TKR POCTDB recovery thread

Well last night was rather first “sitting challenge “ for Mr. Knee.

I play board games with a bunch of folks who have formed a 503(c) San Antonio Nerd Night, to function as a charity. We bring stuff that smaller charities need, supporting those with a great mission, but who may lack visibility or size to access funding. The groups supported vary in mission and reach. Last night was the back to school initiative for SAMM- our homeless shelter.

Mr. Knee sat for 5 hours in one place ( I was soundly beaten in most of the games) and then sat for another 90 minutes while visiting at pickleball. Add to that about 45 minutes of total driving.

This morning, Mr. Knee is just warm to the touch and is not swollen or stiff. I declare a victorious social outing and a good indication of the possibility of Mr. Knee being ready to “Go Back to Jail” (work) 3 weeks from today.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hmmm.....just walked a mile for the first time without the cane and had to stop 3 times...no stamina.
 
It's only just over a month since you had this major surgery. I think that walking for a mile without the cane is expecting too much of your new knee at this early stage of recovery.
Try to ease off your activity a bit. There's no need to rush.
 
That's great about your game day...sounds like a lot of fun!

And a mile...wow!! I'm only walking 10 minutes at a time so far. Actually I was thinking about upping that by 5 minutes today. Thanks for the inspiration :)

Be careful not to overdo it (says the person who tends to overdo things)
 
What a great charity! I love that idea. I don't think I knew you were in TX. It explains so much. lol. You can take a girl out of Texas, but you can't take TX out of the girl. I'm an Aggie.

I confirm your victory over Dictator Knee and commend you on your social outing.

I get you on No Stamina. I get to do one, maybe 2 outings or tasks per day, and then I'm wiped out.
 
Grrrrr....PT today.....

I was handed off to 4 different people in a 50 minute appointment. Had the conversation of what I wanted to do today with the first one and 8 minutes later ( I was on the bike for 10 minutes) the second one appears. “So do I need to have a conversation again with you?” “Nope...she told me what you talked about. She has too many patients so you are now mine.”

The appointment progresses....Next was the PT who assessed me originally, who started me on one exercise. The second one came back.....then left with 10 minutes left in the appointment by handing me off again to the fourth person...someone new. That person then puts me on a machine and does measurements post machine.
Between the 4 of them, it was a through workout. I was dripping with sweat at the end. My flexion measurements went down....hmmm....is that a function of different people measuring or is it real?

Post appointment, I had a chat with my friend the manager of the clinics about the lack of consistency. She was also my personal trainer in the house when I hired her to help me whip Mr Knee into a semblance of shape 4 years ago before an international vacation.

She said since this is their biggest clinic, the consistency issue was the biggest complaint. I also asked her to look at the treatment plan to see if it is consistent in progression. It seemed to me that many exercises did not have an identified purpose, or maybe no consistent explanation of the purpose.

Since she and I made great progress together with one way of doing things and discussions if/why items couldn’t/shouldn’t be done, I asked if it wouldn’t disrupt clinic operations if I could just have one therapist to work with. If that wasn’t possible here, then I would switch to a smaller clinic.

Also....if I was not showing the appropriate level of restraint (I.E: expecting too much) she was to let me know that also.

She laughed...” You aren’t going to be patient even if I tell you to be.” I sighed and told her I would try, especially if she thought my expectations of gains are too quick based on her review of the treatment plan.

PT again Friday. (I am practicing patience already.....)
 
Between the 4 of them, it was a through workout. I was dripping with sweat at the end. My flexion measurements went down....hmmm....is that a function of different people measuring or is it real?
At only 5+ weeks post-op, that PT session was far too much for your new knee and its decreased flexion is a reflection of that.

It's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start - your surgeon tested it was, before he finished your surgery - and it will gradually increase as your knee heals.

You can't speed up your recovery with exercise. In fact, if you exercise your new knee too much, you could slow down your recovery, by keeping your soft tissues inflamed and swollen.
 
@Celle
Only about 15% of the session worked the knee. It might be that the knee measured less in flexion because it was not as warmed up as the last time it was measured when the entire workout was just for Mr. Knee.

The rest of the workout was both ankles and both hips and my butt, all standing supported hanging on to bars or lying down.

The orders from the OS said work on all weaknesses due to my knee being so far out of alignment for so long.

