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TKR MB's road to recovery - 7th month update

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I hope you have a great trip! You could always wear a flowing skirt with cowboy boots, a tank top and a jean jacket. Stylish without missing out on the denim and you will be cooler and more comfortable.
 
Week 12 & I have more of the same to report. Swelling & stiffness remain my major concern - you can actually see the ring of swelling around my kneecap. I still have the medial pain when pushing off, so I still use a cane for support when walking the stairs. I will take the occasional Vicodin, especially in the evening, and I'm glad I had some left over from pre-op.

PT is going OK. I say no to anything that bothers my right (unoperated knee), and other than that I can do pretty much what they ask, which is focused mainly on quad strengthening & the flexion. I'm going twice a week and she said I was really doing so well I didn't need to go more often. @kneeper - they do have me lay on my stomach & use a dog leash to pull my knee down. It's actually pretty effective & gives a great quad stretch. She will also manually push my knee back - never too far - and what really helps is when she has me push back against her hand which somehow seems to allow the muscles to relax so I can get more flexion. I feel really good after she does it & I've been doing it at home altho not quite as effectively. My flexion measured at 117 with assistance when I was flat on my back, and in that position I had never gotten much past 102 before. So I'm pretty happy given my OS expects me to be around 120 - so I'm not angsting over the flexion any longer - just the swelling & stiffness.

I'm going to the pool 2-3 days a week for no more than 30 minutes. I walk, march, squat, kick, bicycle etc. I'm not a big fan so we'll see how long this lasts. I started back at the gym, mainly for upper body workout since I am total flab & gained about 8 pounds post op. The PT said I could do the elliptical - I was complaining my endurance & stamina were non existent - has anyone else used the elliptical at 3 months? I haven't heard it mentioned in any of the posts I've read.

@71Beetle the outfit for the rodeo has been purchased - not sure if I can wear my cowboy boots but I'll give it a try before I go - it's still 3 1/2 weeks away so I expect some things will have changed with the knee - hopefully for the better.

So just more of the same - I'm so ready for this to be over with!
 
Hi Mary Beth,

Sounds like you are doing okay. Your flexion is great. My left knee is at 14 weeks and I am at 106. I am 5 weeks on my right knee and I am at 95 on that one. I can't wait to see 120!

How is the knee pain when things are touching it? Has that improved at all?

I am not sure about the elliptical. It shouldn't be too bad should it. The idea of it is low impact on the knee.

Be patient with yourself. You seem to be doing well!
 
@71Beetle - I'm hoping the elliptical will be OK - I'll start verrry slow to make sure I'm not screwing anything up. I really wish my gym had an Arc Trainor as there's no downward movement with that. It was fabulous after my BTHR but this gym doesn't have one.

Knee is still squirrely when it is touched. I find I can wear loose clothing without a problem now but still nothing that would rub on it. I've tried to desensitize the knee by rubbing something real rough like a facecloth over it, which is what a neurologist friend of mine told me to do, but I'm not sure it's doing much. So I went with a Western skirt & top, jean jacket & cowboy boots. At least I won't stand out like a sore thumb, unless people look at me funny for wearing the same thing 3 days running. I do have different tops for each day.

I forgot to put in my week 12 update that my PT put Kinesio tape on my knee today after I complained again of that medial pain & stiffness. It was applied with my knee in max flexion from below the bottom to over the top of my kneecap, right over the suture line. It felt really weird at first, but I gotta say, I think it's helping with the stiffness. I am no where near as stiff as I have been before it was applied, but I still get the medial pain with a push off. I'm almost afraid to believe it might work. Altho I'm not sure why I think it wouldn't as I used the tape after my BTHR & it helped a great deal. Who knows - I'll try anything as long as it doesn't hurt me!
 
13 week update & not much new to report. The kenesio tape has been a real help - it may be all psychological but I don't care. I'm less stiff, always walking up & down stairs reciprocally, and when I do swell I have a much faster recovery. I did try a test of 2 days without the kenesio tape & I stiffened up pretty quickly. So I'm sticking to it right now.

