TKR ROUND 2: MotownGirl made it to the other side

[Jane B.]

Sounds like you have this one, Motown. I like setting up our new best friend, the ice machine, in the car! I've got to disconnect and go make lunch, but had a lovely stroll through the neighborhood. It's a beautiful fall day.

I hope your son is healing well and his semester isn't too disrupted.

 

[kaw205]

Hi Robyn,
Just checking in to see how your trip went. Hope your son is doing ok and you too!
Karen

 

[MotownGirl66]

@kaw205 @Jane B. The trip to G'ville. was long! I brought the ice machine and an inverter with me but never got around to hooking it up. The thought of crawling through the SUV (it's an extra long Yukon) to the rear cargo area was too much to take on. I did ice once we got to the hotel late Monday night. In a nutshell, I walked too much, sat with my knee bent too often, and my knee was throbbing and angry by the night of Day 1. I was miserable. What hurt me the most wasn't the car ride, it was getting up and down from seats/chairs/toilets that were low, like lower than my knee. I am tall so a lot of chairs are low to me. The getting up and down motion aggravated both knees.
We are home now. I went to PT this morning. Almost cancelled it but I didn't. I iced and elevated all night and I swear my knee was more swollen than it was before I went to bed.
Just cannot wait for down the road when I feel like normal again. DREAD the idea of knee #2 being operated on.
Have a great night!
Robyn
P.S. My son is doing better. His stitches were removed & he has 5 more weeks of crutches. We saw the x-rays of the two femur breaks...my heart broke further for the pain he must have felt, but he is SOO brave! He is getting caught up w/ his classes. He took an exam while we were there but doesn't feel very confident about it. We will see. THANKS FOR ASKING ABOUT HIM!

 

[kaw205]

Glad you're back!

 

[MotownGirl66]

Post OP Day 32, I think:
Oh Lord, I think the adhesions/scar tissue broke loose. I stepped off the curb with my surgical knee first. I heard this loud pop, like the popping of bubble wrap, and instantly felt excruciating pain at the top of my knee cap near where my quadricep connects. I yelled "ouch" out loud and tried to walk to the car....putting any amount of weight on it brought instant pain. On the drive home, when I tried to raise my leg up about 1", I experienced a new pain in my lower thigh at about my knee cap. I felt a lump at the top of my incision and rubbed it till I flattened it out, then a dent appeared. I got home about 45 minutes later, got out the truck, and as soon as my foot touched the ground, the intense pain appeared. If this is what scar tissue feels like when it frees itself, I am in for a world of hurt.

Robyn
@Jamie @Roy Gardiner

 

[Jamie]

Scar tissue or adhesions (if you have this problem, and most people don't) usually restrict movement when you are bending your knee. If you were stepping down off a curb with your operated leg first, you would be extending your knee, not bending it. Did the pain occur when you stepped and put weight on your foot? Was there possibly any twisting of your foot or leg as you stepped forward? Were you going slowly and carefully or making a normal stride rather quickly?

My guess is that you took the step too quickly and have irritated tender soft tissues in your knee. But if the pain continues, you'll need to get with your surgeon to have him check it out. In the meantime, stay off your knee except for walking around the house. Go back to gentle bends and stretches to keep the joint mobile. Apply ice and elevation and take something for the pain. Until you get this sorted, no errands or outings or trips to the office.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

I'm no expert at all, but that never stops me pontificating. It certainly sounds like you've torn/stressed something. Otherwise, what Jamie said...:iagree:

 

[jeano]

I'd be concerned. I've given myself a couple of 'manipulations without anesthesia' and pain has only ever been transitory with no effect on mobility. I vote for getting checked right away unless it resolves right away.

