TKR On the other side

[LaxMom]

I made my husband pancakes for Father's Day. He cooked them.

I love this quote from you. How sweet. It is a little hard to make our hubbys feel special on Father's Day when we are the needy ones.

You seem to be doing great! So happy for you. Keep it up!

 

[dogwalker2]

Hope you are doing well today. My left tkr was 1 day before yours!! How are you finding sleeping and pain management at night?

 

[Sunnyo]

Well back from PT. I have a very nice therapist. My leg is straight but only have 70 degree bend. She said not to worry as the knee is still quite swollen and we are early days. My left, which was done 3 years ago has a 130 degree bend, so I will get there.
She showed me some nice gentle bend exercises with the exercise ball that I hadn't done last time.
All in all it was good, back next Monday.
I am very tired today. Bad night, up three times with a total of maybe 5 hrs sleep.
Switching to just Tylenol extra strength and think once the tramacet is out of my system I will feel better.
Onwards and upwards

 

[Sunnyo]

Today has been busy. Was to see OS which is approximately a 2 hr drive, appointment took 2 hrs and the back home. Long day, had a nap and iced when I got home.
Am doing well, two weeks tomorrow and have a straight leg with a 90 degree bend.
Doctor is pleased and will see him again at the six week mark.
Hopefully will have a good sleep and will rest and take it easy tomorrow

 

[newpartial]

Hi - great news re the OS.
I am only a couple of days ahead of you and will get to see my OS at 6 weeks (which is standard over here).
I think i over did it the other day but back on track now hopefully.

 

[sistersinhim]

I hope you got that nice long recuperative nap! It sounds like you're coming along really well. Many of us are slow getting our extension back and you already have yours. Wonderful! That bend will come in when your swelling goes down.

 

[dogwalker2]

My tkr was just one day before yours☺. I am doing lots of resting and icing. Well done with a 90 degree bend (mine was 80) and a straight leg (I can easily get my hand under mine, so I must be a +10). You are doing so well. How are doing with nightime pain?

 

[Sunnyo]

My night time pain isn't too bad. I am still taking tramacet at night and usually get 5 hours sleep and then wake up read a bit and get another nap before morning.
My insision has bothered me today but perhaps that's because it's healing. I had glue this time instead of staples and the doctor removed the tape yesterday and just put on some steri strips

 

[Sunnyo]

Haven't posted for a while. Things are progressing nicely. I am just past six weeks. My last physio appointment I had a 117 bend so that part is coming along.
I do find my left knee that was done three years ago gets very stiff as the day goes.
Perhaps I am just up and about too much.
Trying to get back to normal but still tire easily.

 

[Rockgirl4]

I'm glad things are progressing so well.

 

[KarriB]

It took months for my stamina to return, but you probably already know that from your first knee. That first knee may just be feeling the effects of taking on the extra work from your recent TKR.

 

[Sunnyo]

Wow I am 7 weeks today.
The incision has healed well but I have lots of tightness right in the knee area both on my newly operated leg and on my left that's three years old.
Tonight I am finding it frustrating.
Don't know if it's because I'm impatient and doing too much or what.
I am still taking tramacet at night but only minimal Tylenol during the day.
Just want to be back to normal and it feels like that is a ways off

 

[KarriB]

At not quite 2 months post op I’m sure your new knee is still healing and the 3 year old feeling the effects of taking on the extra burden. I wasn’t back to normal when I returned to work part time at 12 weeks. I was still tired and my knee would still swell after a morning of teaching. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get back to normal. This recovery usually takes a year to feel 100% recovered, said my OS!

 

[Sunnyo]

When I had my first knee done 3 years ago we lived in a rancher and I feel I recovered quite quickly
This time round we are in a three story. My range of motion and everything are great but I feel I'm taking much longer to recover. It's been 3 months and my knee still is stiff and sore. I feel that the stairs contribute to this. I can go up stairs foot over foot but down is not possible unless I go sideways.
I'm frustrated as right around the knee is sore
Anyone else find this

 

[Pumpkin]

@Sunnyo
You'll notice that I have merged your newest post with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:

• That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
• If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
• Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.

So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.

 

[Pumpkin]

Sunnyo,
Every knee has it own recovery timeline even on the same person, don't compare to your first TKR, you will only be frustrated.
Going down stairs is more difficult than going up, you are going to have to give this knee more healing time.
Have you tried going down stairs with your right leg first, one step at a time? This is closer to normal and will help you progress.

At 3 months you are still very very early in this yearlong+ recovery, your ROM is wonderful. Don't worry the stiffness will gradually fade, and you will soon have your life back.

 

[Sunnyo]

I do go down the stairs with my right leg one step at a time. Just wanting to get back to my normal down the stairs.
I know my physio was surprised I couldn't do it with my range of motion but it is too uncomfortable (painful).
I just find it frustrating especially since I have so many stairs.
I know I have been told one knee heals differently from the other. I keep thinking it's because my left was so bad that everything felt better.
The right just seems so much slower for me to do all my normal stuff.
Hopefully it will come in time and it's just me being impatient.

 

[Pumpkin]

Hopefully it will come in time and it's just me being impatient.

Most of us are impatient with recovery, stairs and everything else will come with time.
Wish I could bottle some patience for you, you will be doing stairs normally when your knee is ready. Right now your knee is in charge and will heal in its own good time.

 

[sistersinhim]

Your new knee had 3 more years of destruction after your first knee so your OS more than likely had a lot more repair work to do in there. You might have forgotten how bad your first one was, too. It's like having a baby, once the pain is over with, you forget about the pain and enjoy the new creature given you!

 

[KarriB]

I don’t think ROM is the issue with using stairs. I have good ROM with my natural knee, but it cannot do stairs. Muscle strength around the knee and quad are the issue with my left knee which will need replaced sometime in the future. Being that your RTKR is just 3 months it’s probably just too soon for stairs.