PT is going good - getting stronger on the leg push, able to get down a bit further on the squats & lunges. If I walk for over an hour (like when shopping) I get stiff, but I can still bend the knee OK, and ice still seems to be real helpful. I stopped the aqua workout - I think the coolish water wasn't helping me at all, my knee always felt like a balloon when I got out of the water. I'm going back to the gym tomorrow - I've been working out at home as we have a gym at home, but I only have a treadmill & bike & I'd like to see what the elliptical might add. I can do everything else at home with weights, bands, balls, benches but there is something about going to the gym environment & being with others. I was going to go last week but chickened out - spoke with PY toady & she gave me the OK for the elliptical. I'm not yet ready for yoga - I still can't fathom how I can get down to the floor and then up again.

I'm still a long way from "normal" but I do think I am ever so slowly getting there.
 
@ Dtmbf That is a great update. You really are doing very well!
 
Good update! I've found even just sort of squatting when picking things up from the floor can be a kind of inadvertent PT. :)
 
14 weeks post op - not much new! I went to see my OS today. He thought I was totally normal in my recovery. X-rays were good, he liked how I walked, he liked my extension - which is at 0. He said my flexion (about 118) was where it would end up - I might gain a few more degrees, but what he focused on was getting to the end point of flexion more easily - right now I really have to assist my knee to get there. When I complained about the swelling & stiffness & feeling like my knee was a piece of concrete, he nodded his head wisely and said yes, but by 6 months that should resolve! Not exactly what I wanted to hear - why I had 3-4 months in my head, not 6 - I don't know. I knew about the 1 year for complete recovery. He actually said I didn't have much fluid in my knee, but that it was mostly soft tissue stuff causing my angst. I can do whatever I want at the gym, air travel is no problem & he wants to see me in 3 months to make sure I'm still on track. Actually I think he misses me as I've been in his office quarterly or more often since 2012.

He wasn't crazy about the Kenesio tape - and is worried about how long it stays on & possible blisters or skin irritation. I'm not a bit worried about that - I used the tape after my hips, and I take it off every 2 or 3 days for 24 hours to give my knee a break and apply Vitamin E cream. He also told me I could gauge my progress by my incision line - the top 2/3 of the incision is a reddish purple & he said that as the tissue heals the suture line would become thinner & whiter. Which I'm buying as the bottom 1/3 of the incision is already thin & white - never turns colors.

He was also just elected to be the Chief of the Medical Staff - a real honor from his peers - but it does mean he will have less time for the OR which is not good as he is so good. But I did get my sister in to see him - she has FAI and arthritis so will most likely eventually need a hip also. Arthritis definitely runs in my family - I have 2 cousins with THR, 1 with a TKR & BTHR, my mother with 2 TKRs, me with BTHR and TKR and now my sister. Lucky us!

So I guess it's more of the same - PT to strengthen my quads and gain a bit more flexion, back to the gym to regain what I lost in every other body part, icing for comfort, and angsting cuz recovery isn't fast enough!
 
Boy, all those hips and knees! I bet if your family made a trip together, you'd have 'em talking to themselves at the airport screening area....:rotfl:.

But, seriously....I'm glad to hear you're doing well. Your doc is right on the money with his advice to be a bit more patient. Keep that one-year time frame in mind. Although there will be LOTS you can do before then, it really can take that long (and sometimes longer) to feel like you have actually recovered. Kudos for the good job so far, though!!!:thumb:
 
Sounds like you're getting there! Interesting about the scar--I noticed mine followed a similar pattern last time.
 
15 week update - I'm not stopping these updates till I feel a bit more like myself! I'm using them as a journal cuz I do tend to beat myself up & by looking back I can see I have not been standing still.

So I can report I survived a 5 hour, non-stop plane trip! I did purchase the Economy Comfort seats on Delta to give me more leg room which was a smart idea as the seatbelt sign was on for most of the 5 hours due to turbulence. I used a wheelchair in Boston to get to the gate - they are quite a distance from security - and I didn't want to get on the plane with my knee in distress. Which I didn't - but within the 1st hour of the flight my knee was swollen & throbbing. But I survived with the help of Vicodin, and made it to the rental car & then the hotel. Stopped & bought frozen peas for my icing & I was back in business.

