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Bilateral TKR Nothing is Going to Stop Me Now!

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@Threads Another thought for your pain (now that I've slept and my brain is at least half working) - I often will have some "new" pains after PT - just as you mentioned above as a possibility when you added PT. New muscles are being exercised and I get to an area that hasn't really been "worked out" before. So it's sore for a few days after. Again, we all get those pains and they are normal. I think if it continues or worsens, then I would pursue it with your folks there again.

So, I definitely do worse sitting - as I get so stiff which is exactly what causes my achiness. I stand up and stretch every hour between meetings. In addition to leaving work early today, I will sneak out a bit early tomorrow if I can as well (start the weekend off right!). Our holiday break starts Dec 19th and I will be off until Jan 3. So lots of time for TLC and recliner time!!
 
Hi @SuperSnapper - what fun to see the grandkids and getting a special drawing! I haven't seen our middle ones yet - at almost 11 their lives are filled with soccer, ballet and electric guitar, etc. as well as a wide circle of friends in their community. Sounds like your recovery is coming along really well.
 
@ljrfrm - the end of your week is in sight! Enjoy your time off tomorrow afternoon and your weekend.

My "nerve" pain was gone when I woke up this morning. Next time I feel it, I won't fret about it. One thing about rehab is that I don't have a lot of time to ice. I'm doing it now, for the first time today. I had quite the workout with the 3 different physios today plus OT. My knees are sore now but I'll sleep like a baby tonight. They are going to try cutting down the amount of OxyContin I take, to slowly wean me off it. They don't want to send me home on narcotics.

Hope you had an easier day today even though you had to throw a doctor's appointment into the mix.
 
@Threads Are they going to replace the Oxycontin with something less strong? I think you are very early to go from all to nothing - and just take Tylenol. I found Tramadol (and Tylenol) a great help! Glad the pain is gone - isn't it weird how it shows up so quickly and disappears the same way?

And yes, one more day and then weekend! I'm sitting here in my recliner drinking coffee - and I should be getting ready for work. I figured I have a good excuse for being late, LOL.
 
Glad to hear you are progressing, sorry about the pain, I do remember experiencing some of the nerve pain also, the first time it happened I thought something was wrong and then remembered reading about the nerve issues. My day is getting closer, and I am getting anxious, my knee doesn't seem to like me lately, could be that I have been weaving a lot and it definitely does not like to do that. I did get my scarf off the loom and am very pleased with that. Not certain I will be able to find the time to get another warp on the loom before my surgery date. I plan on doing a spinning date with a few friends one that I met here on bonesmart last year, we are knee buddies.

Will you be going home soon? I give you a lot of credit for having this done to both knees at once, I am just a big weenie, I would have been afraid to tackle that. But very soon I will have two good knees.
 
I've just learned something new - no new alerts doesn't mean that no one is out there! I've been checking the alert section but haven't gone to the bottom of my thread or checked in with anyone else's threads. I haven't received a BoneSmart email for almost 3 days! I just thought everyone was having a busy, pre-Christmas weekend. I haven't had a single alert since early Friday morning. I don't know how to fix that.

Today is a much better day. I hit bottom on Friday. My meds were switched - and I agreed to the switch - to cut my OxyContin to 2/3rds of what I had been taking. Thursday night was my first night of the lower meds. Friday morning I asked for a breakthrough but I didn't get it early enough and I was in a fair bit of pain when I went to my leg group at 8:15. I thought I would be OK but I decided I was a wimp for not working through the pain. The tears started and because I was just one of a group, I got away with it for a while - but not forever. The PT spotted my situation and told me to stop. I didn't want to scare two new patients sitting at my breakfast table, so I hid in my room. I just couldn't control the tears all morning (luckily I didn't have anything else until noon). I got through Friday and Saturday was a bit better - no PT or OT on the weekend but a number of close friends dropping in slowly chased the blues away. Today I seem to be managing my pain better and acknowledging the difference between stiff and sore, and pain. Tomorrow is a new week and I go into it having left the 4 wheeled walker behind and striding forward on two canes.

