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Bilateral TKR Recovery Diary

Roy, I don't have a clue who your famous Olympian is, but that was some outing--and of course it had to be you drinking the bubbly! :th_heehee:

I have been following your recovery, and I agree that you are doing remarkably well. I, too, have been very fortunate. I think its really good for those of us who do well to keep emphasizing the positive because the bad stuff often seems to get the most play.

I really enjoy your sense of humor :hysterical:--so always look forward to whats coming next with you. Keep up the good work. Judy
 
Sounds like fun! How great that you could enjoy it and the knee was in good shape!

Really good to hear of someone getting some fun out of the Olympics. Personally I'm looking to book a holiday abroad .............. Greece, perhaps?

Judy, I so agree that it's good for people who have easy recoveries to post on here. It must be hard for people who are having a rough time to read about those of us who recover quickly, but it's so important for the pre-op people to realise that they are very likely to have an easy recovery too.
 
Deeden said:
Judy, I so agree that it's good for people who have easy recoveries to post on here. It must be hard for people who are having a rough time to read about those of us who recover quickly, but it's so important for the pre-op people to realise that they are very likely to have an easy recovery too.
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bottomshollow said:
I have been following your recovery, and I agree that you are doing remarkably well. I, too, have been very fortunate. I think its really good for those of us who do well to keep emphasizing the positive because the bad stuff often seems to get the most play.
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That's why I started the diary, in the hope -- but I didn't expect it to be this good!
 
I agree too that hearing the postitive, so called easy recovering is good to hear. There are so many difficult recoveries and we know they all aren't like that. I hope when I finally get to having my knees done, I have a recovery like yours Roy !!
 
Week 5 day 37
Roy Gardiner said:
As a guest of an invitee got to go to a '200 days til Olympics' event at the top of the BT Tower.

I expected to wreck myself. In fact the standing was remarkably easy - no arthritis pain! The general exertion has left my knees a bit stiffer today than yesterday, but no real pain. And no pain pills needed last night. A right result I reckon!
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Pride before a fall again. Outing was 9th Jan, caught up with me last night 10th with poor sleep and having to take pills at 3am again, a step back. Ah well.
 
WOW! You give me encouragement. I had a RTKR in May and may be headed for another in a few months. I've been worrying about that, but if you had two done at once! I KNOW I can do this! Thanks for posting this .... I really appreciate it. :yay:
abby
5/24/11 - RTKR
 
It's okay, Roy......a person has to push a little to know where the boundaries are. It's just a temporary little setback and you'll be going great guns again.
 
Week 5 day 38

1st visit back with OS Mr Ireland today, very instructive. Extension between 2 and 5, flexion between 120 and 125. Jiggled me about to test other ranges, side to side and others, all are as expected.

He was not really interested in flexion, says it will come with time, but was quite concerned about extension as bad habits can get reinforced if not corrected.

When standing, I am to take several seconds to 'brace' the knees backwards, or I am in danger of walking with a knees-bent kind of shuffle.

There is an exercise he likes for extension, which takes a 2nd person. Leg straight out on the floor with heel resting on a towel lifting it maybe 2" from the floor. Partner leans on thigh and shin and presses down, moving the knee towards the floor. This has the effect of stretching the calf and hamstrings -- he did it today and it hurt!

There are no words I know to describe this, but the pain is not the pain of injury one gets through trying to force increases in flexion, but a much different and less offensive pain. Like the pain you get when doing proper athletic training, or perhaps from massaging or 'stripping' the ITB, you can feel it might be doing you some good.

Anyway to repeat, I was quite surprised that Mr Ireland concentrated so much on the leg straightening aspect, but understood it after he explained. Something there perhaps for all of us.
 
My surgeon is always far more concerned with extension than with flexion. He seems to think that flexion is a given almost, but extension is to be worked at.
 
Same here srn and Roy - the physios on the ward and at the 7 "knee class" sessions afterwards were much more concerned about straightening the leg than bending - they taught a very similar exercise to the one Roy mentions. I agree, it's not very comfortable to do.

