TKR Now two years post op and still recovering from nerve damage

[skigirl]

Margaret, I am impressed with your attitude---you never gave up, just kept going slowly until you got where you wanted to be. Positive all the way. You have earned that flex on your knee and your story is a good one of perseverance. K

 

[Pumpkin]

Margaret,
You have worked steadily to get where you are today. So happy to hear you have such a great report, continue to make progress, and have your active life back.

 

[speccybecky]

So pleased for you Margaret! You've had a long journey but you gt there!

 

[Celle]

Yay Margaret!

I just read your report of the OS visit. Great stuff! (And what a nice guy your OS sounds, as well as being a good surgeon. No wonder you stayed with him, even though it means a long journey to see him.)

You deserve every bit of your good result. You've been so conscientious and patient, and you've kept posting here to encourage others.

I'm so pleased for you, especially that you are getting back into those beautiful mountains, even if it isn't ski-ing.

Well done!



Caryl

 

[BJ Mac]

Margaret, it is nice to hear that you got a good report. I do hope that the quad lag keeps getting less and less. Congrats on all that you are able to do.

 

[bassplayer]

Hi Margaret,

I just caught up with your thread. I'm so happy for you that your visit at the OS went so well. He sounds like a great doc, very thorough. I am so impressed with that hike you took - I couldn't do anything like that...yet. Nice going!

 

[tashia]

Margaret, HAPPY EASTER Weekend. Take care Tashia

 

[gami]

Margaret..so happy to hear your latest report..I'm only 5weeks post RTKR but walking the Milford Track sometime in the future is on my bucket list...I just love your NZ mountains. But following your example...I will be patient..but one day I will.

hugs Gami

 

[Campervan]

Thanks Gami. Milford Track is the most well known of the NZ multi day tracks and is the most commercialised. I live just a few hours drive away. The scenery in that area is stunning. The sandflies are a problem and I've heard of people taken pieces of net curtains to attach to the front of the sunhats and drape across their face - otherwise you eat the darn things.

 

[momteacher]

Any suggestions for water exercises to help with tight band feeling around knee after TKR?

 

[medan2012]

momteacher, I just started pool; therapy last Wednesday. I will ask the therapist what exercises she recommends unless someone else knows.

 

[skigirl]

You can walk across the pool----front, side and backwards. You can go to the side of the pool and stretch your knee . I put on a buoyancy belt and then pull my legs up while my body stays straight in the water.

I also go to the deep end (with the belt on) and pretend I am running in the water. Sometimes, I cross country ski with longer steps.

You can play around too---jump a little (only in chest deep water), hand down from the belt and let your whole body stretch, do some "treading water". Just, relax and let the heated water help you stretch that knee a little.

 

[Campervan]

Hi, I swim for 20 to 30 x 25 metre lengths with fins on my feet to make my leg muscles work harder. The I put a float belt around my waist and walk 10 x 20 metre lengths in deep water only. I tend to walk as if I'm cycling so I bend my knee. It seems easier to bend in the water when non-weight bearing. I also do stretches in the hot pool.

 

[medan2012]

Kelly & Margaret, a lot of good information. Thanks.

 

[momteacher]

Thank you, girls, for the pool exercises. I've been three times this week. Today I went to a class for arthritis and it was good. I'm four and half months post TKR and praying this tight band feeling will soon go away. My knee and area around it stills feeling bruised when I touch it. It gets so tight it feels like a bee sting! Any suggestions are surely welcome. Thanks again!

 

[medan2012]

momteacher, sounds like we are close in our surgery. When was your surgery? I'm not seeing it on your signature line but I will be 4 months post on April 12, 2013 and I still have the band feeling on the outside of my knee. It doesn't feel bruised but the bottom of my knee (in the tibia) sometimes give me a fit. I've been applying essential oils mixed with carrier oil and applying it to the area outside my incision area and that helps with the pain.

Do you massage your area outside of the incision? I find by massaging the area loosens up the tight band feeling.

That's just me; each knee is different. I love my pool therapy! I feel it will help with my ROM (flexion).

Well, hopefully, you will get some relief.

Take care and one day at a time......

 

[Campervan]

I had to go see my normal doctor today for an unrelated medical thing. She had the report from my OS and she's not impressed that only have 118 ROM at 15 months and of course I still have quad lag of 10 degrees and issues with the fibula/tibula joint, tight hamstrings and tight gastroc. But she did say pretty much the same as the OS, if I'm still achieving very small improvements with the ROM and quad lag then keep going. She said if she referred me to somebody else, they'd likely want to go in with the scope and she didn't advise that given the infection risk.

So back to plan A, wait 3/4 months, email OS with report and decide on MRI, bonescan, nerve conduction tests, EMG. Or just get on with life - as my doctor said "if you were a couch potato it wouldn't be a problem". Of course, she wasn't advocating that I became a couch potato!

....and if that wasn't enough, my other knee has decided to go into decline and now keeps me awake at night. Hoping it'll settle down if I take Voltaren for a couple of weeks.

 

[BJ Mac]

I sure hope that it settles down for you Margaret (((((hugs)))))

 

[Campervan]

Thanks BJ. I've taken Voltaren and paracetemol (tylenol) for around 4 days and nothing is improving with the non-TKR knee. Climbing hills and stairs hurts. Downhill hurts. Keeping me awake at night. I sit in my recliner and it aches. The pain is so different to when my other knee went downhill. That was all medial area bone on bone pain and weightbearing was awful. The pain in this one is only occasionally in that area, and the main pain is more to the surface all around and under the kneecap and is a sort of burning pain. I tried the old pillow under the knee trick in bed last night, but didn't make any difference. I'll give it a while longer before I go see my GP. One thing I am certain, I'm not letting anybody near the other knee until I know what caused the quad lag.

 

[KathyH]

Sorry to hear your non-operated knee is giving you problems, Margaret. Never rains but it shines, aye.

I think if you are happy with 118 ROM and can get on with daily life, that is the main thing. But as you say, give it another few months and see how things go. 118 sounds good to me and if I can get to there (currently 108) I would be happy. I'm sure though that as you have got to that number, in time that number will increase.