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I’m sorry you are so discouraged, I know the feeling. My whole first year seemed to take forever.

What I do when I go for an MRI is to take a CD of calming music with me. A friend told me to do that the first time I had to have one. I took Kenny G.

Another thing I do now is to ask for an eye covering. I hadn’t thought of it but the tech who did my second MRI suggested it and I really liked it. Some places actually have eye masks, and if you have one, I suggest you take your own, if you chose to use one. (the last time I had an MRI I asked if I could keep the eye mask they gave me, it was really nice, and they said they wash it and use it again. :yikes: I wasn’t prepared with one of my own and did live to tell about using theirs, but especially these days, I’ll take my own!)

At “only” 3 months post op, you are going to have pain, limitations, discomforts, etc. It‘s par for the course. Some surgeons will tell you this, others not so much. Sometimes I wonder if they offer extra tests to make us feel like they are doing something.

Try really hard to not analyze everything you feel in your leg. I know that’s hard, I did it, too, but really, it’s going to turn out fine, in time. This recovery just takes way longer than we expect. Hang in there. :console2:
 
By the way, I merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread, as we prefer that members in recovery have only one thread.

This benefits you because all your information is in one place, easy to find, and maintains a nice journal for you.

This also benefits our staff, as your information is all in one place, and we often go back through your thread for previous details, so we know what you‘ve been through which helps us advise you better.

So, please keep all your posts in this thread. If you’d like a new title, let us know what you want, and we’ll change it for you.

Many members bookmark their thread in their computer browser, so they can find it when they log on.
How can I find my threads and posts?

Best wishes on your continuing recovery! :flwrysmile:
 
Sorry to hear you had a disappointing day. I guess your OS is ruling out all possibilities for the shin pain so you could say he listened and took you seriously which is a plus.
@Jockette suggestion of music and eye mask is excellent- I wish I’d have thought of the eye mask when I had some MRI s earlier this year.
I don’t have a problem and generally try to meditate or zone out. It will soon be over.
Every day is a knee day but soon enough it won’t be. You are still healing and as you say it’s normal to have different pains and sensations in the healing knee and leg. I had a wierd pain on the outside last night and was rubbing and massaging away until it finally dawned on me that I wasnt as totally numb there any more and that was what the issue was. Keep looking forward, try to stay positive you are not alone in just wanting to feel more normal.
 
Reader525 said:
I told him about my aching down my shin and also where I obviously had been sawed at the top of the tibia,
Click to expand...
You may have shin splints, I get them from time to time. I find a calf compression sleeve helps with my shin splints.
If you have some Kensio tape, just placing a strip on top of your shin can help.

Jockette has some good suggestions for your MRI.
 
Hi Reader. I’m at 7 months out from BTKR and had/have similar problems to you.
At around 3 months I started to get dizzy, and put it down to my usual low blood pressure too. Then it got really bad and I noticed that my fingernails and under my lower eyelids were white, and my faeces were far from normal. Turned out that the NSAIDS, which I took from the start and continued to take last thing before bed, had caused a stomach ulcer and I ended up having 3 bags of blood in hospital. So maybe stop them, and make sure you top up your iron levels, you may have been bleeding a bit.
Secondly, my knees are now pretty good, if it weren’t for shin pain on one leg. It started around three months ago, settled down slowly when I stopped walking as exercise, but starts up again if I try to walk briskly. I had an X-ray at my 6 month checkup, I told my OS about the pain, but he said all is fine, was just soft tissue and wasn’t concerned.
Well a few days ago, researching on this site, I stumbled across an article by a well qualified lady called Josephine under “IT band Issues”, and one of the anatomical diagrams shows that this important and rather large band attaches to the top of the tibia in exactly the spot where my pain is.
I now can see that my problem is very likely a large tendon strain, and those take forever to settle down completely.
I too thought it was a bone issue, imagined loosening of the post in my tibia and other horrors.
So I am now avoiding anything that upsets it, just walk circuits around the garden so that I can stop as soon as it acts up, and it is slowly improving. There are other ways to exercise, I use the rowing machine, elliptical or static bike.
Take a look at Josephines article, it may help you too.
 
