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Bilateral PKR One Year Update

Warning. TMI.........................................



















I should have done this 2 days ago. Unplugging a toilet that is just filled with what is supposed to go in there is NOT what I would choose to be doing at 12:30 in the morning.
 
I do hope you are feeling better, sorry it had to happen in the middle of the night.
 
Thank God you're unblocked! What a bad way for it to happen, though. Are things OK now?
 
In home PT came at 8 am and OT followed at 9. Now this is a very gentle PT. No touchie my knees at all but it was still 2 hours. So I was very very tired. All I really wanted to do was to sleep in, cuddled under my blanket. But, no, I had to have the bright idea of getting them both over at once. Kind of like the bright idea of having both of my knees done at once :rotfl:.

But then I also decided that today would be a good day to start backing off on the narcotics. So instead of waiting to see if I could just sleep through a dose I, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to skip my 4:15 pm dose. After I had continued to overdo it after the PT and OT. Yea, that didn't last long.

This weekend my daughter and I are going to go over my schedule and see what would be the best time to start doing this. She thinks I'm doing it too soon but I want to make sure I've cut down on them before I run out.

I'm getting around better. Don't need to use a cane or walker in the house at all (it's a small house). My knees feel very steady and secure. I don't set any speed records, or even try to but I get to where I want to go (in the house) and looking so forward to being able to spending time outside. I've been to the bottom of the driveway with PT but that's it.

Hope everybody has a wonderful evening
 
I’ve always wanted to warn us tkrs and btkr about the so common “regularity “ issue that strikes most of us started out on opiate pain killers
Myself after a week or so-let’s say in the middle of the night, I went into “labor” and finally got relief a couple hours later, freaked out that I’d have to go to the hospital,very rough and painful. I’ll say no more.
But the medical profession has not figured out how to smoothly get the intestinal system rebooted after major surgery and pain killer startage
So what you experienced is way too common
After that episode I was okay. You should be too from here
 
SherrieT
You’re doing so well!
Looking back at my experience, I realize the tkr and btkr recovery is comprised of 2 parts
The first part is the surgery and primary recovery dictates you,and you are at its mercy.
Gradually YOU take over the recovery, and that’s where we have our real journey, how much do I push myself? MUST remember to elevate, when to take pain pills, when to cut back? Am I icing too much?
How hard to push PT? What is my body telling me?
Should I still use the cane?
On and on
You’ve obviously begun taking over the drivers seat.
Wish I could say I was “artful”, but I was clumsy!
You get better and better at the reins as you go along. But I got through it and I can feel after 1 year I’m about a month or so away from running up the stairs. (I do now climb up and down stairs hauling ladders and tools, working on ladders etc)
Legs feel great, with about 6% more healing to be at 100%,which may take another week or two months. I don’t care, it just gets better.
By the way, I do recommend that when that urge to nap hits. ENJOY IT!!!!!!!!
And elevate!!!
 
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It's been 1 week since this incredible journey really took off. I'm very pleased with my mobility but have to keep reminding myself that I'm just one week out from very serious surgery. Actually I don't have to keep reminding myself, my body does that for me.

Today I measured 5/100 on Right and 10/97 on left. I'm also going to cut down on the PT. It doesn't matter how gentle it has been. It's just too much for me right now.

I walk around the house very steadily with no devices. Tomorrow at PT I am going to walk down our short driveway with 2 canes instead of a walker like last time. I've tried twice to cut down on the pain pills but knees aren't ready for it yet. The knees flip flop on which one is going to be the good/bad one depending on what I'm doing at the time.

Hope everybody has a great day. I'm going to try to get some sleep now.
 
SherrieT said:
Today I measured 5/100 on Right and 10/97 on left. I'm also going to cut down on the PT. It doesn't matter how gentle it has been. It's just too much for me right now.
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Your ROM is great for this early! It's good that you are listening to your knees. As long as they are the bosses and you listen to them, you'll do well. Doing no PT right now is a good thing. It gives the knees time to heal.
 
For just one week out from surgery, you're doing phenomenally well. No need to push to stop using your walker, though if you feel stable and completely comfortable using two canes, go for it. I used my walker for almost four weeks, and a single cane from that point on. Each of us finds our own way back to walking on two legs only. :)

Your knees are having a contest as to which one is the better knee? Game on! Whatever is going on with them, the results are fantastic.
 
