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TKR Nerdgrrl's knee recovery thread

Well, I overdid it today, but I think it was worth it. I went with my mom to take care of some legal stuff at the bank. I am starting to need to help her with her finances, and this just really needed me to be there to help. So, after 2.5 months of getting the runaround, we got some paperwork properly handled and sent off to the proper place via certified means. We are still cleaning up some pieces from when her husband died a few years ago.

Then I took her home and decided to treat myself to a local artisan butcher/sandwich shop. I had read about their B&B sandwich and wanted to try it. It is basically a very fancy BLT: their cured bacon, pork belly, tomato, greens, aioli with a little bit of peppers for kick. OMG, I can't make a habit of that for sure, but it was heavenly! Unfortunately, they only have stools to sit on, but some of them had backs and I kind of made it work. Knee is definitely swollen and stiff, probably a little blowback from my 0.3 mile walk yesterday too.

This evening will be icing, elevating, and relaxing. It was so nice to get out and be able to do some mundane tasks! We'll see if I pay for it in my PT measurements tomorrow....
 
Your sandwich sounds delicious! I am glad you got out even if you are paying for it now. A good excuse to rest tomorrow! Take care and have a good evening.
 
Glad you got out. Therapy from yesterday has kept me home in bed icing, elevating and relaxing...oh yeah i did use my heating pad a lot today also..Continue the great work you're doing

LTKR 27 OCTOBER 2015
 
No I'm feeling very hungry for a sandwich! I is a nice feeling to do anything mundane after TKR replacement. Im sure your swelling will decrease over nigh and you'll be ready for PT tomorrow. Im sitting here with my knee elevated with ice on it after work followed by PT.
 
I am still savoring that sandwich! I did pay for it a little in ROM the next day. I lost some extension, but only a couple degrees. I was still under 5. I did gain a couple degrees on the flexion. So, all in all, my big day was worth it, I think.

Tomorrow, I have another big day. Going to PT, taking my mom to a doctor appt, and then going to see Star Wars later that night. I will have to make sure to get plenty of rest in between. I will take a chemical ice pack to the theater, just in case!
 
That's a long day you have plan but it is nice to just do some normal things again. I hope Star Wars is good. I've only seen the first one. I guess I'm a little behind.
 
We saw Star Wars TFA last night at 2 am, lol. Since it was just us (true!) I lifted a bunch of arm rests and stretched out on the nice leather seats. Chose a theater, if possible, with comfortable seats and spacious rows. Reposition frequently and you'll be fine. Enjoy!
 
As it turns out, the theater had a horizontal aisle and the row above it had a rail that was perfect for elevatingmy leg during part of the movie. Only problem was eating too much salty popcorn.
 
Well, that was an eventful weekend, and today was my first half day back at work. I am tired!

We went over to a friend's for Christmas dinner on Friday, then Saturday was a trip to the vet for the dog to get a vaccine that was overlooked at her annual exam (no charge from the vet!), and a half mile walk with the dog at an off-leash area. Sunday we went to a play and then over to visit friends visiting from out of town. That was a little later than I planned, but they have a new baby we had to meet and bounce on the good knee :) This morning the alarm seemed awfully early!

I paid for all of that with quite a bit of swelling today. ROM was 4 to 120, and I wasn't surprised. Tomorrow, I have to run my mom to a doctor appointment, and then I am working, but telecommuting from home, so I should be able to elevate most of the day.

Well, I am pretty pooped, so signing off for now. I hope everyone's week is going well!
 
It sounds l ike you had a lovely holiday weekend. You still have good ROM. I hope today you can ice and recover. Have a wonderful day.
 
Yes it was a very nice weekend! I wanted to do more, but sort of restrained myself. It's probably good that I feel like I can do more, since that probably means I am just feeling better in general. However, my knee isn't quite there yet. :sigh: Yes, ROM is still good, but even my "warmed up" measurements were worse than my last "cold" measurements. I thought it might be, though. I can see a big difference in what I can do when I have swelling.

Does any one else's knee feel more "clunky" when there is more swelling? I figure that when there is swelling the patella floats a little more, and that is why it feels more clunky to me.

