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Bilateral PKR One Year Update

3.5 weeks post op.
Last night left quad seized up again but not as bad as Friday night. No screaming or crying amount of pain but still pretty painful and couldn't lift leg for a couple of hours once I got into bed. It's weird that it doesn't seem to start up until I lay down in bed. After I get back from movie with grand daughter today I'll test it out in several positions to see if I can figure out what is happening with it.

Did have an outing with family yesterday. We drove to Newport RI (about 45 min), went to lunch and then for short walk on beach. Gave me a chance to try out my new camera. Family is so great about making sure that I'm always someplace where I can sit down (seawall in this case) and that I don't overdo it. It was so much fun seeing little ones running on beach, even if it was very overcast. I don't think outing has anything to do with quad last night was it was better than the night before, not worse.

Of course since I've been given the OK to walk alone, it's been raining. Supposed to clear up tomorrow so hoping I will be able to get out. Still not up to taking Bashie with me, it would be too easy for her to pull me over. Still using 2 canes whenever I'm outside.
 
SherrieT said:
Last night left quad seized up again but not as bad as Friday night.
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SherrieT said:
Did have an outing with family yesterday. We drove to Newport RI (about 45 min), went to lunch and then for short walk on beach.
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I'm sure the outing did your spirits good, but I'm wondering if your daytime activity and your quad pain at night could be cause and effect.

Often, if you overdo things during the day, it catches up with you at night and punishes you with pain.

Do check your activities against this article again, because that outing was probably too much for so early in recovery: Activity progression for TKRs
I bet it was worth it, though! Just don't make it a habit to overdo things.
 
Son in law dropped 13 yr old granddaughter and I off at theater today and we saw Black Panther. This theater doesn't have recliners but the seat rows are really wide. I was able to stretch my legs completely out and flex them whenever I needed to and I took meds before leaving home. I guess it won't be too long until it's "not cool" to be out with Grandma so I'm taking advantage of it while I can. Excellent movie by the way. Will be interesting to see if quad gives me any problems tonight.
 
SherriT, you are doing way too much on bilaterals that are less than a month old. That night time pain is your knee telling you to slow down. Even though you could spread out your legs in the movies, you weren't elevating toes above nose. That allows swelling to build up and then here comes the pain. Please try and slow down.
 
My PT and I discussed the quad seizing on Friday and we both think it had to do with the stationary bike. Even though I was able to do what seemed to be an easy rotation my left leg just wasn't ready for it. Especially since it was really bad Friday night, then even after going to Newport on Saturday, it wasn't as bad on Saturday night. I'm going to up my quad exercises a bit and just do partial revolutions on bike for a week and try to build it up before doing any more full revolutions.

I think it was a reasonable decision to spend 2 hours in a theatre. I don't think any of us spend 24 hours a day toes over nose. And I didn't think that being able to flex my legs while I was sitting was a replacement for it. It just made sitting for that length of time more comfortable. And when I got home I went right to my recliner, iced and elevated.

The Activity Progression document isn't a "one size fits all". Some of us aren't going to be able to do everything in that timeline and some of us will be able to do more. But how will we know if we don't try?

I usually start each night in bed with my legs in my cushions. Last night they just seemed too confining so I decided to kick them out of bed. I was able to move my legs in any direction and the knees didn't hurt at all. And there was so much more room without them. It was great. So cushions are now relegated to my recliner. Which is where I am right now. Toes over nose.
 
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I wasn't able to follow the activity schedule to a T either, since I'm alone with, at the time 13 cats to take care of. The difference is that I didn't do nearly the outside things that you are doing. My first month I'd do a task, then rest with the ice/elevation routine twice the time I was up. This worked for me. Once I started going back to church at 4 weeks, I knew I could do a little more, but still rested a lot.

You are so right that no two of us are the same. As long as you let your knees be your boss, you'll do just fine!
 
