TKR PolarBear60's Stryker Triathalon Journey (Left)

[Wanttobebiking]

Leaves are still pretty next door here in Minnesota. Hope all goes well for your husband in San Antonio.

 

[PolarBear60]

Gilina, relaxing and enjoying the trip is exactly why I love the train. My grandmother had a cabin up north near Hayward. I have fond memories of a few times we spent up there in the summer on the lake. When I was younger, the cabin was very rustic, including an outhouse. In the 1980s, Grandma built a fancy new two bedroom cabin with indoor plumbing, including a dishwasher! Quite the place. Someone else owns both places now, and they are getting memories of their own.

 

[wings]

@PolarBear60, just catching up on your thread. Welcome home for a short while .

Hoping the procedure gives your husband a boost.

I think it would be wonderful to travel by train - put that on my to do list.

Do y'all have an antique store?

Enjoy your Wisconsin trip!

 

[PolarBear60]

No, we don't have an antique store (but we could fill one). I started traveling either by train or motor vehicle once I retired, and we love the train. I love not being treated like a criminal when I travel.

 

[Gilina]

My grandmother had a cabin up north near Hayward. I have fond memories of a few times we spent up there in the summer on the lake.

My family still owns the summer lake cottage my grandparents had (though most of the land was sold off in the 1940s) and it had an outhouse, too. It is only 5 miles from where we live now--part of the reason we moved here.

Enjoy your train trip. Best way to see the country.

Gilina

 

[wings]

If you had an antique store, I was going to plan a road trip . I haven't been in Cental Texas in a long time. I do have a trip to Marble Falls planned for February.

 

[PolarBear60]

Had to take the truck in for service today. Loaner car is a Lincoln MKZ. I don't know how people get in and out of sedans. It's as if my tail is sitting on the road. Thankfully, it has a grab handle I can use to leverage myself out.


Jean

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

 

[Celle]

Our son has a Mitsubishi FTO. It's like a two-door sports car. If he gives us a lift to the airport, I have to sit in the back seat, which means squeezing through the door and getting behind the front passenger seat. I can manage getting in all right, but either my son or my husband has to help pull me out.

 

[Slainte]

I am riding to work in the back seat of a Toyota Corolla. Just have to drag myself across the seat and hope I have my foot tucked in enough for the door not to hit it!

 

[PolarBear60]

My steroid injection did exactly what it needed to do and not much more. It got me through the vacation with minimal pain and discomfort. Now, I deal with it until December.


Jean

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

 

[Raffs]

Just caught up with your thread. Sounds like things are going pretty well for you - that's great to hear. Are you planning to have a RTKR in December?

 

[PolarBear60]

Hey, Raffs! The current plan for the RTKR is April, 2016. The scheduling works out better for that date. On the other hand, it's feasible the knee has other plans. So far, I can deal with it.

 

[Raffs]

I may - and I stress only may - consider having my left knee done in April 2016. If so, we can share the joys of recovery together!

 

[KarriB]

I tried to get a cortisone shot in my left knee, but just couldn't coordinate with work. Plus I know that in a few weeks I'm going to have to schedule 3 shots, 3 weeks in a row, the shots were ordered a few weeks ago. I have spring 2016 in my head, but keep hoping it may not have to do that. I'm feeling your pain, Jean.

 

[PolarBear60]

That would be cool, Raffs. On the train returning from a great visit with my parents in Wisconsin. The right knee is still behaving.

I used the other seat in my roomette to help keep my extension good on the way up. I'll probably do the same on the way back. I've been keeping it bent a lot, and it felt good to remind everything what it feels like to be fully extended.


Jean

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

 

[PolarBear60]

Six and a half months post-op:

The dead spot to the left of my incision seems to be regaining sensation. It's a slow process, but I'm wondering if one reason for the extended numbness may be related to my surgeon needing to do extensive work on that side. Maybe more healing was needed there, and as that gets completed, the sensation may be restored. Just guessing. Probably way off base.


Jean

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

 

[Celle]

Jean, the numb area on my right knee is only just starting to become less numb, almost 4 years after surgery.

 

[PolarBear60]

Had my six (and a half) month follow up today for my knee. Very informal, almost social, visit. He asked about the trip. He asked if the injection in the right knee helped. It did! I mentioned I have long periods when I don't think about the left knee but there's kind of a hard to describe tight area just underneath the dead zone area that shows up every now and then. All perfectly normal, and it doesn't bother me. He asked about my hand. I told him there's just a small spot where pressure bothers it, and I'm working on that.

He said he wants to see me again at the one year mark, and I told him if all went according to plan he'd be doing my other knee then. He said to see him in March for the pre-op and we'd schedule it. He offered multiple times that if there was anything he could do for me in the interim to let him know. Love this guy. Very pleased with his surgical work and he's a personable human being.

 

[PolarBear60]

Seven month report, and all is well.

I've been struggling to characterize how my knee feels. I no longer have "that tight band" feeling. I can't really say the knee is stiff, because it isn't. There's a mild soreness in the skin and the tissue under the skin on top of and to the outside of the knee. Below a pain level of one but not zero. I think some of it is nerve regeneration as I mentioned in my last report, but I think it's also the final phases of healing from the strain placed upon everything during the surgery. It's mild and doesn't bother me, but I'm aware of it. I'm confident it's normal, and I'm sharing in case anyone else is wondering.

The right knee is still mostly behaving. The steroid shot from September seems to be mostly holding. I'll discuss with my internist at next month's semi-annual appointment if I should go for another shot or wait and see. Since I'm planning for replacement in April, I think January will be the cutoff for another shot. I had one in my left knee last December and could barely walk during the last two weeks before my replacement, so mid-January may be the best balance for me.


Jean

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

 

[KarriB]

I hope the steroid shot tides you over, Jean. I'm in the middle of Euflexa shots right now and hoping they work for me. The TKR seems to be holding up well.