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PKR Red Rider's 60k mile tune up

@RedRider hope your flight goes really well today and your PKR copes well.

I know the knee drop exercise really well. I had to do it regularly after my microfractures and also before this surgery. It's really hard but great for your quads recovery and it gets easier but not if you overdo it.

I'm looking forward to g back in the gym. My physio says by the end of January I'll be there! Patience needed for now but it's something to look forward to just like you'll be back walking trails again soon.

Best wishes from Yorkshire to a fellow PKR owner!
 
Made it up to Northern CA alright. My knee was a little sore during the plane ride, but nothing a few drink coupons couldn't handle. Things were a little stiff coming off the plane as well. No problems with the metal detector, although it was the full body scanner. My mom had bi-lateral TKR's 3 years ago so she knows the drill and understands exactly what I'm going through. She greeted me at the airport with a couple ice-packs. I love her.

We went to a funeral today, which was the reason for my trip. It was a beautiful ceremony. There was a lot of standing, walking and talking though. By the time I got home, my knee was as extremely sore and hot to the touch. I definitely over-did it.
 
@RedRider Glad you survived your trip on the plane and coped with all the physical effort if it you had to go for a sad reason, you know you can do it. Your mum sounds lovely.
Take care and get the inflammation down again. Better days lie ahead. Especially as you are really young.
I was up more yesterday and my knee is definitely stiffer today so more ice and elevation ! What fun!
 
I pumped up the tires on my dads old beach cruiser today and took a ride around the countryside. The ducks and geese are everywhere this time of year and it made for a lovely ride. By the time I got back, my mom had a cup of coffee and a bag of ice waiting for me. What a life huh!
:biking::beer::loveshwr:

I'm getting a lot of crackle/creaks when I bend my knee beyond 90 degrees. It's all coming from the top of my knee, and I can physically feel a tender area across the top of my kneecap. I tried massaging it out this evening. My PT has been focused on exercises that never go beyond a 90 degree bend so I'm wondering if this is indication to progress my routine into a deeper flexion.
 
I see no reason why you shouldn't be doing gentle bends beyond the 90 degree mark as long as you only push to the point of mild discomfort. I've not ever heard of a therapist limiting the bending on a knee patient. Usually it's quite the opposite and they are forcing ever greater bending....sometimes way too soon.
 
Sorry for the delay in checking in. Same excuse as always so won't go into it. I also stopped getting notices of new posts via email, so when I had a bit of knee pain today it reminded me to check in!

Sounds like you are doing great. Overdoing it here and there is par for the course. One thing I remember now looking back, time flies during your recovery. Right now it may not seem like it because you are so focused on getting better, following (or not following) the mantras, therapy, etc., but recently I was decorating the house for the holidays and was in the spare room where I was stationed during the early recovery days and had some serious deja vu being that I am coming up on my new knee's 1 year anniversary on Dec. 27th! Hard too believe it has been that long, because at that moment the memories of that first couple weeks was so vivid in my mind. The cooling unit, my daughter running around, the gray skies. Felt like it happened just yesterday for that moment.

How does the underside of your kneecap feel with the prosthetic in place? Any pain?
 
Well, well, well Obi-Wan decided to check in...great to hear from ya @mcirish!

It's hard to believe you're coming up on your 1 year mark. Hell, it's hard to believe where we all were a year ago.

Honestly, not "overdoing" it has been one of my biggest challenges of this recovery. On good days, I hit the gym and push my physical therapy regime hard. Then, of course, I pay for it the next day. There's so much I want to do, and probably should be doing to facilitate an optimal recovery. I just don't know how much I can do and how much is just a matter of time and patience.

Other than some tenderness around the sides of my kneecap, I've barely noticed any effects of the patellofemoral inlay. I will say there's HARDLY ANY clinking and grinding under my kneecap or lateral compartment compared to pre-op. No more painful weak spots when bending down either, which has become a challenge in retraining my muscles to function with these new components. I've been up for the physical challenge though, but I'm still working on the patience part.
 
ha ha not sure about the Obi-wan status. Just a guy trying to recover from a knee replacement surgery.:fingersx:

TBH I have been having some issues lately with continued tenderness under/around the kneecap and just trying to work through it. I have also been having ALOT of discomfort on the outer edge of the lateral compartment where the work was done. I need to go back to the OS or someone else to take a look. I am actually at odds with the OS who did the replacement. He never advised me about the other procedures that he might perform. He did say that he might have to do "other things" once he got inside and looked around, but the scrapping under the kneecap and the lateral release have caused me a lot of problems. I don't have a problem with the fact that he did what he thought needed to be done under the protocol, but he never took the time to tell me what he might have to do and what the possible complications might be. I just went on trust and that was a mistake.

