Become an Insider

Bilateral TKR Nothing is Going to Stop Me Now!

Status
Not open for further replies.
@PuppyLove I can't begin to tell you how much I admire Hospice nurses - they were so amazing with my father and made a difficult time bearable - while giving me some much needed support and love. They made such a difference to my whole family. I'm sure you will be just as special to many families. Congrats on the new job.
Sorry you are achey - hope the RLS is just temporary.

@Threads My hips are still so tight - my trainer just taught me a few new stretches. The one thing I didn't realize while preparing for this surgery was how it would affect so many other areas - not just my knees. I've had several friends have tkr's since I have, and I always warn them now and give them the advice about stretching and being aware of these other body parts. I've committed to going to the pool this weekend. My massage is at noon and I have a few things to do after, so will probably go tomorrow morning. But I WILL go!! (I hope, LOL)
 
Morning Sandra,
Hope things are fine with you. Signs of spring here every day now! yippee!
I did a 4 and a half mile walk with my walking group this week and the knee was magnificent. So next time I'll try a bit longer. We went up into the Dales and had a great day out with lunch after the walk.
I got my new small camera this week - Sony A 6000 . It's so light that I'll enjoy talking it out on walks when I'm on my own. Still not explored all the bells and whistles yet and the online handbook is about 200 pages.
You sound really busy with the weaving and childcare. Hope you have a lovely week.
Lots of good wishes
Mary x
 
Hi Mary, @SuperSnapper! It has been busy what with normal life and now two 11 year olds to keep busy! We took them out to the Canopy Walk at the university botanical gardens. I so wanted to go up with them but my friends had made me promise not to. A narrow cabled and wiggling bridge takes you from tree to tree and they wisely told me that it wouldn't be the best thing for my knees at this point. I will do it, just not now.

It's wonderful that you can walk 4 and a half miles. My knees aren't ready for that yet but they did take me on a good walk on Friday night to get to joint gallery openings at neighboring galleries, of our son and his photos and our DIL and her wonderful collages created out of maps. Today we walked around the botanical garden but I'm going to have trouble telling whose photos are whose. The twins kept wanting to use Nana's camera and often were shooting photos in the same area!

We bought Cannon G12s a few years ago and I love the convenience of being able to put a camera in my purse. I took it along on Friday night when we were walking through some "interesting" areas of town. I want to go back and explore that area again in the daylight, with my bigger camera and lenses. There are some interesting side streets of the original decaying Chinatown that caught my eye. When Hong Kong was taken over by China we had a huge influx of people from Hong Kong and they settled in another area of the city and a huge Chinese centre developed there. So, the old Chinatown which had been vibrant to that point, started to fade.

Enjoy your week!
 
I read your water exercises with interest in the hydrotherapy classes which are half hour we walk up and down pool with long strides then backwards hands up high then we jog on spot on tip toes bringing knees up high all to warm up we then do on spot legs and arms out at side and also on spot left leg and right arm forward then reverse like scissor movement then mix of two fairly fast
After that we use floats two
one hand on them and raising knee up then the other hand and knee all slow and controlled and with a side ways motion
Then we press floats down into the water bring close to stomach and up slowly
We use the long bendy things in loop held by foot and slowly bring knee up and down then out to side in scissor movement and back that is hardest with knee but great exercise the bendy thing has mind of its own
Then we walk in circles forward back sideways running
Stretches holding bar with one knee slightly bent forward and one stretched out behind fet flat so feel stretch you literally have to stick butt out as much as can to get that stretch then bring back leg in slightly and bend up behind you holding ankle to bring it up I still cannot hold my operated knee one so I get some help

I just posted these so you can see what they do in classes in case any you felt might add to yours I apologise if not described really well



20/01/2015
 
Threads - I thought of you this weekend with your grandchildren, and wondered if you tried that canopy walk. Probably a good idea that you waited a bit. It sounds like they are having a good time with their grandma!!
 
Thank you, @Homeport. It sounds like you might be doing your exercises in deeper water than I am. I'm doing them in waist deep water. However, some of yours might be useful for me to do. Your explanations are good, thank you for taking the time to write them down. Eventually I will go back into my Aquafit class when I feel my knees can take the workout ;-)
 
@ljrfrm - I've been thinking of you and wondering how things were going. I hope you got your massage this weekend!

I love having the twins around, they are at a fun, interesting and interested age being 11. But they don't go to bed as early as they used to! I woke them up at 7:00 this morning and we were on the go until they crashed at 10:00 tonight. They came to the pool with us this morning and this afternoon we spent 5 hours in Science World and didn't get to all the exhibits. They are like sponges still and are curious and willing to try anything. They are calling our time together their Staycation.

The canopy walk looked so tempting, it was a beautiful day with a lot of shrubs either in bloom or coming along - rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias. I enjoyed them from the ground - maybe I can see the fall colours from the canopy ;-) Of course we don't have much in the way of fall colours in an almost evergreen rain forest.

Tomorrow we're dyeing t-shirts in an onion skin dye pot. Jude has been curious about that for a long time as he's watched me stash away the skins when we're cooking. We plan to head to another botanical garden tomorrow- it has a maze they haven't been in for a while.

It's a busy time with lots of walking. My knees are behaving nicely but my back has been letting me know it's there. Maybe there are exercises to strengthen my back.

Hope your week is going well and the snow is starting to disappear. I've noticed the temperatures in NYC around the same as here, so the weather won't be a shock for our son and DIL.
 
