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TKR Sailor's Recovery Thread

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Roger, my husband just bought a boat, a 27' Grinde made in Denmark. He's on a veritable honeymoon. Needs lots of cosmetic work. His 29' Friendship Sloop is on the market, and we share a 31' Ericson Independence which we named "Trillium" but before was "California Dreamer." He's a regular boataholic. Would you like to borrow him?!
 
maryo52
Sure, I could always use another deck hand!
The 27' Grinde sounds nice, but definitely sounds like a project boat.
I learned to sail on a 15' dinghy that my wife & I bought many years ago. The boat was neglected, and had been sitting in a field in the hot Sacramento sun for years. We completely restored her. My wife handled the fiberglass, and I did all the wood. New sails and a new coat of paint and she was good to go! My wife was living on a boat when I met her, and she was very adept at handling any kind of boat maintenance! We named the dinghy "Albatross", and we had many days of fun sailing her on the local lakes. We sold her to a family whose daughter was learning how to sail. We still see her being sailed sometimes in an estuary off SF Bay.
After restoring Albatross, and realizing how much work is involved, we both agreed that all future boats will NOT be project boats. Just regular maintenance on a "non-project" boat is quite enough to handle.

Roger
 
Woo Hooh!!!!
Oracle Team USA sweeps both races today and beats Emirates New Zealand!!!

One more race to go, on Wed!

Go USA!!! You gotta love these guys! What a comeback!!!
 
Well, I figured it was time to post an update.

The other day while watching TV, I decided to measure my ROM. I have a goniometer. I was pleasantly surprised to see a measurement of 137! And I've noticed in the last few days that the stiffness and swelling has reduced significantly. I still have a little puffiness around the quads tendon, but no pain. I also have a little puffiness below the knee cap, and some stiffness slightly lateral to that area. All in all, not too bad, though! I've been using the exercise bike every couple of days, and have been doing some leg lifts to try to keep the quads strengthened.

I had some pain in my right hip and buttocks that had been bothering me for some time. It had been getting worse the last few weeks. I do have some lower back disc degeneration, so I was thinking it was sciatica. But my GP says it's a strained piriformis muscle. That seems strange, though, because it does seem to emanate outward from my lower back. The GP recommended stretching, NSAIDs and he prescribed some anesthetic patches for the pain. This all seems to be working OK. The pain is decreased. But the condition seems to come and go, anyway.

Yesterday I washed and waxed the deck of the boat, from bow to stern! It took about 3 hrs, and I had to contort myself into some really strange positions on deck, as well as kneel sometimes. I was pleasantly surprised that my knee came through this pretty well!

An update on my wife's Dishidrotic Eczema condition of her feet & hands:
She just had a steroid shot, and it seems to be working! No recent outbreaks, she can walk fine and her hands are clearing up. That's great news! On Wed she is leaving for Mexico for a long weekend to visit an old college buddy who is an ex-pat. No business travel for me this week, since I'll be home caring for the dogs!! I needed a break from business travel, anyway!

Cheers,
Roger
 
Wow Roger, you're doing really well! I love the pic and am jealous you got to see the America's Cup up close! lol It was an amazing comeback! Hey, that periformis thing? I had that too. It was all tied together with my groin. That exercise I do where I lay flat on my stomach and put a yoga strap around my ankle and pull my ankle to my head (well in that direction anyway) has really helped both those muscles. In fact, if I don't do that stretching every day, I can feel the pain coming back in my groin and hip (and when I say hip I mean periformis). I started doing them again and voila...pain has decreased!

I used to think I had a back problem too. I even show up on the MRI as having a bulging disc, but lots of people walk around with bulging discs and have no problems, so that really isn't a tell all. IMHO NSAIDS are great when you need them, but that really is only masking the underlying issue as I'm sure are well aware of.

Good news about your wife!!! I know that stuff is really awful, so I'm glad she found some relief! I'm going to call my knee doctor today or tomorrow and schedule the second replacement. It's gotta be done. The second one should go a lot smoother because I don't have all those other back and groin problems I had with the first leg.

Take Care!
 
Laura,
Thanks for the reply.
That is very valuable information about the piriformis. The interesting thing, though, is that I am experiencing it on my right leg, which is my non-TKR leg. So do you think I should do those stretches you describe on my non-TKR leg? Was your piriformis problem on your TKR leg?

Cheers,
Roger
 
I'm glad you responded because I call it the groin muscle but it really is the psoas muscle. There is a syndrome with these muscles, the illopsoas. You might want to try googling this. My psoas muscle when stretched using that yoga strap seems to also help the periformis which is part of this group of muscles. And yes my issue is primarily with my TKR leg but it could be that you were compensating with your good leg which caused some problems here. i'm no doctor or PT but I've had a lot of issues related to this and the yoga strap stretch is really good for me. There are also other stretches for the psoas as well as the periformis. Perhaps try some out routinely. I find I need to do them twice a day otherwise the problem returns.