Anyway, I have a suspicion that I am still "bone-on-bone" in some areas on the outside edges of the lateral compartment. Maybe some bone spurs developed as the bone healed and regrew? Whenever I try to go into a squatting position (around 90 deg or deeper) or if I am in certain positions where my leg is folded up I get occasional stabbing and deep ache pains. It really also seems like the more I try to do, the more push back I get from my knee. Just have to keep after it I guess.
 
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I'm a bit behind in checking in on you. Keep listening to your body so you can gradually heal and strengthen without straining anything.
 
This early on ,you will really need to focus on not over doing it . You dont want to cause any damage ,unnecessarily. Especially at PT or the gym. Im 10 months post op and i occasionally overdo it at the gym . So i stopped all leg weights machines. Now i have a dull pain in my knee cap area and its acts up anytime i sit straight or drive for a extended period of time,when before overdoing it ,it never bothered me . I could of sat for hours, now its abit bothersome and concerning and will be bought up during my annual in 2 months. Keep up the great work,before you know it ,you will be 6 months out. Best wishes Iceman
 
Hey @kneeper thanks for checking in on me. You're absolutely right about listening to your body, and I need to stay focused on that. @icep707, good to hear from ya! And here I thought you were invincible, especially after the amazing recovery you had. Sorry to hear of your setback, but happy to see you're human like the rest of us.:wink: Keep me posted on your 1 yr. follow-up, I'm sure everything is fine.

At 6 weeks post-op I had my triumphant return to work today. No fireworks or musical ensembles, just a small group of co-workers that were happy to have me back. I work in a lab so most of my work is either on the benchtop doing tests or in front of a computer analyzing data. It's a very knee-friendly environment, but I still need to be vigilant of my tendency to over-do it. I caught myself bounding around the lab after lunch and grounded myself for the rest of the day.:type:
 
Upon further evaluation , i believe my setback can be a combination of overdoing it and the chilly weather we are having just north of san Francisco. Its getting close to 30 degrees at night and early morning . Im interested myself in figuring this thing out. Only bothers me when i sit with my knee at 90 degrees for a extended period of time. other than that walking,standing and stair climbing ,biking ,working out and even bending down to tie shoe or pick something off the ground no problem whatsover. Only while i sit. and the discomfort is in the kneecap area. Very weird. Maybe ill summons @Josephine for her opinion. Sorry to derail . Best of luck ,Iceman
 
I got a Fitbit or Christmas. Not only does it track steps but it also monitors sleep patterns. Not that I need a wristband to tell me I've been a restless sleeper lately, but it's nice to have the data:
[Bonesmart.org] Red Rider's 60k mile tune up
 
@RedRider, you're already back on the bike?! Impressive! I'm 10 weeks out from a TKR and not on a real bike yet, only the indoor kind.

@mcirish, wow you're in my town! I grew up in Santa Susana, when it was actually called that- now I'm on the other side near Sinaloa. I've been spending time lately at my childhood haunt, Corriganville. I used to ride horses there before it burned to the ground. Super fun! Now I find it a good place to gently ease back into hiking, as it has a little of everything. I hope the rattlers stay in their hidey-holes till at least spring. I'm not too fast on my feet yet.
 
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Hey thanks @Clipless! I'm by no means trail ready but it's been nice riding my bike in small sections around my neighborhood. My goal is to make the 17 mile trek to work by "Bike to work day" in May. Do you mtn bike or are you a roadie? I just got a new full suspension for Christmas!
 
@RedRider - i have a fit bit, too! And since it sounds like yours is new - I can provide my pre-op data....I average between 20-35m restless at night. Wonder if this will get better or worse when I'm at 6 weeks out? It is often my knee causing me to change positions. Will be interesting to see how the trend changes.
 
@RedRider, I do both, however mountain biking is my passion. We have multiple bikes and my teenage son races. I want to show him the great trails in your area- Cuyamaca Rancho SP, Big Laguna, and Noble Canyon... hopefully in 2015. I'm finally seeing big improvements in everything except flexion, which is coming along slowly.
 
:bicycle1: We had two of our best holidays cycling. We cycled in the Loire Valley in France one year with a company who provided the bikes and transported our luggage from hotel to hotel and then the year after we spent 11 days cycling round the Bodensee (Lake Constance) starting and ending in Austrai but going into Switzerland and Gemany. It was such fun on great traffic free cycle paths. I don't like cycling here as the roads are too busy . May be with my new knee we could give it another go.
 
RedRider said:
I got a Fitbit or Christmas
Click to expand...
I thought I'd give one of those a try but it was far too small for my wrist. Don't know why I was surprised as I have NEVER been able to wear a wrist watch! Thank heavens I got it from Amazon and was able to send it back!
 
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