 

[MotownGirl66]

@Jamie @Roy Gardiner @jeano I was conducting business in an office for about 15 minutes. During that time, they required me to sit down shortly and then get up to move to a total of 3 different office seats. With each one, the seat was low, which required me to push off in order to stand up. As I exited the building, I was walking slowly and trying to walk normally, like my PT guy recommends (not limping). I slowly approached what was about a 6-7" curb to step down. I went slowly because I was using my surgical leg on purpose. When my foot flatly touched the pavement, the pain was instantaneous....at the same time the audible pop was quite loud as was my unintentional yelling "ouch"....the "ouch" occurred without me even thinking about it. I stopped immediately and stood there for a second, thinking what the heck was that? I knew I needed to get home. I began to walk to my truck and realized I had no choice but to limp because putting weight on that leg was no longer an option without inducing me yelping "ow" the whole way.
I've since been resting for the last 4 hours. I called my PT - he thinks the scar tissue/adhesion broke loose but can't evaluate it until my appointment tomorrow morning. He recommends rest, as well. I got up a little while ago to go downstairs to get a water. Upon standing, I knew immediately that something was quite different than the last 4 1/2 weeks. It hurts to put weight on it. It hurts at the top of the knee. I sincerely pray it was an adhesion releasing and not something more serious. I am beholden to the recovery of my knee and not doing anything more than what I have been doing for the last few weeks.

Best regards,
Robyn

 

[MotownGirl66]

UPDATE: Being that today is late Thursday afternoon and the weekend is approaching, I decided to call my surgeon - waiting for a call back.

 

[Jane B.]

Oh, boo. Hopefully this is nothing and will resolve with ice and rest. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

 

[kaw205]

Lets hope and pray that your PT is right. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

 

[Jamie]

I am beholden to the recovery of my knee and not doing anything more than what I have been doing for the last few weeks.

I read back through your complete thread and, while I understand this statement you made, I must tell you that what you've been doing this past 4 weeks of your recovery is way beyond what would be advisable following this very major surgery.

Soft tissue problems can be cumulative and my concern is that you are not listening to your knee when it is telling you to slow down and allow yourself time to properly heal. You may not think your activity levels have been anything extraordinary, but I can assure you they have been. Most people at around 4 weeks are just starting to get out on short (no more than a couple of hours) errands....maybe one every other day. A trip to the therapist counts as an outing. So on those days you see your therapist, the rest of the day should be at home.

In the end you will make the choices for yourself about what you do and don't do. But when you continue to push yourself to the point that you have significant pain daily or even every couple of days, you must not be surprised that this is the outcome from a level of activity that your knee is not ready for.

 

[MotownGirl66]

@Jamie I agree with you completely. Totally without hesitation. Initially, when I first had my surgery I apologized to my husband for not being able to help help him prepare for selling our home because I needed to concentrate on healing, PT, and getting well in time for our November vacation. He agreed & has been an angel with helping.

But then life intervened as you've probably read and my convalescence went to the wayside so I could care for my son. I've retired since my surgery so working isn't an issue anymore. I know I am in charge of my life but for some reason I feel like I am on the hamster wheel of life. I do spend the majority of my day in bed (we have one of those adjustable beds that raises the head or the feet), icing, and elevating. I don't grocery shop, clean the house, feed the dogs, do laundry, etc... My husband has been doing all that.

I am sleeping when my body calls for it, but truthfully, there are days when I am pushed way further than I am capable of, but I do it anyways and pay for it with 2 days of subsequent agony. I have to jump off the hamster wheel. You're right. There's a couple's bridal shower this Saturday for our mutual friends. I am going to send my husband to it with our gift. Tomorrow there's nothing on my schedule except PT.

I am truly hoping (please God!) that that horrible sound was the adhesions letting loose.

Thanks!

Robyn

 

[Jamie]

While I don't necessarily think you had an adhesion break loose, I do not think your pain indicates a problem with your implant. A quick trip to your surgeon will confirm this, so I think you should pursue this. As good as your therapist might be, he's not a medical doctor and you really need to get your diagnosis from your surgeon once he's seen an xray of your knee. Without seeing that, no one can tell you for sure what happened.

