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TKR Pheebs52 Recovery Discovery Journey May 22

Congrats on the accomplishments! Stairs and sofa. Add me to the group of Smarties who have stair avoidance. Up was ok, but down...not my friend. I have not tried stairs yet. I pass by, wave to them and keep walking.
 
you're doing great Pheebs, functional even at a lower r.o.m. than expected to perform those movements such as tying shoe laces. just think what you'll be doing when you achieve your complete r.o.m. congratulations!:flwrysmile:
 
In all seriousness Liam, this has been puzzling to me for a couple of weeks now. I felt fairly functional at 4 weeks, yet....crummy flexion; pffft! Now, at 6 weeks, I really am much more functional. There was some sort of "Great Leap Forward," to quote Chairman Mao. I don't pretend to understand, I just....*do stuff.* It seems to work. Would I like more flexion? You bet. Will I get more? I think so, but I think it'll just be a long time coming. In the interim, I really can't complain. I still have quite a bit of morning stiffness and then a lesser amount of stiffness once I get going. I'm sleeping well (7 hours, unbroken) I don't have any sharp pain, just some dull aches for the most part, I can do just about everything I'd like to do, and my energy level has increased. In summary, I can easily wait for more flexion to arrive.
 
In a way, I agree with you, Pheebs. I can do those things, such as tying my shoes and picking up things off the floor, without bending my knees at all. I keep my legs straight and bend down from the waist. But, as you say, that does depend on having good extension. But, doing them that way I'm not obeying the advice of my chiropractor, who says "Bend your knees, not your back."

Similarly, we can probably all walk completely stiff-legged, by either throwing our leg out sideways or lifting one hip too much. And walking up the stairs one foot at a time and doing a backwards rotation on the bike are always easier than the opposite way.

I think the figures I quoted from the article refer to doing those things the proper way, such as walking with a correct gait, or not stressing your back and hips.
 
Celle, I'm actually walking pretty well over the last week and only occasionally slip into a semi, stiff-legged gait, mostly when I'm tired at night. Oddly enough, I can do a deep knee bend, not that I go out of my way to do so, just have done some without thinking as in picking something (or a furry someone) off the floor. My leg seems to bend to 90 degrees in several different ways, ( I do a great curtsy, sitting at my kitchen table, going up the stairs) but...not in that prone, heel-slide posture, and that's how PT measures for reasons that escape me. I'm sure you're right about the figures from the article, but I also can't help but feel that some of us just bend or heal differently with respect to certain abilities? I really do find it all a bit confusing, but, I basically stopped thinking about the *numbers* a few weeks ago and just concentrated on all I can do now that I couldn't do before the TKR. I'm much happier that way.:SUNsmile:
 
And, Pheebs.....that's exactly what we usually tell people to focus on - what you can do that you didn't before and not any numbers! So you've got it right! The numbers that are out there are just a guide and not absolute.
 
Pheebs52 said:
I do a great curtsy, sitting at my kitchen table, going up the stairs) but...not in that prone, heel-slide posture, and that's how PT measures for reasons that escape me. I'm sure you're right about the figures from the article, but I also can't help but feel that some of us just bend or heal differently with respect to certain abilities? I really do find it all a bit confusing, but, I basically stopped thinking about the *numbers* a few weeks ago and just concentrated on all I can do now that I couldn't do before the TKR. I'm much happier that way.
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Heel slides lying down are hard and they never seem to measure as much as bending your knee in other ways. I think they're a waste of time. Doing heel slides while sitting on a chair is better.

I agree with you that what you can do is far more important than the numbers. It seems that it's mostly the PTs who are number-obsessive and they infect the rest of us.

I didn't do any PT at all for my last TKR (I've had 3 knee replacements) and minimal PT for the one before that.
Consequently, my ROM has never been measured. Both my knees are strong and reliable. They straighten fully and bend to an estimated 125-130 degrees.

My surgeon doesn't measure ROM either. He looks at my knees and says "Show me what you can do" - and I can do everything I want to with them.
 
Those ROM numbers are straight up math and more predictors about activity than they are absolute guarantees. My OS just moved my legs around and pronounced me to be doing well. Later when he dictated his note, he gave my flexion as 115 and extension as 0/2. Mr. Shoes, who was with me, said in the car, "He just pulled those numbers out of his (posterior)." But I said they were pretty much spot on to what the PT measured. The number isn't the important thing. The functionality is.

My OS and I talked most about what I was able to do. Tie my shoes, walk around the mall, go up and down stairs, get pots out from inside low cabinets, boxes off of high shelves, drive, run errands. He said I'll just get better from here on. The point of the surgery was to give back that level of function. Those numbers... just part of a report.
 
Jamie, phew, it's great to know I've finally got something right in this very strange recovery process!:yes:
 
Celle and SusieShoes, I'm in agreement with both of you. I feel as though I can do a lot for just 6 weeks post-op!

Funny that you mentioned how the OS measured Susie; mine did the same at my last check-up, lol. I won't see him again until 7/25, but I think he'll pleased with my functionality. Maybe I should just walk in there and curtsy, lol.
 
Speaking of PTs and numbers: I went to the place at my corner for a massage for my neck and shoulders to the same PT who couldn't help me with my pre op knee. I told him I had had a post-op PT woman come to the apartment for 4 timesnow, mostly to help me walk again. He doesn't do house visits so he can't be jealous. I told him what she had guestimated, but one week ago.
He said it was probably better one week later.
So he took out his thingamagig...forgot the name.(stop that giggling!)
And with the apparently standard prone heel slide it was 98, with effort to point of pain 110. He said : "good for 5 weeks" Extension -2.
I said I was able to go up stairs foot over foot but not down. He said I needed a bit more flexion and stability to do that and he too said 120 for full rotation on stationary bike. Predicted in 2 weeks I might get to that...and said not to force it. Good man!
Seems like that's what numbers PTs learn here, as I read on a German language website just yesterday the same numbers. FWIW.
 
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That's great news VW54! Now get ready, cause Week 6 seems to be a week of big, positive changes for many here, self included! Just think, you'll be a TKR SuperStar by the time you attend the Spa Boot Camp!:yes!:
 
Celle, just to clarify, I don't do those silly, prone heel-slides at home, just for measuring at PT. I find them awkward, frustrating and useless, so tossed them early on. Instead, at home, I'm a dedicated "Throne-Slider," and "Chair-Slider" with decent results. Not stellar yet of course, but I'd say 90 degrees comfortably, perhaps even a smidge more.
 
You ladies go it just right, it's what you can do that counts. And at what number it is doesn't mean squat! As far as rotations on a bike, it depends on how high the seat is to what your ROM will be. Nothing in this journey is an exact number! So, don't worry about numbers!
 
A comment about your surgeons being able to ascertain your ROM just by looking....remember they have seen thousands of knees! They don't need a measuring tool. They know what the numbers are just by watching you bend and flex your knee. That's why they get the big bucks! :heehee:
 
I gave up all my stretching exercises and heel slides at week 12 and just got on with normal life and my knee has responded really well, getting to the stage where I'm not thinking about it now, I'm more aware of other knee now which is getting replaced next Feb, in fact I was down on the beach walking the dog today when it semi gave out from under me and I thought 'just you wait lefty you're gonna get sorted big time!!!'
 
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