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TKR Sarah Jane's Summer Journey and Fall Frolic

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I understand -- in the thinking part of my feeble head -- that it makes sense for there to be some changes in the ligament, tendons, and fascia after the surgery. My patella had shifted to the left of its normal position, and my shin and lower leg were vagus, going out further to the right than they would have without the severe degenerative arthritis. As these changes were gradual, the ligament, tendons and fascia adjusted over time. So, after the surgery, 1) my bones were back in proper alignment, meaning that the soft tissue which has been stretched, shortened, etc., over time needs to adjust to the new position and 2) my soft tissues had been cut, folded over on themselves to give the OS access to my knee, put back in place to heal and mend over time, etc.

But I feel -- in the emotional part of my aggravated head -- that it is Simply Unconscionably Crummy Karmic Stinkiness -- to have this tight band and discomfort get WORSE. Grrrrrr umble. Grrrrr ouse. Grrrrr ump

S(tiffness) H(urting) I(rritation) T(ightness) happens. I get that. But I want to get it *abstractly!* Not in reality.

Yesterday I spent 10 minutes on a regular -- non-recumbent -- exercise bike. First time since surgery that I've done 10 minutes on an exercise bike. Earlier maximum was 5 minutes. On a recumbent bike at the physical therapist's office.

So I ask myself: too long on the bike? wrong type of bike? too long and wrong type?

I skipped any sort of bikes today. But I did go in the pool for some walking, and some stretching aimed at the IT band. And a couple of other very gentle exercises. Followed by 20 minutes in the hot tub, where I occasionally made some bicycling motions and did some extensions.

I took some acet (I cannot for the life of me spell that!) and put a hot pack over the tight area. I tried -- not very successfully, I'm afraid -- to do some self-massage to help loosen the tightness.

My physical therapist is on vacation this week. My next appointment is on the 17th. My next OS appointment is toward the end of the month. I don't know if my health maintenance organization physical therapy department is set up for deep tissue massage. I do have some coverage for chiropractor appointments, but I don't know whether the chiropractors they contract with are set up to do deep tissue work, either.

Wondering if I should keep on keeping on until my next scheduled PT appointment a week from tomorrow. I don't think I could get in earlier, at least not with this therapist.

@skigirl @referee54 any thoughts or suggestions? There might be some other people active here who've dealt with IT issues, too. Feel free to chime in.
 
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@SarahJane my ITB is very sore as well, although I don't think to the extent that others have probably because my left leg went so bad so fast, I dont know, just my thought. Anyways I do the recommended stretches and use heat on it. Sometimes its so sore that I take my rolling pin and roll it up and down my leg,that seems to help the best. I saw a foam roller at target but for the price I'll just use my own rolling pin for now lol seeing that I'm on disability pay. You could always give that a try and then see what your PT has to offer when he/she comes back from vacation. Wish I could offer more help....
 
I think I may have IT band issues too but have only discovered this recently so am not in a position to provide helpful advice yet. Many folks on here say that massaging with a rolling pin or foam roller or using their finger knuckles to really work the area will help. My previous PT told me to do "clamshells" in order to work the glutes which should help the IT band. I did these and it did help to loosen the IT band quite significantly coupled with some massage from him. I wouldn't recommend you try clamshells though until you've seen a PT and been shown the correct technique and are given the go ahead to do them.
 
Yup clamshells and the crab I still do them and just clenching and hold then relax works although I have had the received the odd look when standing in queues. But check with PT

Legin THR Sep 14
 
Thanks for your comments and support. I haven't been posting much recently -- busy reading up on IT band
and doing self-massage, stretches (a little) and heating.

I'm leaning towards heating the IT band -- to relax it -- rather than icing it, which I believe would cause it to constrict and create more tightness. So I've been applying hot packs rather than ice packs.

Yesterday was the first day I drove. I was OK behind the wheel. I had two back to back doctor's appointments in different locations. I was a bit wiped out when I reached the second one (which also had a flight of stairs once I got there), but was able to sit sideways on a couch and elevate while I was there, so I revived. Then, on the way home, I ended up flirting with the Over-Did It Club. (ODIC). The second appointment was several cities away. I'd taken the freeway there, but it was getting closer to rush hour, so I thought it best to take surface streets home. I'd be driving slower, so if there was any trouble, the crash would be less drastic at slower speeds. I happened to pass right by a grocery store -- and I was out of saltines -- so I pulled into the parking lot just to pick up a few things.

The grocery store was huge, and I spent some time walking up and down the aisles, cane in one hand and shopping cart being pushed by the other, trying to find the few items on my list. By the time I reached the checkout, I realized that this had probably been a Bad Idea. Luckily the line was short, and traffic was fine on the way home. But it wiped me out. I had the beginnings of a tension headache and very tense neck and shoulders. So I spent much of the evening giving myself self-massage on the neck and head, along with applying heat to my IT band and neck and shoulders.