Let me know how it's going after you've tried a week of it. I'd be curious to know if the stretches help. Good luck!
 
Hi Roger,

I am having the same problem with a strained piriformis muscle and it is on the opposite TKR leg. What's up with that? I think I am going to go to my GP and see if he can do something for me. Apparently the OS doesn't see it.

Other that the piriformis issue it sounds like you are doing quite well! I am glad to hear that your wife is doing better. Thank you for stopping by my thread and giving me support.

Take care :flwrysmile:
 
Hi, Maria,
Let us know what your GP says. My GP didn't think it was sciatica, because there was no pain or tingling going down my leg. From what you describe, you do have that symptom, so it may be sciatica.
I'm still not entirely convinced that mine is not sciatica, though, because it does seem to emanate from my lower back. My understanding is that you can have sciatica without it radiating down your leg.

I think we both may have been "compensating" with the good leg, and perhaps that is what brought this on.

I think the OS's don't generally want to be concerned about side effects like this. On my last OS visit, before he discharged me for 1 year, he told me not to "obsess" about the knee. :umm:

I've tried the stretches that Laura recommended. It's hard to tell yet if they are working, because the condition seems to come & go. I guess I'll know more later.

Other than that, I am doing OK. I do still have some swelling and stiffness, mostly laterally.

Cheers,
Roger
 
Lauramacky and daughter stalker, and all,
I have been doing some stretches for my piriformis muscle problem, and I'd like to share the results. It looks like they are working!
I'm doing 3 stretches. The first is called a "bridge". You might have done it in PT. It involves laying on your back, then raising your hips in the air while propping up with your feet and shoulders.
The 2nd is a stretch I found on the Internet, but several people have also mentioned it. It works really well:
Stretch
The 3rd is the stretch that Laura recommended. Laying flat on my stomach, and pulling the ankle of the affected leg up with a rubber band.
Maybe it's a coincidence, because the condition seemed to come & go anyway, but I've been pretty much pain free for the last few days :)

Cheers,
Roger
 
Wow, that's great news, Roger. Thanks for the stretches. I've been a bit tight over the weekend in my TKR-side hip, and I've had cramping fits in my left knee, due to over use, mostly on stairs, I think. These should help. My lower back is also a little tight, which I don't know is related. I've put back on a little belly weight, and have to do Williams Flexion exercises occasionally to loosen my lower back when it gets tight.

Thanks to all for the stretch suggestions!
 
Thanks Roger! I went to the GP today and was prescribed prednisone and a mild muscle relaxer. Within 20 minutes of taking the first dose of prednisone the edge was taken off my pain. As the day progressed and I took more pills I got better. I am not 100 percent cured, but it is a start. I am doing some stretches too. I think that drugs alone won't fix this problem.

My problem began when the PT had me doing the "bridges" exercise. I hate that exercise because of the pain it started. My pain comes and goes, but doesn't go all the way away. That exercise may not have been the culprit but I am blaming it for this pain. :heehee: I am sure there was some other contributing factor also, but this is when my problem began.

I feel so much better tonight. :happydance: No waddling (limping on both sides) since early this morning. Almost feel normal on the left side. And the prednisone is also helping my right TKR knee.

Have a wonderful evening! :flwrysmile:
 
daughter stalker,
Maria,
So glad to hear that you got some relief. You know, I had the same problem with the bridge exercise in PT. It hurt my lower back, so I didn't want to do it. The PT said it was actually good for my lower back, but I insisted on not doing it. Anyway, it does not hurt now, and it has seemed to help. Go figure!
The second exercise I posted (in the video) is supposed to be the best one. My GP recommended it.
I hope the drugs continue working and that you can also find a long term solution.

50yrold,
You're welcome. I hope the stretches help. They should also be good for lower back. I've been doing them for a week, about 1 hour before bed. So far so good. We'll see. I've had lower back problems for years. My last CT scan 2 years ago showed disc degeneration L4-L5 and L5-S1. I have pretty bad popping and grinding when I turn my back, like when you are backing up a car and looking through the rear window. My GP says my recent pain is not related to my back, but is rather a strained piriformis muscle. I can actually believe that, since my non-TKR leg has probably taken quite a bit of strain when walking.
I also see a chiropractor, which I've been doing for monthly maintenance for many, many years. It really helps. He commented that since my TKR, my middle back is no longer out of alignment.
I know what you mean about the weight. I love drinking beer, but I didn't drink any for about 2 months after TKR while I was on the narcotic meds. My wife said it proved that I'm not an alcoholic :) But now I'm back to having one beer on most days after work, which I love. So the belly is back, but not too bad. I just have to try to stay active, which I have been recently. I'm one of the lucky ones that has a high metabolism, so I've always been able to shed weight when needed. I hope that continues! I pay the price for a high metabolism, though, because sometimes it takes me a while to wind down and get to sleep. I guess you can't have it both ways :)

