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TKR Recovering in Canada

@Celle and @SnowHare
When I had “the talk” with my pt and the clinic manager they outright told me that their clinic is an aggressive based regime and to work there the PTs must follow that. He told me different clinics have different beliefs and that they only hire therapists that match that clinic.

It wasn’t until they realized that the plan I laid out for myself was working and theirs wasn’t that they agreed to give it a go and it made a big difference as I chronicled. It breaks my heart when I’m laying on a treatment bed working with my PT (or even my OS) watching another client get the **** beat out of them and the person says nothing.
 
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@Celle My physiotherapist is working the the goals of care, which come from my care team at the Bone Clinic. The physiotherapist there is a bit more draconian.

I am not doing the exercises right now, because I don't feel that great afterwards. I think that part of my problem is that my brain is not allowing my leg to relax. When I consciously try to relax, it does drop down a wee bit towards straight.
 
They don't call it a rollercoaster for nothing do they? I opted to go for my surgery whilst I was still reasonably fit - still dancing, doing pilates and keep fit classes - rather than waiting until I deteriorated even more. It's a shame your ankle injury meant you had to stop your Tai Chi. I think you're probably right about sitting up for too long, happened to me last week. I'm amazed how quickly everything stiffens up. Hopefully, you'll have a turnaround in the opposite direction soon.
 
@Lindylee I was pretty active too, before I mess up my ankle. I was also dancing. What kind of dance do you do? I do Scottish Country Dance.

After my ankle went south, everything deteriorated very quickly.
 
@SnowHare We do ballroom & Latin dancing. We did the occasional barn dancing until the knee objected and refused to let me walk the day after. An ankle injury like that can really set you back.
 
Tomorrow will be my 6 week anniversary. Let's see how far I've come.

I can sort of bend my knee. Not a lot, but some.
I can walk somewhat smoothly with the walker, although it sometimes takes a few steps to work out the stiffness.
I am taking less medicine. Still at 2 mg Dilaudid, 3 times a day.
If I add 1 mg of Dilaudid at night, I have a better night's sleep.
My brain does not seem quite so fuzzy.
I have a better outlook on life.
I am starting to heat and massage my knee, especially the scar. It helps.
I can stand to make a snack, or my lunch, for maybe 5 minutes, before it gets painful and my knee stiffens up.
I have learned my best position is flat on my back with my feet elevated.
I can do a little gentle housework for 5 minutes at a time.
I can go up and down stairs with a crutch pretty well, not withstanding the fact that my other knee hurts even more.

I am grateful to BoneSmart and all the people here for the support and the information that has helped me along with my recovery to this six week mark.

My six week appointment is on February 25th, just because that's when there was a slot for me.

Colour me HAPPPY.
 
That sounds a very positive post. It's good to focus on what we can do rather than what we can't. Little steps in the right direction and we'll get there. We're all in it together.:friends:
 
The two steps forward department.
* I can now do tentative walking without the walker. Only with a rather short stride. My physio is wanting me to take long strides with the walker. It takes several steps to work the stiffness out of both legs.
*The pain must be getting better, as I am starting to feel the pain in my ankle, and arthritic pain in my hands. This is based on the body can only concentrate on one pain at a time.

One step backward department.
* My leg totally refuses to straighten. I did my exercises the physio wanted me to do, but they only made my leg swell up more. So, I stopped those.

Sleep is constantly interrupted by discomfort and also pain in my back. I have a devil of a time getting comfortable. As a side sleeper, I've had to come up with interesting positions. Pillows don't help. When I am on the couch with my legs elevated and the ice going, my legs seem to need to move. Weird.

I feel like I'm having a kind of guessing game of where the pain will strike next. There's different types of pain, and my knee and legs hurt in different places each day. The latest pain in this game is the feeling of having a knife slitting the skin over the scar. It lasts only a second and is gone for a day or two. Then the pain stabs me in the side.

