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TKR My Life on the Other Side

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Physical Therapy is moving right along! Today was my only my 4th time, but they add new things each time. I'm enjoying it! Today I did some of my leg exercises with a three pound ankle weight. That sure mad a difference! I also rode a recumbant bike for five minutes. My ROM was 127! That's amazing at not quite two weeks yet! I'm plum tuckered out though. Nap time! You all please drop me a note! Love to hear from everyone.
 
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Drop you a note? I'm gonna bop you in the head with a trophy! Your ROM is the stuff jealousy is made of. :yahoo: How is your swelling and stiffness? My swelling is going down some but I'm still so stiff. I can bend to 90 pretty easy and then it's like I hit a brick wall. I have therapy again on Wednesday afternoon. I couldn't go today or tomorrow because Kent had other things to take care of and couldn't drive me. Are you driving yet? I wonder if I'll get cleared for that at my follow up on Thursday? Not that I have a lot of places I need or want to go but it would be nice to think I could if I felt up to it and wanted to. I'm doing well walking short distances around the house but nowhere near ready for a trip to the grocery store or God forbid, Walmart. Every day gets a little better though and overall I have to say this hasn't been as painful as I imagined it would be. I think I could probably stop pain meds for the most part but I'm scared if I do it will come back to bite me. So, I've cut back but not discontinued them and that alone has helped. I haven't been near as sleepy and miserable that way. I'm still sleeping really well at night. How about you? Connie, I'm so happy for you. With all you have been through this year you are doing just great! :wowspring:
 
:hi: @ConnieJOS
How are you getting on ?
I am a side sleeper too, but still find it hard to get truly in bed comfortable, but eventually find a position and sleep until about 3-4 am, when have to get up for the toilet.

Your ROM. @ 120 is :wowspring:
I think I haven't reached 100% yet / probably 95%. Have my first out-patient PT this Wednesday and I'm sure she will help me to work it up to 100 +

Take care ,
Cathie :flwrysmile:
 
@gr82cu2 Janet, my swelling and stiffness is still bad too. But when I start exercising, the stiffness starts working itself out quickly. My husband is driving me. I'm wondering if my OS will authorize me to drive after my follow up Thursday also. I'm still taking pain meds every 4 hours but I have cut the dosage in half during the day for the most part. I don't think I could do nearly as well with my PT if I went without the meds. I'm not going to consider that until my swelling goes way down. It was better this morning but started swelling more after PT. And I think swelling and pain go hand in hand. Mine hurts when it swollen!

@marmora, I'm still sleeping sitting up with pillows against the headboard. I'm a side sleeper as well, and my knee hurts when I lay on my side. I just sleep in short, but frequent, spurts. I can't get a full nights sleep sitting up, but I can get enough to feel rested.
 
@ConnieJOS When you go to PT what is the first thing they have you do to get you loosened up? They put me on a NuStep machine for 8 minutes. then she puts me through all my exercises with heal slides and measuring ROM last thing.
 
Mine is different each time. I hadn't been on any exercise machine until today. Most all of it is exercise laying on a bed. Ankle pumps,quad sets, etc. And they use stretchy bands or a stability ball for me to press my foot into for resistance and today they put 3 lb ankle weights on me. Then I do heel slides with a strap to pull my foot in further and he measures ROM. Then we walk the halls, usually with the walker, but today it was with a cane. The nI rode the bicycle for five minutes, then they put ice on it and I relax.
 
Wow. Your Rom really is great. It will only get better as your swelling lessens. Did you exercise a lot before surgery?
 
@Jozilla No, I really didn't. It's been about six years since they told me I needed this knee replaced. Then both hips and my other knee became very arthritic, so I haven't been able to be very active for years. At times I would try to start working out and stuff but the pain would get bad and I couldn't stick with it. And even when I was young I was never very consistent with exercise. I'd join a gym or start an aerobics class (usually as a New Years resolution), do it for a few weeks then quit. And this knee was leaning in and making my leg crooked, causing more manipulation to correct it during my TKR, so I really expected ROM to be very hard for me! I'm as surprised as anyone that I have this much ROM. But I am incredibly thankful for it! One thing that probably helped though is that I had both hips replaced this year. I didn't have physical therapy with those, but I did have the set of exercises we get at the hospital (ankle pumps, quad sets, heel slides, leg lifts, etc.). I started those when I had my first surgery in March, so that may have helped prepare my knee.
 
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Way to go! I hadn't realized you had your hips replaced too!! My problem is I was very bowlegged. I do now have one straight leg and the other will match in Sept. I have noticed how my unoperated leg almost twists when I walk now and causes my hip to hurt. I am looking forward to that pain being gone!! Well done with your recovery!!!
 
I don't have a cracking in the knee but do have what feel like "knots" that feel like they are in the soft tissue of my calves and thighs. I can feel them move when I move those appendages and sometimes they "pop." The pop can be soft or so loud that it can be heard a few ft away. The pop can be painful. What is this and what do I do about it.
 
pipaspipa said:
I don't have a cracking in the knee but do have what feel like "knots" that feel like they are in the soft tissue of my calves and thighs. I can feel them move when I move those appendages and sometimes they "pop." The pop can be soft or so loud that it can be heard a few ft away. The pop can be painful. What is this and what do I do about it.
Click to expand...
PS My surgery (BTKR) was on April 1, 2014
 
@Jozilla The mismatched joints can be frustrating. Before I got my first hip done, my femur had been pushed up into the hip socket, shortening my leg. So I came out of my first surgery with one leg longer than the other. It was hard to keep my balance! That's why I decided to push to get all four done as close together as possible. One bad joint puts a strain on the whole body.
 
[Bonesmart.org] My Life on the Other Side
@ConnieJOS, You may notice that I have merged your two threads. We like to keep our members' recovery posts all in a single thread. That way it's easy for us to go back and read your history before responding to a question or concern. In addition, the thread becomes a journal of your recovery for those who come along later and want to read about you. So, please post in this thread from now on when you want to give an update or ask a question. If you want an immediate response, try tagging an admin, a mod, or a member (or all three).

If you decide you'd like a different thread title at any point, you can change it using the Thread Tools button at the top right of the page or just post what you want here and we'll get it changed for you. THANKS!

If you are having a problem locating your thread, here is a link with how to do it: How can I find my threads and posts?
 
Here's my knee two weeks and one day after surgery. There's quite a bit of swelling today, but even with that I hit 130 ROM at physical therapy! You wouldn't think this swelled up knee would bend like that!
[Bonesmart.org] My Life on the Other Side
 
:hi: @ConnieJOS
Scar looks like it is healing - do you still have steri-strips ?
Amazed that you get up to 130% with the swelling.

I got to 95% this morning with my PT and that was really pushing it, and I'm 4 weeks post-op tomorrow/Thursday.

Take care,
Cathie :flwrysmile:
 
Wow! I am impressed and envious with your ROM. I measured 123 at PT this morning and I am 5 weeks post-op. You are doing fantastic for 2 weeks. That's wonderful that you're having such a successful recovery.
 
Our knees do look a lot alike. Is that some kind of tape on yours? You are getting amazing bend with that swelling. I managed 100 today and thought that was pretty good. You go girl!
 
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@gr82cu2 @marmora my incision is covered with Durabond (I think that's what it is anyway.) it's like plastic tape. I'm just trimming the edges as they come loose.

It is really amazing I'm getting such great rom with the swelling. I really liked the CPM machine at the hospital. Used it anytime I was resting in the hospital and slept with it on all night both nights I was there. I can't help but believe that's what helped me get such good ROM SO QUICKLY.
 
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