TKR Neesie's Recovery Thread

I wonder if some just consider it a weakness to admit to struggling.
It might also be that they don't want to scare of discourage us in our early recovery. I know I'd rather have heard the true stories than the sugar-coated ones!
 
The last 2 days have been very tough. The pain level is manageable but I'm still an emotional wreck. One minute I'm in tears over nothing and the next I'm enraged about this whole process. I've gone from optimistic after my GP didn't find anything terribly wrong to totally discouraged that I'll ever heal. I'm trying to have a life again within limits but anything I do leaves me exhausted. It's over 13 weeks since the surgery and the prospect of many more months of this is disheartening at best. Coincidentally I've gotten into conversations with several people who are contemplating knee replacements. I've been honest with them about my experience and directed them to this site. Maybe replaying my experience over and over is a bad idea but I do wish someone had told me what the expect. For those of you who are further along in the recovery process, did you experience these negative feelings? Did anything help you handle them? :cry:
 
@sistersinhim is right. It is emotionally and for me so very physically exhausting even now. Maybe the late nights w/o enough sleep are taking their toll. I know it will get better but we might be on the low end of roller coaster..
 
The pain level is manageable but I'm still an emotional wreck. One minute I'm in tears over nothing and the next I'm enraged about this whole process. I've gone from optimistic after my GP didn't find anything terribly wrong to totally discouraged that I'll ever heal. I'm trying to have a life again within limits but anything I do leaves me exhausted. It's over 13 weeks since the surgery and the prospect of many more months of this is disheartening at best.
This recovery does play havoc with your emotions. Things will improve. Your knee is working hard at healing and that's taking a lot of your physical and emotional energy.
Complete recovery takes as long as a full year, but your knee knows what it's doing and it is going to improve.

I know that 13 weeks feels like an eternity and the prospect of more months of recovery can be daunting, but do remember that you won't feel as bad as you do now for the rest of your recovery.
You and your knee are still a "work in progress" and how you feel now isn't how you're going to end up. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
 
@Neesie, at this point in your recovery it's probably not a good time to be advising anyone about their replacement decisions. Ask them to wait until you're a few more months down the road, then ask you. You will continue to heal and improve physically and emotionally. Look at the small improvements you have had so far. You are getting better and will continue to do so. This recovery is not for the impatient person. Unfortunately, everyone of us gets impatient with it. Try to count your blessings as the weeks go by. You'll see your improvements!
 
Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond. The analogy to a roller coaster is very fitting. And even as a kid, I hated roller coasters!
 
Thank you for stepping in @Celle .. wasn’t my intent to derail @Neesie thread, my point being is try avoiding making any major decisions during the low points or low ebbs of this journey..
 
@Neesie
I love roller coasters.....in the 1980’s I had been on 8 out of the 10 best rated coasters in the US.....

I am NOT giving The TKR Coaster a good rating at all.....there is so much of it you can’t see coming....
AND it lasts WAY too long..... I can hardly wait to get off....:loll:
 
@Poctdb : I have never been a fan of roller coasters. And least of all now! I’m right there with you in wanting off.
 
Does anyone remember the TV show, "Kung Fu", about a young Chinese-American man who was studying to be a Shaolin monk? His mentor often told him to have "Patience, Grasshopper".

patience grasshopper.jpg
Patience, Grasshopper applies to TKR recovery as well.

Full recovery from a TKR takes a long time and it is a real test of patience, but it will all be worth it in the end.
 
We like to take cruises and they will have formal nights. I love to have an excuse to bring out the spiffy clothes once every few years and get a great picture of us.
 
Yes! Us too. I really want to take a Fall cruise from NYC to Nova Scotia.
 
@Celle
I totally remember that show....I love that picture also....
I remember Grasshopper was not very patient at times.....
 
We were just talking with friends about doing one of the Fall cruises up the river. Not this fall! But maybe next year. Everything is so beautiful up there in the fall.
 
It's been just under 4 months since my RTKR. Now that the pain has subsided to a manageable level, I'm even more aware of the exhaustion and the brain fog. Not being able to remember most things for more than 30 seconds is so frustrating and just seems to fuel my bad temper. My inability to concentrate/focus is also limiting my reading and interfering with my knitting. The worst of it is that I'm terrified it's not just a result of the surgery. My mother has advanced Alzheimer's and no matter now often I remind myself that it's probably not hereditary, I still go there in my mind. I think I just have too much time on my hands and the state of the world exacerbates every negative thought I have.

I am incorporating more things back into my life in the hope that being out and about will restore my good humor. I'm working 4 hours per day 1-2 days per week, volunteering at the local food closet 3 hours every 2nd & 4th Friday morning and volunteering at the local animal shelter 3-4 hours 1 time per week. I attend my 2 book clubs 1x per month and have managed to keep up with the reading in spite of the brain fog. The prospect of recovery taking up to 1 full year still makes me unhappy but I'm getting better at accepting it as a fact that I can't change.
 
The prospect of recovery taking up to 1 full year still makes me unhappy but I'm getting better at accepting it as a fact that I can't change.
This doesn’t mean you will feel poorly the whole year, and it’s an average timeframe.

But it does mean that there may/will be different types of “limitations” for about a year. But as the year goes by, hopefully those limitations get gradually less.

Where you are now is not where you will end up. :console2:
 

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