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TKR New left knee

Walking’s a great exercise because you can do it anywhere and anytime. The way I built up my walking was not by time, but by distance: I walked a little farther every few days, at first, and later every couple weeks. First it was driveways, how many driveways down my block, and later it was blocks. I’d add a block every couple weeks until I was walking a couple miles each morning. Walking helped me rehab my knees, and also helped build my stamina.
 
If the weather is not to your liking you can go someplace indoors to walk, I’ve done a lot in stores since they are climate controlled and the shopping carts make a lovely walker without looking like one! :heehee:

I also walk in the house. I’ve read about it online and it’s actually called “house walking”!

My house is a long, single floor style. One of my friends who has the same layout said it’s so long that if you want to walk from one end to the other, you have to pack a sandwich! :rotfl:
 
Yes, with the cold snowy weather I’ve gone to my local Walmart and walked the inside perimeter of the store.
 
Walking in the malls is a good place, too.
 
Well today was a walking day for me.

First stop was for the knee review appt. Met the surgeon who was pleased with the flexion and extension. I asked about the catching I feel on the lateral side like a pinging elastic band. He said it was more than likely scar tissue that's now stretching. I will see what happens over the next few weeks.

I don't go back for 10 months. I did forget to ask why my knee hurts more at rest than walking on it.

So after that we went to our local version of a mall. It was the first time since the 12 Dec that I have done anything other than going out the house for a Drs or hospital appt. (and a funeral).

So I have now over done it again and will be paying for the walking with pain either tomorrow or wednesday. I am already getting 'stabbing' and throbbing pains. My muscles have also had a bit of a wake up call.

I may learn one day and have a bit more restraint on increasing what I am doing. But the excitement got to me. Never mind.
 
Well, did you at least enjoy the mall? If so, then at least you had some enjoyment! It takes a while to figure out the balance.

I have seen my surgeon way too many times for my liking! I wonder if he knows more about partials than he is telling me and that’s why he sees me so often and X-rays every time. The appointments stress me out. I’m already getting tense for the one next month. :bolt:
 
Hi
@Jockette yes I did enjoy some retail therapy very much.

I didn't even get an x-ray when I saw the surgeon. I was in and out the hospital in 20 mins. I have seen my GP quite a bit though. I think they think I am a bit of a pain!!

Am still awaiting the knee throb...

Funny thing is, the right hip incision thats 2.5 yrs old, is pulling tight with a dent in it since yesterday's walking.

I am thinking that this is scar tissue, that's now gone tight from less walking in the last few months. Quite painful too.

Hope you are all well.
 
I thought I would write a 10 week (nearly 11) update. My left TKR was the 12th dec 2017.

To note I didn't do any PT other than heel slides and quads sets, but only when I actually remembered to do them. I walked around the house. I iced and elevated a lot in the first 6 to 7 weeks. I also moaned a lot, cried and felt extremely depressed, to the stage where I wouldn't leave the house.

The last 3 weeks has seen a massive change in my new left knee and my down in the dumps feelings.

I changed my GP. My new gp reviewed my medication and also took into account the recurrence of severe left leg sciatica caused by lumber arthritis, disc degeneration and stenosis etc. The sciatica was also probably due to a change in the way I was now walking. She was about to refer me back to my spinal surgeon to have the operation I now require on my spine..but after discussion, she decided to add a new drug to my regime to see how things went.

I wasn't happy about taking an NSAID Indomethacin. BUT I make sure I take ranitidine and food before taking this medication and so have had no side affects affecting my stomach and my knee swelling went down and my sciatica subsided to a manageable level. Which means I can hopefully control it with out having to have a laminectomy (cutting out some bone in my back to give the nerves more space )

Since the knee and back were now controlled along with my other meds, gabapentin, amitriptyline and cocodamol. I can now sleep on my sides, in my usual knees bent position, but I do end up on my back after a while as too long with the knee bent does cause aching and stiffness.

In the morning my knee is a little stiff but that only lasts a short while. I am able to go up and down down stairs in a normal fashion.

My flexion is nearly the same as my real knee. I am not sure if this ever gets back to a 'normal' flexion. But I am happy. I can't kneel on my knee cap...which I keep forgetting about until I go and do it. Oouch!

The only niggling pain I get is on the lower lateral side of my knee where the numb bit is. There's something inside that is not numb and what ever that is, aches and twinges now and then during the day.