Tuesday morning I get my new knees X-Rayed and see my OS. It's a day short of 4 weeks from my surgery. My incision has healed beautifully and I expect my "photos" of my bionic knees to be as impressive.
 
@ljrfrm - I don't know what they will send me home on. They just felt I should cut down on the amount of OxyContin I was taking, and I agreed. There is always the option of asking for breakthrough doses but I tend not to ask. I had a breakthrough when I woke up this morning and again this afternoon when I did my exercises. I get Tylenol on a regular schedule throughout the day and have done since day 1. I have no idea if it makes any difference.

I certainly hope you took advantage of the weekend and your recliner! Counting down until Christmas break - don't wear yourself out before you get there!

@referee54 - I can barely move after I've been sitting at meals, etc. but you're right - once those knees understand what is expected of them, they seem to behave so much better!

@MotownGirl66 - give yourself time. Every knee is different. You've been through an awful lot - pace yourself and give yourself a chance to get your life back!
 
Hi @Threads
About the alerts: Hover over your user name (at the top of the page) and select Alerts from the drop-down box. Then you can choose when to get alerts. Don't forget to select Save Changes before you leave that page.

I only receive BoneSmart emails when someone sends me a Private Message. You don't routinely receive emails.

Threads said:
I was in a fair bit of pain when I went to my leg group at 8:15. I thought I would be OK but I decided I was a wimp for not working through the pain. The tears started and because I was just one of a group, I got away with it for a while - but not forever. The PT spotted my situation and told me to stop.
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Are you still in Rehab? You must never try to work through the pain. At this early stage, you actually don't need a lot of physiotherapy anyway, so missing a session is a much better option than going and struggling with pain. I hope the PT told you to stop the session, and not to stop crying!

You need to make sure that your pain is controlled well and you are not playing catch-up with the pain medications. Stiffness and soreness are also forms of pain.

Rest, ice, elevation and regular pain medication are still your friends. Your knees won't suffer if you decide to skip a PT session - you only need a little bit of gentle exercise anyway.
 
@fiberlady - I can't believe I didn't get a notice of your post! I didn't get my planned warp wound and on the loom before surgery, but it's not the end of the world. Don't pressure yourself. Plan it while you are recuperating - it might be a whole different warp than you are thinking of now ;-) I found the last weeks prior to surgery my knees kept reminding me that I was making the right decision. Maybe that's what your knee is telling you now. I couldn't weave for long prior to "S" day but I can see the loom within my reach, especially my table loom on a stand.

I don't know when I'll get home. I'm not in a rush because, on the whole, I'm making great progress here. My PT wants me to walk out of here using one cane. I'm only about 7 minutes from home so I don't feel far away.

You are not a "weenie". Were you offered bilaterals as an option? When I met with the surgeon the first time, over 3 years ago, there was no mention of bilaterals. This time it was mentioned right away and the idea scared the %*^# out of me. However, the way he explained it made sense and here I am!

Enjoy your spinning day - my wheels are waiting patiently at home for me!
 
@Celle - thanks for your suggestion. I did go to my alerts section, everything was the way I wanted it and I just hit "save changes" even though I hadn't made any. I get emails, which I find helpful - but I'm sure I wouldn't if I were likely to receive as many as you do! I did get an email saying you had posted, so whatever glitch stopped them, it's been unglitched.

Funny how you know in your head what you mean when you write things down but somehow it doesn't come out that way when you read it with new eyes. I'm in a rehab hospital where they strongly believe in not overdoing things. So, my PT told me to stop doing the excercises - not the crying ;-)

The stiffness and soreness is not bad today and I can walk and was able to do a set of excercises through that. I assume that you can't be discomfort free through this process. Today has been much better than Friday and even yesterday. Back into physio tomorrow - they schedule you for sessions and you are expected to take part. None of them are unrealistic. One is a Standing Group where you practice balance, etc. and I'm told that some of the excercises are not for me but for others in the group who have had strokes, etc.

