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TKR Moving forward.

@Rockgirl4
I sure love my pupper dogs! The doodle is my walking partner though. I felt good yesterday and walked an easy mile. Did two more today, so I should have had a good recovery. I think tomorrow I'll step it up a bit.
 
I guess that I'm 22 weeks post-op this week. Things are going well although the challenges of the first 12 weeks post-op seem like yesterday. My knee has felt really good for the last few weeks, but I did back off on my workouts during this period to provide some recovery time.
Today I jumped on a treadmill (aka dreadmill) to see if it felt different than my typical walk/jog exercise on trails/walking paths. It did. It felt much better; more natural. I tested the water for a little bit and then decided to see what time I could do a mile in. I'm pretty happy to say that I knocked out a 14:45 mile mixing walk/jog with a 5% incline. Pretty sure that I could do better than that, but I'm being cautious to see how I feel over the next few days. This is the fastest that I have pushed so far and it felt very natural. I'm almost shocked that there was zero pain. None. I haven't moved like that without pain since 2009.
This is really happening. I am so grateful. Everything has changed. I can sleep without pain. I can get out of a vehicle without grimacing. I can walk around without thinking about stopping. Yes, it is still awkward and still getting better, but there's no way I would go back to my pre-op knee.
 
I am so grateful. Everything has changed. I can sleep without pain. I can get out of a vehicle without grimacing. I can walk around without thinking about stopping.
So wonderful to read this! And you are only half-way through this recovery, so things will only get better and better.

But, isn't great to get back to living your life without worrying about whether the knee will hold you back?
 
This is really happening. I am so grateful. Everything has changed. I can sleep without pain. I can get out of a vehicle without grimacing. I can walk around without thinking about stopping. Yes, it is still awkward and still getting better, but there's no way I would go back to my pre-op knee.
Love your grateful heart! Joint replacement gives us a new appreciation for so many movements that we took for granted until hindered by our deteriorating joint.
May it only get better. :yes!: Happy Wednesday!
 
Six months out at this point and things continue to improve every week.
Getting around whether up/down stairs, on slopes, and in general gets more natural all the time. I'm still doing a lot of walking and some jogging. I've gotten into 13 minute miles at this point.
One thing that I've learned to appreciate much more are rest weeks every three or four weeks while working out. Those recovery periods really become apparent when I resume training. I always knew they were important, but now I can clearly see and feel the benefit.
Keep moving forward and don't lose hope. It gets better and better...
 
Yes it does!!!!
My R knee is a year older than yours, and I keep challenging it on the weight machines at the gym (plus walking) and it just gets better and stronger!
 
Getting to the 6 1/2 month point. My knee feels really good. The only time I really notice it is the day after a hard workout or big increase in demands on it. It will feel stiff and tight for ten or so steps when first getting up, but once moving it's fine.

I have started to notice some changes to the numb patch as well. It doesn't feel like it did, but it isn't yet back to normal. It's somewhere in the middle. Lol.

I'm still on my journey back to jogging and getting back in shape. Today I did a 10 minute warm up by walking at a 16:30 mile pace. Then I did three repetitions of jogging for eight minutes at a 13:15 mile pace followed by a three minute walk at 17:30 mile pace. I ended with another 10 minute walk at 16:30 pace. 50 minutes total for 3.3 miles. It felt great to be moving like that again, but it hasn't been easy to get here post-op.

There's been an awful lot of second guessing and aches and pains involved along the way. Probably the biggest ouchie has been my IT band. It's taken a while to get back in order and it's been pretty good for the last three weeks. At times my hips and pelvis/sacrum have also let me know that things have changed, shifted, or are otherwise restrengthening. I also had pain in my ankle on the operative side for the longest time. It did not like to take wieght on stairs or flex at all under pressure. That too is getting better by the day. It's kind of strange that sometimes my tkr knee feels better than my other knee that has never hurt, but now can feel achy... I sure hope that achy feeling passes because it's sure been a long six months after the tkr and I wouldn't look forward to going through it again for a while.
 
The right tkr knee is still doing great. Last post I mentioned numb patch changes and at this point it's getting closer to normal, but not quite there yet.

I also mentioned my left knee aching in the last post. Well, it turned into downright pain after a slip at work. Some days it's hard to even walk, but the next it feels much better. It's very unpredictable. I'm going for an mri in a couple of hours. Doc thinks my meniscus is torn. I'll find out after my appointment with him Friday.

This is definitely not what I wanted to hear. Two years ago I had my shoulder fixed, seven months ago my tkr, and now maybe a left knee procedure. Gosh, gimme a break. Lol.
 
Ugh...I am sorry you slipped at work and you're dealing with pain now. Understandably you want a break from surgeries and recoveries.
I hope surgery isn't needed. Please let us know what you hear on Friday.
@Cycle-Path
 
Well, not good news today.

IMPRESSION:
1. Focal full-thickness cartilage defects along the articular surface of the medial femoral condyle. 2. Large joint effusion.

Everyone here knows where this leads...
 
Oh no! (deep sigh)
I hope that it being most likely a Workers Comp situation doesn't negatively affect treatment options.
 
@mendogal
Thank you. It really breaks my heart, but I will probably just move on from this job. I worked hard to get it for years and it is slipping away.

My chondro is almost certainly related to my work history, not my current employer. I'm lucky to have good insurance coverage and a small income without my current employer, so I'll get by until the next chapter.
 
I'm undecided on what to do next with my left knee.

The doc does not want to do auto/allograph because there are three areas of full thickness loss besides the dent I just put in the cartilage when I slipped. He said debriding it arthroscopically might help a little or not at all. He also said we could just do a tkr now and be done with it.

I'm going to wait a little bit and see what my employer says. There are other positions that they could put me in if they want to. However, if it continues to swell like it did early this week I will have to do something very soon. It got bigger and more painful than my right ever was.
 
The issue with debridement of either a meniscus or articular cartilage is that it often creates an uneven weight bearing interface that can quickly lead to further breakdown and joint instability.

My slowly blooming R knee traumatic osteoarthritis started soon after a very successful ACL graft that also required cleaning up a torn medial meniscus (I lived with that arthritis 20 years).

My fast developing L knee osteoarthritis was a quick cascade from failed conservative treatment for spontaneously torn medial and lateral menisci - altogether a two year process from injury to TKR.
 
@mendogal

I agree. My right knee was debrided in 2017 or 2018. It was never right and stayed painful, but tolerable. My activity was limited after having it done and in hindsight it was just a bandaid. That is, until it fell apart when I slipped jogging and tore the cartilage/meniscus all apart. That was last May and I had my tkr in early June.

With that in mind I am leaning toward just getting the tkr and being done with it. Years of pain until having another tkr just doesn't make sense to me even after just having had one.

I guess I'm considering timing of having it done. I also keenly remember the first six weeks after having it done. Not fun at all, but being seven months post-op now it does seem worth it.

I just did not see this coming at all. My left knee hasn't given me any problems. My right knee hurt for 15 years... Surprise!
 
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