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TKR MSuki’s Fabulous Recovery Journey

Cheers to many more long relaxing soaks! :bath:
Happy Thursday!
@MSuki
 
Onward from the bath…. thanks my friends! - flexion was 130 today. My PT pushed just slightly (no discomfort at all, I was saying I can bend more but the strap was sliding under my heel, so she gave me a little help but not past where the knee would resist). So I don’t know if that made a difference compared to me pulling with the strap.

On the less great side, I have this pain under my knee which was just on one side but has now spread to both. The PT thinks it is tendonitis in the patellar tendon. I’m going to try this little strap thing that I ordered from Amazon. I think this started when I started trying to do stairs with new knee.

Since my hamstrings seem to be pretty weak, I started a new exercise where I sat in an office chair and pulled the chair forward with my heel, about 20 feet. Did not think I was going to make it to the end. Coming back was easy though (going backwards). This was new, I never did it with first knee.
 
@MSuki - just wanted to say thank you for recording your knee surgery recovery journey. I dip into it from time to time for inspiration and distraction. I’m only 3.5 weeks post surgery and it is good to read about what may be coming my way. I am so excited about finally taking a shower or two and now you taking a bath!!! Wahoooo

I especially relate to the dilemma of “should I be pushing forward a bit more” in terms of exercises. Or, really, how to listen to our bodies to figure out when a little more discomfort is ok for a deeper stretch or completing a set of exercises and when it’s ok to slow down or stop.
 
Oh! I had that office chair hamstring exercise following my ACL graft/medial meniscectomy. It's INCREDIBLY easy to overdo it (20 feet first time !)! But yeah it really does target them.
 
Thanks @HowiesMom, you’ll get there. Sending you a virtual hug as you finish month 1. I don’t think my mother got on the floor much after her knee surgeries, and pretty soon she couldn’t do it at all. I am determined not to give up the floor. I mentioned getting on the floor to my surgeon and he was like “why do you want to get on the floor anyway?”

I told him I might want to play with kids or a pet, hook up a computer, or maybe even clean something, you never know!

On the do vs overdo I am perched right on the edge as usual today….

@mendogal I wanted to stop at 10 feet but of course I didn’t. If I could only just push really hard on those muscles and get them strengthened up all at once that’s what I’d like to do. This slow and steady stuff is not really for me although I’m trying…:giggle:
 
One of the many ways to minimize the risk of falls or injury from falls is to be as comfortable as your body allows with moving between upright and ground and with being relaxed while on the ground.
I have seen how developing unfamiliarity with that physical range of movement leads many middle aged and senior folk to emotional discomfort with simply being on the floor, plus a strong fear response to transient instability that triggers such rigidity there's an inability to rebalance.
 
Playing with kids and pets = yes! Also reaching for something. and getting out of the bath! Mendogal - that is an interesting idea about being familiar with the floor. use it or lose it I guess
 
I always liked sitting on the floor when I was a little younger. Not being able to do it would be a big handicap to me. The first 3-4 times I got on the floor and up away from the couch I was a little scared but just doing it some gave me confidence. I have done the bathtub twice and it’s still scary but the only way to get over it is through. The first bath I did more the hands and feet method. This time I tried turning around and putting my knee on a waterproof cushion I bought, with the idea of kneeling on the left knee with right leg at 90 degrees, and standing from there. That’s how I was doing it before surgery and it’s probably more stable. But as soon as I got into the position my left calf cramped so then I had to hurry and get up.

Did .3 miles on the treadmill today, so up slightly from my quarter mile.
 
I went back to read your first month of posts after your 2nd surgery (were you here the first one?) and it's just interesting the similarities and differences. You really had some problems areas that weren't your knee which - I'm not a doctor - seemed almost worse than the knee! Like the hip pain - ouch! I get sciatica pain on the left side sometimes and I've had it REALLY bad several years back and that pain was worse than about any pain I've ever had. I was concerned about this surgery aggravating it since I'm very careful to do stretches and things that are hard to do at the moment. So far knock on wood it's good - but if that came back right now it would sink me. I. can only imagine how it was for you so kudos on that!

Your ROM from the start was fantastic! I don't have that but not sure many do! I liked it when you said something like every day is something new - cause I feel like that 1000000% haha!

I also cannot imagine sitting on the floor at this point. A crane would need to be called in! I agree it's a good skill to have - everyone ideally can get up from the floor should they find themselves on the floor on purpose or accidentally.
 
Hi, @selketine! Yes I was here first knee but I might have used a different email, who knows? Yes this time I feel like I had trouble with everything but my knee. Not that my knee didn’t hurt, but most of the time it was under control with pain meds and ice. Which is why I’m really angry with your doctor for undermedicating you. I don’t think I could have done what I have without the meds. And even though it took me longer than average to get off the hydrocodone (I don’t really know what average is but I see a lot of people stopping within the first month), just like last time I just tapered as tolerated and then one day I said to myself that I don’t need this any more, and stopped.

I think I will feel recovered when I can crawl on both knees…..that seems like a far off dream right now but check with me in November 2024…..
 
