KitKat64
member
United StatesOh yes!! This is so true!! It's so great to have my life back after not being able to walk/stand without severe knee pain!! I can't wait to start up my leisure walking again!!
TKR New Knee Me
- Thread starter ouch1313
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ouch1313
junior member
Small victory, though I'd share something positive instead of my usual complaining. Today I walked up the entire stair case foot over foot. Cane assisted mind you but I couldn't be happier and surprised myself. To all who are just starting your recovery or struggling with your recovery it does get better. It may take awhile but it does get better.
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SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Good to hear! It's pretty amazing when our new knees step up and do the job. And it really does keep getting better and better.
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ouch1313
junior member
14 weeks and improving but it still feels like I got a toaster in my knee. Had my 12 week checkup with surgeon and he said follow up in 9 months everything going well. Well I guess if you say so, I thought to myself. Please understand I'm feeling stronger, walking longer, starting foot over foot going upstairs but there is so much more to improve on like balance, going down stairs not backwards, not fearing inclines on decents in walkways, not being so dependent on cane outside and that gripping, pulling feeling in knee. I'm complaining aren't I? Yes I am, it's true, I know it takes TIME! Just checking in, it is good reading the folks who are 1 and 2 weeks post-op and saying I know, it will get better hang in there. It might just be seeing an entire season come and go that makes you realize how much time has passed. Maybe by Thanksgiving be I'll ready to rock and roll or at least bake pies.
You’re doing great. The things you still struggle with are common to most of us at 12 weeks. It’ll come.
I wish my surgeon had told me at 3 months I didn’t need to come in again until 9 months. I had many check ups and dreaded every one because I was following Bonesmart’s recovery approach, not my surgeon’s.
My X-rays were always fine and he pushed
me to a number he liked, so in his eyes all was well. But I never really felt he verbally encouraged me. It was all about the X-rays and measuring ROM and telling me to do things Bonesmart said not to.
I wish my surgeon had told me at 3 months I didn’t need to come in again until 9 months. I had many check ups and dreaded every one because I was following Bonesmart’s recovery approach, not my surgeon’s.
My X-rays were always fine and he pushed
me to a number he liked, so in his eyes all was well. But I never really felt he verbally encouraged me. It was all about the X-rays and measuring ROM and telling me to do things Bonesmart said not to.
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ouch1313
junior member
Thank you for your encouraging comments Jockette. I attribute to where I am in my recovery to applying what I have learned from this forum and all the encouragement from folks that have actually been through this procedure and can relate to your experiences.
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ouch1313
junior member
15 weeks post op now and getting stronger, still a long journey but I do see improvement. I have for the first time attempted to walk down stairs foot over foot and managed to do a few steps very tentatively and was quite pleased with myself. I still swell up if I over do it. This can be at the end of a work day or after a long walk with the dog. The knee still pulls and tugs on the inside but getting more use to that feeling and hope it does resolve itself. I do have a question, I have noticed a click or shifting feeling in the back of the knee. This feeling is not all the time but this is a new feeling and I'm afraid I may have over used the knee or done a move to anger the knee. Any insight would be appreciated.
A knee that is only 3 months old, it's very easy to overdo and anger your knee. Slow down and give your knee the rest it needs. Ice and elevation is your best medication. Remember, your knee is only 1/4 of the way of being healed. Some OSs even say it takes two years for complete healing. Treat your knee like the toddler it is!
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ouch1313
junior member
Thank you again for all your good advice Sistersinhim. I'm icing and elevating leg now. My quads are still so undeveloped and it's frustrating. I just want to push more but I know that will only set me back. For now I will continue my routine of home exercises and hope I continue to improve to the point where I can again ride my bike and hike in the woods. Be positive, is the key.
The more you heal, the more your quads will naturally strengthen. It doesn't happen overnight and it won't, no matter how much you try to make it to! Recovery is slow, but it is wonderful in the end! It's worth it to give the knee the time it needs. Afterall, the arthritis didn't come on in just a few months! It took time, too!