Ghostpipe, patriciad, Jockette, Pumpkin,
I thank you for your post, so informative. You have been there and back, haven't you! I'm going to read Josephine's article. I was talking to my brother in Germany today and was trying to describe the pain, and the more I described it, and the more he probed, it really seems like it's the muscles around the shin bone. I think it's the exercises I keep trying to do, because every time I attempt to do them, I end up with pain. I think my body is trying to tell me to stop already. I do think I pulled a hamstring muscle doing leg lifts lying on my stomach, so there that now too. Ugh.
Your issue with the dizziness is a frightening story. Right now I'm taking one 600 mg Ibuprofen in the morning. Period. But even that's a lot, I wish I could just stop but maybe every other day might be a better idea?
I called the OS office and told them I didn't want a spinal MRI, that I wanted to hold off and recover more. I totally got the idea that if you're limping after 12 weeks, he thinks it's a sign of something else. That depressed me. I'm limping because it hurts. My hamstring hurts, my shin area hurts, my knee hurts, it isn't excruciating, but it's there. I told them if my shin still hurts in another month, we'd do an MRI.
I, too, seem to be able to use the exercise bike and I just tried 60 seconds on the elliptical yesterday. How much do you think I should try the first time, 5 minutes?
I usually take a mild tranquilizer before the MRI, but it never occurred to me to use an eye covering, good idea. It's the idea I can't get up and leave that bothers me. Although I have had so many, you'd think I'd be used to it by now.
Half the time I start to doze off towards the end, believe it or not. The noise is the worst, even with the music they try to pipe in those headphones, but it's an imperfect experience.
I told the OS I wasn't sure about working at this point and he said it would probably be pretty uncomfortable at this stage and he would give me a letter. He asked me what I wanted him to put down, I said December? He said what date do you want me to put down? I said the end of December? He said I'll write you can't go back until January 2022. Problem solved.
 
Delaying work is such a sensible idea. There is a big difference 5 months out over three months, especially if you are having additional issues at home.
I can remember well that whatever you do hurts at three months, you just can’t win! Progress started to speed up for me at five months, having trudged over a never ending plateau with many pitfalls. Between six and seven months I have finally stopped groaning every time I get up, much to my husband’s relief, and things are really starting to come together. I can look back now and say that three months is really early days in recovery.
Take it slow with the exercise, 60 seconds to start with on the elliptical is really sensible. Increase by a minute (yes, just the one!) at a time, and evaluate later on. I really overdid it with weighted hamstring curls because it felt ok doing it, and had dreadful pain at the back of my knees for days afterwards, my shin problem was probably caused by too many reps too soon of something or the other, and ignoring the warnings.
Happy healing.
 
@Ghostpipe You have made my day, honestly, you really have. I think it's such a comfort to be able to hear from a sister in this battle, much more than an OS who may be the facilitator, but has had no experience with the actual reality.
I know it's a long recovery but no one told me that, the figure I remember from the pre-op appointment was 6-8 weeks.
I am now wondering if I should stop leg raises, etc, and focus on my bike and 60 seconds on the elliptical as my exercises. Anything else gives me days of pain. I also thought of increases of 60 seconds, lol, as crazy as it sounds.
5 months will be here and I look forward to it. I have to go back and re-read what you wrote, did you say you walk without a limp? I notice when I get up in the morning instead of being stiff and sore, I feel pretty good. If I walk slowly, I can walk without a limp. The pain behind my knee and up my hamstring is clearly from my leg raises and is not too awful after resting all night.
 
If I were you I would give up the exercises for a month and see how you progress.
Prior to my TKR I was aware of the BoneSmart gentle approach to recovery as opposed to rigorous PT. I was lucky enough to find the site before my TKR. Even though I knew about the BoneSmart approach my OS was all about PT and "whatever ROM you have when your scar turns silver is all the ROM you will ever have." He was the trained surgeon that has done many, many replacements, he must know what he's talking about right? So off I went to my first visit to PT, about 2 weeks out from TKR. The next day when my knee was more swollen and I was in much more pain I opted for a BoneSmart recovery. I never went to another PT session. That was one of the best decisions of my life. Not only did I suffer less pain, but my ROM has continued to improve over two years. I've been hiking over rough terrain for good distances, scuba diving, and just living a happy active pain free life with more ROM than I ever thought I would have again after many painful years. I've now had a hip replacement with equal success following a BoneSmart approach. You don't have to suffer needlessly to have an amazing recovery.
 
