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TKR New member, muddling my way through...

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Sleep for me only came with a pillow between my knees ......Good Luck and Best Wishes for a terrace recovery..

Vinny
 
@Cello luv This recovery is soooooo looooonnnnngggggg. :banghead: They say it will probably take up to a year before we feel like our old selves again. Even now, I toss and turn all night, switching positions to get comfortable. I went back to my old threads last night and saw that I layed on my side early in my recovery, but it didn't last long. Does your PT know you put a pillow under your knee?
 
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When you look at the article you'll see it's ok to put the pillow the length of your leg to ease the pressure, but not *just* under the knee.
 
I'm still concerned about how strenuous my PT is. I had a 45 minute outpatient session yesterday and felt okay during it - but afterwards I just wilted with exhaustion and my surgery leg hurt. And that pain continued all night and all through the day today. All I could do today was ice it and rest. I just don't see how this helps me heal. I'd appreciate any input any of you have.
Specifics of my PT session: recumbent bike for 20 min. (not full revolutions yet), leg presses, leg flexion machine, tilt board, stairs, among others.
@kneeper and @bottomshollow - do you have any advice?
 
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I hope to start driving again soon. What's the benchmark for that? I thought that once I dropped Oxy and was just on hydrocodone that I would be able to drive. (My surgery leg is my left.)
 
I was three weeks into it before I drove. It is an automatic as I tried my jeep which is a standard and that didn't work. As for the pain from physio you might be pushing too hard. Are you taking your meds before you go? Helps tolerate the stretching quite a bit, ice and elevate as soon as you get home. As for sleeping most like their body pillows though I couldn't get comfortable with it. I still sleep badly but it is getting slightly better. It really just takes time and things improve.
 
3 weeks before I drove and as great as my recovery was I never had a 45 minute rigorous PT session..what ever pressure was applied came from me and not the therapist ..pillow lengthwise between my knees did wonders..

Vinny
 
Cello luv said:
I hope to start driving again soon. What's the benchmark for that? I thought that once I dropped Oxy and was just on hydrocodone that I would be able to drive. (My surgery leg is my left.)
Click to expand...

I drove at Day 17 and it was tough! My leg was so tired!
 
Sounds like excessive PT to me. The longest my sessions were was 1/2 hour. No leg presses until around 6 weeks and then I made the PT lighten the weight. Also she let me try how many I thought I could do and let me stop when I said that's enough. It might have been as few as 8 repetitions at first. I didn't do a tilt board, but she had me stand on what looks like a ball cut in half to do balance exercises. But I wasn't doing those right away either.

You're right that it can be deceiving. You think it's not too bad, but you feel it after. (And having just had major surgery not that long ago it doesn't take much to take it out of you. Things I could do now with no problem I was sweating doing in PT!)
I'd tell the PT that you feel rotten afterward for a long time and you need to scale back for now.
(Oh and she only had me do 5 minutes on the bike to warm up)
 
Yes - the intensity of my physical therapy feels like it's too much too soon. Not only am I only 3+ weeks post op but pre op I was unable to walk or exercise much for 6 months. I don't have much of a foundation of fitness to build on. I'm planning to change physical therapists next week after I visit and talk to another practice. This forum has been invaluable to me to provide me with information and something to compare my progress to. It makes sense to pay attention to what my body, my energy and my knee are saying to me. Thanks, @kneeper .
 
My surgery was a couple of days after yours, but my follow-up appointment is not until 6 weeks after surgery so I cannot drive until then. It took the first week and a half before I could get more than a a few hours straight sleep, but I did nap during the day after exercises. My leg is strong enough now that I it no longer hurts to move it into various positions at night and that helps. I don't use a pillow under my surgery knee (right), but when I side sleep, I place my leg on a pillow for support and that helps. When I lay on my back, I pull my heel up a couple inches then rotate my knee outward and that takes the pressure off and I can sleep like that.

I have a home PT person that comes 2x/week, but I do the exercise program 2-3 times everyday. The exercises are all straight foward: foot pumps, heel slides, glute bridges, straight leg raises, march in place, abductor leg swings, hamstring curls (standing and laying down), balance exercises standing on the surgery leg, and 30 minutes on the bike. Then, I ice and elevate and usually take a short nap after the morning workout. At first, I was very tired, but my stamina has increased. But, I have gone out for a few longer walks (about a mile) and on shopping excursions with my wife, and I am tired after those outings.

