efoltyn
new member
Hi Folks,
I'm new on the site...I found it before my surgery in February, but lost it.
I had bilateral TKR on Feb 20 after having knee pain for the last 15+ years (I'm 54 so I tried to put it off as ling as possible). The surgeon made a half-hearted effort of talking me out of doing both knees, but when I told her that I realized the risks but wanted only a single stay and recovery we went forward with doing both (I think I was afraid that the pain would make me not want to go through with a second surgery). I went to the gym at least twice a week prior to surgery for a couple of months to maintain as much flexibility and muscle tone as I could...pre-surgery flex was 105° in the left knee and 110° in the right.
I was released from the hospital, using a walker three days after surgery. I did my exercises three times a day at home, taking oxycodone about an hour before I worked out. When I started outpatient PT the following week, I was able to ride the bike by the third visit. Then I started going to the gym another 2 days per week. I was lucky and was able to get almost 120° in both knees for flex and 2-5° in extension within the first three weeks or so.
At my 6 week visit, I was consistently getting 120 and 0 in both knees and I was off of the narcotic pain killers (after about 5 weeks) so the OS allowed me to start driving. I was able to go back to work part time then (too tired to work a full day...I needed my mid-afternoon nap).
I went for my 12 week evaluation with x-rays last week and have been cleared to do pretty much anything, including biking (I may have to change my pedals), hiking (should use hiking sticks/staffs), golf, and fly fishing. I also worked my first "full week" last week and figure that I'm back. I just have to take it easy (I'm an engineer and generally get out in the field ~25% of the time).
When I saw my surgeon last week, she asked if I was glad that I did both knees. I told her that in my case it worked well (relatively young, not too overweight, and generally in good health) and that I was very pleased with the result. She did indicate that because I am active that I will probably need revision at least once...I hope that I can keep it to just replacing the HDPE bearing and not have to change the prosthesis itself. I'm also looking forward to continuing PT on my own and see if I can pick up a few more degrees in ROM...the OS said that I may be able to get to 130° or so. We'll see.
Sorry for the bit of a ramble. I just wanted to thank those of you that I read before surgery and see if I can help anyone based on my experiences.
Take care,
Ed
I'm new on the site...I found it before my surgery in February, but lost it.
I had bilateral TKR on Feb 20 after having knee pain for the last 15+ years (I'm 54 so I tried to put it off as ling as possible). The surgeon made a half-hearted effort of talking me out of doing both knees, but when I told her that I realized the risks but wanted only a single stay and recovery we went forward with doing both (I think I was afraid that the pain would make me not want to go through with a second surgery). I went to the gym at least twice a week prior to surgery for a couple of months to maintain as much flexibility and muscle tone as I could...pre-surgery flex was 105° in the left knee and 110° in the right.
I was released from the hospital, using a walker three days after surgery. I did my exercises three times a day at home, taking oxycodone about an hour before I worked out. When I started outpatient PT the following week, I was able to ride the bike by the third visit. Then I started going to the gym another 2 days per week. I was lucky and was able to get almost 120° in both knees for flex and 2-5° in extension within the first three weeks or so.
At my 6 week visit, I was consistently getting 120 and 0 in both knees and I was off of the narcotic pain killers (after about 5 weeks) so the OS allowed me to start driving. I was able to go back to work part time then (too tired to work a full day...I needed my mid-afternoon nap).
I went for my 12 week evaluation with x-rays last week and have been cleared to do pretty much anything, including biking (I may have to change my pedals), hiking (should use hiking sticks/staffs), golf, and fly fishing. I also worked my first "full week" last week and figure that I'm back. I just have to take it easy (I'm an engineer and generally get out in the field ~25% of the time).
When I saw my surgeon last week, she asked if I was glad that I did both knees. I told her that in my case it worked well (relatively young, not too overweight, and generally in good health) and that I was very pleased with the result. She did indicate that because I am active that I will probably need revision at least once...I hope that I can keep it to just replacing the HDPE bearing and not have to change the prosthesis itself. I'm also looking forward to continuing PT on my own and see if I can pick up a few more degrees in ROM...the OS said that I may be able to get to 130° or so. We'll see.
Sorry for the bit of a ramble. I just wanted to thank those of you that I read before surgery and see if I can help anyone based on my experiences.
Take care,
Ed
United States
![[Bonesmart.org] New to site, 13 weeks post-op for BTKR](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='240' height='240' viewBox%3D'0 0 240 240'%2F%3E "[Bonesmart.org] New to site, 13 weeks post-op for BTKR")