I'm glad to hear you won't be off to a couples shower this weekend. Good choice. The first of many more good choices yet to come with your new-found determination. Patience is difficult for us typeA, used-to-being-in-control gals (I'm in that category too, so I understand). Sadly.....your knee is in control for a while. Eventually you and your knee will get this worked out and both of you will be a lot happier.

 

[kneeper]

I'm glad you're checking in with the surgeon. Definitely take a knee-cation for now.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

I, too, have looked back to see if there's any further advice I might offer.

I'm sorry to hear about your son, I hope he recovers soon. I will now repeat the old saw:

- What's the most dangerous place on the face of the planet?
- In between a mother and her baby.

So, you look after him. Fair enough.

Leaving that aside:

there are days when I am pushed way further than I am capable of, but I do it anyways and pay for it with 2 days of subsequent agony

External forces leave you no alternatives? Really?

Yesterday, just by being a mom and a wife, I logged 3,700 steps and 12 flights of stairs without even trying. In the evenings, my knee hurts so bad and it gets even more swollen. I know I am over-doing it during the day, but I really have no choice.

Apart from your son, yes you do.

The Mantra is a distillation of the wisdom of BoneSmart. One line says:

- If you won't die if it's not done, don't do it;

And this is meant as only a slight exaggeration; rest really is best.

I set myself up for failure because my son (the injured one) asked me to take him to the AT&T store to get the new iPhone. Who can say no to someone who just had a near-death experience, right? Not me.

my husband had originally said he was going to drive me but when he heard I was taking my son to the AT&T store, he changed his mind (of course he did, he had a point to prove!)

You carry a firearm, correct? Ah, but you're 6,000 miles away -- so, I can safely say that he was right, wasn't he?

TKR recovery is your time, for once, to be self indulgent. It's best for you and it's best for those around you.

------------------

As to your current horrible setback, as everyone has said you need to get it checked out. It won't be anything wrong with the knee itself, it will be a soft tissue problem of some sort. Good luck with it.

 

[MotownGirl66]

@Roy Gardiner @ Kneeper @ Jamie

Each of you is spot on...this morning it feels about 5% better than it did yesterday but it still feels like it wants to buckle underneath me which hasn't happened since before surgery. The surgeon is waiting for me to call them back after PT this morning. Apparently, knee tendons have been known to make a loud popping sound when they are torn or injured. The sound mine made was as loud a bubble wrap being cracked. What on each would cause that sound? It's in the area of where my quadricep meets my patella - online research indicates it might be an injured quadripcep tendon. Argh....I am my own worst enemy and my husband, bless his heart, has NOT said "I told you so!" even though I am sure he's thinking it. He's been a angel re-filling my ice machine for me all yesterday evening and through the night.

 

[Jamie]

It could be an injured tendon. The only way you're going to know for sure is to see your doc. Hope you do that soon...if for no other reason than to ease your mind. Be honest with him too about what all you've been doing. He needs to know everything in order to properly advise you where to go from here. Your husband sounds like an excellent partner in your recovery. So glad you have him. Lean on him right now. It's okay and he'll feel good being able to take care of you for a change like I'm sure you take care of your whole family when you're feeling 100%.

 

[DKing]

Muscle twitches and jerking: has anyone been experiencing these since surgery? Never had them before now: Now, they are so frequent -10-15 times a day. I should give them a name. I've also had the sensation that I'm falling. Say I'm just resting on the couch with my eyes closed. I have this weird sensation that I'm falling, which causes me to jerk and jump up. Inadvertently, I end up hurting my leg.

Thought I was the only one! I'm was taking two Hydrocodone 10-325 which is 4 times the dose I usually take for pain. It was the weirdest sensation and seemed to happen at the most inopportune (embarrasing) times. My family had a lot of giggles at my expense.

The good news is that now that I only take one Hydrocodone as needed, the twitches and jerks have stopped.