Bilateral TKR New member - Bilateral TKR February 2021

[Ghostpipe]

Merlin, this doesn’t sound like a post from you. Go see a doctor.

 

[MerlinWizard]

Merlin, this doesn’t sound like a post from you. Go see a doctor.

I will see how the rest of the week goes. I have some time off coming up here and maybe all I need is some R&R.

I don't feel sick, my BP is what it usually is. Probably stress related.

 

[Ginger1210]

Hi Merlin i feel your pain i do think stress can increase your pain levels. I am 4 months post op and my knee is really angry today back on my painkillers and sat here icing and elevating my physio nurse is concerned at my continuing pain and swelling. This is certainly a tough and bumpy ride. I hope you begin to feel better soon.

 

[Ghostpipe]

Let’s hope that the R and R does the trick, you know yourself that you have pushed the boundaries quite often. That swelling must be awful.

 

[MerlinWizard]

Em, posted this in the wrong place yesterday :

I don't know how much R&R I really got.

We took a mini vacation and part of that was shopping and walking around stores like IKEA. We also did the main State Fair in our State which is massive.

I didn't really have any "problem" with the walking for hours at a time despite the heat and what not.

I have come to realize that what may be happening is as I get stronger/healthier, my legs are doing more twisting, turning, etc. Early on, twisting one of the knees was very painful. As I sit here and type this, I realize that I am trying to wrap my feet around the feet on my swivel office chair. I used to be able to do that although I can't remember when the last time I was able to. It could have been years.

I am using that as a benchmark of how far I am coming along. Also, and my wife has said as much, I have been avoiding the pool simply because while it's fine when I get into it, I find myself really pushing the exercises because they are much easier in the pool. This causes a lot of pain when I finally get out. Not excruciating but it isn't comfortable.

We spoke at length about this journey and I am going to go back to stretching and doing the PT exercises in the mornings.

I still would have had the surgery, I would do it again and twice on Sunday. I can do a lot of things just fine but as my body strengthens back up, the muscles and bones remodel to handle the new weight shift I have to change my mindset somewhat which is difficult.

We don't tell people I've had my knees replaced really. The rare times we do, people are shocked that I am upright even nearly 6 months post surgery.

It's a life changing journey and overall it's a net 1000% positive, I really wish I could get on my knees more often and it was comfortable because I am on them normally very often. That part is frustrating. My ROM is pretty good, not perfect, I am happy with my flexion but when I kneel, it's 90 degrees and that's it. I used to at least be able to sit on one leg at a time and I fear I will never be able to do that again.

 

[MerlinWizard]

The only addition I have to this is that I just ordered 6 more pairs of compression socks. They really seem to help as I feel like I am always swollen.

I can feel it when I try to bend too far, the knee wants to go but it can't.

In the end I am 100% sure this will work itself out but like anything else, I am not as patient as I would like to think I am. I've read it can take up to two years to fully recover. While I am "ok" with that because the pain is virtually nothing in comparison to what I used to go through, it still wears on you.

 

[MerlinWizard]

New compression socks are in!

Have to take my wife to the prosthetist and I threw on the lime green ones - WITH SHORTS!!!!

Next, SANDALS!!!!!

 

[MerlinWizard]

Later today my wife is going to go in and have her knee looked at on her only full leg. She has it in her head she needs it replaced but to be completely honest, she doesn't really know. She's had two ACL's done on that knee over the years and she may be right.

She is concerned on how well she will ambulate having her prosthetic side be the "good leg". Our home was built around her disability and she has nothing to worry about in that regard.

That being said, she will be using a different surgeon than I did but from the same organization. He was the one who performed her amputation and they have a good relationship.

She is trying to cross a bridge before she sees it of course, but that just how her mind works.

During that conversation, she told me what my surgeon told her after my surgery. And what she said doesn't quite mesh up with what she told me at the time. She specifically remembers him telling her that my knees were really bad and he didn't know why I put off the surgery for so long. He said I must have been in a lot of pain for a very long time. He wasn't wrong. But her explanation to him was right, my wife had a lot of ankle surgeries, she went septic twice, almost a third time and for the 4-5 years leading up to her amputation she did require a lot of care because of all of that.

