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TKR PCL release post TKR<<

I’m taking your route - especially because it’s when I stop moving that things get hard, this was true before surgery too. So far so pleased!

I was inspired to ask questions because I saw a comment on torsion from a leg press being bad for our bionic knees. Has been a fav of mine since my knee snapped years ago - but truly BW lunges are far more challenging and shape changing, which I haven’t been able to do in a decade!

I’m a planner so I want to start putting my new program together in my mind - it’ll save self arguments later when faced w fun gym machines lol.



Softtail said:
Iron girl, I am an old jock, and for me that meant sports, and more sports. I was into weights early on ,but for me it was more cardio based exercise ,ie basketball, racquetball tennis. That said I can not sit around and do nothing , so I read a lot of the threads on here,some letting things heal in time and some doing a more active approach, like I chose. At week 1 ,my flex was 75, extension 8. At week 10, flex is 130 plus and extension 0. Since week 8 I have played 9 holes golf , and pickleball 2 to 3 days a week. I have no pain or swelling before or after. I did home pt 2 to 3 times a day , heel slides, extensions , leg lifts first 3 weeks ,then went to outpatient pt 2 days per week,and kept up home exercises which increased in intensity as weeks passed. I just stopped going at week 9. I chose that route and it worked for me big time. I was also prepared to pay the price if it didn’t . By that I mean it could just have easily kept my knee from healing asquickly and dragged out my recovery. I believe I am one of the lucky ones that recover quicker than most, and no reason why. You are unique, and only you can decide which path you want to take, doing little or no aggressivept, or testing the waters and let your therapist send you down the path they think works.

Either way I do believe your body will recover and be fine , as most of the long term bonesmarties can tell you.
It’s your body and your call, just read as many threads as possible, and they should help you decide.
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New question: did you guys suddenly feel your appetite unleash around week 2? At first my appetite was so gone I was making myself take healthy high protein foods in for healing but I wasn’t hungry.

Ever since end of PT #2 yesterday, I feel I’ve turned into Ms PacMan! Lol! It’s like I put in a 2 hour leg day workout! So strange!
 
Iron girl, I don’t know if You are dealing with just the one knee or you have a second bad knee like me which makes things a bit harder. My new left knee doesn’t mind stairs, but my right one does. I can do a lunge squat ( step forward and bend leg like squat) with left leg but not with right cause right old knee can’t support bend / weight combination. My therapist said this would continue and get worse till right one was fixed, so he told me to do non weight bearing exercises for right knee , and new knee could do pretty much anything weight bearing or not. So for me it’s a trade off, knowing all the things I am doing like golf andpickleball are wearing out bad knee quicker. That’s why next spring right gets done. If your other knee is good , as knee heals you should be able to get back to what you love to do and new knee will just keep getting better.
 
My right side has been glued back together w mesenchymal stem cells in 2014 (when first allowed by FDA), I had a medial meniscus tear and torn labrum on the right. Fun! After the stem I’m 70-90% healed - but they are “talking” as I do PT and am not walking w a totally propert gait. I’m planning on doing another round of stem perhaps next year - and researching whether that will be here or out of country, where they’re able to do expanded stem procedures. Have an athlete friend who went to Jamaica and had his done - and had been amazing since!

My l knee wasn’t helped by the stem as the meniscus had been removed in 3 surgeries, but the right non surgery side was. Sooooo... if you haven’t had surgery for yours I’d look into stem! It’s amazing! The sad part is insurance doesn’t cover this, but it’s worth saving up for. Also my doc (the pain guy - I know him because he did my stem cells) said that your own marrow cells aren’t too viable after age 50, but umbilical are becoming available now especially out of country.

A trip to Jamaica and a few shots in my joints to heal my body? Sounds like Spring break to me!


Softtail said:
Iron girl, I don’t know if You are dealing with just the one knee or you have a second bad knee like me which makes things a bit harder. My new left knee doesn’t mind stairs, but my right one does. I can do a lunge squat ( step forward and bend leg like squat) with left leg but not with right cause right old knee can’t support bend / weight combination. My therapist said this would continue and get worse till right one was fixed, so he told me to do non weight bearing exercises for right knee , and new knee could do pretty much anything weight bearing or not. So for me it’s a trade off, knowing all the things I am doing like golf andpickleball are wearing out bad knee quicker. That’s why next spring right gets done. If your other knee is good , as knee heals you should be able to get back to what you love to do and new knee will just keep getting better.
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Happy Belated Thanksgiving! :martini: We had a quiet day, but I'm proud to say I made myself breakfast AND cooked a turkey breast! I swear it's the little things while getting your independence back!

