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TKR New Year, New Knee - Jan. 3, 2017<

Oh yes, I had those zingers and deep inside itches. I still get tiny zingers and the upper tibia bone will have pains. My outer knee is still some numb and will itch. Funny and aggravating. According to my OS, all this is normal healing. It takes at least a year. Sometimes longer. You are doing fantastic for only 2 months. I'd say you're ahead of schedule.
 
I had such a huge numb area I don't remember any itching at all, but the zingers went on into month 4-5 for me. How great to be back in your own bed! Yay!
 
Paula @sistersinhim how great to hear that you think I'm even ahead of schedule. I think I have entered the time period of... come on already...can I not at least be out longer than 30 min and be comfortable? lol. I'm usually miserable, stiff and uncomfortable
My big event of the week will be attending my step daughters bridal shower on Sunday. My sister is helping prepare the fruit and veggie trays I was assigned. I am bringing my ice pack as well and I heard from the mom that there is a recliner on the couch in her mom's basement!!! Yea!!!

@KarriB yes, it is absolutely wonderful to be in my own bed except last night I woke up to a severe wind and hail storm, the end of a tornado warning I knew nothing about! I ripped off that ice Wrap as fast as possible and then stood at the top of the stairs wondering how fast I could go down them if I heard a freight train coming. Luckily all was good and the storm passed. Only took me about 45 minutes to fall back asleep.

- Here is the big thing I remember from last night standing at the top of the stairs with my cane: my bionic knee did not hurt, my old arthritic knee was hurting. Yippee!!!

What are your thoughts on getting around 4,000 steps in a day at 9'weeks? I've been everywhere between 3,200-4,700 each day with normal (during recovery) tasks. When I'm not up, I'm laying down, elevated and typically icing.
 
I also feel the "come on already" feeling!!! I am slowly making progress I can feel. Nights are getting better, but still have to change positions numerous times during the night. Sometimes it feels like every 5 minutes. I am starting to go up the stairs the "normal way". Not ready to go down the "normal way" yet. Just don't feel balanced enough. Sounds like the shower will have some accommodations for the baby knee!!!!

For the mental health, I am trying to surrender to the recovery, just thinking, everyday is one day closer to being "normal". Some days that works and some days it doesn't. I have actually caught myself not thinking of my knee for a whole minute or two while standing or walking. I know I know, a whole few minutes!!! It's a start.

You are doing great!!!! Your steps are great!!!
 
If your knee isn't bothering you with the steps it's not a problem. Every knee is different, every recovery is different. So if you aren't experiencing swelling or pain through the day or night then the knee is happy and that's what is important.

I don't have a Fitbit and I don't carry my phone everywhere in the house, so I've no idea how many steps I get in. I think 6,000-8,000 is average, but I'm sure someone knows for sure.

As far as wanting to be done, I remember enjoying dusting, vacuuming, changing sheets because I could! Choose joy in what you can do that you haven't been able to. :yes:
 
When the barometric pressure changes really quickly, both knees still hurt. The new one is not as bad as it used to be, but it still responds to quick weather changes. @jaschembra, you are really blessed that you no longer have this problem! I told you, you were ahead of the game!
 
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Hey Julie, we had the same storm here last night. I stayed on the ground level because the wind was so wild! My room is right under a huge maple tree I had visions of it crashing down. I too think your doing super great for 9 weeks out. In all likelihood the next 4 weeks are going to be full of positive improvements and better stamina and endurance. I can't wait to hear the day your inner thighs are screaming from your first ride! Did you choose a dress? Send a pic!
 
haha @Red's Mom I too will love the day my inner thighs are screaming because I've ridden!! I think I mentioned, my OS has now said anytime after 3 months. I won't be in any rush though. I'm a very careful, conservative healer. :) The night of the tornado that hit Perryville, MO - I laid in the hospital bed on our ground floor with the blanket over my head with visions of the glass breaking and shredding the blanket! The joys of living in the midwest.
@KarriB I received an Apple watch for my b-day/Christmas this past year and love it!! It's waterproof as well so I can wear it in the pool. I feel like "Get Smart" when I answer a call on it, lol. I doubt you're old enough to remember or know that show. :)

Yesterday, I visited with a couple cousins and a great aunt who is ready to exit this world. I had to drive an hour both ways and took Nancy's (Red's mom) advise and propped my foot on her bed. I then stopped at my mom's empty house to ice/elevate and eat the lunch I had packed to await a haircut. Wow - I was gone from home 5 hours and was in good shape when I returned. I wasn't on my feet a lot and I had no additional swelling than normal. I'm noticing the HOT heat is not coming on as often or as strong. It's just the warm knee.
 
I'm older than you Jaschembra, I do remember Get Smart! My niece has an Apple Watch and loves it. I'm a little tempted, but I have a lot of watches as I tend to think of them as accessories and collect them for that purpose. Ashley (my niece) has gotten that from me a bit, she has 5-6 different bands she can change to match her outfits. As a PE/health teacher she uses it a lot for class. IMO the Apple watches are better looking than the fitbits and for me that's what counts. :wink:
 
Yeah Julie. That's great news a five hour day at 9 weeks! I hope today is good too. If I had an Apple Watch I think I would have to wear one of those binocular glasses like the dentists do! I'm glad your healing well and about to get back to your life!


