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TKR Recovery Road

Thanks for the "heads up".


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Thanks to everyone's input on this site, I've experienced no surprises. Even the post-op bruises are what I expected. I hope it continues that way [emoji16]


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Had my first PT session today (nice to get out of the house). It went well. @KarriB "nailed it". It was just an assessment session. Was kinda disappointed in that my extension was 25 and my flexion was only 80. Not much ROM here, but I know it will only get better. I was given a few simple exercises to do at home during the next week. I go back for my second visit next Wednesday.
 
Extention usually comes much later than flexion, so don't worry about it right now. Here are a few things you can do for extention. I only did the stretch between a chair and ottoman and have great extention.
 
Here is an article about extension, with suggestions on how to improve it. Don't try to rush it - extension will improve slowly.
Extension: how to estimate it and ways to improve it

Just choose one or two of the exercises and do them gently. Don't use the one with weights until at least 3 months.
 
Thanks KarriB and Celle. I'll try those tomorrow. What little I did do at PT today, my new knee didn't like. Icing and elevating to get the swelling back down.


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It seems at times that extension seems to take longer to increase. If you do any of the exercises only do them until you start to feel pain. In the beginning you might only be able to do it a minute or two.
 
I'm now on my second week ( day 11 to be exact ) post RTKR. So far, it has been un-eventful, which I deem a good thing. Last week ( around day 5 ), additional bruising started showing up. It first started with my ankle, then a couple days later it showed up on my right rear and outer thigh. I look like I've been in a car wreck. Fortunately, there is only minor discomfort associated with it.

Today, I noticed that my swelling is starting to subside a little. I can now see my ankle. My calf is looking better, as well. My pain level is between a 2 and 3. I am taking Percocet 5 / 325 every 4 hrs. (Qty. 1 per dose). That seems to work well for me. I set my alarm at night so as not to miss a dose.

There really hasn't been much improvement on my ROM, but I'm not that concerned at this point. Although, it is a little disappointing. I do my PT exercises daily, but only once per day as opposed to the recommended 3 times. The swelling returns after the 1 session, so I figure that's enough.





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Don't worry about your ROM at all this early in your recovery. It will come gradually.
Once a day is plenty for the exercises.
Your most important mission right now is lots of rest, ice, elevation, regular medication, and just a little, gentle exercise.
 
Well, we had a little drama at our house on Thursday that made me realize how incapacitated I am at the moment.
While I was in taking a shower, my wife came home from an errand and said she wasn't feeling well. By the time I got out of the shower (still soaking wet), she was sitting on the floor in the hallway calling an ambulance. Talk about feeling helpless. Fortunately, it wasn't life threatening. Apparently something had triggered a severe panic attack (doctor's words, not mine). Don't know why. After a few hours in ER, we were both back home.

Had my 2 week post op visit with the physician's assistant on Friday. I got the bandages removed and approved to shower without having to cover the surgery site. He said my leg was healing nicely and he didn't see any issues. He also was pleased with my numbers from PT this week. My ext. was 10 and my flex. was 100. I told him he must be mistaken. When they measured me at PT, my ext. was 10, but my flex. was 85. He then checked the measurements and my ext. was 10 and my flex. at 85, so I don't know where the 100 came from.

A few minutes later the OS came in to take a look. He's a great surgeon, but my opinion is that he could work on his bedside manners. He just has that "Sad Sack" aurora about him. He said that he expects to see improvement weekly and mentioned that "window of opportunity". Kinda burst my bubble for the rest of the day. Never mind the fact that my measurements prior to surgery were ext. 20 and flex. of 110. As a side note, the OS also measured my ext. and flex. (during my Friday visit) and got different numbers than the PA (ext. was 15 and flex. was 80). I guess I'll see what week 3 brings :smile2:. Either way, I have no worries. It's still early.
 
It is very early, and too early to worry about your bend and straightening. As you heal and the swelling goes down, those numbers will come in. Right now, just worry about healing. Icing, elevating and meds for this infant knee of yours.

I'm so glad your wife is OK. I know you had to feel totally helpless. But, amazing that you made it to the hospital with her! I could barely make it to the end of the house so early! You are doing so good! Just be careful to not overdo!
 
Thanks @sistersinhim. I'm following the BoneSmart philosophy and things are good. I bought my own goniometer and plan on charting my progress for something to do [emoji846].


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How scary! I'm so glad she's ok.

My son has autism and has meltdowns. My helpless feeling has been being unable to get up fast enough to intervene and prevent him from hurting himself and others or destroying things. My husband isn't as skilled at talking ben down from the ledge. And once it was just ben and I and our younger one here and I had to manage it totally from my recliner. I hate not being 100% capable.
 
Don't be disappointed. You know the window of opportunity is much wider than a few months. Many of us have gained ROM well after a year post op.
 
Don't get obsessed with measuring ROM! It's only a set of numbers and really what you can do with your knee is more important than the numbers.
My surgeon doesn't measure. He looks at my knees and says "Show me what you can do."

I remember with my most recent TKR my knee hardly bent at all and then one morning it spontaneously bent further. Obviously, some swelling had gone down overnight.

As your knee heals and the swelling goes down, your ROM will increase gradually.
 
@Celle - I'm not obsessed with measuring ROM. I'm an engineer and like I said in post #54, it gives me something to do. Guess the "cabin fever" phase is setting in [emoji846]. Fortunately for me, I can work from home, which I plan to do starting next week, just to pass some time.


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I'm glad you're not obsessed with ROM. I just warned against getting obsessed because your ROM was measured so many times.
The PT therapists do seem to get obsessed with the numbers and that sometimes worries their patients unnecessarily. They like the numbers game because being able to write down an increasing number is one way they can prove their ministrations are effective.
 
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