Saw my doc Wed for my 2 week post op visit - all looks great. Found out my 2 holes above and below my main scar were for the Mako robot - that perplexed my home nurse and PT. Mystery solved. :scratch: Didn't get much in the way of kudos, but I'm at 90 degrees flexion and about 8 degrees extension. Staples out = miracle, and it didn't bother me a bit.

Since then I've been walking far more with just the cane or unassisted completely, which is so much nicer than that walker! I've been able to stand in the shower easier, and stand to prepare food / wash dishes... maybe I should have milked getting the husband to do that for longer. :rofsign: Going to go out and find some nice flat roads to take a real walk - our sidewalks here have too many bumps from earthquake motion. But I am antsy as can be today! Cabin fever supreme!

FINALLY was able to start lowering my percocet dose yesterday. Alternated a whole vs half, spreading the time out more. Today I'm trying 1/2 at a time only, every 4-6 hours, trying to see if I feel I need it. THAT is probably why I feel like a racehorse at the gait today! :fasthorse:

I *really* want to visit the gym and use some upper body machines... maybe I'm too early though. Just craving going out and being active! :kayak::bicycle1:

Overall I must say I'm thrilled with how I'm healing up. I hope my other Nimbles are doing well too!
 
Wow, what a good recovery you are having! Just remember that slow and easy wins this recovery!
 
@IronGirl6
You don't have to quote large amounts of posts in order to respond.
Just go down to the bottom of the page and start typing in the box where it says "Write your reply"and start typing.

This article tells you about quoting and how to quote small parts of a post, if you just want to discuss one particular aspect of a post:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/how-to-use-the-quote-feature.14729/
 
@sistersinhim - I was browsing this site and saw that you said you greatly prefer spinal over general. May I ask why? I was *terrified* of waking up, also have an artificial disc in my lumbar spine, so I opted for general. Would love to know your thoughts as I have 2 friends who may need a TKR too, and also for myself later later eons later if this needs to be revised in 20+ years.
 
I've had 11 surgeries, just on my knees. This isn't counting all the other numerous surgeries I've had through the years! All of these surgeries, but my last surgery, which was a tkr, were general anesthetic. I threw up after everyone of those previous surgeries for days, not to mention that awful foggy feeling, too. With the sedation and spinal, I woke up with no nausea and no hungover feeling at all. I pray I never have to have a general ever again! I was rolled into the operating room and woke up in the recovery room not remembering a thing. The doctor wouldn't let you wake up unless you wanted to be awake during the surgery. Some do just that, and watch. Not me!! I don't want to know a thing!
 
@sistersinhim - WOW! 11??? I thought 4 on one knee was bad this end! Yikes!

I’ve always had an easy time with anesthesia. My only problem came from a twilight type when I was in my 20s and had lipo - I did wake up. Actually broke the table & kicked the doctor! It was a scary situation - so when I heard spinal and sedation I had recurrent nightmares that something similar would happen. I was such a nervous wreck they insisted on general - and somehow had me out before I even knew what was going on! Didn’t even do the backward countdown lol - guess they figured I was a flight risk!

I have wondered if it caused more pain after surgery to have not gone the spinal route - but I think I’m doing pretty well. It was just the doctors asking, “you’re STILL in pain???” At day 5 (!!!) that had me worried I’d made a poor choice. But then again I did horribly on gabapentin - once I got rid of that everything has been better.

In fact happy to report that I’m now able to drop my mid day Percocet Doses in half - am and pm I take a whole when the pain is greater. I’ve retired the walker and am able to get around in the morning A at my stiffest - with just a cane, then after I’m warm I can walk slooooowwwwllllyyy without anything. Counting the days until I’m off everything completely and able to walk on hills and do all this stuff that’s been nearly impossible for a decade!!!

I know. PATIENCE. Lol. I’m being well behaved. Going to take a long walk thru the grocery store later. Shopping carts make excellent walkers in disguise!!
 
Kicked the doctor?!! I bet that was shock!

I used the shopping cart for therapy a lot!
 
It was quite an incident - the moment I woke up they wheeled me into a room and recorded me answering questions “were you in pain / was it bad” etc, I imagine so I couldn’t sue them.

However, the nurses were stunned and impressed, they wanted to know what I did in the gym to be so strong!

About to do more shopping cart therapy today! Lol
 
Another question for folks - did y’all have sensations of painful pokes / stabs at rest in recovery? Just had my 3 week anniversary, this has happened several times this last week. Yesterday I walked more, about 30m in the grocery store, but nothing out of ordinary... maybe just nerves reconnecting again?