MSuki said:
Hi, @selketine! Yes I was here first knee but I might have used a different email, who knows? Yes this time I feel like I had trouble with everything but my knee. Not that my knee didn’t hurt, but most of the time it was under control with pain meds and ice. Which is why I’m really angry with your doctor for undermedicating you. I don’t think I could have done what I have without the meds. And even though it took me longer than average to get off the hydrocodone (I don’t really know what average is but I see a lot of people stopping within the first month), just like last time I just tapered as tolerated and then one day I said to myself that I don’t need this any more, and stopped.

I think I will feel recovered when I can crawl on both knees…..that seems like a far off dream right now but check with me in November 2024…..
Click to expand...
I hope someone will take a video of you crawling in November -haha!

I agree with what you said about the pain meds. I think doctors don't have the bandwidth to tailor them to the individual vs. the same approach to everyone. I guess 4 or 6 weeks of pain meds might be harmful for one person but helpful to another. With your level of pain in the hips, etc. I really think you needed them in order to be mobile. Thankfully I'm not having that issue and I hope I don't - sciatica pain was like a white hot poker stuck in my hip down my leg - a 10 out of 10 for sure.
 
I could crawl before surgery across the carpet which I did a couple of times experimentally. Of course then I had one unoperated knee.

Right now the only types of pain I’m noticing are 1) those occasional zingers/other nerve pains and 2) a pain in front just under my knee which my PT thinks is patellar tendinitis. I feel like it started after doing a lot of steps up at PT and it is irritated more when I step up. My PT thinks she can improve it by the dry needling which may have helped slightly, but is very focused on me doing steps. I wouldn’t mind doing small step ups in the water if they don’t hurt but I don’t want to do them on land until this is better.

I plan to mention it to my surgeon at my appointment next week and see if he has an opinion.
 
I think waiting to do the steps above water is wise until you receive a nod from your surgeon since you have an appointment coming up soon. Lots of rest and ice always seem to help what ails us early on.
I hope you have a peaceful Sunday, MSuki.
@MSuki
 
Just wanted to add that getting those nerves back in the knee and losing the numbness can take a long time! My right knee has full feeling now at 13 years post-op but Leftie still has lots of numb spots (2-1/2 years post-op).

Congrats on the successful bath! :bath: I tried to take a bath (too soon) at 3-4 months post-op and failed epically! I had to get my husband to help me get out. It was a combination of using too much soap and not having enough knee bend and upper body strength to get myself out. I didn't take another bath for a LONG TIME but mostly because I was nervous to. I've done it many times now with no problems!
 
I feel like I’m failing on going up steps and it’s very frustrating. Although I plan to mention this to the doctor, I am not necessarily inclined to do whatever he says. Regardless of what he says I am planning to take a break from stepping up for a week and see if it gets better. I think it might be the tendonitis like the PT thinks, or it could be tibia pain as it often hurts down my shin. I want to try not aggravating it. I also need to make sure I’m strengthening the correct muscles to help with this, so I don’t put unnecessary pressure on my knee. I know a lot of people can do this at 6 weeks and I still find it odd that I can go down normally but not up.
 
I hear and understand your frustration.I don't think you're "failing"!!! We all have different recoveries, and if indeed you have a tendonitis there's really no alternative to letting it heal.
 
MSuki said:
I still find it odd that I can go down normally but not up
Click to expand...
This is so interesting to me, since I find it much more difficult to go down.

Did you have the same issue with your other knee or did ascending comfortably come first with leftie?
 
Susie-Q said:
Congrats on the successful bath! :bath: I tried to take a bath (too soon) at 3-4 months post-op and failed epically! I had to get my husband to help me get out.
Click to expand...
It was at least 8-9 months before I could get in and out of a bath safely. It takes fairly deep flexion to manoeuvre successfully in most baths.
Agree with @benne68 that it is unusual to find going downstairs easier than coming up. Stairs were late for me ( again around 8-9 months before I could do them normally). But I had a lot of stairs in my house and a chronically overstretched MCL which made stairs painful until my quads were much stronger. I guess it just goes to show that knees are complex and everyone is different.
 
I remember stair climbing being somewhat difficult last time but not this much. I think up came first with the other leg. Some of it is probably that I’m out of shape, and I’ve been dragging up the stairs with the rail for a while. Here recently I’m just going up with (good) left knee and not putting weight on the railing and that works ok although it is slow. I know that up should be easier than down and that’s why I think there is some issue I need to identify and focus on, or maybe it’s just that right quad.

My bathtub maneuver is not set yet. I was in the habit or turning around on right knee to a one knee kneeling position, putting my hands on the sides, and pushing up with left quad. This time I’m not really wanting to put my left knee down on the tub unless I have a cushion. So I think one time I just pivoted around on left hip to hands and feet on floor without using either knee. The other time I did get my knee onto the cushion and went from there. I put my elbow on the edge to help me get onto the cushion. I’ll eventually figure out a reasonable and safe way to do this but tonight will only be bath number 3. I’m sort of indecisive on it and not too graceful, but have not had serious difficulty or needed help. And I am making sure hands and anywhere I’m putting my hands are dry. Luckily my bathtub is not too small and has room on the edges for me to put my hands. But I don’t have any bars or handles.

My next challenge is going to be flying to visit my Mom on February 14. I’ll be gone a week. It’s about 6 hours in the air with a plane change each way. I’m planning to carry plastic bags and beg for ice, which is a great idea I think mentioned by Layla? Also extras for the hotel. And a few of those leftover hydrocodone in case the plane ride does a number on my knee.
 
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