Hi yes the hydro pool is purpose built slopes up from waist to top of chest for me it's not large but the groups are small just two of us this week with our physio I actually thought about going to a local pool in a hotel it is likely to be warmer and not as busy as public pool to get extra water time it feels so nice in water



20/01/2015
 
@Threads We had a big snowstorm this past Thursday and I was off work on Thurs and Fri - a nice 4 day weekend. Yesterday was a beautiful 62 (16 or so for you??) and it was just glorious. I wanted to go walking but my knees just didn't want me to. It's hard to explain how they're doing - they just don't feel like they are working right. I'm certainly not miserable - and my ROM is actually better than ever - but I just feel clunky and awkward when I walk any distance. I'm off to my OS appointment this morning so am very interested to see what he says about all of this. I am definitely not as strong as I was a few months ago, and even after my massage, she told me she feels I've lost quite a bit of muscle tone. So, part of it is cutting back on what I was doing and needing to strengthen my knees again. But, that shows that I haven't overdone it - in fact I've probably underdone it - so why are they still bothering me? Hopefully I can get some answers today. I'll post on my thread tonight after work and update...........

So glad you're having fun with the twins - sounds like a great Staycation and awesome grandparent memories for both of them!
 
It's now Saturday night - the grandchildren went home Thursday. We had a good time, they had a good time and their parents had a wonderful trip to NYC.

I surprised myself as to how well I managed visits two gardens, Science World and the Museum of Anthropology. My knees were feeling good but by the end of it my back wasn't happy. Yesterday, I did my pool workout and then we went to a fibre event out in the valley. My back was screaming at me when I got home. It used to bother me prior to surgery. Yesterday was the first day I didn't use my cane at all and I did a lot of walking and standing on a cement floor. I'm debating seeing a chiropractor - my DIL has one she recommends but I don't like harsh adjustments. I suspect it's arthritis.

I finally got a warp wound onto the small loom but I certainly won't have my DIL's birthday scarf woven by her birthday - Monday! It's a summer scarf, so there isn't a major rush ;-). I'll work on getting the loom threaded tomorrow, if my back let's me.
 
Good job without the cane - your legs are getting stronger daily!! Make sure not to overdo it as you get used to no cane. Make sure to do some gentle stretches with your back - and maybe some easy strengthening exercises. Between your gait being off for awhile, not walking as much for some time, and probably losing some muscle, it doesn't sound like it's happy now. I still hope to ask my PT about some back exercises - will let you know. Keep up the great work!!!
 
@Threads. Gosh, you have had such a busy week but a great time by the sound of it all. I.m glad to hear that the knees did well after all that work they did. And really excellent news on the cane too. I loved it when I dittched mine - I felt so old lady with it but it was useful in keeping people aware I was a bit unsteady on my legs.

I've had a good week too but busy - lots of child care involved and today is Mothers Day so we were all invited to lunch at my son and daughter in laws. A real treat not to have to cook. Last night we had grandsons to stay too.

Sorry to hear your back us playing up but could it be that your body is still adjusting to the new regime. Anyway, I hope it gets easier and less painful soon.

Got a 5 miles walk planned for this week - good photography opportunities on the walk too. Thanks for visiting my stream on Flickr.

Big hugs from way over the Pole

Xxxxxx
 
@ljrfrm - thanks for being one of my cheerleaders! I just googled back excercises on the net and the Mayo Clinic had a bunch of them, mostly on the floor or on your knees. I'll ask my PT at my final visit on Thursday.

@SuperSnapper - I can't believe you are up to a five mile walk!! I'll have to look for a walking group in my area of the city, I tend not to get out and walk by myself. There are the camera walks but they are more often a crawl ;-)

I've been playing with my camera but not thoughtfully. Keeping an eye on the kids meant that I didn't slow down and check out what I was doing with the camera - mostly just snapping photos. I should go through them and maybe put a few up on Flickr.

Hugs back at you over the Pole!
 
Let me know what your PT says about the back exercises - I'm sure there are some easy basic ones you can do - you are right, most are on the floor I bet.
 
I've graduated!!! I had my last PT appointment today as an outpatient! My ROM is 125 in both knees without any effort or pushing and my extension is 0 in both as well!!! I can walk at a good clip without a cane, but depending on the time of day - I still have a bit of hesitation coming down the stairs and getting off a low "throne". She says I'm fine to go back into aquafit, so that's what I'll do in the morning :yes:

@ljrfrm - I asked her about back excercises and she gave me the one below. It apparently works well on the thin muscle that wraps over all your external organs and your pelvic floor. She said that if you can't count out loud, you are holding your breath and aren't using the right muscles. Also, you can do it anytime and people won't even notice that you are doing it! Trust your week is going well and you have been more comfortable.

[Bonesmart.org] Nothing is Going to Stop Me Now!
 
Brilliant report @Threads . So glad it's all gone so well for you. Congratulations on your PT graduation. One there's a lot of fun to be had with those new knees.
 
Thanks @SuperSnapper! Also, today we put our deposit on our River Cruise for next May - Amsterdam to Budapest and then a side trip to Prague. Incentive to keep the knees working and getting better! We walked around a Wild Bird Sanctuary earlier this week. I've started organizing photos in the background on Flickr (I keep the grandchildrens' photos for family) but have others that I'll put up soon. It's been so long since I've posted anything - 1 1/2 years!!!
 
Great report!!! Congratulations on your PT graduation! Here's hoping it only gets better from here! I will definitely try the back exercise..........thanks for posting. Let me know how it goes back at Aqua Fit!!!
 
I'll keep a look out for the photos and the River trip sounds great. Lots to explore. Hope you enjoy the Aquavit too.

Things are pretty quiet here - just enjoying normal things and being able to do stuff. Last night I went to see a photographer who came to our club. John Potter . You can find home if you search for John Potter photography. He works from York. His photos of Yorkshire were beautiful.

We are off for a few days to see friends this week , then back for two days and off again to visit our son in Bristol.

I hope you have a lovely week.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Members online

Total: 814 (members: 5, guests: 809)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom