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TKR Rob's Knew Knee

SDkate said:
If I can't sleep, I can at least enjoy your humorous thread. I have a couple of questions for you - were you playing tennis up until your surgery? And does your OS feel that you will be able to play after your full recovery?

I used to play in a women's league, although had to have a steroid cocktail before the summer league started. When I changed jobs to the traveling job that I have now, it became impossible to participate in a scheduled league, and for the last 2-3 years I haven't been able to even play a little for fun. I read somewhere recently that tennis is one of the worst sports for knee replacement patients, but I suppose if there's a will there's a way.
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Been battling this knee since 2005, when I first tore the medial meniscus on my left knee and had it scoped. Kept getting progressively worse through the years, and finally hit bone-on-bone in a USTA League doubles match last November 8. Finished the match hobbling, shook hands with the opponents, and started walking to another court where one of my dubs teams was still playing, and by the time I got there, I was using my racquet as a cane. Pain was unbearable for days, and that was the last match I played. It convinced me that my only option was total knee replacement if I ever wanted to hit tennis balls again. I picked a surgeon who also played tennis and told him my goal was to play again, even if in a diminished capacity. He said I could not expect to play competitive singles but could play doubles for quite a few years on the model knee he liked to use. Even in doubles, I'm usually the team rabbit, running down just about every shot and frustrating the other team into an error. Don't know if I can still be that guy, but I'm willing to take the chance.

Honestly, it's hard to see that day at this stage, with my knee still stiff and swollen and my ROM stuck in the 105-110 range, but I swear to Zeus if it's physically possible, I will be playing tennis again this time next year, if not sooner. I may be more rabid than rabbit, but I WILL play again.:tennis2:
 
jbrooklyn said:
@Rob 68, why are we not surprised that you have a cool little sports car? :) It's exciting to think about driving again. Three cheers for that idea. When does your regular PT get back from vacation?
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She's back Monday. Will be hard to tolerate the sub again, but I'll grit my teeth and get through it, then drive home in my chariot.
 

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Good day at PT; had a come-to-Jesus meeting with sub PT before we got into the sessions and suggested measuring immediately following my normal heel slides. She agreed, and the measurements were 108-120. I can live with those. Then she gave me some new exercises directly related to tennis-court movement, and I had a blast. Then went out, dropped the top, and drove home with the breeze in my face. Only blemish was Tramadol script was not ready and won't be until Sunday. But, hey, I'm doing pretty good without it, anyway.

Three PT sessions with regular PT next week, then second appointment with OS on Aug. 18. Feeling good about that one.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Treat yourself to something special; we've all earned it. My treat will be another Guinness tonight. :cheers: Here's looking at you, kids.
 
Oh, good measurements. I get evaluated for outpatient PT next Friday and will learn if the gentle stretches I am doing are working. You inspire me to keep working on it.
 
Good Sunday morning to everyone. Sitting here drinking my coffee, looking at tomorrow's 5-week mark, and came up with a question. I seem to be noticing yesterday and today a little less numbness in my knee and I also seem to be hearing and feeling some clinking/clunking in my knee. My question to those of you who have passed the 5-week mark: is this about the time you started hearing these sounds? Or does that particular milestone, like many others in this journey, vary from one individual to another?

Must admit it's an interesting feeling. I obviously felt and heard the bones grinding against each other prior to surgery, but this is not quite the same. Will be interested in any response, as usual. This has been and is a fascinating experience, as I expect it will continue to be. Glad we can all share it together.
 
I will be 5 weeks next Thursday, and funny you should mention it, but just yesterday I noticed a slight click. Numbness is slowly fading as well. Best change is that I can be up and about doing light housekeeping for 10-15 minutes before I hurt at all. And then just the back of my knee starts to feel uncomfortable. I guess it is my hamstrings, and I am working on them. I think we are getting better! But will be interesting to see how this clicking develops.
 
You're right on target, give or take a little. What I discovered for the clunk was by picking my foot up just a little more than I was, the clunk would disappear. I think prior to surgery, I got in the habit of shuffling along. What I needed to do was concentrate just a little on not only a heel-toe walking form, but lifting my leg from the hip more. When I did that, the clunk went away. You shouldn't have to exaggerate this too much. It will likely feel like an exaggeration to you, but I don't think someone watching you will notice it. I talked with my PT about it, and they watched me walk and gave me a couple of targeted exercises that helped. Very easy stuff.
 
Rob,
That clicking and clunking is a sign the swelling is improving. You probably will notice it mostly when you change positions when sitting or turning over in bed. As your quad strength improves it should mostly disappear. My 1st knee it was almost completely gone by 6 months. Then I had my 2nd knee done and lost a little strength and it came back for a time, but now that I am using the bike again, it seems to be improving.
 
Yes, the clicking and clunking is normal. It happens because you now have metal and plastic parts moving over each other, instead of the relatively softer bone and cartilage.

Although most people find the noises abate, my right knee, which is almost 4 years old, still clunks. My left knee, which is 11 months old, hardly makes noises at all. Odd!
 
Braunzie said:
@Rob 68 - Just checking in to see how you're doing.. Hope all is well and life is good for you!! :SUNsmile:
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Had a pretty good PT session today. Got to 115 flexion on my own, then with PT assistance, hit 126. I think my OS will be very pleased next Tuesday. Then we got into some lateral exercises that mimic many of the movements a tennis player has to make during a match, a little weight work, some step exercises, and some short lunges to 3 different angles, again mirroring some of the moves a tennis player makes. Felt tired at the end, but it's one of those good fatigues. Drove there and back home on my own today, another mini-Independence Day. Yea.

Quads are gaining strength and endurance, and the swelling and numbness are slowly retreating. Still a long way to go, but I remain confident that I can get where I want to be in another 5 or 6 months. By the way, I've been sleeping on my side for the past week and it seems to help keep overnight swelling to a minimum. That seems to give me a head start every day, which fuels the optimism. I hope to feel strong and stable enough in a week or so to take our puppy for a morning walk. That will be another milestone.

How are you doing? Do you get your regular PT back next week? Hope you are on track for an uneventful rehab. Enjoy the weekend.
 
@Rob 68 - Sounds very optimistic! So glad for you! :yes:

I still have a fill-in therapist next week for two visits. My knee hasn't been happy since we saw her.. so I'm going to be very direct on Monday when I see her that she needs to back off. Took a break from everything yesterday, spent much of the day just elevating and icing some, did just a few stretches. Feeling a bit guilty about not doing more exercises.. :sad: And last night I had knee pain I haven't felt in a while, couldn't sleep, so took an oxy..

Part of "the process".. :dubious:

Knee feels a bit better today, so getting "back of the horse', so to speak. it's the weekend, and I always feel better when my husband is around anyway.. So it's "all good"!! :)
 
Everyone, meet Rafa. Rafa, meet our knee pals.

Doc was pleased as punch today, so Rafa and I took some selfies (with a little help from the x-ray tech) to celebrate. Doc says (now he tells me!) the cruciate retaining knees tend to be a little stiff in the beginning, but they were the best choice for tennis players. Says I can likely be hitting some tennis balls in a month or so. Yea, Rafa. Yea me. :yes!:
 

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And you were worried! So glad you got a good report. Mine was cruciate sparing as well, so am glad you passed that bit of info on. Handsome selfies!
 
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