What lovely, helpful neighbours you have, Jean. I'm glad they stopped you from doing too much, as well.
TKR PolarBear60's Stryker Triathalon Journey (Left)
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Angel1978
Sr Bonesmartie
Great for helpful neighbors. Some of our yard is down hill. Thank goodness my hub can do it. I try help some. Xxxx good luck to you.
FaithMitchmommy
PKR December.1,2014
TKREV MARCH.2,2015
FaithMitchmommy
PKR December.1,2014
TKREV MARCH.2,2015
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PolarBear60
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6 Week Update
Tuesday will be six weeks since my knee was replaced. Overall, I'm quite pleased. Today, I'm a little achy with lower back pain -- not sure if it's related or not. I'm also going to stop in at the clinic tomorrow when I'm in town for physical therapy. I have one of those little infections on the edge of the fingernail -- a hangnail, right? Well, ordinarily, I wouldn't worry, but with the knee...best to be safe. @Jamie or others, thoughts?
I've been blessed with physical therapists who all have said, "If it hurts, don't do it." The tight band around the knee seems to be reducing. I'm gradually adding in more household and yard tasks, but I'm not comfortable doing it all yet. I definitely have to pace myself. I changed sheets over the weekend, which the timeline says I shouldn't do before ten weeks. Sorry. It needed to be done, and I had no trouble doing it.
On Saturday, I rode the riding lawn mower with no difficulty, iced, then stood for two hours and watched while my neighbors cut up and disposed of our tree that fell in the storm. I took them to lunch, and iced when I got home.
I've been using only Tylenol three times a day coupled with an Aleve at bedtime for pain relief since two and a half weeks after surgery. The knee is still mildly swollen, noticeable mostly through a periodic tightness, which stretching and bending seems to help relieve. Ice, of course, is my friend.
I haven't been using my cane much this week, but I take it with me when I leave the house (I forgot to bring it to lunch on Saturday but had no trouble).
On the brain fog front, I've committed to resuming my blog schedule, and so far, that's going well. I began watching my George Carlin collection of DVDs. Maybe his word usage observations will prod some creative juices.
As long as this fingernail infection doesn't cause problems elsewhere, I'm feeling good.
Tuesday will be six weeks since my knee was replaced. Overall, I'm quite pleased. Today, I'm a little achy with lower back pain -- not sure if it's related or not. I'm also going to stop in at the clinic tomorrow when I'm in town for physical therapy. I have one of those little infections on the edge of the fingernail -- a hangnail, right? Well, ordinarily, I wouldn't worry, but with the knee...best to be safe. @Jamie or others, thoughts?
I've been blessed with physical therapists who all have said, "If it hurts, don't do it." The tight band around the knee seems to be reducing. I'm gradually adding in more household and yard tasks, but I'm not comfortable doing it all yet. I definitely have to pace myself. I changed sheets over the weekend, which the timeline says I shouldn't do before ten weeks. Sorry. It needed to be done, and I had no trouble doing it.
On Saturday, I rode the riding lawn mower with no difficulty, iced, then stood for two hours and watched while my neighbors cut up and disposed of our tree that fell in the storm. I took them to lunch, and iced when I got home.
I've been using only Tylenol three times a day coupled with an Aleve at bedtime for pain relief since two and a half weeks after surgery. The knee is still mildly swollen, noticeable mostly through a periodic tightness, which stretching and bending seems to help relieve. Ice, of course, is my friend.
I haven't been using my cane much this week, but I take it with me when I leave the house (I forgot to bring it to lunch on Saturday but had no trouble).
On the brain fog front, I've committed to resuming my blog schedule, and so far, that's going well. I began watching my George Carlin collection of DVDs. Maybe his word usage observations will prod some creative juices.
As long as this fingernail infection doesn't cause problems elsewhere, I'm feeling good.
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JennyLynne
post-grad
Great update!! I'm sure George Carlin will get the creative juices going! (Not sure the impact it would have on my accounting and finance work, ha!)