My new plan is to go to a diff grocery store daily and walk w cart as walker, and just buy 1-2 things. They’ll probably think I’m nuts, but that’s nothing new lol.

Also doing my best to take less Percocet, but sometimes the pain still warrants taking it. Sometimes I walk unassisted, then I turn around and want the walker again. I assume this up and down is par for the course?

My doc said I’d be walking 1-2 miles by week 4 and was surprised at my 2 week follow up I still needed pain meds. Overly optimistic perhaps? LOL. I’m doing quite well I believe, but that now seems kinda nutty...

Oh but an exciting note - had pain doc appt, hubby wasn’t able to drive me. So had a good friend come with me - and I drove! Only 10m away and I was careful to wait for a Percocet until we were back (ouch), but had no problem getting in car. My work is paying off... yay!
 
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IronGirl6 said:
Another question for folks - did y’all have sensations of painful pokes / stabs at rest in recovery? Just had my 3 week anniversary, this has happened several times this last week. Yesterday I walked more, about 30m in the grocery store, but nothing out of ordinary... maybe just nerves reconnecting again?
Click to expand...
Yes, those sudden stabs are little electric shocks, created by the cut nerve endings as they try to reconnect. They're quite common and we sometimes call them zingers.
 
Ah yes, "zingers" - it's my experience that they occur intermittently for months, some more forceful than others. I think your OS (like mine) is overly optimistic on the recovery. Still needing pain meds is not uncommon - from the stories I've read on here. I couldn't imagine walking 1-2 miles at 4 weeks. I know some have, but I wouldn't pressure yourself to do any more than you are currently doing. Driving!!! Woohoo!! That is on my list for the next week or so. Keep up the great recovery. :yay:
 
I lucked out as it’s my left knee and an automatic car... but felt so good to drive again!

Yesterday I got to experience a fast walk thru uneven ground with muddy conditions - was home alone and had a sick horse. Imperative to get him up and walk him... of course the timing would be such. So I took the walker and hauled my behind out as fast as I could. Long story short it all ended well - horsie is fine - and I discovered I can move pretty fast and handle suboptimal conditions while remaining safe. I was a good bit sore last night, but woke up feeling ok! And I just passed the 100 degree flexion mark on my CPM! Think I’ll keep it one more week.

Week 2 I wondered if I’d made a mistake doing this. Today I’m excited - it’s finally setting in that the pain and disability I’ve known for eons is gone! I think this may be the best holiday season ever!!!
 
All right! What a good report! You are doing great! I'm glad you and your horse are OK.
 
Was reading some other threads and thought I’d clarify my in home PT and why I dig it so much.

We don’t do forced stuff. No “weight training”. Nothing like that.

I do slides and extensions to where I’m able. Balance modalities, sit to stand exercises, and walking. Functional motion. He verbally guides my gait, encourages good form, etc. I’m comfortable and move better after a session.

I’m in agreement on the gentle recovery - but happy I’m not developing bad habits with my stride,
Etc.

Almost time for my last in home PT visit. Gonna miss this guy, great conversations!

Also gonna be a little sore - yesterday we went to a giant store, parked at back of giant parking lot, and I pushed the cart as my secret walker. Purposely went up and down ever isle... slowly lol. Phone app says I did almost 3/4 mile! Time for some ice... gotta chill man lol.
 
Holy frijoles! :wowspring:I woke up today, walked to the bathroom without any assistance, cane or otherwise! I usually have felt stiff and uncertain in the morning! Additionally I did not feel the need for pain meds! :happydance:I’ll take a half before I start my exercises, but THIS is exciting! The return of my brain!!! Hurrah! Tomorrow will be 4 weeks. Thinking this is pretty good? :yahoo:Also steri strips are falling away, my scar is absolute artwork. Tried to upload pic to the proud scar thread but can’t for some reason.

Also the other day I was a passenger in a long car ride - almost 3 hours all together. While I was stiff afterward, the horrid pain and crunching is no more! It’s really setting in how badly I needed this. I am one grateful girl right now! Hope everyone out there is doing well also. My friends who are still waiting for surgery - you’re going to be thrilled in a month or so! Yippie!!!!:loveshwr:

Now if I can figure out how to sleep through the night again!? :mcoffee:Have had some biz stress, and I’ve been sleeping on my side again as long as I have a pillow between my legs. I toss and turn so I’m waking up all the time to adjust the pillow etc. Oh well, I’m exhausted, but thrilled about my healing none the less! :yawn::egypdance::roseshwr:

(Finally figured out how to use the emojis here from my phone... too much? :rotfl:)
 
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