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TKR PolarBear60's Stryker Triathalon Journey (Left)

kneeper said:
I hear you. Once my first knee started feeling good I realized how bad the "good" knee was, I was looking forward to the second tkr.
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Everyone keeps saying now that the left leg is doing more work, the right leg will probably not bother me. Nope. Not the case. It still bothers me. Both were bad. Doc would have replaced either one, but the left was just a little worse.
 
Yeah Polar Bear!! We are neck in neck in our recovery and I too can see a jump in my stamina this past week. I was able to have friends over today for a few hours, not use my cane, make the main dish and a side dish and not have to elevate my foot!!! I was thrilled! :)
 
Stopped at a local hotel this morning to check on using their pool for hydrotherapy. It turns out I can if I come between 9 am and noon and pay them $5 each time. Sounds fair. It ought to be good and chilly during that time, so icing won't be a problem. I'm going to put together a program from the exercises in the Total Knee Replacement and Rehabilitation, Chapter 9, Pool Therapy.
 
Water therapy is fantastic for joint replacements @PolarBear60 -- I am so pleased for you that you have found an appropriate facility. I used the pool quite extensively in the early months of my THR recovery. It was very therapeutic, except when getting out and gravity took over -- enjoy :)
 
Ten and a half weeks. I've been driving regularly to PT thirty miles away. Today I took the next step in driving distance and drove the three hours to San Antonio for the weekend. I would have preferred to take one vehicle, but I need to get my windshield replaced Monday, and I hope to get my truck serviced and have the tires replaced on Tuesday. My husband has a doctor appointment and other things to do, so both vehicles (and a trailer) made the trek.

I drove with an ice pack on my knee. That helped a little. I was tired by the time we got here--I had to back track a few miles, because my husband had to change a tire on the trailer. Now we have to get a new tire early next week.

Tomorrow we relax at a friend's annual gathering to celebrate the 4th.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
Wow so awesome. I wish my new knee would not hinder me. And oh so know what u mean on non surgical leg. It's like 2 twins jelious of each other.

So glad things is getting better for you. Xxx


FaithMitchmommy
PKR December.1,2014
TKREV MARCH.2,2015
 
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Even though the pain as I stand from a chair is reduced from 5-6 down to the 3-4 range, I still seem to be having trouble getting up from chairs, toilet seats, and a low bed in our San Antonio house. It could be the anticipation of pain, even though it's reduced that makes me hesitate to "throw" myself to a standing position (that's what it seems like), but it feels more like I'm weak.

Is this a matter of weakened quads or something else?


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
I'm guessing it's weakened quads. Mine is better but sometimes still somewhat of a challenge. The cabin we stayed in at Flagstaff had a very low toilet seat and I found that challenging even though I handle chairs and beds okay. Hope you had a great 4th!

Roxie
 
Maybe I'm still tired from the three hour drive down to San Antonio, a bad bed, and forgetting my afternoon Tylenol yesterday at the party? We're cramming a lot of stuff into this five day period.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
Eleven weeks. For those of you wondering about returning to work at twelve weeks, I think it would be feasible for me to do so if I were working.

Today we had to drop my truck off for a windshield replacement at 8am. Then my husband held me hostage while we went shopping (he calls it running errands, but ladies and gents, he shops, and I know how you guys feel when you get dragged along). We got home around 2. That's when I realized I forgot to take my morning meds, so I took first meds of the day.

At 3:30, he went to get held mail (because our post office sucks and never delivers held mail when they are supposed to), and discovered our gas bill was nine times what it normally is. Took him to the customer service center and dropped him off to get in line to be seen while I drove to the glass place to pay the insurance deductible and get my keys before they closed. Back to the service center to wait with husband until we were seen, then he took me to pick up my truck. Followed him back to the house, dropped his truck off, and went to dinner.

A fairly full and active day, which is typical for what my days have been like for the last week or so. Knee doesn't hurt except upon standing from chairs and other low places. Pain is down to a 3-4 level for that. I am going to begin doing a few exercises outside of PT to try to get this gone. No real tight band feeling but I do feel a mild constriction when I haven't moved my knee for a little bit. Other than those pain indicators, all other limitations come from my non-operative knee.