I think perhaps I got the short and condensed version of her communication with my surgeon. I knew I wasn't nuts all of those years but like any spouse, you do what you have to even through pain to make sure the other gets healthy.

 

[MerlinWizard]

Not a lot to say this past week.

My wife had her appointment. Her arthritis is pretty bad but she isn't in that situation just yet for replacement. She will need one at some point. The Surgeon gave her a cortisone shot and she is doing really well with it.

She spent the rest of the week in awe of how I was able to handle the pain all of those years. I swear she mentions it every day. Although I was in pain, I always figured it was nothing compared to what she was going through so I just put up and shut up and took care of her.

I guess life has a way of balancing things out. She now knows the pain I was in and how long I put up with it while she was going through the many years of her trauma and disability. I wouldn't have changed anything and I told her that. In life you just do what you have to in order to make it work.

I wish I had gotten this surgery a long time ago but I am grateful of how much it has changed my life for the better so far.

Still working on kneeling and the poll is still my best bet to get there but I am so sore afterwards that I have to pick and choose when I go in so I usually end up procrastinating it.

 

[DJL1967]

@ MerlinWizard I just read all your posts and thank you for such a detailed write up of what you have went through to this point. I am scheduled for BTKR on Sept 22 and on top of the replacements they will remove a fixation rod in my right femur due to a nasty fracture I sustained 7 years ago. I know the pain you went through prior to your bilateral's as the past 3 years for me has been anything but pleasant. Lack of sleep, stiffness, constant pain while walking, going up/down stairs or standing longer than 10 minutes has taken its toll on me. I can only hope that I get some relief from the pain and I can get back some normalcy in my life again.

I have a couple questions if you don't mind me asking. You are just past 6 months post op now, where do you think you are in your recovery? 50%, 70%?? What was the the thing that surprised you the most about the surgery or recovery that you didn't expect.

 

[MerlinWizard]

I have a couple questions if you don't mind me asking. You are just past 6 months post op now, where do you think you are in your recovery? 50%, 70%?? What was the the thing that surprised you the most about the surgery or recovery that you didn't expect.

At 6 months...hmmmm ...

I am 1000% better than I was before surgery:

1) I can walk non-stop without any real pain.

2) I can stand for at least 4 hours or more without pain.

3) Stairs can be a challenge depending on if I was just sitting down but if I am honest, it's just muscle stuff because we don't all routinely go up and down stairs all day. There is zero join pain. During the work week, I probably do 6-10 sets of stairs a day because my office is in an unfinished basement and there is no bathroom down here let alone a fridge .

4) My hips don't ache and neither does my back. Not one bit through this all unless I overdid something.

5) My legs are straight so I gained 1/2" and my gait is perfect. It's easier to walk upright.

6) There isn't anything that I am limited to doing. Not like it stopped me right out of surgery but I am just a bonehead anyway.

The bad stuff:

1) Kneeling is still a challenge. I find it hard to kneel without knee pads and even then, the range of how far back I can put by butt just isn't there. It's about 95 degrees when kneeling. I can kneel in the pool all day long and get better range but life isn't living in a pool!

2) Twisting my knees is usually okay but once you pass the point it is okay, the muscles let you know for several days.

3) Any time I sit for more than 20 minutes I am sore when I get up and it takes a few steps to work it out.

4) I know I am not as strong as I once was but I am stronger than I was right before surgery.

5) It takes a long time for your muscles and bones to remodel to your new weight distribution and I suspect the bigger you are (like me), the longer that takes. I also think this pushes off some of the strength until that process is complete.

As far as the biggest surprise? The mental aspect. To a certain degree we all think we are going to live forever so we abuse our body. When it catches up to you and you realize you aren't as young as you used to be, that's a bit of a hit. For some of us, we came to that realization years ago and then all this surgery does is remind us of that. We don't bounce back like we used to and things are harder to achieve physically than they once were.

Not a single person prepared me for this journey or let me know what to expect. I did a lot of reading here but not everyone discusses this part of the process for any length. It's a lot of highs and lows. One day you feel great, the next 5 you beat yourself up because you aren't where you were 5 days ago. It's a slow, long process and keeping mentally in the game is difficult. I don't know if I could have done it without my cheerleader wife. She really helped on those bad days. Also, there is this forum and people who have been through it. So at least you can placate yourself that you are not insane.

