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TKR Onwards and upwards - my journey continues

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Had my first proper night out tonite. Only to the local bingo hall where i usually went twice a week. out for three hours and my knee wasnt too bad at all. Took my ice with me and elevated while i was there which i think helped. I am going to my second physio tomorrow which im not looking forward to. Most of the exercises im doing well just the heel slides seem to be getting harder instead of better. My ROM was 75 last week but i doubt it will have improved much if at all. Theres still a lot of swelling which makes it painful.
 
Good for you. It's early days and managing to get a little bit of normality back in your life is impressive and very encouraging for me as I have not yet started the journey.
Hope your physio goes well, don't stress about it, just do what is comfortable and take it gently and you will get there. You are doing really well.
Have a good day.
Toothfairy. :flwrysmile:
 
Thank you Toothfairy. Sometimes i think we lose sight of how early it still is. This morning my unoperated leg is really painful too just to add to the mixture. I know it will need replacing eventually but please not for a while. Im just icing a lot today and hoping the swelling will go down. Have you any idea when your date will be. What part of England are you from.
 
Toothfairy, not too long to wait then. But i did find the waiting was the worst part. I was orignally given November 7th as a date and then on October 4th i had a telephone call to say they had moved it to October 13th. Bit of a shock but better in the long run i didnt have to wait too long. Then on the day i had to be at the hospital at 7.30 and was then told i would be going down at 3.oclock. That was a long day. I will talk with my OS on November 27th at my six week check about my other knee too. I am really not looking forward to having that done just yet. Im a wuss arent I. Lots of people on here have BTKR and I am in awe of them. Take Care x
 
Patricia, well done on your night out. Must have made you feel better. I'm sure you'll do better at physio tomorrow than you think you will. On the days I think it will be bad, it isn't and vice versa.

I don't know why hospitals insist we have to be there so early when we're not scheduled for later in the day. It does make it a very long day and doesn't help with the nerves. On the day of my admission, my two best friends came with me and waited for me to come out of surgery too. While in the waiting area, we had lovely conversations with a couple of other ladies and one of their daughters and even had a laugh too. So I remember mine as quite a pleasant occasion and certainly did wonders for my nerves.
 
Patricia, I too will ultimately need the other knee done. My doctor would not consider a BTKR at the time, and I don't think I would have wanted one either. The other knee is not in as bad shape as the TKR knee was, but it has definitely been griping at me a lot since the TKR. My hope is to get through at least a full year with the TKR knee before doing the other knee and also to lose quite a bit more weight before the next surgery. Just taking it one day at a time!
 
Lisa: isnt it weird that the unoperated knee gets worse since the TKR. You would think it would ease up a bit wouldnt you because its not supporting the really bad knee any more. Reading thru some posts today ive read that the 4 week mark sometimes makes you feel a bit weepy and thats just how i feel today. I will just keep icing and elevating today not stressing abot physio and hopefully feel better tomorrow. Take care.
Kathy: Yes hopefully my physio will go better than expected. It was a really long day for waiting for surgery as my husband was with me who was more nervous than me. I also wasnt sure wether to have the spinal block as i had never had one before so had to decide wether to go with that or just the GA. I auctually didnt decide until I was in the operating room and did go for the spinal and light GA. All very nerve wracking and I was so pleased whn it was all over. It was nice to hear from you and I am pleased yor physio is getting better. Just got to hang on in there havent we. Take care.
 
Patricia, I think that ultimately the unoperated knee does feel better (at least that is what I have been told) as once your are really good on the TKR knee it will start doing more than it's share to compensate for the other knee then. But I don't think that happens for the first few months. I am 10 weeks out, and I noticed that the first 4-6 weeks were the worst for the non-operated knee and that these last few weeks as my walking has improved and I have gotten so much stronger that it is protesting less. I am sure it has helped that I have lost 24 pounds since my surgery either. But I need to lose quite a bit more before I think that knee will be anwywhere close to "comfortable".
 
lisa; well i guess that makes sense as i am just coming to the 4 week mark so hopefully things will improve later. After the op i had no appetite at all which lasted for at least 2 weeks. but it seems to have come back with a vengance now. If i had lost any im sure i have put it back on now. I really would like to lose some weight and as soon as i am feeling better will try.:whistle:
 
KathyH Well you were right. I was dreading the physio as you know and we didnt do much but my ROM went from 75 to 85 which isnt much i know but with my knee being very swollen wasnt expecting anything at all. My BP has gone very high again as i havent been taking my medication since the op but i have been advised to start them again now so i think that might help with the swelling. Onwards and upwards Here we go:thumb:
 
I really really would like to have a lovely soak in the bath but am not sure wether i should do at almost four weeks post op. can anybody advise. wouldnt put any perfumed bath oil just warm water. wouldnt harm would it.
 
First, normally you should speak with the surgical coordinator for your OS as he/she has the final say on this as it depends on how they closed the wound. Mine said I had to have a clean incision line, no scabs before immersion in anything. It is not totally an issue with not using oil in the tub, but you are immersing your new knee in (to be perfectly frank) in water that is now loaded with the bacteria from your butt! So you want to avoid bacteria as much as possible as you do not want to develop an infection. But call your OSs office, that is the best thing.
 
HA ha Thankyou Lisa. I didnt think about the butt issue. I will phone the hospital tomorrow to ask and head off for a shower. Thank you for replying so quickly. That was really nice of you:thankyou: ​
 
Patricia,

I did not want you to get in the tub for a good soak and then get an infection. My dad was a doctor and my mom was a nurse so I picked up lots of info about bacteria, and cleanliness etc. My other knee is also bad so I don't do the bathtub but I will say the first time I got in the whirlpool I almost cried as it felt so good. So play a mental visualization game with yourself and close your eyes and take a long hot shower and pretend you are soaking! :happydance: And then when you are able to take your first bath, post and let me know how great it was so I have some vicarious pleasure.
 
I will do Lisa. So looking forward to it but dont want to take any chances as (touch wood) things have gone so good so far. I think the soak reminds me when my arthritic knee was soooooooo bad it was the only thing that relaxed it. Whenever anyone asks me about having a bath im going to quote you. That was so funny. You made me smile.:loll:
 
I agree with Lisa, Patricia! My OS also said no soaking in water of any kind until the scar was totally healed, no scabs or openings of any kind, not even a pin hole. No swim, no hot tubs, nothing, and that's what our aching bodies want. A shame!

You are doing great for such a short time out!:thumb:
 
I heard the same thing about tubs and pools and hot tubs from my OS. He doesn't like them. But I really want to be able to go in the pool and hot tub when we go winter in AZ in Jan. I will be careful not to have any open sores, but is there ever a time a person doesn't have a little something, like a hangnail or those thumb and finger cracks in the dry weather. I don't care how much lotion I put on, I always get them. So can I never go in the water then?
 
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