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TKR My TKR Journey

Thanks Gingerbread. I have very little swelling & the pain I experience on attempting to bend past the 65 is very localised & quite tender to touch which is in the joint line almost where my MCL runs. As I have had this pain since surgery I have managed to secure an appointment with my OS in hope of an answer.
 
Sounds to me like you are doing really well ☺. This is my 2nd TKR and I am so glad that I found this Forum back in 2019. This journey is a real rollercoaster, both physically and mentally but gentle patience is the key. It might sound crazy but i named my left TKR "Katy-knee" and treated her gently and kindly. She continued to improve right up to the moment of my right TKR (2.5years later) and I am now treating "Katy-knee 2" in the same way. The bonesmart way was a massive success for me and I am sure It will be again this time. Dont't force your knee to do anything it isn't ready to do.
 
Scanne said:
My PT yesterday said she was pushing my knee as much as she could
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This is one of the worst things that can be done to your knee in recovery. It does not help your knee bend more, instead it maintains swelling, which is what is preventing you from bending. Stop allowing your PT to do this and ask for modalities that will help you reduce swelling. If they refuse, find another office that has a gentle and more updated rehab approach, or stay home and do your own rehab.
Saying no to therapy - am I allowed to?
 
Saw my OS today, he was happy with my progress & not overly concerned that my flexion is only 65. He told me not to do any more PT if I didn’t want to & just concentrate on 1 little exercise he provided, twice a day. I was astounded & delighted when he said no more PT. I have been so sore & in pain since the PT forced my knee yesterday…….close the front door behind you on your way out!
 
Well done on listening to that knee! The slow and steady approach works every time.

You are missing your recovery guidelines - I'll leave them here for you.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
We are all different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for YOU.“ Your doctor(s), physiotherapist(s) and BoneSmart are here to help. But you have the final decision as to what approach you use.

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest​
ice​
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this Activity progression for TKRs

6. Access these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Happy Sunday everyone.
We’ll still on this roller coaster hawk2go. Working on the flexion, I think I am slowly making progress & then bam feels like the opposite. Some self doubt & tears generally follows, then I pick myself up, dust myself off & get back on the roller coaster. What a spirit lifting, soul destroying journey this is, it’s a good thing my mum always taught me to look at the positives in life
 
Scanne said:
I have been so sore & in pain since the PT forced my knee yesterday
Click to expand...
Scanne said:
Working on the flexion, I think I am slowly making progress & then bam feels like the opposite.
Click to expand...
It‘s more a matter of recovery, rather than “working on” flexion, that will increase your bend. Your flexion will improve as you heal and recover from the damage your PT did. Try not to feel like it’s all up to your efforts.

Regaining our ROM is more about Time than repetitions of a list of exercises.

Time to recover.
Time for pain and swelling to settle.
Time to heal.

Our range of motion is right there all
along just waiting for that to happen so it can show itself.

In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Normal activity is the key to success.
 
Scanne said:
Some self doubt & tears generally follows, then I pick myself up, dust myself off & get back on the roller coaster. What a spirit lifting, soul destroying journey this is, it’s a good thing my mum always taught me to look at the positives in life
Click to expand...
bonesmart.org

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it

Post op blues is feeling depressed, weepy, nervy, shaky, fearful of the future, anxious, overwhelmed by what is happening to you, convinced it's never going to get any better and finally, uttering that most intense of all cries "I wish I never had this done!" It arises out of a variety of...
bonesmart.org bonesmart.org
 
To give you encouragement, I had surgery July 22. I've seen members on here who were posting faithfully disappear weeks ago. Sometimes I feel like they are just rock stars who are sailing away in their recovery, meanwhile here I am plodding along. However!
I make progress every single day. I read the real stories on here and know this can take a year. I am encouraged by knowing we are all individuals who take one or ten steps forward then two back.
It's funny because I am hyper-flexible, and at almost 50 I can do a split and bring my legs up next to my ear when standing (haven't tried since surgery but I will again sometime!). But because of my swelling my knee is still only btw 95-100. You'd think with my flexion I could bring it to my rear end (which I can... pre surgery). I'm saying all this because I know I'll get this back.. we all will. It takes patience.
 
