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TKR RTKR December 12

LittleBit said:
I think the bandage has provided some security for me so far that I will not injure the incision, and I expect to feel a bit vulnerable in that area without it.
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I recall this well. I felt the same. Always worried I was going carelessly bump into something.

There have been accounts of pets jumping up too close to, or accidentally hitting the incision. UGH!
Also lots of stories of pets that seemingly know something is off and are careful and guarded around their peeps.

You're doing great, LittleBit...Happy Holidays!
 
I also had very good ROM right off the bat and tolerated weekly PT with my first knee (more than once a week was way past my energy level). I speculate that the two may be correlated.
There are definitely folks who thrive on PT that's done in safe and sane ways.
 
We don't have any pets right now. Our old doggy had cancer and had to be euthanized just before I decided on the surgery, and we made a decision to hold off on a new pet until after my knee surgeries. The neighbor's cat visits our front porch every day, which I can see from the chair where I spend most of my time. I look forward to seeing him. As to injuring the knee, it's the grandchildren that everyone is worried about. They've been warned so many times to be careful of Meme's knee that they are super cautious of even getting too near me. I'm looking forward to holding them in my lap again when everything is healed enough.
 
LittleBit said:
I wasn't told why I needed the immobilizer.
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@LittleBit I am very interested to know if you ever got an answer on the immobilizer? Personally, I found that not being able to move my knee for more than 20 minutes was excruciating. Seemed that a movement, relative to my stage of recovery, was actually soothing.

Sounds like you are progressing wonderfully.
:yay:
 
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I was told that I should wear the immobilizer 6 hr. at night until my extension is at 0, but I only wore it one night because it was so uncomfortable. At PT this morning [Day 8], my extension was -3 and flexion 112. I guess I'll try again wearing the immobilizer and see where I am on Friday, 2 days from now. If extension is better, I'll continue, but if not, I don't know. Depends on how much it interrupts my sleep, which is really good the last few nights. I'm in bed around 9:00 with the knee iced and elevated, wake up once for bathroom, get more ice, and sleep until around 5:30. I do take 1000 mg. Tylenol before bed but no more pain meds during the day. Like you, I find movement soothing. During the day, I try to take 10 min. walks around the house with the walker at least 3 times a day and then do some gentle moving and stretching exercises.
 
I think your plan with your immobilizer is a good one.
You are managing your recovery very well.. Good for you!
 
The bandage was taken off this morning, and the incision looks pretty good, though still with the steri-strips intact. The bruising is starting to clear on the inside of the leg and knee but still very colorful on the back side and outside of the leg from thigh to low calf. I switched from pj capris to cotton leggings for today to provide a little more protection in the area. Now to wait for the steri-strips to loosen themselves and curl off. My head is beginning to clear from that fuzzy feeling. We have a beautiful sky in KY this morning, and I enjoyed getting out of the house for just a bit of fresh (though cold) air from house to car and back.
 
I’m wearing some soft black yoga pants day and night. I bought about 4 pair on Amazon. By wearing the pants I don’t have to struggle with the small towel when I put my ice machine pad around my knee, the pants are the material between me and the ice pad.
 
Day 9 - Update on immobilizer - Last night, I tried to wear it and lasted about 3 hrs. until I woke up feeling claustrophic and almost in a panic. Couldn't wait to get it off. Then I had short bursts of stinging pain briefly but enough to wake me up. Got up to get an ice pack, settled back in with leg elevated on pillows as usual and icing, and went back to sleep for another 3 hrs. or so--without the immobilizer. I was told the purpose of the immobilizer is to help me get to my goal of 0 extension by 6 weeks, and I am already at 3, so I'm thinking I'll just forget the immobilizer and do the gentle knee presses randomly as I have been doing while my leg is elevated on pillows. If my PT tells me I'm not on track for desired extension goal, I'll consider going back to the immobilizer, but it feels like a torture chamber. Good rest--which I have been getting regularly at night--feels more important right now for my healing.