This is why I have asked for the treatment plan to be reviewed to ensure that my expectations of what should be worked when are sound. If my expectations are not sound or should be done in a different order, than I understand the plan and am not unconsciously working against it. I know my hips are really weak, but it may make more sense to strengthen later. This is what I need to understand and have explained by PT.

Also, my mile walk was more of a barometer. My employer will expect that in 3 weeks with no cane. I needed to know where I was....so I know what to work on.
 
@luvcats
I am a Texan but have no strong Aggie/Longhorn preference. It could be because I did not grow up or go to college here. That was all in the Midwest.
 
One of my sisters is a Longhorn. I can't take the rivalry seriously unless someone is actively engaged in watching a game. As I am not a football fan and may be the only person to graduate from A&M without ever attending a game, this does not come up often.

I find the current practice of 'team' PT highly annoying. I feel that it basically gives them the chance to stuff in more patients without adding more staff by handing you off to whoever isn't with someone else right that exact minute. My facility only has one PT on duty at a time, but there are usually 3 patients there at a time with staggered arrivals and he hops between us all.
 
@luvcats
I agree about the team PT....but the more patients they have, the more $$$$ is made.
My system is the largest PT provider in San Antonio.
My friend who runs all of the 8 clinics constantly has to balance that “Team PT” approach with the patient numbers projected for budgeting and FTE.

Not all of her patients are like me, educated not only in the inner workings of the corporation but also in the PT side of the equation. My teacher is the person who is now being asked to fix the complaint ....
 
Well, I was boring on the knee front today.
Protested my house taxes, did a few crafts....Mr. Knee was silent.
 
Silent is very good from a new knee!
 
@Poctdb - can you tell me what your ibuprofen/tylenol cocktail looks like? I am on the same right now, but not sure I have it refined enough.... Thanks!
 
I was doing 500mg Tylenol every 4hrs and 75mg 2xday of Voltaren.... (but moved to Advil) - since stomach was not happy. Now I do 2xAdvil twice a day and 500mg Tylenol twice a day. Stomach is still mad, but I think some of it has to do with the fact I am still trying to excrete all the iron they pumped me up with in the hospital. I am also taking synthroid once a day and baby aspirin and colace twice a day. By the way - I hate taking pills period, but don't want to mess with my stomach....
 
Well my PT friend got back to me....HA!
The plan is sound....I am impatient.....what a surprise :good-bad:
Other weaknesses will be addressed”in later visits” and maybe with life long exercises.
That being said she assigned one therapist to me with instructions to answer all of my questions. She said it would be “staff development “ for him because he has never had a patient like me before. Hmmmm....I know her well enough to see her smirking....
But I did tell her I would bring my goniometer app and show her tomorrow....she did not know there was one.
 
@FitGal, if you are having any stomach problems at all, you need to be very cautious about taking any NSAIDs at all. Please don't try to experiment with this. It can be very dangerous to your health.

Contact your GP and talk about your stomach symptoms. It may be you need a prescription for something like omeprazole and pantoprazole to protect your stomach. Or, for some people, Celebrex (which is an NSAID, but works differently than others) does not irritate the stomach as much as products like Advil and Motrin.
 
@FitGal
My bottle of Tylenol says 2 caplets every 6 hours and I followed that as needed being very careful with the timing. My caplets are 500 mg. I never could tell a difference with the pain with the Tylenol by itself.
An anesthesiologist told me it works on different pain receptors than the ibuprofen so even if you do not feel it it is working. (Really....if I can’t feel less pain it is working? Seriously?)

I used everyday generic ibuprofen in the way I used it that worked for me prior to TKR. It was more than the standard dose on the bottle but was OS approved. Have you talked to your doc about your tummy?

I am not familiar with Oral Voltarin. I knew only of the topical gel.

I was taking 325 mg of aspirin every 12 hours as my anticoagulant and took it with the Tylenol.
 

Attachments

  • 34D0874C-E8F0-4029-96BE-10EB18D517B2.png
    34D0874C-E8F0-4029-96BE-10EB18D517B2.png
    88 KB · Views: 170
Off to game night....we are collecting new shoes for school kids.
Normally Thursday would be pickleball, but we all know why that is not happening.....

A joke: what did the buffalo say to his son as he dropped him off at school?

Bison......
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,167
Messages
1,596,863
BoneSmarties
39,356
Latest member
JanieMarie
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom