TKR Minnes new knee and MUA

[Minnie's knees]

@tiredwife The weather today was cool and damp which new knee did not like. Other than that it was a good day. Hubby and I ran a couple of errands, had lunch and went to my PT appointment. Liz had me doing a couple of new exercises today. I was tired and took a nap.

Good news update: my disability adjuster got OS records and extended my paid time off for 2 more weeks while waiting on the records from PT and my Rheumatologist so no lapse in my pay at least for now. Thank goodness as I don't want to have to use our savings to pay bills. Hopefully they will extend it further when all of the records are received.

 

[tiredwife]

@Minnie's knees that is great news! I was worried you would have to go back to work too early. That's cause for a celebration!

 

[Minnie's knees]

@tiredwife Dec 15th would be almost 8 weeks which is better but I am still hoping they will extend it at least to the end of Dec if not through Jan 5th as the Dr recommended. I feel a little better and can do a little more each week so a few more weeks would certainly help.

How is Steve doing with the weather changing and being back to work? Does the weather affect his knees now? Have a great day.

 

[tiredwife]

@Minnie's knees Steve is doing okay, he says the weather isn't really bothering his knees now. His back is hurting, going to try to get him to go to the chiropractor Saturday. You have a great day.

 

[kneeper]

Fingers crossed you get off work until at least the end of December.

 

[tiredwife]

@Minnie's knees Hi!

 

[Minnie's knees]

Feeling very frustrated today...it has not been a good day. I didn't sleep much as my sinuses are burning, back to Dr for sinus infection and more antibiotics. Then I went to PT with a swollen knee and flexion is still at 80°. Very disappointing as it hasn't changed for over a week.

We are having soup and sandwiches for dinner and early to bed tonight for me. Hopefully the meds will kick in and tomorrow will be a better day.

 

[gr82cu2]

Kathy, sorry you aren't feeling well. Hopefully the meds will kick in quickly and get you back on track. I hesitate to tell you not to be frustrated with the knee because I'm frustrated with mine constantly. So, go ahead and be frustrated but know it will get better. This recovery is anything but a straight line deal. There are all kinds of stops and starts and none of it ever made any sense at all to me. Try and rest you and your leg as much as you can. Are you elevating your leg in bed at night? Hang in there!

 

[tiredwife]

@Minnie's knees hubby had long periods of no improvement and a few steps backwards. It will get better. I'm right there with the sinus issue. I changed our furnace filter hoping it will help.

 

[Minnie's knees]

@gr82cu2 I know it will get better but right now it's not so I am whining lol. My leg was swollen from not sleeping well and being up on it most of the day before PT. I do elevate at night and during the day if any swelling.

@tiredwife I am too impatient to have long periods of no improvement lol. I want it now...stomping feet...even though I know that won't help.


I hate being sick and it's that miserable stage where I can't lay down without choking, and my face, ear, and throat all hurt. I look like Rudolph from blowing my nose yesterday and today. I don't need this right now. We are putting up our Christmas tree and decorations tomorrow and Sunday is my hubby' s birthday and we usually go out to dinner. I will be glad when the meds kick in.

 

[tiredwife]

@Minnie's knees I'm at the stage where I lay down and the sinuses decide to choke me. I have a nasal spray the doc game me a long time ago (July) and it seems to be helping.
Tell your hubby happy birthday from us.
Hope you are better by then!

 

[Djbrund]

I'm sick too! Damn this cold! Taking antibiotics and the sinuses got better but now I've got the gross cough. Disgusting. My flexion numbers didn't change from week 6 when I reached 120 until week 9 when I reach 125. Still there at week 11. I am way to impatient for this slow type of progress. I only have 2 weeks of PT left to reach my goal of 130. My swelling has sure gone down since I've been sick and just lay around. I'm so glad you got that extra 2 weeks. Hopefully they will give you what the doctor suggests. I don't understand how that can not. I sure wish they would put our medical decisions back in our doctors hands. Take care. -- Joni

 

[gr82cu2]

@Minnie's knees I know exactly how you feel with your knee. Whine about it all you need to. After awhile it just gets so old and you want to be able to go back to your old life and being pain free, finally. I had more than a few good cries feeling like you do today. At times I almost felt desperate like I had made a terrible decision and had accomplished nothing more than trading one kind of pain for another. Actually, as bad as it was, my old knee didn't hurt as bad as this has a lot of the time. But, we all know that pain would never go away and would likely only get worse where this pain will gradually diminish and one day it will be gone. In the meantime though it is very, very hard to stay optimistic and patient. You being sick sure doesn't help either. I hope you feel better soon! Happy birthday to your hubby on Sunday. I hope you get to enjoy the day with him. xox

 

[Clipless]

It's a horrible cold going around, but didn't you just have one a couple of weeks ago?! My daughter and son were both sick; I've escaped somehow (probably because I'm a total hermit- ha ha). I've kind of plateaued at my ROM too, and yes it IS frustrating. I was working so hard on bending that I forgot about straightening and actually lost a couple degrees there. I think when you're over the virus you'll be able to progress.