Another member of the tortoise club here! I finally reached 90 degrees of flexion Friday. I am not as flexible as @Gingerbread, but before my knee finally gave out, I could touch my toes, and naturally hyperextended both knees while walking. So, this slow recovery is trying, and it feels really weird to have such a stiff body part. Those of us who have slower recoveries also face a lot of opposition from surgeons and PTs who think that MUAs are the answer or force bending the knee will help. We may hear stories from well-meaning friends or family about how others have recovered more rapidly, and are we sure that we are doing all of the exercises faithfully? That is why this forum is so great because we can see that we are not alone and the odds are really great that we will have a full recovery on our own timeline. Hang in there!
 
Scanne said:
What a spirit lifting, soul destroying journey this is
Click to expand...
From my experience, the balance shifts from soul destroying to spirit lifting pretty suddenly over time. I hope that's how it is for you, hang in there!

I read back through my previous TKR journey on the left knee and think I am ahead of that timeline - so true to form, every knee recovery is different. From that journal, I realize that I lost a couple weeks due to PT aggression but I also fairly consistently overdid it on my own.
 
Rain Dancer said:
We may hear stories from well-meaning friends or family about how others have recovered more rapidly, and are we sure that we are doing all of the exercises faithfully?
Click to expand...

I know they are trying to "help" but it's so frustrating. My brother keeps telling about his friend who played 18 holes of golf just 10 weeks after his TKR. I'm not even 3 weeks out and am happy if I can walk across my yard without too much pain.
 
Had my first Bowen Therapy session yesterday where my therapist does McLoughlin Scar Tissue Release Technique (as well as other techniques), all very gentle. I told her how my OS has a plan ‘B’ being an MUA if I can’t get my leg bending enough on my own. She assured me that would not be necessary & is confident we will get there ourselves. First couple of sessions will just be working around the knee & other tight areas until the incision fully heals. Once healed enough she will be able to get to work on the knee itself & that she said is when we will see a real difference. She is currently treating 2 other knee replacements so that’s encouraging. She has the same Philosophies as Bonesmart in that no too people/knees heal the same & never compare yourself to others.
 
Scanne said:
I have been so sore & in pain since the PT forced my knee yesterday
Click to expand...
This is a setback caused by your knee being pushed past the point it is ready to be pushed to. That is why we say to not let anyone touch your knee or leg unless it's a gentle massage.
Scanne said:
He told me not to do any more PT if I didn’t want to & just concentrate on 1 little exercise he provided twice a day. I was astounded & delighted when he said no more PT
Click to expand...
What a wonderful surgeon you have. This is an up-to-date therapy. I wish all surgeons felt this way.
 
Hi all, haven’t posted for awhile but keeping abreast of everyone’s journeys. I was seen by my OS at 6 weeks & he was happy with my progress, didn’t measure anything but was happy that I had flexion of more than 90 degrees & could fully straighten as that meant no necessity for an MUA. I did try to get some advice as to why I still have some localised medial pain which catches when I try to bend but sort of got shrugged off.
So now at 8 weeks post op & still have the “catching” near the medial joint line. I am not pain free at anytime of the day or night, still taking meds but only first thing & just before bed, find it hard to sleep on my left or right for any extended time & have excessive tightness at the top & bottom of the knee which I suspect are the quad & patella tendons. I walk without aids & have done so from around week 3, can go up stairs foot over foot, gingerly & with some pain, but no going down. I guess my main concern is the blocked feeling of my knee, if I hold my bent leg up in the air & let gravity take over it still only drops to about 100 degree flexion & then stops & becomes quite painful. Is anyone around 2 months post op experiencing similar issues with catching or localised pain in the medial region?
 
Everything you describe is very normal at your stage of recovery.
 
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