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TKR One year later and all is well

@Minstrel, I have moved you question about "what is a CPM?" from Katy555's recovery thread to your own thread, because it was off topic in the other thread and might have derailed it. If you have any questions, please post them in your own thread. Thank you.
Forum etiquette: being polite when posting
 
bertschb - thank you for your response - seems we are alike in our pre-op and post-op characteristics. Would be interested to know more about your recovery since you are approaching 6 months post-op.
 
Celle - you are quite right about those who commented about how I would 'sail through' my recovery. As I recall, they themselves had not had the same operation (some had had other surgeries) but they all knew of someone who did, so it was all anecdotal and second or third hand information, at that. Now that I think of it, there were even a couple who had stories of others they knew who had suffered infections . . . and in the same hospital I was headed to!
 
I have been reading through your thread and it could have been written by me!! I had a revision to a total replacement on March 20th which makes it 4 weeks today.

Everyone is telling me I'm doing great but I just don't feel it. I'm getting around good with just a cane and really don't have much pain - unless I'm trying to bend my knee. Then it hurts and just won't bend! I do also just have an overall aching and soreness in my whole leg. But now when I look at my X-ray after my surgery I realize what a beating it took! She has a right to be mad and angry with me.

I too am 60 years old and very active prior to my surgery. I've been a flight attendant for over 38 years and work 16 hour flights to Asia and back and did so right up to my surgery. Now I'm worried if I will ever get that range of motion back to be able to go back to the job I love.

Like others have suggested to you, I am taking it back a notch and letting my knee just heal. I'm not going to push her. I talk to her everyday and tell her she is doing great and give her nice long massages :-) That feels great and have also made a concerted effort to do more elevating along with my icing.

Hopefully in a few months you and I will both be able to look back on these days and say "why did we worry so much??"

Hang in there with me!!!!


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flyaway79 - thank you so much for your response. So encouraging to hear that mine is a comparable experience to somebody else's.

Today is the 4th day that I have adopted the Bonesmart approach to recovery and I have been icing and elevating - for 3 X 1 hour periods already. Earlier I cancelled the physiotherapy appointment I had for tomorrow morning because my knee is still very stiff and I know I have lost flexion; my knee is just not bending and my progress has stalled.

Later this week I have my 6 week check-up with my surgeon and I'm experiencing a crisis of conscience. The multidisciplinary team at the clinic there promote daily and fairly rigorous exercise and I have to decide whether or not to admit to not following their regime for the past several days. Everything I have been learning from this site/forum has made more sense to me at this point in my experience than what I had been doing previously, but it is contrary to what the therapists at the clinic have been advising.

Would be happy to follow your path to recovery and share experiences since it seems we are close in age, surgery date, lifestyle, etc.
 
At my 5 week checkup my OS never asked me about my in-home therapy. He watched me try to bend as much as I could and said I was doing well. He gave me a prescription for outside therapy, which I never went to. I bet your doctor won't ask either. If he does, tell him the truth, that you have been stiff and swollen and just worked your knee gently. I bet he'll understand. That is, if he even asks you about it. Don't worry about it. It is your knee. You don't have to please anyone but yourself. If you work your knee hard, it'll just slow down it's recovery. Take it from more than just me, you don't have to exercise it to get it back in shape. Your knee and body know what to do without someone forcing it to do something it's not ready to do! Please try not to worry so much. Just take it one week at a time!
 
Minstrel said:
bertschb - thank you for your response - seems we are alike in our pre-op and post-op characteristics. Would be interested to know more about your recovery since you are approaching 6 months post-op.
Click to expand...

Well, you asked for it so here's my story....
My surgery was 10/24/2016. I only had pain for a few days so in that regard I think I was very lucky. After surgery my knee was elevated 95% of the time I was awake and on ice for many, many hours each day.

I did PT from about day 7 to day 30 post op 3-4 days a week. The PT would help increase ROM for a day then my knee swelled up because of the PT and it went back to where it was. I stopped going because it didn't seem to be helping and because we were leaving to go south for the winter.

I iced my knee for five months and it's still elevated whenever I'm sitting which is the vast majority of each day. I'm retired and my wife does just everything for me while I'm recovering so I literally just sat at home with my leg elevated and on ice. No errands, no household chores, no cooking, no nothing. I just rested my knee waiting for it to heal.

At just over five months I got tired of sitting around waiting for my ROM to improve beyond 90 degrees so on March 1st I started hiking for 90 minutes and eventually two hours each day in the foothills outside town. It was soooooooo nice to be outside getting exercise again! My knee felt very strong. No pain at all but still at 90 degrees ROM so I had to be a little careful on the steep sections of the trail. I stopped hiking March 25th because we came home from our wintering spot. A week or so ago my ROM increased to around 100, maaaaaybe 110 if pushed. I don't know if that's because I stopped hiking or just because my knee decided it was tired of sitting at 90 degrees.

I've had a bit of a setback just in the last week. We arrived on Maui a week ago and I started going out into the ocean each day and playing in the waves. I was allowing the ocean waves to stretch my knee more than normal and my knee has been sore the last couple days. I'm guessing it's due to the wave action against my knee.