 

[Minnie's knees]

@gr82cu2 that's exactly how I have been feeling. I had good ROM 120-130 before surgery and now only 80. Yes arthritis pain is gone but still have pain from the surgery and can't do things that I used to be able to do because of the lower ROM. It has to get better.

@gr82cu2 and @tiredwife Hubby said thank you for the birthday wishes.

@Clipless yes I had mild bronchitis about 3 weeks ago and now a bad sinus infection. I feel like I am a germ magnet right now. If my ROM was over 100 and plateaued I would feel better than only being at 80. I know I am only 6 weeks out but so many people have much better flexion at 6 weeks that I sometimes start to worry like today.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. Some days it just gets to me and I'm sure my family is tired of hearing it. I try to stay positive but today was one of those days. Off to bed, good night.

 

[Yorkimom]

@Minnie's knees, sorry to hear that you aren't felling well Kathy. Sinus infections are the worst. I used to have them constantly until we moved into this house. Now I just get them periodically. A few years I started using a neti pot, and while I hate it, it has helped me dramatically.
I completely understand how you are feeling, and we all need days we need to whine and stomp our feet. So go ahead! When I read Janet's post I felt like she was writing exactly how I have been feeling. I just said to Joe the other day I wonder if at made the right decision. This knee wasn't as bad as my other knee and I just had pain once in awhile. But I know it would have only gotten worse and It did make the right decision, but at times it is just hard.
It is so hard reading how others have great ROM so early. You are happy for them, but you want it too. At six weeks I finally got to 90 and that was with Christine pushing it, so I understand your frustration. I'm now at 11 weeks and I'm around 105. So it will get better. It's just taking us a little longer. But in the end we will get there. What exercises are they having you do in PT for your ROM??

 

[Minnie's knees]

@Yorkimom Thank you. I hate sinus infections. I have had the sinus surgery 2x. It really helped and in the last few years I get maybe 1a year. I know my immunity is low right now. I was able to sleep several hours but woke up with the barking cough in addition to the sinus pressure and congestion. Hopefully today will be the worst of it.

I know you have had the same frustrations on ROM and I appreciate you sharing that to remind me it will get better. I have questioned if I made the right decision several time in last few weeks. It seems like a lot of us go through that.

At PT I do the total gym to warm up, the bike just rocking back and forth but can't go around yet, one step up and down, heel lifts, mini squats, gait training some extension exercises and lots of stretches. Liz also does the hands on massage and movement of the joint. At home I do heel slides and stretches and go up and down stairs 2-3x a day. I am able to do several steps up normally but I do not have enough flexion to step down yet. Liz also had me start walking my foot up and down the wall at home yesterday. Any other ideas for increasing flexion are appreciated. Enjoy the weekend.

 

[tiredwife]

@Minnie's knees Hope your sinuses are better today. For flex and extension hubby's main exercises was the stairs, walking up and down them as correctly as he could. Going up he would stop and put his foot on the next step and lean into it. Or he would straighten it as much as he could.

 

[Yorkimom]

@Minnie's knees, good morning Kathy. Christine has found that when I am laying down or sitting with my legs extended on the table and doing leg slides or sitting with the strap around my food and pulling toward my butt just doesn't work for me. I don't get much ROM that way so I don't do heel slides anymore. When I am on the table I sit with my legs hanging and she sits in a stool and gently pushes my leg back toward the table. I also do the Total Gym. I don't walk my foot up and down the wall. Instead I start with my foot at the top of the wall and slide it down as far as I can. To help gain even more I put my other foot on top of the ankle of my leg when sliding it down to make it go farther. I always make sure I'm wearing socks so I can slide my foot. This exercise has really helped. The other one is you sit in a chair facing the wall with your feet (toes) up to the baseboard. You start out far enough in a comfortable position. Then you gradually scoot your butt closer and closer to the end of the chair making your knee bend more and more. Or you can just scoot your chair closer and closer. I have gotten to the point that now she puts a little step thing between my foot and the wall so I'm not up into the wall. At home I just get something like a telephone book and put it between my toes and the wall. I started out doing this for three minutes and worked up to five. When you are done and you first get up your leg will be really stiff, so I just stretch it out a little before starting to walk.

 

[Minnie's knees]

@tiredwife I will concentrate on bend when going up the stairs. I don't seem to have any problem with extension as as m usually at 0°.

@Yorkimom Liz does the same thing of pushing my leg back while I am sitting. But she always measures with me laying down in a heel slide. I will try the chair with toes to the wall.

Thank you both for your suggestions.