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PKR QdogPa recovery

Fairly cold, rainy, dreary day, and my knee is stiff and aching...Not due to any PT , is there any truth to weather and what my knee is feeling like today?
 
Qdogpa said:
is there any truth to weather and what my knee is feeling like today?
Click to expand...
It was for me. It took about 6 months before bad weather didn't affect my knee. Now, only when a huge, quick drop in the barometric pressure happens does my new knee fuss, and then it's only for about 5 minutes. SO much better than before the TKR!
 
interesting, I can carefully walk up stairs without needing to place injured leg on same step with healthy leg..going down the stairs, I cant. I need to step with the good leg, then step with injured leg to same stair.

is this a normal process?

3 week post op today...everyday a tad better...
 
Going downstairs foot over foot usually takes longer. That’s great you can go up that way at only 3 weeks post op!
 
PT today, still can’t get one revolution of Cybex bike. Different Therapist, actually felt like my copay was worth it! Knee is still very stiff and achy, some swelling still around kneecap..Feels like a tight band...was told to do a few reps of each exercise at home, I said I would think about it...thus far, only have elevated and iced..slow and steady, while a fine mantra, very difficult to adhere to...Would like to fast forward a few weeks ....
 
Progress!! Able To get revolution on Cybex bicycle! Timer was set for 10 minutes, at 5 seconds left, revolution ! then did about 1 minute of cycling,.... there is light at end of tunnel...time and patience, and some light PT...will be interesting to see if I can get thru a revolution or two at next week PT...
 
Tomorrow will be 5 weeks post op, will see PT...will update my story then...
right now, need to point out something that is important. My meds ran theit course last thursday, which includes Tylenol 500 ,2 pills 3 times a day...plus 2 Celebrex each day..OXY as needed, and rarely used..
I thought since meds ran out , don’t need..WRONG... have had aches, minor pain , stiffness since then..still ice and elevate, but no pain relief... should have stayed the course, which means STAY AHEAD OF THE PAIN... lesson learned ...
 
You can take over the counter Tylenol, it works very well. I took 2 extra strength tablets, 500 mg each, for a total of 1,000 three to four times a day, for quite a while.
 
5 weeks today, we celebrate. Not much progress with the pain, stiffness. Icing is my constant companion, oh to get this right. Like you I thought I could maybe back off the meds but no way, too early. As you said, time is our friend x
 
PT today went well...was concerned as my knee was aching, stiff and tight, likely due to stopping Tylenol 500 regiment ...re started the Tylenol last night , and knee was a bit better.. did 10 minutes on cyber bike, some use of cyber leg machines, some stretches and working on the down step...came home took some Tylenol, and elevated...used a warming pad to reduce ache of thigh and calf...iced for a short time... will scale back on exercises at home on days I have PT, and do a little on off days... 5 weeks, I thought I would be much further along.......
 
Qdogpa, it sounds you are doing really well. Excellent. I am no where near to your exercises, still doing basic rehab as knee stiff, swollen and when I tried the couple of strengthening which PT gave me it resulted in 2 days even more stiff and swollen. Gets confusing what to do, do we push it a little. Anyway, well done you x
 
@Andypandy Basic rehab for first 6 weeks or even longer is fine. Strengthening can come later when your knee is ready for it. Don't compare yourself with others. Each knee is different.

I've had both done and it's been a totally different experience for each knee. Last year I had to take it very slowly. This year .I was doing things at 3 weeks that it took 2 months to get to last time.

My surgeon and most of the physios said not to do anything that caused pain. Discomfort ok, but not pain. You'll get there eventually. Some knees just need more babying than others.
 
@lindyl thank you so much for your advice. I know each person is different, but I still tend to question myself if I am doing things correctly. This has been a real toughie, the hardest is not seeing improvement "immediately ". Will carry on with rehab and ice. Again, thank you so very much x
 
@Qdogpa sounds like you know what to do. I’m impressed that you’re working on the down step. I believe that is the hardest thing to get back. Learning how to progress without overdoing it is quite hard. Keep at it, all of it, the effort to progress and the effort to progress wisely.
 
Thx, the therapist has me doing the down step off a 4” platform, but just barely touching the floor with healthy foot/leg, as she says” don’t squash the bug,touch the bug”...my mistake was over past weekend trying to do that on normal stairs...OUCH...another lesson learned ... today, I plan just about nothing ...ADLs....remembering time is our friend!
 
Often it takes a long while to be going down steps, and it seems really early for them to be working on this.

I love how you always say, time is our friend. That is so true in this recovery.
 
I had my second TKR on 1/21/20and have to say that it's totally different than my first on 8/20/19, which was quite easy and recuperation was so quick in comparison. This time everything is much slower and much more painful. It sounds like most of us at five weeks are about at the same place. I'm so happy to be able to come to Bonesmart and be able to share experiences. It makes going through this journey easier.
 
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