I'm thinking of giving the different pain regions names, like the knife-like on-knee-pain Roger, and the weird pain I sometimes get in my lower femur, Matilda. I have too much time on my hands.
 
Those lightening bolt like pains are what we call zingers. It's the nerves reattaching or attempting to. Sometimes mine would actually make my leg jump up. Talking about hurting.

The long stride with your walker will help to straighten your leg. Be sure and walk heel to toe while you're doing it. This helped my extension more than anything else I did. But, it's a slow process, so be patient with it. It does work.
 
:rofsign:I love the names your giving for the different types of pain. That way you know who to yell at so everyone doesn’t get blamed!
 
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The names are a great idea. Hopefully Roger and Matilda will fall in love and go and get a place of their own, leaving you in peace.:loveshwr: It is amazing how many different types of pain our knees give at present. The zingers arrived in mine this week, a couple of times my leg has jumped. Then there's the ache on the inner side of the knee that comes and goes, likewise the one at the back of the knee. They seem to like to come out at night. Walking gives yet another's pain, sort of a pulling at the top of my scar, bottom end of quads and then there's the sharp pain in the centre of the kneecap, which is less intense and less frequent now. I can see I'm going to have to think up some names of my own :loll:
 
Not a wonderful week. My sister and her husband came. My sister left for two days, and she left her husband, who has dementia behind. It's exhausting having company, although my sister did do a lot of cleaning.

Now my best friend is here, and that means I can have lots of quiet time, and my DH gets a rest from driving me hither and yon.

I would love to be able to sleep reasonably well. I've developed a not so fun case of restless leg syndrome.

Then there was today, at physio. So, I went to physio. He decided to put me on the exercise bike. That was worse than a huge mistake. While trying to fit the bike, the pedal slipped backwards. Oh man, did I let out a scream. That was a number 10 pain. My physio was horrified at what happened. I did, however, gain even more flexion, though not the way we planned for. Poor physiotherapist kept apologizing. He did say that I can ditch the walker and start using my cane.

My leg straightening is terrible. Next trip is to get more painkillers, and on Monday to the surgeon.

I'm doing lots and lots of icing, and every now and again putting on heat and massaging the scar. The physio said that the scar is loosening up really well.
 
So sorry for your “not so good week”. Physio sounded horrible and entertaining company is especially tiring. Having you BF there should be the best medicine you need now. I have PT tomorrow and with the knee swollen again not much is going to happen and I have to call in for more pain medicine tomorrow. They only gave me 28 Tramadol and 28 hydrocodone the hydrocodone makes me nauseated and I’ve had to use The Tramadol at night. Asking makes me feel like a drug addict. As of the first of the year the new opioid rules took effect. Prescriptions cut in half.
 
@SnowHare Visitors can be exhausting. They mean well, but it's so easy to get overtired. A BF can be a great tonic though.
Your PT experience sounds horrific. I hope the knee settles and you start getting a decent night's sleep soon. :console2:
 
@Josephine

Thank you and BoneSmart for the excellent article on how to lower your meds. I made a slightly amended schedule and took it to the doctor. My GP is away, so I had to see an unknown doctor, but she was quite on board with the comprehensive plan. I asked for 133 pills, and she prescribed 150, so I have more to play around with, or use later. She also told me to keep using the Acetaminophen, and what is considered a max limit.

Today, I went someplace else, besides going to the doctor or to physio. So exciting. The pharmacy to refill my prescription and Costco to get my hearing aids repaired. I must say, it's nice be be back home.
 
@Lindylee
Yup. I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep. I think I've had one since the surgery, and it was for 6 hours. I just can't get comfortable at night.

I figure that if I stay upbeat and positive, things will get better faster. Anybody who has known me for any length of time would never actually accuse me of being upbeat and positive, but I think that this new knee is the continuation of my reinvention of myself, and I kinda like this more cheerful person.

I'm now training my DH to let me do a bit more, like he can take the instant pot our of the cupboard, but I can now dump the pre-measured bag of ingredients into the pot. Little steps. My slow march to independence.
 
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