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ouch1313
junior member
Could it be all this rain? Living in North East PA, USA and the season just flipped, one day hot summer next cold wet fall. It has been considerably cooler and rainy for what seems forever and my knee is killing me. I'm 4 months post op and just getting comfortable with my slow recovery and now this seems like such a big set back. A return to sleepless nights, pain under the patella, tight, gripping feeling, this is a real drag. I have just started walking more without cane and doing stairs up and slowly down foot over foot. Could that be it? walking with no cane? and attempting to address stairs normally? That's crazy, if you have to start somewhere... I'm at a loss and sitting at work in office and trying not to cry. I brought in a heating pad today thinking I'd try something new. I know it can be a year or more, ...
I found that weather does affect my new knee, and usually takes a while for me to remember that, since weather never hurt my knee before surgery.
Maybe do stairs foot over foot less often and see if that helps, or just wait a while and then try it again.
Though we don’t want to hear it, 4 months is only 1/3 the way through a one year, on average, recovery.
Maybe do stairs foot over foot less often and see if that helps, or just wait a while and then try it again.
Though we don’t want to hear it, 4 months is only 1/3 the way through a one year, on average, recovery.
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ouch1313
junior member
Thanks for your response Jockette. I'm feeling better now. I took a 50 MG Tramadol and (2) 500 MG Tylenol and the bratty knee seems to have settled down. It's like living with another entity in you. Before you do anything you have to consult this new knee to see if it pleases it to do your beckoning. I will watch my activity and proceed more slowly as not to get the knee upset.
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You hit it on the head! The knee should remain in control for quite a while. You can try new things slowly, but wait to see how it reacts before doing it again. Before you know it you'll be doing more and more! It just takes time and patience!
Yes, the knee is in charge! I like how you put it:
Oh the things they didn’t tell us in pre op class!!!
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ouch1313
junior member
It's been 19 weeks since my surgery on right knee and it is getting better, but slowly. I'm considering getting a tee shirt made that says "My knee recovery takes a year" If only folks at work could understand that a word of encouragement would help me along so much more then "you're still having trouble with that knee? Don't these people think? I worked in my 20 x 40 ft. garden plot all weekend, pulling weeds, moving compost, I felt so strong and delighted to be back in the garden. When I came to work, no cane, walking my best, I was immediately hit with, "your really struggling with your knee" It just blind sided me. Maybe I'm too sensitive. My walking is better but I'm still cautious and slow. I read on line that it will get better and it has but there is so much more that needs to get better. Carrying anything, 2 lbs. 10 lbs. it doesn't matter can really affect my walking, the dog pulling the slightest... the list goes on and on. But, I am getting better, sleeping much better, sleeping on my side, heaven! Getting in and out of tub, Wow! I guess I should just focus on all I can do and the rest will follow. I again just have to say how helpful this site is to me in my recovery, I would be at a loss without it. Thank you.
Don't let these people at work bring you down. They are just ignorant about what it takes to heal from a knee replacement. You can tell them that you are doing quite well, because you are! People don't mean to be mean, but sometimes it feels like they do. They just don't know what to say and don't think it through before speaking.
SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Yes, it will follow. It really will! You're noticing the improvements. You, of course, own the knee and are quite attuned to its ups and downs. Other people don't own the knee; they don't notice anything except whether you move 100% normally or not. So it takes you another month or two (or even three) to move in a way they don't peg as "not 100%." That's their issue, not yours.Your concern is a strong, healthy, properly-functioning knee that makes you happy.
While recovering, I focused on small victories. There were quite a lot and it made me feel triumphant to celebrate them. Because I had bilateral replacements, I didn't get a lot of negative comments. People pretty much thought I would be barely able to walk at all with two replaced knees, so they generally expressed surprise at how well I walked. I knew very well that I was still walking stiffly and not especially nimbly. But at least they gave me a break.
Fluidity of movement comes further down the line. Right now take joy in your new knee and how well you are moving!
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ouch1313
junior member
sistersinhim and susieshoes, Thank you both for your words of encouragement. Unless you have personally gone through this procedure you just don't understand. Your words of encouragement, having had this procedure done, mean more to me then the folks at work. I get great strength from your remarks and comfort knowing I have a place to go to when I'm having set back physically or emotionally. Thank you all so much.