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PolarBear60
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Incision at 6 weeks post-op:
![[Bonesmart.org] PolarBear60's Stryker Triathalon Journey (Left)](https://bonesmart.org/forum/attachments/imageuploadedbybonesmart-forum1433249101-033954-jpg.31727/ "[Bonesmart.org] PolarBear60's Stryker Triathalon Journey (Left)")
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
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PolarBear60
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OS's nurse said not to worry about the hangnail infection. I feel as if I may live now.
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
JennyLynne
post-grad
Glad you were given another chance at life! ;)
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PolarBear60
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Yeah, @tigz , normally, I wouldn't worry about an infected hangnail, but with all the attention given to infection, I was worried. I felt much more at ease after they said not to worry. It did appear to matter that I'm six weeks post-op, so I don't know how close to surgery date would be an issue.
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
sabbath
member
sounds like your doing good jean,I'm happy for you,,6 weeks today for me too,,my results are lacking a little but hanging in there,,the V.A called today and set up p.t starting Monday for me,,I was hoping they forgot about me,,I was going to try it on my own,Oh well all you guys went thru it,guess its my turn
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PolarBear60
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The VA offered me hydrotherapy. Since I don't have access to a pool, I may take them up on it.
The VA scheduled my re-eval exam for the end of June.
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
The VA scheduled my re-eval exam for the end of June.
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
So sorry I missed your tag yesterday about the hangnail infection. I would have told you the same that you heard from your nurse! No need to be concerned. Glad you were able to find this out quickly so you didn't worry.
Do watch your activity level. Your knee is still a bit puffy with some swelling. Even more icing and elevating will help that, if it's possible for you. I'd say you're doing just great for 6 weeks!
Do watch your activity level. Your knee is still a bit puffy with some swelling. Even more icing and elevating will help that, if it's possible for you. I'd say you're doing just great for 6 weeks!
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PolarBear60
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Thank you, @Jamie. I did worry a little, but I was relieved to get an answer quickly this afternoon. I think you're right about the activity level, and I suspect that's why the last two days have been the worst for me since the surgery -- which isn't very bad, but I have felt generally bad and achy. I napped later this afternoon. I want to get a haircut tomorrow, but I think I'll limit the rest of my activity to computer work, finding a way to ice and elevate while I do it.
Despite feeling kind of bad, my physical therapy session today indicated a strengthening in my leg.
Despite feeling kind of bad, my physical therapy session today indicated a strengthening in my leg.
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PolarBear60
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Got the hair cut today and scooped the litter boxes (some things will not wait). Sat in on a couple webinars after icing, but that was too much. Shifted to my recliner with ice packs and took a nap.
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
JennyLynne
post-grad
Sounds like a pretty good day (litter box aside)!
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Kansas Teacher
graduate
Jean,
It sounds to me like you are doing great for just being a bit ahead of me. I'm not sure I could have stood for 2 hours without my IT band tightening up. I'm glad the tree missed your house. In a house we lived in previously, we had some huge maple trees in the backyard and, after a storm, lost some very big limbs. Fortunately, we'd had them trimmed so none came down on our roof but it sure can happen.
Keep up the great work!
Roxie
It sounds to me like you are doing great for just being a bit ahead of me. I'm not sure I could have stood for 2 hours without my IT band tightening up. I'm glad the tree missed your house. In a house we lived in previously, we had some huge maple trees in the backyard and, after a storm, lost some very big limbs. Fortunately, we'd had them trimmed so none came down on our roof but it sure can happen.
Keep up the great work!
Roxie
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PolarBear60
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The lower back pain and an observation:
I've noticed a number of people complain about lower back pain. I'm experiencing it this week, making this my worst week (but not really, stay tuned for exciting news, too) so far. Funny that it's ta-da! -- the infamous sixth week, when everyone is whining. I haven't found any reference to this in our library (please point me in the right direction if I've missed an article), but I think this is another "to be expected thing" in our recovery.