The deep inside knee throb has mainly gone though, even when I have been on my feet walking about the garden etc for quite a few hours. It does start to throb if I keep my knee bent for too long or stand still without moving.

I am going back to work next week at week 11 as a phased return. I thought I would only need 6 weeks off, as I work in an office sitting down. I am glad that the GP gave me 11 weeks as I really wasnt mentally in a good place at 6 weeks. I felt very depressed and in a low mood due to the pain. I am now feeling loads better and am ready to get back to normal.

I now wear a fitbit watch so I can make sure I am increasing my walking. It will also prompt me to get up from my desk every hour to stretch the knee.

I can honestly say that the horrendous pain swelling and throbbing seems to be a lifetime ago and feels to be a bit of a blur. The funny thing is, that pain seems to have been removed from my memory and now all I think if is a new knee that really doesn't hurt much at all. Even in the British cold damp weather.

I know I shouldn't have done this...I actually dug a weeny hole in the garden with my new knee...no pain what so ever.

My new knee feels like it's always been there, I can not tell it's there and when I do remember I think it's amazing. I also had 2 new hips in 2015 so I feel a bit bionic!!

@Jockette I am so very sorry you still have all the discomfort and weird feelings in your knee. It must be awful. I do hope that your surgeon listens to you and if he doesn't a second opinion may really be required.

Since my hip replacements I have had continuing issues with tendonopathy in the right hip/buttock that I am still waiting to discuss this with the surgeon. All he is concerned with is that my new hips are good therefore soft tissue problems are irrelevant. This discomfort is very annoying and I am aware of it all day as a stingy stabby throbby feeling , which is not sciatica. Maybe I too need to get a second opinion!

To all the new TKR people out there. I truely hope that you get over the horrid pain quickly and start to experience minimal pain or discomfort. I feel that I have been very fortunate that I am where I am now and hope you will all experience the same relief I have.
 

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Look at that beautiful, unswollen knee! I’m doing cartwheels (metaphorically) over how well you’re doing.

You’ve orchestrated your recovery so well, too. The down period is a rough one. It’s the hardest part to get through, I think: the blues, the doubts, the pain and swelling and fog. It’s impossible to understand until you’ve gone through it. No wonder it feels so wonderful to be going back to work! A phased recovery is perfect. If you find you have no problem at all, you can always step it up. But if you need that easing into work, you have it.
 
Wow, Suzette, what an awesome report! I was thinking about you yesterday and wondering how you’re doing. Amazing how different all our recoveries can be and such different time frames.

My knee may not be where yours is, but I don’t have any siatic pain like you do, so each journey is different.

Thanks for thinking of me, too! :console2:
 
Thanks @SusieShoes and @Jockette.

I agree that the down period was hard. I didn't think I would get through it as quickly as I did. I had never felt so low and really couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. So relieved to have got through it. It is, as you say, really difficult to explain how awful it is. Even though I knew it was a normal feeling to be experiencing, it was also a shock when it happened.

I work for the NHS. I am so lucky I do, as the work ethics for staff who have planned procedures etc and who need extra support, really is second to none. I never thought I would be so excited to go back to work, very strange!!

@Jockette your right, it really is a different experience for every one who has TKR or PKR. Same with hips, I had both mine done at the same time. They also turned out to be different in recovery and are still different over 2 yrs later, even though the same surgeon did both, so you never can tell the outcome.

Well I hope everyone has a good weekend. Xx
 
@Suzette wow what an amazing recovery. You have overcome many hurdles and lots of pain and with minimal exercise you have fantastic ROM. Incredible that you managed this with the sciatica issues you deal with. I have the most awful sciatica following my last surgery and the pain is that bad it makes me nauseous. I’m on many meds but the pain is overwhelming. You thread gives me hope that following the BoneSmart mantra, I too may have a positive experience and outcome. Well done!!
 
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Good for you, Suzette! I’m so happy to read your great update! TKR can be a rough few months, but once you’re over the hump it’s worth all the bumps and bruises.
 
I think I recognise that I'm in that 'blues phase' at the moment @Suzette, things not going quite as I expected, but nothing too bad so probably par for the course. Your fantastic story gives so much hope to us all. Well done!
 
