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TKR No Kneecap and a TKR Experience

I love my walk in shower with bench, it made recovery very easy!
 
@rightsidelimper, I had that tightness for at least 4 months and if I overdo, it's right back, though not as bad. I found icing helps, of course. As does riding my recumbent bike. Stiffness was the last thing to leave for me. I complained about it for quite a while. Give yourself time. Your knee is an infant and will have to be treated as such for a long time. But, after going through that time you look back and it actually doesn't seem so long after all! To me the worst thing about this journey is you have to have patience. That is not an easy thing to develop. We expect to see daily improvement. But, it doesn't happen that way. It's takes a least a week to see improvement and that might be just a tiny bit. Those tiny bits add up and before you know it you're taking a big step in the right direction! Just don't try and push yourself. You are stiff because you are swollen. I still swell. The right knee is still at least an inch bigger than the left, and that's when it's not swollen bad! It's truly a year long journey. But, it's one that will have many more ups than downs! You will get there!
 
Ice will be your best friend for many months!
 
sistersinhim said:
Ice will be your best friend for many months!
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or maybe not.. I have forgotten all about ice.. I know , that is not the right thing to do.. but it happens when you forget about your knee. Now I only think about it from getting up from a low bench with no arms. I have not tried off the ground but for sure when I do will think about it..
 
@little red canoe, it's amazing you can forget about your knee already. You are doing so wonderfully! I'm six months now and still ice three or four times a week! At least I have put up the ice machine and am just using the gel packs. I was so tired of my den looking like a sick room!
 
I do think about it outside.. All is ice and snow.. It does not hurt but I berate myself for going outside again without crampons and trying to negotiate slippery surfaces and the possibility of having to get up off ice.. With no assistance.

My surgeon would be aghast at my ice shuffle.
 
Yes, he would and you should be, too! I have a hard enough time walking on dry surfaces, much less on anything slippery! It's wonderful that this early you are painfree! What a blessing. Please be careful up there in that ice and snow!
 
There is hope.. With my crampons I am actually hiking and maybe back to nordic skiing in a month..
Planning ahead is key.. I just go out in street shoes and that is when I have to think that at minimum I should be wearing my hiking shoes with aggressive tread..

No way will I stay inside until May. Snow some 200-300 inches of it a winter is a fact of life, Snowshoeing is our daily exercise.. Snow wont leave till May so I have to get along with it.
But back to kneecap.. off to practice kneeling on it. I do have one.. for which I am grateful.
 
I ordered some chain spikes for my shoes from Amazon that should get here by the first of the year. We don't get a lot of snow, but when we do I have to clear off the steps and walkway, so those chains should help keep me standing up! I'm too old to be falling. It takes forever to get over it!!
I can't imagine having snow for so long. I dislike summer here quite a bit, but I'd miss seeing the grass for as long as you do.
I don't have the courage to try and kneel on my knee yet! Without kneecaps on either knee, kneeling has been out for years.
 
Re kneecap.. when you kneel the pressure is on your tibia.. not the kneecap. Because the lower prosthesis can be pushed against in this motion I see why surgeons may not like you to do this early on.. and mine advised padded surfaces only!
It wasn't comfortable. It hurt.. I will wait and try again.. The scar tissue is still kind of fresh I guess. It was far better kneeling on the sofa than a dining room chair but still not something to quite look forward to.
 
I'm going to hold off on trying to kneel. I've done without it for over 20 years, so a while longer won't matter!
 
I can't stand the heat. That's one place I won't retire to! Of course, I don't like it freezing cold either. I just want it just right!!
 
rightsidelimper said:
Well I am in Florida we never see snow:ice:
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But you do have slidy slimy boat ramps that I will have to deal with in two months.. I would feel so much out of place wearing crampons there.. The tide leaves copious algae and using canoes we have to walk on it..

I find it hard to believe FL never gets snow especially as I have been snowed on in Jax , Cedar Key and flakes flew inTampa... Granted it doesn't stick...
 
@little red canoe it have snowed here in florida but not like it do up north. one time in the 90's it lasted about a day. The lakes are better and the rivers for boating. My leg is tight to but its getting better. It have too yard work start in about 3 months:bricks:
 
I finally fired up my outside wood-burning stove. With this arctic blast coming down, I needed more wood, so I fired up my chainsaw and cut up some for about 3 hours Monday. Well, I've been paying for it since! Actually, my knee hurts, but not as bad as my left back and hip and shoulder. I must have subconsciously been babying my right side because of my knee and caused my left side to go crazy! With this time of the year, I've not be able to stop and ice like I should so preteen knee is swollen and stiff. We had our Senior Citizens' Christmas party at church today and I worked almost 4 hours on a cement floor. Not good on any lower part of the body. I pray tomorrow will be more of a rest day. Oh shoot, I have to get groceries. Oh, well Saturday is forecasted to have ice pellets in the morning. I can rest then!
 
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I'm glad you were able to get your wood burning stove up and running. Wind chill factions will be in the negatives by morning here and I fortunately have my gas fireplace running in my family room. My dogs and I will snuggle up here for a rest of the day and night.
 
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Cement floors are killers! I visited my school about a month ago and the next day my entire body hurt from the cement floors. Tile on top of cement doesn't help at all.
 
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