I had physical therapy today and mentioned it to my student therapist (who is awesome and leaving me next week to go back to school in Tennessee, boo hoo!) who said she'd discuss it with James, the therapist. James says this is pretty normal for people with lower extremity work. It's part of our whole system compensating, then, when the problem gets fixed, it has to readjust again. As I was leaving today's session, he mentioned I might be a little sore later and that ice is my friend. I asked about ice or heat for the back, and he recommended ice. He said the back is pretty angry right now, so ice will help soothe it.
Now for the exciting news, despite my back bothering me, my week in therapy has had several advancements. We've started working on things where I can see they will help me with getting in and out of chairs and going up and down stairs. They tried me on things that were initially too tough, so we backed down to a lower level, and when I was done at the lower level, knees and back had loosened up enough so I could do what we'd started trying to do.
They have been very careful to tell me not to do something if I hurts, so we've tread this minefield carefully and wisely. In one case, I asked what they were doing was supposed to do for me, and I received an excellent explanation. We've had very interactive sessions, and this first year student is going to be a very solid physical therapist when she completes her training. Her mentor is very knowledgable, and I'm thrilled to be working with them. I discussed how so many people seem to have therapists intent upon causing pain, and we were both shaking our head in amazement.
So. It appears back pain may be a normal part of the body mechanics adjusting to their new normal, and ice is still our friend. Thoughts? If this is so, can we get an article added to the library to help prepare people for it?
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
I've noticed a number of people complain about lower back pain. I'm experiencing it this week, making this my worst week (but not really, stay tuned for exciting news, too) so far. Funny that it's ta-da! -- the infamous sixth week, when everyone is whining. I haven't found any reference to this in our library (please point me in the right direction if I've missed an article), but I think this is another "to be expected thing" in our recovery.
I had physical therapy today and mentioned it to my student therapist (who is awesome and leaving me next week to go back to school in Tennessee, boo hoo!) who said she'd discuss it with James, the therapist. James says this is pretty normal for people with lower extremity work. It's part of our whole system compensating, then, when the problem gets fixed, it has to readjust again. As I was leaving today's session, he mentioned I might be a little sore later and that ice is my friend. I asked about ice or heat for the back, and he recommended ice. He said the back is pretty angry right now, so ice will help soothe it.
Now for the exciting news, despite my back bothering me, my week in therapy has had several advancements. We've started working on things where I can see they will help me with getting in and out of chairs and going up and down stairs. They tried me on things that were initially too tough, so we backed down to a lower level, and when I was done at the lower level, knees and back had loosened up enough so I could do what we'd started trying to do.
They have been very careful to tell me not to do something if I hurts, so we've tread this minefield carefully and wisely. In one case, I asked what they were doing was supposed to do for me, and I received an excellent explanation. We've had very interactive sessions, and this first year student is going to be a very solid physical therapist when she completes her training. Her mentor is very knowledgable, and I'm thrilled to be working with them. I discussed how so many people seem to have therapists intent upon causing pain, and we were both shaking our head in amazement.
So. It appears back pain may be a normal part of the body mechanics adjusting to their new normal, and ice is still our friend. Thoughts? If this is so, can we get an article added to the library to help prepare people for it?
Jean
LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005
BananasKnees
member
I so hope that the lower back pain I have been experiencing is due to body mechanics readjusting. I also have stenosis and was hoping that the new knees would be helpful with pain experienced while walking. So far, I don't know if it will although it is somewhat better than before surgery. I wish I had some idea of how long I should wait to see improvement before pursuing other options. I have discussed having an epidural again, although I would like to limit those as much as I can.
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Kansas Teacher
graduate
That's what both my PT and OS told me about my nagging IT band pain and some ankle achiness -- that my body is readjusting to my new gait, and body mechanics. In the meantime, I try to just stretch and I guess it will calm down in time. There is an article in the library about IT band pain.
Roxie
Roxie
