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TKR My new knee journey

Me again, I just discovered the Duloxetine my husband takes for depression is in fact Cymbalta, and is also prescribed for general anxiety disorder and chronic muscle and joint pain such as low back pain, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia. Maybe I should try it.
Hope things improve for you soon.
Tabby xxx
 
Hello @Tabbycat,
My TKA is about a month ahead of you. It does get better! but I still get exhausted at the end of the day.
I'm so sorry you had such a bad (crying day) I had those too. I think it's really hard for family and friends to identify with these kind of emotions, however I do find solace from those here on bonesmart, who have been down this same road.
all the best to you :console2:
 
I had the crying and wanting to just give up type of depression with my first TKR. I think added to that was the fact that I hadn't found this forum and I was just feeling alone and in pain. ( no pain meds). Added to that was bad PT and an OS who did a bad job and then just totally brushed me off there were days I was even nasty to my youngest daughter. I sent her home after two weeks. It made a big difference to have someone to talk to.
 
Today I'm a little shy of 4 months post-op and I had my last PT appt. with good news!
My knee flex was 116 and extension was 0. I remember canceling my MUA at 6 weeks...so glad I did!
I hope with persistent bending and stretching I can get to 120....is that possible? my Physical therapist said it's difficult to get to 120 and beyond just because of the new knee hardware, anyone ever hear of this ? or get past 120?
 
Someone said that the surgeon puts the knee through the full range of motion before he closes the inscision to make sure nothing is impeding the movement, but how far you can bend afterwards might be an individual thing. Josephine's flexion is amazing so I know it is possible, and as we know she did little to no exercise other than daily activities. I know that the more I try to bend and stretch the worse I get, but then that's me, Contrary Mary!
Tabby xxx
 
I'm six week out and my flexion is -130 which is the same as the other "good" knee. But as everyone says, each of us is different and reduction of swelling is what makes flexion so much easier.
 
@Majella don't worry. You're likely to be picking up ROM gradually for up to a year from now even without trying.


Jean

RTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 June 2016 LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006 Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
I found even after I stopped gaining ROM, it just felt easier to do things. Just keep doing your normal activities as the knee will allow.
 
Thanks everyone! I'm going at a slow pace right now because I just finished PT and taking a break, so nice not to have all those appts anymore :yes!: but I'm still struggling with the stiffness, oh my it really gets bad :sad:
Going downstairs is more difficult than coming up, have to go really s-l-o-w and use the hand rail.
 
Going down just seems to take much longer. I'm doing it now but I still have some times when I revert to the one step at a time. Your ROM will continue to get better as time goes by. I haven't had mine checked in quite some time but it has been getting a bit easier to do things every day. I still elevate everyday while I can and especially at night after a full day of activities. Little by little we both will get to where we want to be.
 
Are you still bothered with stiffness? A couple of times I've been able to come up the steps foot over foot while holding on the both rails. I am scared to try going down that way yet. For the last 20 years I've been going down steps backwards. My OS at that time told me to do it, that it's much less stress on the knees. And if I were to fall, I'd fall up the steps instead of down. Now, I'm going to have to relearn and come down frontwards. Looking down those steps is so unnerving! All in time!
 
Majella, I am 4 1/2 months out, I have had 130 flexion for some time (not early on, tho) but still can't yet get to 0 degrees extension. I'm still stiff, mornings are the worst and I'm still working on doing stairs. This past week I was finally able to take a few stairs leg over leg, but that's all, and it's still makes me grimace. My PT says maybe I won't get to 0, but I'm still hoping it will come with usage. I have adopted the belief that it is a yearlong journey.
 
@mamazipp you encourage me to not give hope and that I am not doing bad at all at almost 7 weeks. I am think of stopping PT tomorrow. Is that too early?
 
@Floridagal, you are doing so well I think you could teach PT a thing or two! By all means, I think you can stop PT.
 
@Floridagal
I was in PT for about 14 weeks, I know it sounds long, but I had to really work on my knee flex more than anything, I just got to 115/0 last week, so my PT was happy and said: you're good to go!
Everyone has their own rate of progress as I'm finding out from bonesmart!
Best of luck to you!
 
I'm glad you have been released from PT. Your ROM will keep getting a little better as time goes by.
 
@Josephine and everyone else!
Just checking in today and can't say how much I appreciate Bonesmart! I'm 4½ months post-op now and things are improving, however I still have a lot of stiffness (no apparent swelling) and some occasional pain in the middle of my knee cap when I walk more than 6 blocks, plus I get pretty exhausted at the end of the day. Just wondering if this in normal for where I'm at in the recovery process.
Thanks all :wave:
 
I had my revision 2 days before your TKR. I still have stiffness after I've been sitting for a while, after getting up in the morning and also after walking around a bit. I think it just goes with the territory. You can have just a very little bit of swelling that is hard to see but can still cause stiffness. I get that while I'm at work and walking around. Make sure that you still ice and elevate at least at the end of the day. If I remember to do that my stiffness is less. As far as the exhaustion goes I'm always ready for a nap!:sleeep:
 
@newlybionic
thanks for the info, just read your info, so how did the cort infection work for you? I also had one a month ago because my Lt. knee needs a replacement too (that will happen in Sept)...we are in the same boat
 
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