I said 4 weeks out of surgery that if that was the best I would ever be, I would do it again - that's what a life changing experience it was. I feel a lot younger and my outlook is really good. So while in the beginning for a BKTR is very difficult, it's a small price to pay to only have to go through it a single time.

I hope that helps!

 

[DJL1967]

Wow, thank you so much for the great response. I work as a Paramedic and one thing that I am concerned about is the ability to kneel which I do on a daily basis in my job. It is good to hear that you are now pain free and that you would do it all over again. I have no idea what it feels like to be pain free but I'm excited for that day.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions, much appreciated.

 

[MerlinWizard]

Wow, thank you so much for the great response. I work as a Paramedic and one thing that I am concerned about is the ability to kneel which I do on a daily basis in my job. It is good to hear that you are now pain free and that you would do it all over again. I have no idea what it feels like to be pain free but I'm excited for that day.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions, much appreciated.

You are very welcome.

My wife reminded me last night that I need to hit the bike and work on my ROM. I have been slacking with everything else going on in life and summer. In the summer I let the yard work, etc be my exercise but the reality is I need to do more than I did before if I expect to recover to 100%.

To me it's really about how I feel. While I will have some limitations I suspect in the end, they won't be any I care about. I haven't been able to run in years because of my knees, but even now - even at my size, I can do a light jog. So I guess nothing is out of the question!

One other thing I forgot to mention: The feeling in your knees isn't the same. I dinged my knee on the trailer hitch on my truck the other day and I barely felt it. A year ago, I would have been nearly in tears. Not quite sure how all of that works but I think it may be easier to injure at least the soft tissue for some of us because the nerves are either severed and not coming back or they haven't come back completely yet.

 

[MerlinWizard]

I do have kind of an "update":

Remember all of that hair back in July? There's MORE of it now! It's even growing on the back of my legs on my calves!

I don't know about the rest of you but when something sticks around for 6 months, I don't call that "temporary"!. I guess the saving grace is that it's my natural color and not grey.

I've always had baby thin hair so it's always been soft, what's left anyway. I've given up even thinking about shaving it. I am curious to see where it will go next.

Also, the callouses I had on both of my knees from doing a bunch of work on my knees are gone. My wife thinks my legs are baby smooth except for the hair of course!

Other than that, I did some ROM measurement type stuff. The left one seems to be really good (can be better) but the right one is lagging still. I think this has to do with how my life goes. I am always the driver so I am pushing off of my left leg to get into the car and planting my left leg getting out. I sleep on the right side of the bed so I kneel on my left leg to get up. I've noticed I am more dominant with my left leg which is odd because I am right handed. Then again I used to play hockey left handed, I batted in baseball with either hand, if you can call what I do "golfing" - I do that right handed as well.

I guess my brain doesn't know what handed I am! It's not ambidextrous, kind of a hybrid of that. When I think about it, I used to play kickball with either leg and teaching my kids soccer I taught them to use their left leg and their left hand in basketball.

Maybe there is more wrong with me than just my knees!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Gingerbread]

I just read many of your posts.
It's great to see how far you have come.
Being candid and specific is so very helpful to those of us much earlier in recovery.
You've also offered me great advice on my thread ;)
Hope you're doing well!
This labor day weekend, are you finally installing that basement bathroom lol?

 

[MerlinWizard]

The basement isn't anywhere near getting a bathroom yet. I have most of it framed up but it needs a little bit more. Usually I work on this stuff in the late Fall and Winter since I won't have to worry about the yard, gardens, etc.

My struggles are with kneeling and ROM. If I kneel too much, I spend a week getting back to baseline. I am guessing in time I will be just fine but I am not quite there yet. Frustrating to not be able to kneel for very long even with knee pads.

I pick and choose my battles and for now, kneeling isn't really a requirement but it will be if I am going to tackle putting in a bathroom!

 

[MerlinWizard]

My wife has been on me to get into the pool and to really work at my ROM.

I keep telling myself that's the best thing for me but I really don't want to suffer the consequences of it. So I don't end up ever doing it. The pool season only has about a month left if that for us so I am going to make it my mission to get in every night I can until it closes.

I was in last night and I was predictably stiff and sore the rest of the night even this morning. But I guess if I want to be on my knees over the winter I don't have a lot of choice!