If you're not ending up in severe pain after your activities, chances are you're doing all right. It might slow your recovery down a little if you're very active; it might not. There's no way to really test something like this and, you're right, we're each different. Each knee is different. So if you're listening to yours and adjusting your activity accordingly, you're doing things right. The knee(s) rule.

Slowing down a little would be a good thing for your knees, if you can do so. I know it can seem like doing not enough, especially to an active person. Still, the more you can do the rest and recreation-in-place kind of recovery, the happier your knees will be. I found that once my knees became stronger and free of pain (though there was still a bit of stiffness until recently) I could do strength-building in many different ways: walking for long distances, climbing steps for exercise alone, aquacise and swimming, and even yoga. Time is your friend. I think that's the one area in which this group and many (not all, of course) PTs differ. Some make time the enemy. But time has been wonderfully healing for my knees, so I tend to preach allowing a lot of it. :yes:

For what it's worth, I love reading your thread because you have a great attitude and are doing great!
 
@sistersinhim - I'm very lucky in that I share a house with my daughter, son-in-law and their family. They have helped me so much. Plus my life long habit of pretty much being able to sleep through anything so I've been able to get lots of rest. When we go some place they make sure that I don't overdo it and are always ready to take me home when I need.
 
You are truly blessed! All the things you are doing is with help. That makes a huge difference! God bless you and your giving family!
 
@SusieShoes - I read your thread pre-op and it showed me how important attitude is in this whole journey. I'm not doing a 'blame the victim' type thing but you just have to take what is thrown at you and do the best you can with it. There are sure still times when I have a good cry over things. But I make sure it is a really good cleansing cry!

Does anyone know why some of us have lost the button to change our thread title? Will someone change my title to "Knee Deep in a River". I just love that song. And sometimes this journey seems like that. Knee deep in a river and dying of thirst.
 
SherrieT said:
you just have to take what is thrown at you and do the best you can with it.
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Gosh, yes! Do we have a choice? Some of our members have serious problems to deal with and it's amazing to see their perseverance and grace. Good cries are healing, too, as you know. :) I was very fortunate to have an ordinary experience with my knees. Nothing went wrong at all.

The magicians behind the scenes are aware of the signature glitch. Let's hope they fix it soon.
 
SusieShoes said:
Some of our members have serious problems to deal with and it's amazing to see their perseverance and grace.
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It amazes me when I read of the issues some of the people here have. I have been blessed. I just don't think I could handle what they are dealing with
 
SherrieT said:
Does anyone know why some of us have lost the button to change our thread title? Will someone change my title to "Knee Deep in a River". I just love that song. And sometimes this journey seems like that. Knee deep in a river and dying of thirst.
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@SherrieT - Not being able to change your thread title is one of the minor glitches the web site has at the moment. It has been reported. However, compared to some other glitches, it is low-priority for the technicians, so I don't know when it will be fixed.

I have changed your thread title to "Knee Deep in a River," as you requested.
I hope that this is a title you can live with for some time.
The advisory staff on BoneSmart are all volunteers and we'd prefer to spend our time advising people who need help, rather than frequently changing thread titles.
 
26 days post op
Was released from OT today and will celebrate by taking a walk - after my nap :loll:
The other day I started thinking that being able to sleep without my cushions at night sounded like a good time to start cutting down the meds. So we cut the pills in half and I turned off my alarms for the times to take the pain meds and it's been a real eye opener seeing how often I just forget to take them. And how effective Tylenol is at post op pain compared to how little it touched pre-op.
I've been released to drive short distances as long as I don't take anything other than Tylenol during the day so that is exciting and quite an inducement. And there hasn't been any more repeats of the quad seizing up. But I'm still not too anxious to try the stationary bike anytime soon again. I guess I really need to get over that fear.

Hope everyone is having a great day and that all knees are behaving.
 
Free to drive! What a huge healing step! You've got this!
 
Now you can drive, you've got your freedom back. :yes!:
 
The energy will return. Even now, though, I bet you have enough for a short errand. Just knowing you can go somewhere if you have to is wonderfully liberating.
 
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