I still don't have enough ROM to ride my mountain bike. Still can't put my shorts on while standing up. Still have to slide the seat all the way back in the car in order to get in and out. But, I CAN walk full speed with no pain and we're on Maui for another three weeks so I have that going for me :)

My trajectory is positive. Overall I'm going in the right direction. But, at my current pace, I suspect it will be at least another six months before I have full range of motion and I wouldn't be surprised if it was another year. I may break all records for the slowest recovery ever from a TKR.

Am I glad I had the surgery? Yes. Am I disappointed in my ridiculously slow recovery? Absolutely. But, on March 1st I got tired of waiting for my ROM to improve enough to ride my bike and started hiking on the trails I rode my bike on. I finally decided to just move on with my life. I can walk now with no pain and I'm thankful for that. If my ROM improves to "normal" some day, that will be gravy but I'm no longer waiting for that. I've just changed up my exercise routine that required good ROM and moved on. I'm getting a season pass at my ski area next winter for sure. I plan to hike part of the Pacific Crest Trail this summer. I also plan to climb the South Sister in central Oregon this summer.

If you want to feel good about your recovery, just think of how pathetically slow mine has been :) Good luck to you!
 
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I'm sure it was the wave action that angered your knee. Going back to your almost normal life has really worked for you! I can go up hills with no problem, but get anxious when starting down them. Are you able to do steps normal yet? I find that one of my biggest successes! A lady at church even exclaimed, "Look at you coming down those steps now!" What a thrill that someone else had noticed my huge improvement! I'm so glad I had this done!
 
@Minstrel So yesterday I pretty much iced and elevated all day long with just occasional trips around the house and by the time I went to bed my knee was very tight and would hardly bend at all. Go figure.

This morning it seemed somewhat better and I did some light bending and stretched. Now back to elevating and icing.

I have PT this afternoon. Will be interesting to see how that goes. Gotta say my PT has been quite gentle and they aren't really pushing me.


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That will really help with your bend when you can start doing it. I still hold on to the rails. It will take a while to build up the trust!
 
@Minstrel....just a word about the forum.....remember that you can find out all about another person's recovery (progress, challenges, etc.) by checking out their recovery thread. It's much better to do it that way than to ask for information in your thread. The reason for this is, when someone posts a long and detailed response like the one you received from bertschb, what happens is that post tends to take your recovery thread off topic and away from the focus on how you're doing.

Here is a thread in our How To Use This Forum (located under the Help & Info tab at the top of the page) that will help you find other members' threads when you want to read about them.

Finding another member's threads and posts
 
Thanks, Jamie, for your suggestions. Admitedly, I am not very 'techie-oriented' and this forum is all new to me.
 
Minstrel I've just caught up on your thread. As a fellow RN I too was shocked at the intensity of the recovery from knee replacement. I thought being younger 55 fit and active meant I'd be back to a normal life in weeks.

You can read my thread for the whole story. The thing that makes me crazy to this day is the OS who I love was part of the " three weeks" story line but when I went in for my 12 week check up and told him about the energy drain, brain fog and zero endurance he patted my back and said "6 months is the magic turn around point".

This forum helped me so much. I decided that the mantras were brilliant and adopted them whole heartedly. I am now back to an almost normal life. Almost is defined as 12 hours of energy a day, good sleep, hardly any discomfort, great ROM L140 R115-125. My R is somewhat temperamental at times swelling and decreased ROM. The great thing is there is no all day arthritis pain any longer.

I can ride my horse for hours, attend yoga classes, and walk at my own pace for hours. In the evenings I'm tired and have to use my arms on the chairs and stairs but that is about the only time I feel my new knees now.

You will get through this process. It is a marathon at a turtles pace. Be patient and kind with yourself. Next year this time we'll all be hiking!
 
@Red's Mom what good advice!! I believe that the first three months must be taken slowly and that it is an investment in your future---not a boring time that you try to rush through!!
 
@Red'sMom - many and sincere thanks for your words of encouragement. It is comforting and reassuring to read how recovery will come. Have noticed in your signature that you had both knees replaced 4 weeks apart - what a warrior you must be!

And thank you, too, @skigirl, I'm about halfway through a 3 month recovery. I'm closer to accepting that it's going to take time.

Even with the emphasis on rest, ice and elevation (virtually no intentional exercise), I am still very concerned about the stiffness of my knee. Is there anything I can do to help bring about a 'breakthrough'?
 
My only encouragement for a breakthrough is follow the BoneSmart mantras completely.


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@Minstrel Once again - so similar to me and the same questions!! I can't imagine anyone doing both knees at the same time or even 4 weeks apart. I just completed my 4th week and can't imagine going in and having my other knee done this week [emoji15][emoji15].

The stiffness in my knee is my main concern as well. My knee is not hardly swollen to look at it from the outside but I can feel the fluid and tightness on the inside of my knee. I know that's where the stiffness is coming from and I keep elevating and icing. Waiting, waiting, waiting ......


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It takes a long time and a great deal of patience to get through this recovery. Knee replacement really is major surgery and it takes a full year before all your tissues are completely recovered.
Time spent resting, icing, elevating and being gentle with your knee now is a worthwhile investment. It will give your knee the best possible chance for a successful rehabilitation.
 
My last main complaint was for stiffness. Repeatedly, I was told that it was internal swelling and it would go away. It was two to three months before it lessened to a big degree. Just continue doing the Bonesmart way and it will go away eventually.
 
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