Hi everyone. Thank you so much for your replies. Xx

@robhunt3 I read your posts the other day and realised that you may be getting to the down in the dumps period, and your flexion was getting to you as it had gone down instead if improved. I bought a contraption to measure my flexion as I became obsessed with improving it. But it improved all on its own.

My first PT wasnt until 4 weeks post TKR. During this time I just walked around the house with no sticks and occasionally went through heel slides and quads sets.

So my first PT session...she caught me unawares when she asked me to show her my heel slides....she then quickly pushed my knee to bend even more. I was not expecting that at all and was fuming....but said nothing.

For the next 3 or 4 days after my knee was not happy. I had deep pain and swelling. I dreaded my next PT and became really stressed. But off I went to next appointment...gym equipment. I was in pain for nearly week after that. The third PT I cancelled then told her I would not be returning as my flexion was fine thank you very much.

After the swelling had reduced the flexion increased on its own. But I still had the deep deep throb pain. No position I put my leg in was comfy. I used my wedge I got from Amazon and iced and took my pain meds religiously. I was still taking oromorph at 7/8 weeks! The funny thing was that I couldn't see specific swelling on the outside but it felt swollen inside and the throb seemed to come from the ends if my tibia and femur!

So I had flexion if about 120 which was brilliant, but I had tonnes of pain. This put me down there in the depression black period. I wouldn't dress , had to force myself to shower, I wouldn't go out the house, I didnt want to talk to anyone about it especially my family. I would not do anything other than feel really depressed and fed up. I was also very agitated and Moody!!

I did go to the GP about this and also the pain in the end as my mood was affecting everyone. I ended up changing my GP. The new GP listened and I dumped all my feelings . She changed my meds and supported me mentally just by listening. Of course I had bonesmarties too :)

You will come out the other side of this low time. Something will happen when you least expect it..mine was walking downstairs without even thinking about it. That was a wow phew moment!

My thoughts would be to really stop doing any exercising until you get that swelling down. May be a few heel slides just to keep the knee from getting stiff and to give the muscles a bit if a stretch, but stop when that causes the throb pain/ache, also keep pottering around the house. This is what I decided to do. Ooh and stop PT. Of course it may be different for others out there and what they did. But this did it for me.

It wasn't until I got to week 9 that the end of the dark tunnel was in sight. Now at week 11 and I feel better everyday (mentally) my knee does ache on occasions and I get a slight swelling above the knee. This week I have been in the garden and on my feet for hours at a time. I then rest and elevate for a bit after.

@robhunt3 this period of TKR is horrid and if you feel really fed up and depressed, as a lot of us have experienced, remember it will get better and your flexion will improve, but do go to your GP if you need to dump all your feelings, thoughts and worries. It may help.

Sorry to have gone on and on, but I just wanted you to know your not on your own and to keep on being as positive as you can, even when it's hard to do.
X
 
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Thank you so much for your reply and support @Suzette. For me it's just the frustration and worry that it might not improve, but I know that's highly unlikely - so it's just impatience on my part! I should realise that I'm not doing so bad, and I had a bit of a rough start with the cellulitis infection too.

I am going to go to PT tomorrow, but will tell him to do some electronic wizardry and massage to try to reduce the swelling in the joint and the ease the tight band along the scar, which I think are probably the inhibiting factors for my ROM.

The inside of the joint feels rock solid, which can only really be fluid I guess (unless the knee is a bad fit - and I'm not even thinking that, so no idea why I said it - I'm getting paranoid!), whereas swelling around the joint isn't too bad at all. I think if I can reduce that 'internal' swelling down a bit it will help. Seems exactly like yours was in fact...

Suzette said:
the funny thing was that I couldn't see specific swelling on the outside but it felt swollen inside and the throb seemed to come from the ends if my tibia and femur!
Click to expand...

I've also had that throbbing both ends, which must be perfectly normal when you consider how they've chopped our femurs and tibias about!

I'll go easy with exercise, in fact I am, and I'm elevating a lot of the time and icing when I feel the need.

Thanks so much again for your kind words of experience and encouragement, they are such a huge help to me.
 
Hi I will keep an eye on your posts and fingers crossed you get a good massage etc at PT.

My scar also felt tight and restrictive like a band. That seemed to ease about week 8 ish.

Hopefully your knee will start easing up soon and positivity will re enter your life :)

X
 
Suzette, you are getting along really well! You found out what worked for your knee and stuck to it! Good girl!
 
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