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TKR Scrunchkin's recovery Thread

Today marks Nellie's 3 month birthday and things are coming along swimmingly. :swim: I actually wish I had a place to go swimming......I'm sure that would feel wonderful. Anyway, I am walking without any assistance unless I have a bad day. And I think bad days are getting fewer. I still have a bit of a limp, but feel my legs are getting stronger. But those darn steps.......geesh. I have an easier time going down than up. And I do know, with my good leg not being all too good doesn't help. But with doing my exercises, I feel the bad leg is even getting stronger. I'm looking forward to seeing how I fare through the next 3 months. :yay:
 
Great report! Nellie is a full fledged member of the family now! I will be glad when Ralph is!
 
What a wonderful report! So glad to hear it! It was much harder for me to go up stairs than down, but eventually I realized I was doing them equally well in both directions. It just suddenly happened!


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@Timetolive , Ralph is right behind Nellie. We'll be dancing in no time. :happydance:

Lovestoread said:
It was much harder for me to go up stairs than down, but eventually I realized I was doing them equally well in both directions. It just suddenly happened!
Click to expand...

I can't wait for this to happen. Gives me hope. :dancy:
 
Years ago my OS told me to go backwards down stairs. That way if you fall, you fall up not down! I have found this is so much easier and less painful then going down them the normal way. People look at me like I'm crazy, but I just tell them, "Bad knees", then it's OK. Maybe when I get my two new ones I can go down the normal way. If not, no big deal. Better being safe than falling all the way down!
 
I started out going down the stairs backwards and didn't even attempt that until about 5 weeks post op. Now that my quad is stronger, I can go down okay. When I bend my knee, I bend it towards the side, not straight down the steps. It's easier for me that way and don't have a problem. In a few weeks, I'll work more on trying to use it for going up the steps. And work on straightening it out going down, too.
 
I don't understand what you mean by bending your knee sideways? Is the pain going down that way? It is extremely painful for me to go down normal. Not so much backwards. If I could try it your way, and it doesn't hurt, that would be great!
 
Let me try to explain it better. I had my left knee done. When I go to step down with my right leg, I am sortof at an angel facing to the left. Being on an angle, as my right foot goes down, my left leg is angled out to the left as it bends. Does this make sense? As I go down, I lean into the railing with my right hand. Takes some of the weight and pressure off the left side. This is easier for me since, as I said, my right knee isn't very good.
 
Got ya! It makes perfectly good sense now. I'm definitely going to try that. I don't have stairs here at home, but we do at church. I will try it Sunday morning. As long as I have a rail to hold on to, I should be fine. Is it pain free for you going down that way? And thank you so much for explaining it for me. I'm always willing to try new, helpful things! Reading everyone recovery experiences will help me when I'm finally able to get my new knees. Knowledge is power!!
 
There is still a little bit of discomfort in the quad with the new knee........no actual pain. I know it has much more to go in the strength department. I'm confident, with time, it will be perfect. :) It's so much better than trying to bend my old crappy right knee. :heehee:
 
Wow, that sounds really good. I can't wait to not have that pain down deep in a joint anymore. I have to watch every single step I take. Are you going to get your right knee replaced, too? I'm hoping to be able to do both at once. I had to find a new OS because my old one has only done 33 TKR. That's not near enough, especially with my 'special' knees without kneecaps! I don't see the new OS until 2/12. I'm hoping I can get things rolling then.
 
My original plan has always been to get the right one done at some point, but it seems to be getting a bit stronger with the exercises I've been doing for my new knee. I'm sure it will eventually get done, but as of right now, I'm not in a big hurry. I am definitely looking forward to no pain in the leg with my new knee and be able to skippity-do-dah down the road.........that would be quite the sight. :rotfl:
 
Hi @Scrunchkins - just found your thread. I hope your recovery is continuing to go well! Since you are almost skipping up and down the stairs :heehee:, a stretch I found to be helpful (if you have a railing), is to place one foot on the 3rd step, being sure the toes on the lower foot are pointed straight forward and hand on the railing for support, and gently (oh, so very gently!) lean forward into the knee. Never, ever push it, but that gentle stretch just always feels so good - even now, 3 years later for me. And with a small shift of the hips you can add both a calf strength and quad stretch on the "lower" leg. Then switch.

Hope your rollercoaster is only going up now!
 
Question…………..little story first…………The steps leading to my basement are narrow. I have gone up and down them only a couple of times since my TKR. Each time was with care and some difficulty. It’s been a few weeks since tackling them. Yesterday morning I went down and after the first couple of steps, I realized I wasn’t having as much trouble. I was pleased it had become easier. After reaching the bottom and taking a few steps across the floor, I got a pain towards the outside of my knee……..just to the left of my kneecap (this is my left knee). I have not had any pain in this spot until now. This pain continued and worsened as the day went on. I felt it most during standing and sitting. When I got home from work, I elevated and iced. While standing up from a seated position later in the evening, I heard a little pop in the same area with pain. It did not make it more painful or less painful. It feels better this morning, but some pain is still there. Is it possible I may have just pulled something? Or used something that has been dormant? Any ideas?
 
I would not worry at all about it. #1, your implant is fine and very, very strong---it takes tremendous trauma to damage it.

You may have just stretched a little bit of soft tissue that may have been impinged due to surgery---you may have stretched something that was simply tight after surgery.I had migrating pains and, while I found them frustrating, they never amounted to much and eventually went away.

By the way---congratulations on those steps---that is quite an accomplishment and a big milestone in returning to the normalcy that we all crave so much.
 
Thanks so much for the reassurance. I really wasn't too worried since it felt better this morning, but I was still curious what may have happened. I assumed it would be better after a couple of days of babying it a bit. :yes: It's always frustrating to start doing better with something and then have a new pain show up. I suspect it's all part of the process. :sigh: Good thing I'm determined to beat it all........:)
 
Remember that these aches and ouchies are all part of the process---recovery is in linear, and will hit a few little bumps here and there, but in the end, they all subside and your knee will become normal---and normal is where we all want to be!
 
I just want to say great job on the steps! I have very steep steps to my basement and I don't go up and down them very often yet. Sometimes I go one leg at a time and then I get brave and try the "grown-up" way. I definitely need to get stronger before doing them that way all the time.
 
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