@FCBayern It is very hard to say no to people who have knowledge we don't have. Who wouldn't think a surgeon knows more than we do? They're the proverbial authority figure and telling them no is like telling the teacher that 2 + 2 is 5, not 4. I also know that doctors do not like "noncompliant" patients, it's even put in your chart. There are all sorts of protocol they deem appropriate behavior in a patient. I learned all this when my late husband went through his illness.
I am glad I took control of my PT and also that I said no to the spine MRI. You are fortunate to have found BoneSmart before your surgery! I'm so grateful to have found it my first week.
I am going to stop all the exercises PT gave me and just keep doing the exercise bike and 60 seconds of the elliptical.
 
I don’t think you can go far wrong with the bike and elliptical. The bike is going to keep your legs strong and bending, and the elliptical is walking without impact.
Leg lifts were way too painful for me, they are still sometimes a bit too uncomfortable even now. I’ve only just started doing leg extensions at the gym, with the lowest weight and not too many reps. I can get my legs up straight now, I couldn’t do that with my old knees. I’m glad I didn’t put myself through the pain earlier, what would have been the point? Regarding limping, I didn’t have that luxury as I had bilateral, just had to get on with it!
All the best.
 
It is difficult to ignore the "experts" but over time I have come to realize that most OS's don't really know what their patients go through in recovery. It would be nice to see more research into the best recovery methods for orthopedic surgery. The important thing is to listen to your knee. If the exercise bike and elliptical work for you without causing more pain or swelling then that is perfect. Just remember to increase slowly and judge your reaction the next day before adding more.
 
You are absolutely right. I am going to be really careful with what I do. At this point I don't think I'm going to increase anything for a while.
I'm curious as to how the acupuncture appointment I have a week from tomorrow will turn out. The doctor doing the acupuncture is an orthopedist in the same practice as the OS I had. He is Harvard trained and according to his information, someone who really listens and hears you. Has anyone here had a positive outcome from acupuncture? Of the 3 people I know who have tried it, one had good results after knee replacement, and the other 2 went for their backs and had no success.
 
So here I am applauding you!! No to the MRI good for you! Better still no return to work until January which gives you time to properly heal.
I agree with no exercises for a few weeks - maybe you will be able to walk without pain if you just do gentle stretching and a short time on the bike. The elliptical sounds a bit challenging for me right now so I’ll be interested to hear how you find it. I would like to find some aqua classes soon as I used to walk in thigh high water after my first op and it was great resistance training. Don’t have the pool any more
 
@patriciad Isn't it amazing that I told the OS no about the MRI? I surprised myself! I think after all this, and the hell we are all going through, I'm not just going to go along with anything that gives me a gut reaction of "Hey wait a minute" which is what happened when the OS said sciatica to me. If there's one thing I know, it's that this isn't that. It is so obviously my recovery.

I wondered about the elliptical too, is it too much? That's why I did the 60 seconds, I can feel that it's working the muscles but I am going slowly.
What a shame you don't have your pool now when you could use it. I've never been fond of swimming, my idea of a day at the pool would be to dangle, or to awkwardly do the side stroke, lol. But I can see how wonderful walking in water would be in recovery.
 
Many people love rehabbing in the pool, I did not. We are all different. As my uncle used to say, “that’s why there’s chocolate and vanilla!” :heehee:

I am much more into taking charge of my medical choices than I used to be. I don’t do everything a doctor recommends to me. Yes, I‘ve become a rebel!
 
Reader525 said:
Who wouldn't think a surgeon knows more than we do?
Click to expand...
One of my colleagues (a top knee surgeon) said he only realised how complex TKR recovery was until he nursed his Father post surgery. He said the whole experience was humbling. He totally changed how he spoke to patients both pre and post op.

Never forget - you are in charge. It's totally OK to say no or question instructions.
 
I just returned from my primary care doctor, I went to see him for the lightheaded feeling I've been having for a while now. My blood pressure is low as usual, 104/64, and I've lost weight, only 105 lbs now, down 5 lbs since surgery. The doctor ordered a slew of blood work and talked at length to me about what a major surgery I went through. He said he thinks I'm rundown and need to build myself up. I guess we'll see what the blood work shows and take it from there. He scheduled me for a follow up in 2 weeks.
It was nice to hear from a doctor that he thinks I've been through a lot! I feel like so many other people think I should be fine by now.
 
I’m sorry you feel so poorly but I’m happy you have a doctor who understands. I’m sure stress is a factor here, also. :console2:

Yes, the energy drain of the healing from this surgery can be very intense, which is why you are so run down. Maybe some protein drinks will help.
 
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