Cheers,
Roger
 
Dang, I just did 3 flights of stairs, twice, in the hotel on my business trip tonight. No pain, it just feels a little weird. I think the posterior stabilized knee replacements make you tend to lean forward when walking up an incline or stairs. At least that is what I've read, and it's what I'm experiencing.
Not too bad, though :)
 
Hi Roger Just want to thankyou for all of the support you give me and the kind way you have. Nice to hear that you were able to have time to wax your boat and so nice to see that you are doing so very well. It is good that things are looking better for your wife and that she is getting more comfortable. My Mom had a skin condition when I was growing up and they had problems identifying it as well. She tried everything from cortisone creams to cutting certain foods from her meals and still the skin on her hands was actually raw flaked off and same for her legs. Thought it was a reaction from certain soaps and detergents and then somehow it went away her hands are now soft and no more skin issues but left a few marks on her. It seemed to last for a long time and now looking back it is no longer a problem at the time she wondered if it was also caused from stress she thought maybe from years of changing diapers and just realized she no longer has it never diagonosed for it just told it was the way her body reacted. Hoping you have a wonderful time on your cruise and wishing you a wonderful week. Holly
 
5 1/2 month progress update:
I'm happy to say that I believe I'm at the point where I don't really need any pain meds anymore, even OTC :) I've returned to business travel, and even after walking 1/4 mile through the airports, my knee feels tired afterwards, but there is no significant pain! Just some occasional aches. I've also been doing quite a bit of yardwork, and have been back out sailing, as well.

I still have a bit of stiffness laterally, though, and the clunking/clicking is still there. I will say that the clicking seems much less frequent when the knee is rested. Swelling is down significantly, but I believe there still is some fluid in the knee. The quads area is still a little puffy, but no pain. And, the area in front of and below the knee, at the top of the tibia, still feels a bit warm at times. So there is still some healing going on. But overall, the knee feels much better. I still wear the Futuro knee brace when I'm at work, traveling, sailing or doing work in the yard.
My last flexion measurement was about 125 - 130, but I haven't measured it in a while. Extension is good, and it does feel so good to stretch the leg out in a full extension with quads flexed!

My wife and I have our big cruise vacation coming up in early Nov, which will be the 6 month mark. I was trying to decide on shore excursions, and was considering scuba. We are both certified open water divers, but my wife hasn't been able to dive in a while due to her diabetes. She is OK, though, with going out for the boat ride and snorkeling, while I scuba. I have been diving at least once a year prior to now, in an effort to keep my certification current. I decided to opt for snorkeling instead of scuba on this trip. My reasons: First, the weight of the equipment when on deck on the boat. Second, the "walk" from the boat into the water, where you put one foot in front of the other and step off the boat into the water. And, third, when diving you can encounter some strong underwater currents that require you to really work hard with you legs to make forward progress. The divemaster sometimes will plan the dive so that we follow the current, but that isn't always the case. So, altogether, I felt that these would all be pretty stressful on my knee. So I'm going to wait until the 1 year mark before considering scuba. Snorkeling should be fine, it will be good exercise, and my wife will be able to snorkel with me. I'm really looking forward to the relaxation and time off from work!

I attached a photo of the knee.

Cheers,
Roger

[Bonesmart.org] Sailor's Recovery Thread
 
Hi Roger,

Sounds like you are doing well. The knee is looking good! :yay: I bet you can't wait until you go on vacation in November. :happydance: The weather here is better now here in Central Florida. I know you will have a wonderful time! Thanks for checking in and updating us. Continue the updates please. :)

Take care:flwrysmile:
 
daughter stalker,
Thanks for the reply Maria! The day we return to port after the cruise will be my birthday, so we plan on hanging out for one extra day to celebrate! We'll go into town that night and have dinner, then find some shenanigans that we can get into :) Yes, I'm really looking forward to the cruise. The hardest part, so far, has been getting my co-workers to realize that I'll be away for a week and a half, so they don't schedule any customer meetings during that time :tantrum:
My wife's eczema condition has improved after her last cortisone shot, so she'll definitely get another one before the cruise. But she can't keep taking cortisone shots forever. After we get back, she has to get with her doctors to work on a long term treatment, or get referred to a specialized clinic. Whatever it takes.

Cheers,
Roger
 
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