This morning I spent at least an hour massaging up and down my leg and rear and small of the back. I have a hot pack on the knee and the shoulders, and am about to get up and go out for another medical appointment. The fun never ends.
 
Oh @SarahJane - I am so sad to hear that you're hurting so much! That ODIC is a sneaky craytur, and you never know when the eejit will do a flash attack on your well being. I hope that the heat has been more comfy than ice, and you've given yourself hours of massage - wow!

This journey is such a tough one, and today (at 15 weeks) I feel so discouraged, due to pain and ROM that is worse than any time during my recovery. Sending you a virtual hug to the other coast, and may the rest of your day be a very good one.
 
@SarahJane. Sorry to near that you're having so much pain. Hoping the heat will do the trick! I sat one day with ice on the top and heat on the bottom... It was a very odd feeling!

Yesterday, on my first drive alone, I also "ran by the grocery store" on the way home from PT. That about did me in but I would NEVER admit it to DH! Today I went out to lunch with a " girlfriend"! It was my first meal away from home in 8 weeks!!! She was going shopping, but I decided I should come home instead. I'm acknowledging my limitations!

I hope the rest of your day was much better! Hugs from the Deep South!
 
You did over do it, didn't you. That was a lot to do in one outing but you did it and now you know that you can. The after effects will lessen as you get stronger. I'm meeting with my PT on Monday to discuss my return to work program. Everyone wants me back but I could quite happily stay in my bed.
 
Nice and easy does it lass, wax on wax off. It takes a while to keep going but the results can be amazing, big Scottish hugs

Legin THR Sep 14
 
@SarahJane - Are you feeling better today? I hope that the massages and rest and chilling out brought a boost to your being and some loosening of the tightness.

The day you had your surgery I had been cleared to drive and stopped taking blood thinners and ditched the TEDS hose for a couple of days. So I have more recovery time than you do, but still have issues that have arisen. I'm glad that I don't have the IT Band pain! Josephine recommended that I see a chiropractor for my alignment and balance, and I found it would be over a month to see the one who is part of the OS practice. I left a message with the OS office asking for a referral to an experienced chiropractor in the area (they haven't called me back, but their V/M system states that they will try to return calls within three days).

May you have a weekend that is full of rest and joy!
 
Thanks, everyone, for your kind words and thoughts.

I ended up taking half a trazadone sleeping pill on Thursday night and found myself sleeping nearly all of Friday!

I enjoyed getting out on Thursday night to the Hollywood Bowl. The music was wonderful and my knee fared well enough. I had the back seat of the car to myself for the first 1/2 hour of the trip, so I was able to sit sideways and extend my leg out along the seat. After we picked up the last passenger, I had to share the back seat. I began to feel uncomfortable after about 10 or 15 minutes. So with the permission of my seat-mate, I switched from sitting in a standard knees bent position to extending my operated leg out straight into the space behind the opposite seat -- it helps that I and the other backseat passenger were both short, and that she didn't mind having her knees and legs bent to the right.

We got dropped off at the entrance while our driver went off and parked the car. The Bowl has a separate entrance for handicapped and differently abled patrons. It involves some walking, and two separate elevator rides. Better than hiking uphill to get to the seats, but taxing enough.

Luckily, there was sufficient room to extend my leg out during the concert itself. Yeah! We waited for the massive crowds to dissipate before exiting. The two guys were a bit faster than me and my backseat companion, so when we reached the down elevator, which had a relatively short line to get on it, the guy who thought the second piece had dragged on too long took it upon himself to go down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. Us two laggards had little choice but to follow. But since I'm still taking stairs down with the bad leg, following with the good leg, rather than going down normally, we lagged even further behind. So, at the second passageway, when there was a line for the second elevator, we were too far away to be heard by the headstrong, impatient guy who took to the stairs again. Luckily for us, they slowed down enough for me to put my good foot down on a third set of stairs, so we finished the trip by elevator. I was just beginning to limp, and was glad that we were able to wait for our driver to bring the car around for us at the entrance. I extended and iced on the way home.

I was a bit stiff the next morning, but I got up and walked around the house a bit, tending to the fish and the cat, before hitting the sack again to catch up on my sleep. I iced several times during the day, but mostly slept.

For @zauberflöte and anyone else who follows classical music, feel free to read on. And if you're not that interested in classical music, feel free to skip the rest of this post.