It seems worth discussing your tiredness with the PT. It seems normal that given the stress of surgery and the process of recovery there would be some tiredness, or at least that is what has happened to me and working on stamina has helped me to be less tired over time. But, it is a slow process, sometimes just frustrating slow.

Keep up the good work.
 
With my left knee, I drove at five weeks, but I expect it will be the full six or more before I drive this time. One issue is getting in and out of the car, which takes a lot of maneuvering!

Your PT does sound like too much, the main reason being that your body says so. I hope you'll find a better regime. I have someone coming in 5x a week right now, but only for 1/2 hour. We do a very easy regime standing, sitting, walking, stretching. My ROM is pretty mediocre right now, 9-95, but I'm not worried.

It takes a long time to get your stamina back. Even after three months, I could get tired very easily all of a sudden. By the time I went back for this knee, five months, I was feeling strong and hearty and did a ton of travel and walking over Christmas. Take it easy,
.
Barbara
 
Hi @Cello luv ,
Just stopping in to say hi.
I had a LTKR on Jan 20 and I'm doing pretty well. Have been sleeping well since day 1.
This site has been a great source of support and information.
Best of luck with your recovery!
Karen
 
Cello luv said:
I'm still concerned about how strenuous my PT is. I had a 45 minute outpatient session yesterday and felt okay during it - but afterwards I just wilted with exhaustion and my surgery leg hurt. And that pain continued all night and all through the day today. All I could do today was ice it and rest. I just don't see how this helps me heal. I'd appreciate any input any of you have.
Specifics of my PT session: recumbent bike for 20 min. (not full revolutions yet), leg presses, leg flexion machine, tilt board, stairs, among others.
@kneeper and @bottomshollow - do you have any advice?
Click to expand...
Definitely too much, too soon.
Remember this , from our BoneSmart recovery guidelines:
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
And no, it's not helping you to heal. If anything, it could be slowing down your recovery, as too much exercise irritates and inflames those wounded tissues.

I'd cut back the recumbent bike to 5-10 minutes and stop doing the leg presses, leg flexion machine and tilt board. It's far too early in your recovery to be doing those. Heavens, your leg is wounded, not lazy!
 
It is so helpful to gain perspective from others who have had this surgery and been through this recovery - and not just from professionals who, though they mean well, have not gone through this themselves. It does seem that the main motivation used is fear of not doing enough and missing a window of opportunity. (I think that's considered a myth in this community, isn't it?)
It took me 2 days to recover from my last PT session. So I've decided to change phys therapists, but first I'm going to evaluate a new practice's approach before I dive in.
 
Hi @Cello luv ,
I have also been having aggressive PT. After 4 days in a row, my pain level is running 6-7 today. I called and cancelled today's session and am going to spend the day trying to get the pain back under control.
Next week, I will insist on taking the "slow and steady" route, or I'll find another PT.
I'm only 11 days post-op and this is too much too soon.....
Best wishes,
Karen
 
The best thing you can do, pretty much all the time, is listen to your body. For some reason yesterday, about mid-day, I started yawning and feeling like I could use a nap. I laid down and ended up falling asleep for about 2 hours. Woke up feeling very good.
 
Yes, I found a new PT - I asked lots of questions before I started with her. And I'm very pleased! A much more measured and careful approach and I don't suffer through the exercises and in recovery afterwards. I saw my surgeon today for my 4 week post op and he thought I was doing great and was really satisfied with my ROM (which is not perfect yet). I do still get very tired and can't do very much in a day. I try to do a set of (reasonable) exercises and pedal a short while on my recumbent exercise bike - and that's about all I can do besides read and rest. But I am driving myself to PT 3 times a week right now. I feel so tired tonight that 3 days of PT sounds like too much. But on a PT day, I don't do anything else. I'm not even interested in going out for coffee yet. Does your stamina just come back the farther away from surgery you get? I'm thinking that time on my exercise bike will help. My surgeon told me that walking was the best thing to restore extension to the new knee. I wonder how long the pain meds will be necessary?


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