My knee does stop me from doing everything I want to - I can only walk for so long before the swelling & stiffness make me stop. My flexion feels like its a bit harder to get but then I can do the bike & elliptical at the hotel without any problems. So I'm very confused - should I just be pushing thru some of the stiffness or should I take it easier? I do think I'm pushing myself a little bit more on this vacation than I did at home.

Using the kinesio tape - although when I took it off today I really didn't like the looks of one tiny spot on my incision line so it's staying off for a while. In another post, there was a description of a different application of the tape that did not go over the incision line so I might try that. I added the Tubigrip compression sleeve to my repertoire of attempts to control the swelling & I do think its helped. Unfortunately it keeps rolling down (the piece I'm using has been used about 5 days) so its at the end of its life. When I get up in the morning, my knee actually looks "normal" once again with the Tubigrip. If I could get the swelling down I think I could get another degree or two of flexion, although my PT does think she feels a "hard stop" in the joint around 118 degrees. My OS is not expecting much more than 120 so I'm close. I just need to get there without a max assist.

So more of the same for the next week - I have a 4 hour car ride ahead of me, and a county fair and rodeo. All I can say is - onward!
 
Oh, I hated that rolling down! I think it's ok to be doing a bit more, but you still need to listen to the knee and pace yourself.
 
Well, frankly I'm in awe that you're doing this at only slightly more than 3 months out from your TKR!!! Everything you're experiencing is normal when pushing your knee like you are doing. You are aware that you're pushing yourself, right??? It's okay, just be aware when the pain and swelling (and tightness - that's swelling) comes. It's your body saying to cool it for a while....NOT to push through!!

Don't count out your ROM just yet. Many, many people continue to gain ROM up to a year or more after surgery. You have a long way to go. When you can get rid of the swelling, you may be surprised at what you have.
 
Well, it's now 16 weeks or 4 months since my LTKR. Recovery has been slow , but essentially pretty steady. I'm not happy with where I'm at, but I do know it will keep improving. So last week I survived a 5 hour plane ride, this week I survived a 4 hour car ride x2, with stops along the way to let me work the knee. I did flunk at county fair & rodeo attendance. I tried the 1st night we arrived to go to the rodeo, my boots (a requirement at a rodeo!) were a no go as the heel was a bit too high. I made it to the local food court at the county fair, then torrential rains came with massive thunder & lightening. We were dry in one of the merchants buildings, but I had to stand for 35 minutes till it ended and that just did me in. I was pretty upset, it was just one more thing I still couldn't do after my TKR, seemed like life as I knew it was ended. So we left & I honestly never tried to go back. Too depressing if it happened again. I did make it up to Sun Valley, my absolute favorite place, and was able to walk around town, shop, have lunch etc. I paid for it the next day with a pretty swollen knee, but I just elevated & iced. Fortunately my beloved was visiting old friends so he didn't mind. I spent much of the trip icing & elevating - our friends we stayed with had a recumbent bike so I keep up with that - plus Marilyn has 1 knee done & is getting the other one replaced in January, although she is one who can bend her knee back to butt, so she made me want to hit her - but she knew what I was going thru.

I took off the kinesio tape as my incision looked a bit different, used the Tubigrip at night and managed. @Jamie - I know I'm pushing the knee a bit, but if I didn't I would be on the sofa all day, so I feel like I have to try. The good news is that when the knee sends me a message, I listen, and take it easy. The other good news is that I can usually bounce back in 1 day instead of 3. I keep on telling myself that more ROM will come with less swelling - so I'm not too focused on that number. I want the function & ease of living normally to come back.

Stairs are getting easier and easier. I can often walk up without even holding onto the railing. Going down still requires caution as I feel a pull at the bottom of my quad. My flexion still seems to be pretty stable and even with a tight knee I can get it bent. I can walk with a normal gait but not for very far before the knee feels like a basketball - I can keep going but it doesn't feel too great. My biggest issue is getting out of a chair - I have to really push off, using my arms, my quads seem to be OK, but the movement causes knee pain. I also had trouble sitting at a blackjack table (we went gambling in Jackpot) and getting my knee to bend enuf to put on the rung of the chair. Same goes for a bar stool. New goals to add for my PT.