@SusieShoes - It just feels more natural to use the 2 canes then the walker. I feel more stable with them. Pretty sure I'll be using them for awhile. I'm taking everyone's advice and trusting my knees. They really are strong.
Your thread is incredible and so uplifting for all of us that have come after you. I can't thank you enough
I still haven't named my knees. :holysheep:
 
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I cancelled the PT that they had scheduled for me today. Had a really bad night last night so I spent most of today elevating and icing. Feel much better now. I thought they were nuts to expect me to do so many days in a row. I'm scheduled for M-W-F of this coming week. I'll try that to see how it works for me and my knees. I do feel like I get some things out of it and not ready to call it off yet.
I got a FitBit today and a band to wear it on my ankle. I never get an accurate gauge of my walking from my iPhone because I forget to pick it up and take it with me.

I'm going to start my walking with sticks outside regularly tomorrow and just want to keep track of progress, if any. Will start small and work my way up. I really suck at estimating so I have no idea how far it is from our door to the end of our neighbors driveway. Hopefully the Fitbit will help with that. I also want a better idea of what type of sleep I'm getting at night.

We had a loss in our family last night. My daughters little, old chihuahua, Georgina died last night. Karen has had her for over 12 years. She was a stray and the vets thought, from the shape of her teeth, that she was between 3 - 5 years old when Karen adopted her. Because of some of her behavior patterns we figured she must have been treated terribly before and she has been losing her mental facilities for several years now. We had to keep her separated from the little ones. It was her time but it still will be strange not hearing her little click click click of her toenails on the floors. So we had our first pet funeral today. She is buried in the back yard along side of our Christmas tree from this year. Even the 4 and 3 year old scooped some dirt on her grave. They were so sweet. And I was able to get out there with my sticks.

Hope everyone is having a good night and will have an even better tomorrow.
 
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Oh @SherrieT so sad about your pup. They just steal our hearts, don't they?

Sounds like you are doing great! How do you keep track of steps on the iPhone? Is there an app? I'm so strapped for money right now I don't want to spend on a fitbit, but if I could use my iPhone that would be great.

I'm having a great night tonight, watching the Olympics, paying bills, just having a great day. Did laundry and ran a couple of errands, did my stationary bike, a short walk, iced and elevated and a lovely half hour nap. Big juicy hamburger for dinner.

I am thinking of the tableau of the funeral with the little ones in your yard. So sweet.

Re: the frequent PT sessions, it is my theory that they like to get as many as possible on the books early on, so they can conduct the therapy sessions and bill, because so many of us quit after a short while. I had to quit pretty early on because my stitches were developing abscesses and breaking open, and the PT AND the PT owner called me to talk me into changing my mind. I mean, my doctor said to stop and there they were bugging me. Anyway, don't let them talk you into anything you aren't ready to do, which it sounds like you won't.
 
@mlwreader Your iPhone should have an app on it called Health and its icon is a heart. It tells you your steps and such. Your evening sounds wonderful. I'm really feeling so house bound. I just texted my son-in-law to pick up a few things for me from store and I almost cried. I just want to be able to do simple things like that again. Can you tell I'm entering the emotional portion of my journey? :loll:
I think my insurance must have a generous PT portion to it so they are going to milk it as much as possible. I really like some of the things we've gone over but not just for the sake of billing.
Went for my longest walk today with 2 sticks (not that it's that far) but I guess my arm stride with the sticks isn't enough to register on fitbit and, of course, I forgot to put it on my ankle. I'll get the hang of these trackers soon.

Time for icing, elevation, rest, TV and BoneSmart of course
 
SherrieT said:
I'm really feeling so house bound. I just texted my son-in-law to pick up a few things for me from store and I almost cried. I just want to be able to do simple things[/QUOTE

Oh my gosh I so remember feeling the way you describe. It is such an emotionally charged process complicated by, in my case anyway, a reaction to the painkillers on my mood. You will be able to do that stuff in such short order Sherrie. So hard to have patience. I would lie on the bed with my legs up and icing feeling like a beached whale. Didn’t want to read, watch tv, talk. It did get better. It just took time. And time takes time. :)

Congrats on the walk. You go girl. Is it hard to reach your ankle to put on the fit bit? Do you get HGTV? That was the only channel I could watch during the early weeks.
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Perhaps after the first couple of appointments you can talk them into 2x/week. I was able to do that with my second TKR. I did get some benefit from PT some good tips and encouragement, but 3x/week was just not necessary.
 
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