for arthritic reasons. My point being, I am seeing improvement!!

It's nice to be returning to a bit of a routine...and to a continued peacefulness about the decision to do this surgery... I continue to check in with some of the newer members and hope to add some helpful, uplifting thoughts to their recovery.

Hope all is going well for others, and that 2020 is a year of great vision (pun intended!)

 

[tlfiore]

@Macknit so wonderful reading about your recovery and your progress. My PT thinks recumbent bikes are one of the best pieces of equipment for TKR recovery and for keeping the new knee(s) in good shape (ROM, etc).

It must be great getting back to a normal routine. I read so many of your posts, especially those to new members and you are such an inspiration to others, so helpful!

Please keep posting, friend. Keep up the good work and a wonderful, healthy & happy 2020 to you and all you love!