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Hi Sandi and Katy! @sandi4213 Katy @zakmick!! Happy Kneeversary to you too!

Katy, no I'm not anywhere fun, just down in Atlanta for the night for a day of training tomorrow and then back home.

My trip pretty much wiped me out last week. Left on Wednesday and got home on Saturday. My knee did well on the way over and thankfully I slept well both nights while I was there.

The flight home was more tough. It's always a harder flight going home than over and by then my knee was getting a little cranky. Not any visible swelling but the tight band feeling cranked up a few notches and boy was I tired!
:umm:

I did sleep 13 hours the night I got home though!!

I do this training tomorrow and then off for 5 days and then back to Shanghai on Wednesday.

Gotta admit it has been harder than I had hoped going back. I still have that tight band feeling pretty much all the time, sometimes worse than others. I don't get much of the achy feeling anymore just the tightness and then stiffness when I've been sitting for awhile. I'm still icing and elevating almost every night.

I really understand now how they say full recovery takes a year or more :bored:
 
Carol, I'm not all that surprised the trip was difficult, I know I couldn't have done it. I do think that you are still getting stronger and hopefully each trip will be easier than the one before. I'm glad you have some time to rest up before you take off again.

Ps: I am just a bit jealous of your traveling. I wish I could go :) :-) (:
 
Thanks @sandi4213 I am thankful that I have improved to the point that I actually can go back to work, even though it's tough sometimes. I wouldn't have gone back if I had to work like that everyday for sure! I am extremely thankful for the flexibility of my job and that each month I basically can decide when I do and don't want to work.

I know after 38+ years I often take my job for granted but do really still enjoy it and am not ready to give it up for good.

Next month I have a trip to Rome which is one of my all time favorite places. I KNOW I will not be staying in my room on that one but I'm going to be extremely careful walking around there! Lots of cobblestone streets :scaredycat:

We waited until October when it was cooler and less crowded. My girlfriend and I already are planning on taking lots of cabs around the city as she had foot surgery shortly before my knee surgery. We are quite the pair :heehee:
 
Ahhh Carol @flyaway79 Rome is one of my favourite places too! Last time we were there we decided that cabs were expensive and slow so we actually braved the adventure of the subway. It was very efficient! I understand what you mean though about walking on cobbled streets......gotta be really careful! Enjoy some great food and wine. Ciao! Try not to overdo it! Membership dues to the ODIC are expensive lol!
 
I can still feel internal swelling above my knee and my whole leg including my calf is still larger than my non op leg. I can tell because my Capri pants fit differently on my legs. When I've been walking more sometimes my capris actually get a little stuck on my calf when I stand up. To look at my knee when I'm standing you can't see any swelling but I sure can feel it inside. I also have a crunching feeling around my knee cap. I really notice that when I go from sitting to standing, when I'm moving my leg while in bed and while using the stairs. It's a creepy feeling. Don't like it much :-(

Now I really understand when they say a year or more recovery time.
 
@Canada35 I am going to desperately try and not overdo it in Rome! I have to work the flight back home the next day so can't take any chances of joining the dreaded "club" while I'm there!
 
I'm glad you're back at work, Carol, even though you couldn't do that schedule every time. It's all progress and it's only 6 months since your surgery. Yes! :yes!: :happydance: :yay: :dancy:
 
I'm still getting all those symptoms Carol... I keep saying it's only 6mths and remember what you couldn't do before the op. It's just impatience..


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@zakmick I have spoken to others who are basically in the same time frame as we are and we all seem to be experiencing the same type of issues. Although frustrating it is reassuring at the same time that this too shall end!
 
@Josephine Maybe you could share some insight with me. I am 6+ months post op.

I had a discussion with @jaschembra about the crunching feeling in the knee called crepitus. You had said it was normal and that it would go away.

I don't feel the crunching much when I walk but sure do when standing up or changing positions in bed etc.

Does this tie in with the tight band feeling and if so do they tend to go away at the same time? I never had this with my partial replacement although I did have the tight band. I can tell I've still got internal swelling because of the tightness around my knee, although there is no outward visible swelling.

The tight band feeling I can live with. This creepy, crunchy feeling has got to go!
 
flyaway79 said:
I also have a crunching feeling around my knee cap. I really notice that when I go from sitting to standing, when I'm moving my leg while in bed and while using the stairs. It's a creepy feeling. Don't like it much :-(
Click to expand...

oh yes! I KNOW exactly what you mean, describing it as I would. Have had this now for a few weeks. It's a crunch on top of the clonking. So for me it is like this when getting up and walking: crunch, click,-:shrug:clonk. I told my GF, it feels like a small plastic water filled capsule in my knee is getting pressed in and then released again:unsure: and a wide rubber band is stretched over the whole thing.:umm:
 
Does it feel like crepitus in a natural knee @flyaway79? My new knee clicks sometimes, typically when first standing up, but I can't say it feels like that awful rice-krispy crunching of crepitus in my natural knee. It's different somehow, perhaps because I'm not afraid of it like I am the natural knee, lol. At least I know the bionic knee isn't going to tear my mensicus. It's also still stiff, but I was told that could take anywhere between 6-12 months to vanish....swell, right?
 
My crepitus is very much like the crunch in the natural knee without any pain. All I can say flyaway is try and ignore it. I don't hear or feel my crepitus unless I lay my hand on my knee and bend/straighten. So... I stopped laying my hand on my knee and have accepted my crepitus as normal for this stage of the game.

I kinda thought Josephine was going to say, it's like asking how long is a piece of string or whatever that cute phrase is that she uses. :)
 
@Josephine Question- I had some bad hip bursitis and got a cortisone shot at the end of July. It was like a miracle! The pain was gone. Sadly it has now slowly come back again. Is it common to come back?

How often can you get cortisone shots for something like this? Is there anything else to do for it? I'm so disappointed because it was wonderful having that pain gone.
 
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Wonderful!! Your first long flight and your 6th month anniversary! I hope you enjoy your trip and that your knee continues to cooperate.
 
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