Oh, I guess as of yesterday, I am officially 6 weeks out so here is my progress:
- can drive a car no problem
- totally off oxycodone
- can walk 1/2 mile on relatively flat surface (maybe more, but I didn't want to push too much)
- can do stairs the "normal" way, but going down stairs normally requires concentration on my part
- still have swelling if I overdo it, which doesn't take much- at this point swelling/stiffness is more of an issue than pain
- am back to work 1/2 days
- I could probably take a normal shower, but I am afraid of slipping and falling, since we don't have grab bars, so I am sticking with the shower chair for now
- am able to sit through a movie or play, but need to be able to prop up my leg if I can

Today I am working from home for half a day, so I can elevate and rest most of the day. Whee!:chillpill:
 
That's a pretty good six-week report. :happydance::yay:
You're managing the stairs, too - earlier than most people.
 
nerdgrrl said:
Does any one else's knee feel more "clunky" when there is more swelling? I figure that when there is swelling the patella floats a little more, and that is why it feels more clunky to me.
Click to expand...

I do have more clunking when I'm swollen. Just the other day I was walking into a store with no clunking feel but after walking around the store for awhile my knee swelled up a bit and the clunking started again.
 
You are doing very well. I'm so happy for you. I'm a little bit jealous since stairs are still a problem for me. As far as the clunking I'm the opposite. I seem to feel it less with the swelling. I always seem to be the different one!:heehee:
 
Hello- Meant to drop in with a progress report on Monday, but finally getting around to it today. So, this past Monday I was 9 weeks out. It was a holiday, so my PT appt was in the morning, instead of after work. I could tell by my slightly better ROM. Cold ROM was 0-125, warmed up ROM was 0- 133. We are mostly working on getting my strength up. I can do stairs the regular way, even without gripping the rail now. Although I have my hand on the rail, just for safety.

I have been back at work for full days starting on the 11th, and that is going well. I feel like after the 8th week I jumped in "performance" (?) in not swelling so easily, and better stamina. When I first returned to work (1/2 days for two weeks) I was very careful to not have too many trips to the bathroom or the cafeteria because my knee would pay for it. Now I pretty much walk around as normal. I still try to ice once or twice a day at work, but I went without it on Friday. Still had to ice at home, though. According to my phone pedometer, I walk about a mile and a half in a normal work day. I also had enough energy to go to an after work meeting on Wednesday - took it easy Thursday evening, though.

I am also up to stationary biking about 20 minutes, although I must confess I don't always make time for it every day. Oddly enough, it seems to help with the swelling, so I do try to do it regularly. I thing the motion helps "pump" the swelling, and I always ice after.

It is funny to think back to the first week after surgery when I was wondering if I had really made the right decision. Now I am not ready to go on a full-on hike, yet, but I improved enough that I can envision a short hike in a month or two, and hiking and biking in the summer. I might even try to sneak in a (short, flat) snowshoe trip at the end of Feb/early March, if the snow holds out that long. In fact, it would mostly be an excuse to go up to the mountains and look at the snow and wander around a bit ;)

Work is getting busy... we are merging with another company in about a month, pending a shareholder vote, so work will be insane for awhile. I am trying to focus on doing my work and having a good recovery.

Oh, almost forgot to mention that I started showering standing up this week! I have a non-slip mat down, so I worry less about slipping and falling. Mostly, I feel like my balance is good enough that I don't need to worry as much. I still have the shower chair in there for shaving my legs though. I think I might be able to handle it balance-wise, but why push my luck?
 
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I love reading these progress reports, thank you for posting! It sounds like you are doing great. I agree with you that pedaling seems to push fluid out of the joint- definitely more so than walking.

I still use my shower chair. I probably don't need it either but, TKR aside, at my age it's nice to be able to sit while showering. I am considering removing the toilet frame for less of a "handicapped stall" vibe in my bathroom, plus it's easier to clean behind the toilet when the frame isn't there.

I hope your steady progress continues. I bet you'll be ready for snowshoeing soon. Fingers x'd on the snow!
 
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