Last night's concert:

Los Angeles Philharmonic
Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

GERSHWIN Concerto in F
BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique

I'd seen Jean-Yves Thibaudet before and was looking forward to hearing him again. (Yikes! It was a bit of a shock to see him with distinguished but nevertheless *grey* hair! No longer the handsome young man I remembered.) I am a big Gershwin fan, and was happy to see that his Concerto in F was on the program. It's performed less often than Rhapsody in Blue or An American in Paris (both of which I *love*), so hearing it live was a treat. Thibaudet and the Phil were jazzy enough when the score called for it, but on the whole treated the piece much more like a concerto than a jazz score.

I've never been overly fond of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique. I understand its importance as a stellar example of programmatic themes in the early Romantic period in the evolution of symphonic music, *and* as a cautionary tale about the consequences of taking opium out of despair from unrequited love. But that doesn't mean I have to love it. Also, seeing a multi-media performance Theater Complicite did with Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the early days of Disney Hall has left me with memories of Berlioz' face swimming in and out of focus depicting the depths of drug-addled deprivation has left me with unsettling and disturbing visual nightmarish images...https://www.complicite.org/productions/StrangePoetry

But I really enjoyed the youthful Spanish conductor Heras-Casado's interpretation of the piece. I felt like he was being true to the early Romantic period and not rushing the pace of the music. Two of my companions felt that the last half of the program, which featured the Berlioz, was a little long. I disagreed, but kept my thoughts to myself out of politeness to my host.
 
@Thesoutherncook
Some really close friends of mine play Old Tymey music and took me to jams with Ralph Blizzard after he moved to California broken link removed: https://arts.gov/honors/heritage/fellows/ralph-blizard. So please believe me when I say I'm excited beyond words about your little mountain community in the southwest corner of North Carolina. I love music in many formats and expression -- with a strong, tinnitus-compelled preference for non-amplified, non-electronic music that saves what's left of my poor, poor, poor middle-aged ears.

@Raffs, I love Sondheim. Love, love, love him. Of course I remembered the song "By the Sea."

Hope you get a chance to model your Sweeny-esque bathing suit during your time off from the Brighton conference this week.
 
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@Braunzie I found heat really helpful earlier this week. I've been icing today, though, because the time in the back seat and involuntary several flights of stairs irritated my knee a little. But I wouldn't hesitate to switch over to heat again if my IT band started acting up. At a little past two months into my recovery I'm not having that much swelling from inflammation, so I'm not worried about having the heat increase the swelling or discomfort. Like everything in this recovery, though, there are no generalizations. I think I'd be more cautious about applying heat if I had swelling, rather than that tight, restrictive feeling. Hope you find the balance which works best for you!
 
@Widget1, I posted a little something on your own thread. SO sorry you're feeling discouraged. I hope you feel like your fellow Bonesmarties are here for you, because we are. Sending hugs and love across the continent.
 
@Sarah Jane You will love John Campbell Folkschool! They have " concerts" every Friday night with a variety of mountain music. You should plan to come next fall when we have the beautiful leaf color and lots of arts and crafts festivals which always include entertainment. Although this is truly small potatoes compared to a classical concert at the Hollywood Bowl!
 
Wow, you really did so much! Would have been tempted to smack the impatient stair descending man upside the head for not waiting for the elevator. But sounds like the inconvenience and discomfort was well worth it.

@Thesoutherncook , one of my best friends moved to North Carolina last year and the plan was for me to visit this Fall. Knees changed my plan, but you make me look so forward to next year!
 
@SarahJane - I am so happy that you were able to attend the concert, and thank you so much for providing information about the concert! I love classical music and would have loved to have been there (my great-grandmother was a concert pianist in London, and I had my first piano recital when I was 4).

Having the ability to sleep and rest after your outing makes you appreciate not having to get up in the middle of the night and have a commute to another workday, doesn't it?
 
Sounds like an amazing concert! I would love to go to the Hollywood Bowl, in fact I am just so excited that I will be going to the west coast next year. We are going to San Diego in February and will be planning a drive to LA. Our concert/events this year are limited to seeing the Toronto Blue Jays play Tampa Bay at the end of the month, Billy Connolly in Toronto and Craig Ferguson here in London. Next year we are going to see David Gilmour in Toronto. I always take advantage of accessible seating because some places have so many stairs, I just can't do it. Kudos to you for managing the stairs. I have enough trouble coming down to the basement to do the laundry.
 
WOW You have some really good friends. Even with Celexa I still have meltdowns every now and then. I live in a 55+ double wide mobile home and mostly snowbirds. I am on my own most of the day but seems better when hubby gets home. He always has breakfast and lunch ready for me when he's not home. I also have a high bed so I moved to the guest room where the bed is lower and more firm for my back. Sounds like you are on the right path to recovering.:cheers:I'm kind of hubby went back to work. He was getting on my last nerve lol. Can I borrow your friends? Xxx
 
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