KarriB
Former BoneSmart staff member
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TKR Pheebs52 Recovery Discovery Journey May 22
- Thread starter Pheebs52
- Start date
knit2tog
senior
Love it! 
sandi4213
graduate
Pheebs , after seeing your comments on many posts I finally started reading your thread a couple of days ago. I just finished, whew! I feel like I missed out on so much: t-shirts, dance parties, shoe shopping, and on, and on. Seriously, it has been very enjoyable catching up with you and good to see your progress. Keep up the good work 
OP
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Pheebs52
big-cheese
Well thanks @sandi4213! It's always great to hear from someone much further along the recovery road! It's also not too late to get a T-Shirt, attend the dance party and recommend your favorite shoes for recovery.
I can't think of any better exercise than dancing, except for swimming. Hey, how about dancing in the water! Yeah, now that sounds like a super workout! That's one way to up our cardio and knee strength! But, you know I'm just kidding. None of us can do that yet! But, one day!!
liam2015
post-grad
@sistersinhim ~ i have to agree with you, there is no better exercising than dancing (at least for me). up until my knee got so weak and sore climbing up a flight of stairs to the yoga studio, i was taking Zumba classes and Yogadance. our instructor put together the best playlists using all genres of music. she even had us doing a line dance to the song "blurred lines" by robin thicke (i know, lyrics controversial but i love the tune); also bollywood, rap, middle eastern, salsa, you name it. it was so hilarious learning the line dance; we would often turn the wrong way and bump into each other...lol. prior to that i took salsa lessons (no partner though) which i also loved. i think most exercise is more fun with music.
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Pheebs52
big-cheese
Wow, Liam2015, when you say you can dance, you CAN really dance; brava! When put the tunes on, I just kinda...well...boogie around. 
Hey IowaNana, I've missed you! How are you this week? Thanks for that very sweet compliment and your encouragement! Now, I'll let you in on a little secret....I just did a* Frankenwalk,* foot-over-foot, up my 13 stairs. Yikes, it was really exciting!
I know, I know, it doesn't take much; hah!
Hey IowaNana, I've missed you! How are you this week? Thanks for that very sweet compliment and your encouragement! Now, I'll let you in on a little secret....I just did a* Frankenwalk,* foot-over-foot, up my 13 stairs. Yikes, it was really exciting!
I know, I know, it doesn't take much; hah!
knit2tog
senior
Celebrate every little bit of progress. You took on those stairs and mastered them!
Lilli215
senior
Well done Pheebs, took me till about 11 weeks before I could go up foot over foot, I found coming down foot over foot easier and had managed that by about week 7. I still struggle a bit first thing in the morning coming downstairs as I'm all over stiff but as the day goes on and the joints loosen up I'm fine. Happy 4th July 
Oooh!
Very exciting! Do tell was it with holding on or free hand?
I ask because I can do my 15 steps but holding on to railing and with someone next to me on other side. Thus far only every other day as per instructions from Physiotherapist.
I'm to try doing the last step down. But I cannot. (I've tried every day since last Wednesday.)
I haven't been able to in almost year now, except on the day when I was told my operation day, and then it was only 5 steps w adrenalin pumping.
Very exciting! Do tell was it with holding on or free hand?
I ask because I can do my 15 steps but holding on to railing and with someone next to me on other side. Thus far only every other day as per instructions from Physiotherapist.
I'm to try doing the last step down. But I cannot. (I've tried every day since last Wednesday.)
I haven't been able to in almost year now, except on the day when I was told my operation day, and then it was only 5 steps w adrenalin pumping.
SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Yay for stairs! It feels kind of amazing, your legs doing that. One more milestone on the road to getting back your mobility and freedom. It still feels a bit "forced" for me to go up the stairs foot over foot. Going down came more naturally and is more fluid. Going up... I have to think about it. And yet it's easy enough. More of a mental thing, stair climbing.
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Pheebs52
big-cheese
Well, yesterday was my Week 6 Kneeversary and I must say, for me at least, a lot of positive changes have occurred in just the last few days; whoohoo! I also stood up from my very low and soft sofa *hands free* last night; sweet! I didn't even realize I was doing until I was doing it, lol. And no, there were no drugs involved; hah!
Lilli, I don't think I'm ready for trying the *down* portion of stairs just yet, because that was the most painful and hardest thing for me to do in the several months after tearing my meniscus. I think I may have "Down Stairs PTSD; hah! Still, I love that you were able to do it so naturally; cool beans! I'll be observing the 4th of July on television this year, but that's ok, I have a lifetime of being on the front lines for the big, Boston show.
VW54, hahaha, no, I didn't do it *free-hand*....and doubt I'll be attempting that anytime soon, lol. I used the railing, but no cane (how bold!) and no one was beside me. It was very exciting to not feel that OA pain or the post-op pain, but boy, was I awkward. Frankenstein has nothing on me! BTW, I also find that last step the most difficult....weird, huh?
SusieShoes, I think you hit the nail on the head with stairs being more of a mental thing once the knee or knees have recovered sufficiently to make the attempt. Yep, I'm just so tired of doing the gimpy-walk up those 13 stairs, mostly because it really bothers my lower back and my bionic hip, both of which have taken a beating with the TKR. So, that was a large part of my incentive to give it a whirl. I don't have that same incentive for going down, lol.
Lilli, I don't think I'm ready for trying the *down* portion of stairs just yet, because that was the most painful and hardest thing for me to do in the several months after tearing my meniscus. I think I may have "Down Stairs PTSD; hah! Still, I love that you were able to do it so naturally; cool beans! I'll be observing the 4th of July on television this year, but that's ok, I have a lifetime of being on the front lines for the big, Boston show.
VW54, hahaha, no, I didn't do it *free-hand*....and doubt I'll be attempting that anytime soon, lol. I used the railing, but no cane (how bold!) and no one was beside me. It was very exciting to not feel that OA pain or the post-op pain, but boy, was I awkward. Frankenstein has nothing on me! BTW, I also find that last step the most difficult....weird, huh?
SusieShoes, I think you hit the nail on the head with stairs being more of a mental thing once the knee or knees have recovered sufficiently to make the attempt. Yep, I'm just so tired of doing the gimpy-walk up those 13 stairs, mostly because it really bothers my lower back and my bionic hip, both of which have taken a beating with the TKR. So, that was a large part of my incentive to give it a whirl. I don't have that same incentive for going down, lol.
kmak81230
post-grad
Congrats on the upward progress Pheebs! Like you, the downstairs is my mental block - and poor flexion doesn't help. There is one staircase at work with a solid railing and short steps that I have been practicing on - it's not pretty! Stairs, low sofa maneuvering, and friskiness in one week - I'd say that's a week for the ages 
Pheebs, that is a huge step, conquering those steps! It's another red-lettered day for you, especially when you add in the no-hands sofa raise!
becticu
graduate
@Pheebs52, now I am amazed at getting off your low sofa with no push off! That is truly great! It is difficult. I did finally accomplish that after first surgery and oh you should see me now. It is quite the picture of Grace...not! That will be a ways down the road for me now! I told my husband I remind myself of a baby bird with real long legs learning to walk...okay maybe a bird wasn't the best analogy...giraffe maybe?
Congrats on the stairs! That's a great accomplishment! I agree with you and Susie that the stairs are a mental thing for me. I've tackled the going up, but am still doing step at a time down. I've been taking them one step at a time going down for so long that I don't have the confidence to take them foot over foot. I have adjusted and am walking down the stairs straight on. For the last year, I've been doing a sideways hobble down the stairs to minimize the pain.
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Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum