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
 
I am addicted to my Fitbit Zip. It does nothing but count my steps and calories burned. My GearFit from Samsung does almost everything the Apple watch does but answer the phone. How cool that must be! Star Trekkie here!
 
@KarriB haha! You are older than I. Guess I'd forgotten that. Yes, once I discovered how inexpensive the bands were on Amazon, I now have 4 different colors/styles. :)
 
So... All I can figure is - I joined the ODIC and the after effects can last several days.

Wed. of last week I was gone from home about 5 hours (not walking or standing, but not laying down elevating either). Then Thur., I had PT and the knee was sore before it began. That afternoon I felt I needed to take care of some gates at our house and ended up getting on/off (very very carefully, using upper body) a 4wheeler 9 times, in rain. My hubby has since said, what's more important??? My knee. As of Thur. I've had a new area of inflammation and soreness, causing me to use the cane during the day a whole lot more than normal. All weekend I have felt like I lost a week of recovery. From computer searching, looks like it's part of the quads: Vastus Lateralis. I asked PT about it today and he said it's just above where the IT band attaches.
So on with my ODIC: Sat. I did nothing to be really good and rest my knee, but that evening I sat in the kitchen for a couple of hours cutting fruits and veggies and of course the knee just swelled. Sun. morning more prep and Sun. afternoon my step-daughters bridal shower. I did elevate there for half the time. All I can say is that I'm back to normal life now and focused on my recovery with limited activity!

Thur. is my last official, schedule outpatient PT. I asked him today what his thoughts were and his suggestion was to continue what I'm doing at home and if I felt I was slipping backwards, call the dr. and get more PT ordered. I know my OS would have no issues adding more, but I also know that I can take it from here and continue on this long road to recovery. It's just a little scary since I've had an outside party there to measure my knee and see how I'm doing. :) Guess I'll just know, based on how I'm walking and doing with normal everyday life. (my recumbent stationary bike has been a good measurement for my flex anyway since I've moved up the seat a few times)

Just feeling a bit guilty for overdoing it and feeling a bit depressed because I've had what seems like a big set back. And I've just been a bit weepy lately. Ugh. I knew I could come here and post and you BoneSmarties will make me feel better (even if you do shake your finger at me!) :no-fin:

On the plus side - It was a great shower and I have lots of fruits and veggies to munch on all week. :)
 
Don't think you lost a week, after some time of taking care of that knee all will be well again. Finding a balance is very difficult, especially as time goes on, you always need to re-evaluate and listen to your knee.
 
Don't beat yourself up about joining the ODIC! We've all done it. It does take trial and error to find the balance between "too much" and "just right".

Give you knee a holiday with little activity for a few days, and lots of rest, ice and elevation. You'll soon be back on track.

Remember, too that this recovery takes a full year, so having a pause for a week or two really doesn't matter in the long term.
 
This recovery just keeps on making life interesting. I have had to really shut down. Tuesday morning I did my own PT here at home and I had felt so good that morning that I decided to try and cut my a.m. Tramadol in 1/2 (25 mg vs 50 mg). After my PT pain came on and I took the other 1/2 at noon, followed by a whole pill at 1 and a Norco by 5pm. I completely went back to being dependent on my cane. The pain felt 100% like bone pain, pulsing - on the lower/front inside of the knee - top of tibia??? It caused me to lose confidence in my knee as well. Crazy mind games.... is something wrong, what could I have done to hurt it, has something moved inside, is it still from last Thur. getting on/off the 4wheeler? Mind games... As careful as I've been there is no way the lower implant could move with all the screws in there.
@Josephine with my implant being cementless, could I experience more than normal bone healing pain? I'm at 10 weeks.

One PT exercise that has really bothered this area, and I have stopped doing it is - balancing on one leg (at PT I stood on a rubber pad). I hope that hasn't caused any damage. I liked how strong it made my leg which is why I even did it. Guess I should have stayed on course: If it hurts or causes more swelling stop doing it. I have now!

Thankfully I slept really good that night and woke up feeling better. I'm slowly getting off the cane again. Wednesday I didn't have that bone pain at all and I stayed on my 1 Tramadol in the a.m. and 1 in the p.m.. supplementing it with the Tylenol every 7-9 hours.

I look forward to the day the tightness begins to go away.
 
I am so sorry you have had a set-back, but I bet it has come from overdoing. Just getting off and on the 4wheeler is a stress on your new knee. I also had a lot of pain on the top of the tibia. I don't know if I have cement or not. But, even now, after walking a lot or doing many things in one day, my whole tibia will ache, especially at the top of it. For a cat to step on it is really painful at those times. After a day or two of slowing down the bone will feel much better. I called my OS last week and asked about it and he said it was completely normal. And again he reminded me that it takes a year or more for complete healing. Try and be patient. Your knee is still a baby and needs TLC.
 
Yep, you're 2.5 months post op, balancing on one leg is going to cause pain. Back away from that and anything else you think may be the culprit. I'd wait a bit before trying the one leg balance again. My PTs had me using a balance board at 3 months, but it was with both legs. I was really bad at balance.
 
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