So I head back home next week - here's hoping I survive this trip in one piece!
 
dtmbf said:
I know I'm pushing the knee a bit, but if I didn't I would be on the sofa all day, so I feel like I have to try. The good news is that when the knee sends me a message, I listen, and take it easy. The other good news is that I can usually bounce back in 1 day instead of 3. I keep on telling myself that more ROM will come with less swelling - so I'm not too focused on that number. I want the function & ease of living normally to come back.
Click to expand...
Yep, that's the story, isn't it?
 
17 weeks - but who's counting???? I actually seem to be on an upswing right now! I spent 5 hours on an airplane flying back home & my knee did not swell - which is different from 2 weeks earlier when the same plane ride caused quite a bit of swelling. Everything just seems to be a little bit easier - my knee isn't quite as tight as often as it had been, it's easier to move around, I can get in & out of chairs with only a moderate assist from my arms vs a max effort, and I can walk further without my knee feeling like a basketball. I'm not using the kenesio tape or the tubigrip any longer. No pain - just the swelling, tightness, & numbness. Altho today in PT they put on the electric stim and I could actually feel it on the lower part of my knee - not as strong as up top of the knee but it's there! PT said my knee seemed to be easier to get to flexion, less resistance etc. I only expect 120 degrees of flexion, I'm not far from it, but that's with max assist. On my own I probably get to 114. So the goal is to have my activity get more normal without so much effort - easier and easier is my new motto!
 
So at 17 weeks & 2 days I finally hit 120 for flexion!!!! And with only a little bit of an assist. I am so excited as this is about where my OS thought I would end up for flexion - altho I do know I might gain another degree or two over the next 8 months. I only got to 125 in the OR so I'm not going to do a whole lot better than this. Now I just need to focus on making it easier to get there on my own. I knew my knee had taken a turn in the right direction while I was on vacation...
 
Week 20 update - to look at me you would think I was back to "normal" but in reality I still have this nagging tight, somewhat swollen feeling in my knee. It doesn't stop me from doing anything other than walking long distances without a sit down break, but it does bother me all the time. Except for when I'm lying in bed, then my knee feels totally normal! You can still see an area from the top of the incision to the bottom that circles the entire kneecap - it's a slightly different color & a bit puffy & the zone where my knee feels off. Even my husband can appreciate the difference. I'm still stiff in the morning or after prolonged sitting but I expect that so that's no biggie. I'm going to the gym, working the recumbent bike on a very low level for 20 minutes, the only real other quad exercise I do (gingerly) is squats & step ups. I don't like the leg press machine they have so I don't use it. I mostly focus on my upper body as it has lost all tone & definition! I also need to lose the weight I gained post op which I'm hoping will help both knees. My unoperated knee is not faring well after all this rehab. But I'm ignoring it for now, and will ask for the Synvisc if it keeps up. I cannot face another TKR in the near or distant future.

I can get down on the floor OK, can actually kneel on my knee if there's a pad under it, and getting up without pushing off the knee is a real challenge. I can get up if there's something for me to hold onto.

My flexion is a bit better than the 120 and much easier to get to, altho I am still pushing off when I get out of a chair. No pain at all, except for the stiffness. Incision looks good, a thin white line except for 3-4 spots where it is still purplish.

I was real happy after my BTHR but not so happy with the TKR - at least not yet. I'm hoping I'm one of those very slow but steady recoveries and that it will improve some more.
 
It sounds like you've made good progress and will continue to. As I'm sure you know, knees take longer than hips.
 
Remember that recovery can take a year or more....especially with a knee. You are not having a slow recovery. What you're describing is very normal for being less than 6 months out. Swelling is common even up to a year out too, so just continue to ice when it happens and cut back on the workouts. Frankly, at this point your daily activity is all you really need for your knee. And I do suggest you stay completely away from the leg press. It can put pressure on that new joint and you really don't want to do that right now while you're still having some pain and swellling. Also, be sure your squats are not any lower than the normal seat of a chair. Otherwise that too can put pressure on your knee.
 
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