Still a bit of darkened skin on the inner side of the knee. The scar is starting to blend in more. My husband noted the staple marks are almost gone. I still seem to have a sizable "dead zone" on the bottom outside of the knee joint, even though I've also noted some sensation returning in other random areas. I haven't measured, but visible swelling is mostly gone.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
That's a great report at 11 weeks, @PolarBear60 :yes!::happydance::yay:

PolarBear60 said:
Still a bit of darkened skin on the inner side of the knee. The scar is starting to blend in more. My husband noted the staple marks are almost gone. I still seem to have a sizable "dead zone" on the bottom outside of the knee joint, even though I've also noted some sensation returning in other random areas. I haven't measured, but visible swelling is mostly gone.
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I'm glad the swelling is nearly gone.

I had that area of darkened skin for several months. My OS said it is iron deposits, from the bleeding and bruising, and that it could last for life. However, it went away at about a year after surgery.

That dead zone might last for a while:
Numb area after TKR: how long will it last?
Mine is still there on my 3+ year old TKR, although it is smaller.
On the newer knee (almost 9 months old) the dead zone is much smaller and less noticeable.
 
11 weeks,,been a long journey ,glad your doing good Jean,,l will be reporting on my 11weeks later after p.t today, l thought it look like my knee was bending more yesterday,,l will have them measure it today,,
 
So impressed! I'm at 4-1/2 weeks and still pretty sedentary. To read about all you are able to do is very inspiring. How's the sleep going for you?
@sabbath, it's good to hear that you're making progress. I appreciate your being so frank about your struggles. If all we hear are reports of people climbing mountains and skateboarding at 11 weeks, it's a little discouraging for the rest of us, especially those whose legs had gone pretty far south before the surgery. I hope that you have an encouraging report (started to write tomorrow, but it's morning in your neck of the woods, so make that later today).
 
I think we all need to report to give a true picture of the real range of recoveries. Yes, some people are able to go back to work or other activities at four weeks, others at twelve, and still others need longer than that.

I think I've had a very good recovery, but that doesn't mean it's been a total breeze. I've tried to document challenges as well as what I've been able to do, both for my history and for someone coming along beside or after me. I want to be able to read this next year when I do my right knee to refresh my memory, because by then, I'm sure I'll remember I was running 10ks by now in my recovery (HA!).

Yay, @sabbath for it feeling like you have better ROM. No matter what the numbers say, if you're feeling better about it, things are improving.

@snowleopard , at 4 1/2 weeks I was resting a lot too between basic household chores. I've been following your recovery, and except for that awful incident on your patio (ow, ow, ow!), you're doing well. As an aside, I love snow leopards -- a truly gorgeous creature.

Oh, yes. Sleep. Sleep for me has been the same or better than pre-op. I wake up every couple of hours and turn over and go back to sleep or some variant. I figure I sleep when I need it. If I can't, I do something relaxing until I can.

Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
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I figured out my problem with lower seat heights. The distance from floor to the bottom of my knee is 19". I've reached the point where I can stand from a seat height of 19" or more with minimal pain. In other words, a 90 degree bend or less on my knee. Once the bend goes beyond 90 degrees, I simply don't have the quad strength yet to overcome that. A seat height of 15" ( coincidentally, the toilet seat height in our San Antonio house and in the upstairs bathroom in our other house) is a serious problem. We've worked on this in PT, but I hadn't measured the distance I needed to achieve before.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
l so agree with you on the sleep,,so much better then pre-op. Where all l did was worry over what was to become,, If l can not sleep at night l am lucky where l can sleep during the day,,But now since about the 8th week l am sleeping much better,,Thank You for leaving your history,, not only you the newbies but all of us benefit from reading each other journey, Not only do we get to follow the process we get to see the progress
 
I overdid it a little at PT yesterday -- as my knee reminded me at 4am. It's always me pushing a little too hard, not my therapist. Sigh. We'll have a little laugh about this on Tuesday.

I'm preparing to head to the local motel for my first pool session. I plan to be in the water for an hour, which means I may overdo it. I need to remind myself to work slowly and on form. I also need to pay attention to my body as I work and be willing to stop early if necessary.

I'll let you know how it goes. I think there's a jacuzzi there, but I know the pool will be cool this early in the morning. Ought to be quite an adventure.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
 
Jean,

Good luck with the pool. I have an appt today with an outpatient PT practice that has a pool and I'm looking forward to getting into a pool-based program. Once I get the basics from the PT, I'm going to use the pool at the Y.

In addition to rehabbing the R knee, I'm trying to strengthen the L so it can be replaced in mid-August (provided I got of the post-op Oxy in the next couple of weeks) LOL.

Christa


RTKA 8 June 2015
 
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