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TKR Right TKR on 12-10-24 recovery in progress

@TurtleKnee hi, hope you don't mind me asking, but having read your thread re the sitting in dining chair and then ending up in pain. That's what I tried last evening, hubby went for fish and chips and I thought maybe try to sit at table. So leg not supported and did start to feel uncomfortable. Boy was I in pain in night, ended up with leg elevated all night due to swelling and pain. Just wondered if after reading your problem, maybe don't do that again, yet. I am 5 weeks tomorrow. Not a happy bunny with this. Wish you well x
 
Andypandy, I think someone else had trouble with the dining chairs. I am having trouble sitting more in soft chairs like a couch or recliner (without reclining). Not much trouble sitting in the hard dining chair. Also trouble sitting in the office computer chair which has a soft seat. When I start hurting, I sit in the recliner and recline with my leg straight out and then no hurting. At night a pillow under my leg lengthwise is the only way I can sleep in bed. I am at 4 1/2 weeks.
 
@TurtleKnee yes, I was advised not to sit on couch, soft seats. I sit in carver chair when doing heel slides, but I think to sit for longer leg should be supported up a little. I sleep with pillow lengthways under leg but due to pain last night had to add a much thicker one to elevate. Ohhhhh not easy this is it x
 
Yes Andypandy, tried to sleep with a very thin flat pillow last night, really started to hurt, so back to the thick pillow again. But this is still better than my L knee replacement 4 years ago when I did not sleep in a bed with a pillow for 4 1/2 months, only in a recliner. Getting impatient, want to be back to normal. Need to start doing my responsibilities as my husband is doing all mine and his. I am able to cook, do light house cleaning like dusting and bathrooms, kitchen, etc. and laundry as well as bill paying and admin stuff which I do anyway. Just have to organize my time and move to a new position when my current one hurts.
 
@TurtleKnee yes, my pillow too flat, just need that support to be comfortable. I only get 2 to 3 hours, couple times in night use ice packs to help calm pain down. My hubby doing everything, I haven't done anything near what you're doing so well done. The stiffness is so hard to deal with, do you have stiffness. Also, being so tired is hard, really need motivation and like you, oh so want my normal self back. As some on here said, just like the movie, Groundhog Day!!!. It's good to chat, thank you x
 
Andypandy most of the stiffness is due to the swelling. I got help from a special PT person who treats swelling and got Velcro wraps for my legs below my knees. Also am taking Naprosyn 500 mg at night which helped swelling in the past. My swelling went down in one week over 5 cm in both legs which really helped my range of motion. Still stiff but moving better. Try to keep your legs above your head to keep the swelling down also.
 
@TurtleKnee many thanks. The velcro wraps sound interesting, not heard of them. I am taking paracetamol every 6 hours with 15mg codeine for the 2 night times. I have really bad reflux/gastro problems so very limited, had to have a break from codeine as had really bad stomach, bile. Appreciate tips x
 
Great day today! At 5 weeks and 2 days was able to drive to PT! Therapist said that I am progressing beyond what they would call average; difficult workout today but was able to do it. I did read back and do follow the suggestions that if it hurts too much don't do it or let someone do it to you. As an athlete I have always pushed myself, but now am resting more which has helped. I cut back on number of reps if it gets to be too much on an exercise plus tell the therapist to back off a bit if he stretches something a little too much, but still strive to do more. At home I cut back on the home exercise if I have been doing a lot of other activity like cleaning, cooking, etc. Have graduated to a smaller pillow under my leg at night to sleep. Still having problems with sciatica which is not easy to deal with; doing some PT for that also. It does get better.
 
:yes!:
Only your knee can accurately assess what it's limits are in any given day, so learning to feel and respect it is key to a good recovery.
 
It sounds like you are doing things 'just right'! You learned from your first recovery and are benefitting from that experience with this recovery.
 
Nice update! Glad you're doing so well, TurtleKnee!
Gradually increasing your activity level such as walking longer distances, using stairs, and light household activity such as the cooking and cleaning you mentioned are a nice complement to your PT sessions.
Keep up the good work and continue sharing the good news here. :)
Happy Friday!
@TurtleKnee
 
Another milestone today. Back to swimming practice after 5 weeks and 3 days. I swam 1/2 mile today, which is about 32 laps of a indoor pool. I usually swim 6 times a week, but just got cleared to swim again since surgery yesterday. Great to take another step into getting back to "normal" again. I plan to swim only 2-3 times per week while doing PT on the other days; I think that is enough for now. Still dealing with the sciatica of course and a sore tailbone area from sitting in the recliner and other chairs.
 
:wowspring:
That's a lot of laps; I hope your muscles don't protest this evening.

I have always wondered how people can keep focused on counting laps - when I used to try my mind would wander and I think my typical session was "1... 2... 3... 4... 4... 4?... Okay must be 5 by now... 6... 8? ... Oh heck I'll swim until I'm tired"
 
I have been swimming since I was 12 and competing through HS, college, and masters. This above was only about half of what I usually do and less than half speed, doing sets of 200's and resting. I also coached and taught swimming in addition to my regular job at the CDC. Felt great to get the arm exercise again. Was careful to only do a 4 beat kick and not push off at the sides of the pool, just turn around.
 
My next goal is to be able to sit on a couch or chair and not have the knee pain and sciatica. I think it might be getting slightly better. When it starts hurting I get up and move around or sit in the recliner with my feet up. I also got some special exercises from PT than may be helping. Can anyone give me any additional ideas of what else to do that I might not be doing? Is this mostly a "time" thing that will get better no matter what I do?
 
In my experience, and that of many members, both the tolerance for sitting and the issue of remote issues (like your sciatica) does slowly improve with "tincture of time."

For sitting, it's simply accepting the current limit, possibly setting a timer as a reminder to take a short walk or elevate before the pain starts.

Folks have reported symptomatic relief of sciatica with various cushions to sit on, use of moist heat or of ice, etc.

You're already doing way more household chores than I did at your number of weeks. You might slow it down a bit. The chores will wait! (In my years as a home hospice nurse, nobody ever expressed a regret about not having been a better housekeeper!)
 
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Happy Two Month Anniversary!
I hope the knee pain while sitting is easing for you. It all takes time.
Hopefully you're finding your groove in all of it and the days are feeling brighter.
Best Wishes for a great week! :thumb:
@TurtleKnee
 

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