Blues - For no apparent reason, I had a bout of the blues early this morning. My healing is progressing very well, I have little pain, and there's good help at home. I think it's part of the general mental and physical fatigue. I have been focused on this surgery for a couple of months already--planning, preparing, anticipating. And now I have to find patience to wait on my body. I wonder how ready I will be to start back to work on Week 5. I teach at the local university, a job that I love, and will be teaching my spring semester classes all online from home. So that helps. Still, I am concerned about stamina and focus. I know it's too early to worry so much about that, but I'm having a hard time convincing my overthinker brain to be quiet and let body do what it knows to do.

Comfort - I don't know if this will help anyone else, but I have found that my body responds really well to structure and routine--going to bed about the same time and getting up about the same time every day, morning routine of coffee, cereal, meds (just my normal before-surgery ones plus baby aspirin and stomach protector),walk, potty, rest and ice, distractions, walk, more distractions, lunch. Same for the afternoon until dinner (w/o potty or meds). TV after dinner. Bedtime ritual of carrying pillows, ice, water glass to bedroom, taking Tylenol, changing to pjs, snuggling my fuzzy blankie, and turning out the light. Sounds a bit like an infant, doesn't it? On PT days, which are MWF, and on Sundays, I add a shower to the morning routine. Sometimes the kids drop by for a visit. Hubby is retired, so we have small conversations. It's hard to accept that this can be so tiring, but I must be P.A.T.I.E.N.T. . . . . . . .

Hope everyone is having a day just a little bit better than the day before.
 
@MSuki Yoga pants sound like a great solution. I'm in longer pants again today just to avoid the towel issue under the ice. Every little thing that can be done to simplify helps.
 
@benne68 Thanks for the reminder. It's reassuring to know this is "normal." Hope you are progressing today.
 
The rest of us got our extension without immoblizers at night. Zero degrees at six or eight weeks is an "aspirational goal," and many take longer.
So if your body is fighting the immobilizer, trust it.
 
Day 10 - Since @benne68 has encouraged keeping track of the daily "little things," here's my summary of yesterday's "good stuff." I stood in the kitchen to stir-fry some zucchini for dinner. I was desperate for fresh vegetables, and it tasted marvelous! I sat for a little while on the couch in our hearth room--what we call our little area off the kitchen--and watched the birds and squirrels in the backyard. Sunny days are so good for my mood! I worked very briefly (maybe 10 min.) on some school work on the computer. My brain still works, just not for sustained periods! I cleaned the stove top and did a little pick-up in the family room. Last night, I was so tired that I went to bed an hour early! No increased pain or swelling this morning:-)

PT visit #4 and last before Christmas - For the first time, I pedaled on the stationary bike (8 min., all the way around with rest periods of rocking back and forth.) It felt good, except for slight discomfort on the all-around strokes. Therapist says bring the cane next week, and he'll show me how to use it correctly. Flexion at 115. We didn't measure extension. He says no worries about that. It will come on its own. There were several of us "knee folk" at the facility this morning, and I enjoyed exchanging frustrations and encouragements, just as we do here.

I hope everyone is finding some comfort today. Thanks for your companionship on the journey.
 
Wow, @LittleBit! You are doing amazingly well for so early in this recovery. If I remember correctly from my first TKR, I was still doing the backward-forward pedal thing at 5 weeks out!

Please keep sharing your updates with us.
 
Yes, prehab definitely helped me as well. You're doing great!
 
Day 18 - My knee recovery is going well, ROM progressing, very little pain, walking about the house, starting to do some alternating step-ups on the 6-in. back doorstep. However, yesterday, I started feeling unwell--mild headache and uneasy stomach, little appetite. Since I am no longer on pain medicine, not even acetominophen, I started wondering if any of the meds I'm taking could be the cause. Basically, I only take meloxicam (Mobic) and pantoprazole (stomach protector) plus baby aspirin to help prevent clots. I wonder if it's too soon to stop the meloxicam, which I notice can have side effects of headache and dizziness.
 
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