Thanks for popping in with a helping hand.
 
@Threads. Glad you are doing well . I've had the odd episode when I felt tearful but I suppose we are coping with big changes and yours are bigger than mine. It's so cold here! Snow has been forecast for today but we never get loads apart from a couple of years ago when we had a very odd winter and the whole country was icy and snow covered.
I still haven't ventured out but have an outpatient physio appointment on Friday so hope to get out for a walk before then. I'm not having much pain, just stiffness and it gets achy in the afternoons. It feels as is the whole world is going on around me and I'm in a bubble just watching.
It's interesting you mention the balance cos my physio told me to practice that before my operation and it has come in handy.

Take care, sending you a Yorkshire hug via the Polar route

Mary x
 
@Threads Sorry you had a rough Friday and weekend but glad you seem to be feeling a bit better. It sounds like you're making nice progress on the way towards using just one cane. It's nice that your facility is so close to your home, especially for your husband and friends to come visit.

I also don't get alert at times. I will go days and the alerts will work well, but then for some reason I won't get any for a few days. Not sure why.

Hang in there, it seems like everything is going very well for you. The stiffness and achiness was the hardest, and I've found that the best thing to do is to keep moving every so often, which it seems like you do. I still need to practice my balance - then again, I think I didn't have great balance before the surgery either!
 
Threads said:
The stiffness and soreness is not bad today and I can walk and was able to do a set of excercises through that.
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Threads said:
Today has been much better than Friday and even yesterday.
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I finally gave up trying to figure out what caused these lousy days. Recovery truly is a roller coaster ride---but keep in mind that these lousy days will get fewer in number, and farther between---and the "downs" will not be slow low.

As you recover, they will eventually disappear!
 
Good to hear from you @SuperSnapper! We had snow a week ago and I wished I could be out in it. However, that was a pipe dream because we don't often have snow in Vancouver and a lot of people don't know how to deal with it. It wouldn't have been safe for me. The only time I've been out is transferring between facilities and that doesn't count. However, a friend's husband is making me the perfect stool so I can get into the front seat of the van. Hopefully then I can get a day pass and go home for a bit. Tomorrow I see the surgeon, but I get picked up in a wheelchair cab and chauffeured back and forth.

All of my pre-surgery excercise was in the water, so I guess that didn't help my balance that much because I was supported by the water.

I remember the reports of the UK and most of Europe being blanketed in snow and cold a few years ago. It lasted quite a while, didn't it. Hope you can get out for a wee walk before the snow arrives.

Thanks for touching base. Take care of yourself and a wet, Canadian West Coast hug back at you, via the Polar Route.
 
@ljrfrm - good Monday morning! At least it is here for a few more minutes. I just had physio and did balancing on this weird rubber thing, with little fingers that you balance on. Each foot is a separate section so it's very wiggly ;-) He had me tossing a ball to him while trying not to fall. It's a good balancing workout as long as the balancing bars are right in front. I also walked 10 stairs in the stairwell which is the most I've done in one direction. Now off to my Balancing Group.

Thank you for being my constant inspiration. Please take your own advice this week and move as much as you can between and during meetings. Counting down until your Christmas break.
 
Threads said:
good Monday morning! At least it is here for a few more minutes. I just had physio and did balancing on this weird rubber thing, with little fingers that you balance on. Each foot is a separate section so it's very wiggly ;-) He had me tossing a ball to him while trying not to fall.
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I did that after my BTKR---with a BOSU Ball---
[Bonesmart.org] Nothing is Going to Stop Me Now!


I would stand on it and throw a medicine ball to a toss-back net from the left, the right, from overhead---it did help with balance and proprioception.
 
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