TKR Recovery thread in case I'm eaten by my cat.

Jellyfingers

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Tkr done 22nd July. Doing exercises but rom not great.... wasn't great before surgery. Maybe left it too long partly because of pandemic. Bad night with pain last night but otherwise ok. Learned to love ice and a cryo flask/cuff thing!
 
Day 12 and running low on cat food. Happy to be on the road to recovery. Hate compression stockings trying to bend knee. Home alone for a few days which is both challenging and rewarding. Went on single crutch yesterday for first time....needed free hand to carry dinner and delighted to succeed :) but two crutches faster.
 
@Jellyfingers Welcome to the other side!
Day 12 and running low on cat food.
Oh dear - hope you can get a delivery or have a friend shop for you! :kitty:
I spent most of my recovery days alone. If everything is within reach it's not a problem. Be sure and keep your mobile handy just in case.

I'll leave your recovery guidelines here for you:

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
We are all different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for YOU.“ Your doctor(s), physiotherapist(s) and BoneSmart are here to help. But you have the final decision as to what approach you use.

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this Activity progression for TKRs

6. Access these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Thanks Jaycey, everything to hand and doing well. Same as everyone else, the sleeping isn't great partly because I'm peeing like s horse! Enjoying the peace and being able to concentrate on my recovery.
 
Welcome Jellyfingers! Where are you in Ireland? My grandparents were born there and I am very proud of my Irish roots. They were from Mayo and Kildare.
After having had 2 TKR’s quite close to each other, my sleep was a big issue for me and did not resolve till about 4 months after my 2nd surgery. So try for patience there.
You will be amazed at the progress you will see week by week, especially if you follow the BoneSmart guidelines given above.
Keep us posted and check in often. Godspeed!
 
Day 12 and running low on cat food. Happy to be on the road to recovery. Hate compression stockings trying to bend knee. Home alone for a few days which is both challenging and rewarding. Went on single crutch yesterday for first time....needed free hand to carry dinner and delighted to succeed :) but two crutches faster.
Unfortunately you can't really train cats to fetch and carry for you. :heehee:
 
Well done @Sisterpat getting on the right side of two TKRs. Yes I'm in Ireland in West Wicklow. I look out over the Kildare plains when I climb the hill behind the house. Very different to the states or at least the east coast....only part I've experienced. (Without opening any political discourse) all of Mayo is proud of your president and claim him as their own.
Finished my prescription meds yesterday and slept for an hour at a time last night which is a huge improvement. Little steps :) good to know there are others pushing through it too.
 
@Jellyfingers Just checking - is the cat starving yet? Do we need to send you a feline care package? :heehee:
 
The big one is busy catching rabbits in the surrounding fields...the other one is just staring at me! Don't think they like hospital smells....they probably think I've been seen to by the vet, maybe they feel empathy but I doubt it:) thankfully hot cat food yesterday.
 

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Is it normal for the calf muscle of my tkr knee to lock up. Stretching/walking cures it. Not sure if it is simply a side effect of all the excercise.
 
Sounds like you are over working that calf muscle. I would back off that much activity. Gentle stretches!
 
I think sometimes we're walking a bit differently while recovering which puts different stresses on our muscles. Experiment with a bit less activity and continuing with gentle stretches as Jaycey says.
 
Good luck in your continued recovery, Jellyfingers!

Your thread title made me laugh out loud! :loll:We've got two cats, one very old:kittymilk: and the other around 4 :catbutterfly:and a teenaged white lab.:dogsniff:
 
Thanks @kneeper I think you are right. Gave myself a rest on Sunday after doing too much Saturday and calf feels better, swelling down too and more feeling in the muscles around knee when I do the 2 crutch walk. I'll resume exercises today and see how it goes....might reread the bonesmart tips on recovery too :)
 
Hi Jellyfingers, glad your calf and knee feel better after rest.I am at 8 weeks post op and I had good flex and my knee was able to be flat stretched out .I limited my physio but hobbled around the house slowly increasing what I did ,it’s a balance and defo a marathon recovery .I set myself goals so now my goal is going up and down stairs normally but I don’t worry if sometimes I can’t,I don’t push it.Beware the zingers as you are getting more feeling back ,nighttime they’ve taken me by surprise but each time there’s more feeling around the knee .Just go with you gut feeling ,if you think you are pushing too far ,hauling back and you will reap the rewards .xx
 
Jellyfingers, I am months out of surgeries and yesterday morning I reached down to adjust my sock and my calf seized up with terrific pain! It went away pretty quickly but you can see this can happen at any time, even months post-op. I agree that you need to back off any exercises that cause major discomfort. The BoneSmart way does work. Be gentle with that new knee.
 
Thanks @Sisterpat and @Ma Dudd love getting feedback from you who have been through it. Noticed less swelling today after a rest day and lots more feeling around the knee...even caught a zinger or two. It sort of feels different if that makes sense. Terrified I won't get 90 degree bend as I love to cycle, hard to be patient and confident it will all be good in the longterm!
 

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