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TKR Moving forward.

Hi Cycle-Path :wave:
I like your approach and it seems to be working well for you.
Best of luck with your return to work tomorrow! I hope you find it easy going back.
Please let us know how it's going after you've been back for a bit.
@Cycle-Path
 
16 weeks:

Every day I move further and further from my knee being at the forefront of my mind. Things are absolutely returning to normal with significantly less pain than before surgery. In fact, my knee hurt for 15 years and I can't recall living without it at this point. Oftentimes after I've moved I'm surprised when I realize there was no pain or discomfort involved. This is such a blessing.

I returned to work in a first responder job two weeks ago. Week one I worked five days for 60hrs total. This is my short week and I've already done my 20hrs for the week. I only had to work two days this week. I was a little uncomfortable the first two day shift, but now I feel fine. The job involves a lot of driving, up and down, walking, and carry extra weight. It has not been a problem at all.

I'm still walking one or two miles a day and doing some gym work, but now I am ending two or three walks each week with a 200 or 300 yard slow jog. I usually walk at a 19mn mile pace and jog at a 12mn mile pace. There is no pain with jogging for me; however, there is bilateral muscle soreness the next day after a jog. I'm surprised by this as I was running pre-op. It has made me realize that the demands of the procedure and post-op recovery have certainly had an impact on fitness that I absolutely underestimated.

That has made me better appreciate just how involved a TKR truly is related to the body as a system. This is not a broken bone. It is not like a tonsillectomy. It is not even comparable to a single level discectomy/laminectomy or shoulder rotator & labrum repair. A TKR involves your entire body much, much more. At least it has for me.
 
Frankly, doing what you are at 16 weeks is a testament to your high fitness level preop!

But yes, even the youngest and fittest lose muscle mass and muscle tone mainly in the quads, to a lesser degree the hamstrings. Hang in there; you have many months of ongoing cellular repair and you'll definitely get back to baseline and likely eventually exceed it.
 
Cycle-Path said:
made me better appreciate just how involved a TKR truly is related to the body as a system.
Click to expand...
Completely agree. It's unfortunate that so few surgeons explain this to TKR patients in advance. So many people go into this expecting to be "back to normal" in six weeks.

Thanks for sharing this, @Cycle-Path
 
Had a pipe break under the house yesterday. Of course it was at the furthest point from any of the accesses to the crawlspace. I ended up having to go back and forth numerous times as well and ended up crawling on hands and knees for probably 200' in total.

I was nervous about doing it, so I went very easy until I was pretty sure it didn't hurt or feel like it was causing swelling. We'll, it didn't hurt at all, but it sure felt way different than the other knee did. I can only describe the difference as it feels less boney and softer. Lol.

After I got done I kept waiting for swelling and pain to start at any minute. I'm glad to be able to say that it hasn't. There may be some very minor puffiness on the upper outside of the knee, but that's it.

There's also something that I want to say about jogging. It does feel strange and I've had to do some reading on proprioception and kinesthesia. That's because my stride and footstrike feels different. It's almost as if I have two different legs. Anyway, my body is relearning where my foot is in space in anticipation of getting to the ground. It's kind of neat to read about.
 
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Great report. I don't run but walk regularly at the same speed as you ( 5km/ hour). I have run short distances for buses/ trains without issue but was advised by my surgeon not to run or jump regularly.
Are you running on tarmac or on grass?
 
@EalingGran
Right now I'm jogging on a mix of surfaces depending on where I walk. If at home I jog on my gravel driveway and if at the park in town it's asphalt. Maybe soon I'll try grass when my confidence is higher. When it is, that will be the preferred surface for the majority of my joggging as well as trails.
 
Cycle-Path said:
Had a pipe break under the house yesterday. Of course it was at the furthest point from any of the accesses to the crawlspace. I ended up having to go back and forth numerous times as well and ended up crawling on hands and knees for probably 200' in total.
Click to expand...
What an awful thing to happen. Of course, it'd be at the furthest area. Murphy's Law.
Cycle-Path said:
After I got done I kept waiting for swelling and pain to start at any minute. I'm glad to be able to say that it hasn't. There may be some very minor puffiness on the upper outside of the knee, but that's it.
Click to expand...
All I can say is, "Wow!". What a wonderful result from an extreme workout for your new knee!
 
17 weeks:

I did end up a little sore/tight in the knee this past week from what I suspect was due to having to fix the broken pipe. Nothing serious and it didn't slow me down, but it was a reminder that I am not yet done with the process.

It may also be due to walking a mile with a 20lb vest and then slowly jogging 100yds dressed the same. Probably not the best idea I've ever had, but I was bored and wanted to test some boundaries and progress.

I'm confident in saying that either one or the other of the previoulsy mentioned activities, certainly both within a few days, are too much for me to do right now while staying ouchee free.

Have a great week Y'all! I'm heading out for a 2.25ml nature walk...
 
I am so glad things are going this well for you. It sounds like you are definitely returning to as normal a life as you can and want to, and it's fun to read about. This procedure was meant for people like yourself, and I'm glad it exists so you can continue helping others.
 
@Cycle-Path Let me rephrase that---I reread my comment and in hindsight, I noticed it came across as very self-serving----which wasn't my intention at ALL! :scary:SOOO- I'm glad you are able to be back doing so many of the things you enjoy, in addition to continuing your career. You have given a lot of yourself to helping others, and I'm glad this procedure exists to help you get back some of what you've sacrificed.
 
@Rockgirl4

Thank you very much for the kind words (both posts). I am so thankful for this procedure and the opportunity to have had it. It truly is a blessing and some day I will write something about that, but right now I am really conflicted with it because so many cannot have this procedure for many reasons. It kind of breaks my heart when I think about where I was just a little over four months ago and how hard it would have been without the tkr.
 
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18 weeks:

Feeling pretty good. I still have some general soreness, but nothing at all to complain about compared too pre-op type pain.
I still feel it in bed if there's lateral pressure on the knee. But with a little wiggling it's fine. While walking I still need to focus not to limp a little, but I am working out, so I'm still learning limits and often get sore. Of course I still have a giant numb patch laterally and it is full of odd itchiness. It will swell a little bit rather easily when I get to aggressive, but that only causes some slight pressure.
Today I did a 16:15 mile while doing a walk/jog. It was not a challenge at all for my cardio, but I did push the knee comfort just a little bit. That was after doing a pretty solid core workout that required some twisting for the legs (hay balers and wood choppers on a cable machine). Hopefully tomorrow brings no surprises. If not, I'll take the golden-doodle for a couple mile recovery walk if all is well.
Have a great weekend Y'all!
 
Great update at 18 weeks, Cycle-Path!
I found the limping returned at times when I was tired. Didn't even realize I was limping a few times until it was pointed out by someone, prompting my return to the heel-toe gait.
If its convenient, when the itching / swelling increase after over activity, try icing a bit, it should help.
Thanks for the update. I hope you have a nice Sunday and week to come!
@Cycle-Path
 
@Layla
Thank you for the reminder on icing. You're probably right. I may need to use that every now and then.

A big cause for my limp is due to fatigue. I have some nerve damage that causes me some calf weakness. When the calf is overworked it is simply gassed out for a bit and I really have to force it to work heal to toe.

The itching though, it is sure consistent. To me it feels like my hands/arms after touching insulation. Bleh ;-)
 
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