Well Smarties, I had a great visit with the nicest surgeon in New England, lol! He was truly pleased with my progress AND said he thinks I may have *turned a corner* because my flexion went up 5 degrees since last Wednesday. We talked about how I feel (not bad, just stiff & wonky) what I can/can't do (no walking downstairs *normal-style* yet, no bike yet, no knee to nose yet) and he was not concerned. He said walking downstairs is most often the last improvement to come, I'm super close to being able to ride the bike, and I may never be able to put my knee into my nose, but...that's ok, lol. He loved the term "Wonky!"
@Celle (and any other advisors who stated the same) he was in absolute agreement with you regarding how to walk down stairs. It definitely should not be forced, no weird positioning used to achieve it (who me?) and only done with good form. He's a stickler for good form with everything.
He thought my relaxed attitude about recovery in general was great and stressed just how important it is to be patient. The hated "P" word just always pops up, eh? Of course, I credited Bonesmart for much of it! If, in 4-5 weeks I am not progressing beyond 90 degrees flexion, we can *discuss* an MUA, but he really hopes I'll get there on my own and feels I have a fair chance. According to him, many patients have huge improvements between 9-15 weeks, so, I'm in good company.
Just because most of you are light-years ahead in the bendy department means absolutely nothing...so there, all you uber-bendy- Smartie pants, lol! Instead, he was really jazzed about my *sterling* zero extension, as am I.
He did say if I were still working and needed to be there full time, standing or sitting at a desk, he'd advise me to go for the MUA. He also said if my flexion was stuck around 50-70 degrees at this point in time (9 weeks) he'd recommend it. But, in my case, (retired, 90 degrees and moving forward) he just wants to see what develops. Works for me!
We talked about swimming and he reiterated the "No walking on sand/no going in ocean mantra," this year. Pool is ok. I'm cool with a pool for this year! I just have to find a new one because my old gym just closed; pffft!
He removed 2 of my protruding sutures and dang, that hurt! 'Twas bloody as well! He left the other 2 alone because he said they were close to coming out on their own and told me not to bother covering them with band-aids. He said my incision looks great and is healing well despite some bruising still there; yahoo!
As luck would have it, I sat in the waiting room next to a man who was probably close to 80 years of age and had obviously had a TKR. We struck up a conversation and he told me he was 3 weeks post-op with....*drum-roll* a bend of 110 degrees! When I gave him my stats and weeks, he gave me the look of pity and an "Oh dear, poor you," face. Naturally, I took an instant dislike to him, hahahaha! I related this conversation to my surgeon and he said, "The older you are the easier the recovery. Less muscle tissue=less pain, swelling, and more flexion sooner. An older nervous system also transmits less pain." Interesting, right?
One last thing: He offered a cortisone injection for my natural knee, 'cuz I made it clear it was bothering me more lately and I've no wish for another TKR this year. I declined it because they've just never really worked for me before. He asked what I was using for pain relief and I told him Tylenol, but he gave me one more Rx for Oxycodone, "just in case," since I have 5 more weeks of PT and now, a sometimes painful natural knee. How lucky am I? Very!
How cool is he? The coolest!:cool:
. Such a relief that must be. Slow or not, you're making progress - and doing it the mostly pain-free way.
That said, it doesn't feel one bit different than it did last Friday at 88 degrees. Still, nice to be able to have it in my official report to the OS tomorrow, eh? In a different position, I got it over 100 degrees, I think about 104.
)
I'm patient.
United States