Straightening has been something I found very hard, some weeks it would be -10, others less, one week it was -2 - but it does seem now that I am finally winning, so I'm sure you will too.
 
When I had my first TKR done I read on a website that in order for the weight of your body to be taken properly through your skeleton your legs need to be straight when standing, otherwise the weight is supported by muscles (does this make sense?). I have always been very aware of this and try to lock my legs when standing.
 
All very interesting for me to read. My leg has been bent for years and I have a feeling my extension will be hard work. Srn that makes perfect sense. Good luck with that exercise Roy, sounds like the sort of one you will just have to grit your teeth!
 
My OS is obsessed with extension and could not care less about flexion unless it is less than 105 degrees after many weeks. In fact, he thinks that 105 degrees is perfectly respectable for older, non-athletic patients (interesting perspective).

So, my therapy was focused more on leg extensions and leg lifts and pressing the back of the knee into the bed or couch or whatever.

Roy, it seems you are doing quite well! At twelve weeks, I am ecstatic!!! Can't wait to get "Buzz" done. T-minus 40 days and counting.....:yes 4:
 
Extension is so important because if you can't straighten your leg, you will not be able to walk properly. I remember my PT telling me this.

Jazyb said:
My leg has been bent for years and I have a feeling my extension will be hard work.
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Jo, my leg was bent for over 10 years and I never had a problem with extension. Since my TKR I have always had to work on bending my knee and still do after 17 months.
 
Thanks for reminding me that I am blessed to have no issues with extension, only flexion, and that too will come. I needed that! :)

MNRTKR
11/2/11
 
Roy Gardiner said:
Week 5 day 38

There is an exercise he likes for extension, which takes a 2nd person. Leg straight out on the floor with heel resting on a towel lifting it maybe 2" from the floor. Partner leans on thigh and shin and presses down, moving the knee towards the floor. This has the effect of stretching the calf and hamstrings -- he did it today and it hurt!

There are no words I know to describe this, but the pain is not the pain of injury one gets through trying to force increases in flexion, but a much different and less offensive pain. Like the pain you get when doing proper athletic training, or perhaps from massaging or 'stripping' the ITB, you can feel it might be doing you some good.
Click to expand...

That type of exercise and the feeling that goes with it is fantastic---it is a type of pain that comes with moving ahead and solving these little issues!
 
srn, I was in Sainsburys yesterday evening (in a queue of course!) and I remembered your tip about locking your legs. So I did it.

Well - what a surprise! I realised that I have fallen into the habit of standing with my weight more through the ball of my foot and toes and not through the heel! I had never realised that! I suppose it was during the years of my right knee gradually getting more bent.

So I stood with my weight evenly distributed and it felt quite weird! So I shall be working hard on that from now on. Thanks for making me realise - it's not much use my getting good extension sitting on the floor if I don't use it when I'm standing.
 
Roy Gardiner said:
There is an exercise for extension, which takes a 2nd person. Leg straight out on the floor with heel resting on a towel lifting it maybe 2" from the floor. Partner leans on thigh and shin and presses down, moving the knee towards the floor. This has the effect of stretching the calf and hamstrings -- he did it today and it hurt!
Click to expand...
Yeah like that's going to happen a lot, working partner and all.

Week 5 day 40

Fool your enemies, fool your friends, but don't fool yourself.

I am starting to use various of the extension exercises recommended on here (I'[ll find the links again in a minute...) where you extend your leg & hang a weight, do hamstring stretches, etc.

These all do not affect the knee in the way that ROM exercises do; ROM exercises can cause horrible pain, extension ones can be painful in the stretches, but it's the body saying 'easy now' not 'NO WAY'.

So, I don't know if it's real, placebo, hope over expectation or fooling myself, but after only one day of repeating these regularly my knees feel freer and I'm walking better. So far, I heartily recommend trying them.
 
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