TKR Second TKR Done, but still not very patient

[patient 99]

I drove!!!!!!

Its a great feeling isn't it? One day I will dance again.

 

[Josephine]

Snuck up on me that one did.

They're the best kind! And you're still only 6 weeks out! In fact, that's right about the time it should happen.

It also shows and proves what we've all been saying - progress gets made despite our puny efforts!

 

[leejaa]

Ellen, most wonderful and I am celebrating with you. Reclaiming a bit of freedom and some normal activities is such a lift. Hold unto that at the dark times.

I am happy for you to be going to the river and again doing something you planned and enjoyed. The change of scenery will be great for you and as I said might feed your soul some also so that the rest might be easier to bear. You are doing great considering the issues with the other non operated knee you are having. You are a remarkable woman recovering with extra issues from other knee plus alone at home - give yourself lots of credit for that.

Enjoy your trip and keep us posted about the good, the bad and even the ugly. We are here for you. Lee

 

[kneeper]

for your first driving. Such a great milestone, isn't it?

 

[NetballKnees]

Hi Everyone ... have not been posting for a while. Unfortunately, I did go to the river and only lasted one night and half a day. It was just too hard with getting in and out of strange chairs and the bed and walking to the amenities block every time I had to go to the toilet - which is a lot of times a day. But at least I tried.

I am back to work tomorrow. It will be nice to be around people during the day. I am taking ice packs and will try to take a break every couple of hours and ice the knee and get up and stagger around every so often.

I am now 12 weeks post LTKR and the ROM still hovers around 75-80 degrees. It has been the most frustrating 3 months of my life. I feel like I have been in this little "recovery bubble" and my life has revolved around icing, elevating, little exercises and sitting in the recliner feeling my rear end getting bigger and bigger. Tomorrow I am going back to the real world. It will be very interesting to see how I cope. My mind thinks of my knee constantly, that and the other non-surgical knee affected by the medial collateral ligament tear and also the number 90. Hopefully, being at work will take my mind off these things

I can however, drive my car (only short distances) and as I work locally should be able to drive to work myself. For the first couple of days though, ex-husband will take me as I would like to see how the knee is feeling at the end of the day. I have a feeling it will be quite stiff and maybe pushing the clutch in after work will be difficult.

I did receive some good advice a while ago from Carol I think it was, about wearing an elasticised support around my knee to help with the tightness. While appreciating the advice, with the size of my legs, I knew I couldn't get one to fit, so did nothing about it. Had a light bulb moment the other day and am now bandaging my knee tightly with a compression bandage, just below the knee, and that is helping immensely with the tightness sensation. Thanks Carol. I am sorry I did not think of this earlier.

While extremely frustrated with lack of ROM, I am trying to just get on with life and leave it to the knee to decide when to "bend". I so much want to ride an exercise bike though, but without a bend of 90+ that is not going to happen. At the moment I cannot even push the pedals to half way and then back again. C'est la vie.

My thoughts, prayers and wishes have been with fellow Bonesmarties in UK and US that are dealing with the things that Mother Nature is throwing at them. Hopefully, all have coped well and have had no property damage or injury.

I will post and let you all know how the return to work is going.

I have not been posting on the threads of those Bonesmarties I have become reasonably "close" to, but believe me, my thoughts are with you Lee, Kerry, Jean, Linda, Claire, GG and others.

Take Care All and I hope your recoveries are going smoothly and your spirits are high.

Hugs ... Ellen

 

[NetballKnees]

Yes, it was Carol @patient 99 giving the advice of the elasticised support for the tightness. Many thanks.

Oh, and of course, JoAnne, you are in my thoughts as well.

xoxo Ellen

 

[Jozilla]

Hi Ellen - I always look forward to your posts. I am happy to hear of your return to work and your being around coworkers who sound like they are a good bunch of people. I am an office manager for a specialized lighting manufacturer and I will probably be returning around February 10 at least part time. I do hope you post as I am wondering how you will manage and hope you have some tips for me. Good luck tomorrow and thank you for being here for me. You have made a difference in my recovery!

 

[jeano]

Oh, Ellen, please hang in there. You will be tired after work but I think you will feel more empowered. I have only worked one shift since surgery and decided to just wing it with no ice, wore my neopene knee braces and took no ice and I was just fine. I found it easier to move as much as possible as opposed to standing or sitting in one place for more than a few minutes at a time. Hope you are able to get up and move your feet at intervals, ice, elevate etc as/if needed. I did an experimental foot prop on a wastebasket at work for a few minutes, but was actually able to get through the day without icicng or elevating.

I know my ROM is bigger than yours but your spirit and heart have mine beat all hollow.

 

[leejaa]

Ellen, good luck with the return to work. It will give you a lift to be around people that you have worked with for a long time. Just remember, you will be tired so try not to do too much at home and rest than - again easy dinners or order out. Continue to be kind to yourself. I am doing OK - cannot complain - the right knee (Sept) gets a bit tight and tired but it goes away with rest and sleep. At this time, have reached a new worse weight level so getting my mind in the game of must get some of this weight off. Luckily, my part of the US has not been too awful - a couple of bad days but not like others.

I have not been on the forums as much since work is back to full swing and then some which unfortunately seems to be the norm so very tired after work. I still think of you and many of the others and wish that all turns out as you deserve and you get to feel pain free and mobile soon. Keep posting, I am keeping an eye out for your posts.

Sending many hugs and wishes for a good return to work. Make sure you move around even if it is only standing up and try to find a place to elevate up some of the time and ice of course. Lee

 

[NetballKnees]

Hi Lee, JoAnne and Jean ... Well, first day is done and dusted. I thought that turning up might be sufficient, but no - they expected me to THINK. Very tiring. I must admit though, it was nice to use my brain for other things rather than counting heel slides, changing channels and cryptic crosswords. One of the girls I work with brought a special cake for morning tea, to celebrate my return and birthday last Friday, so that was really nice. I did get tired. Actually, the back of the surgical knee is aching tonight and that is the first time it has really throbbed. I tried to elevate my legs at work on a sturdy box of biscuits, but I think I must have stretched the back a bit much and hence the pain. I have elevated and iced since I returned home. By the end of the day my knee was not only tight, but actually sore and after about 3.00pm, getting out of the office chair was becoming quite a chore. It is something I will have to adjust to I guess. I forgot my ice pack, but will remember it tomorrow and ice at morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. I got up and walked a lot - to the printer and the ladies. The printer is only 7 steps there and 7 back, but as I am there every few minutes, it is good exercise. The ladies is a bit further though. To elevate properly, I would really have to put my legs up on another desk - perhaps not quite a good look for the office? We don't get public in there though, so it might work. Or I could try this -

Anyway, it was lovely to see the welcome I got from my immediate workmates. I really don't know how anything got stored in the file management system while I was away. They inundated me with requests. I am doing the Council meeting next week too, so need to start on compiling the agenda for that, together with getting together all the purchase orders they have had waiting for me. I don't have much chance to get bored there. I really didn't realise everything I did for them.

Lee, I really hear you with the weight. Sitting down icing and elevating for 12 weeks does not lead to weight loss. Is weight loss and sensible eating something we could help each other with here on the forum do you think? Or maybe swap emails and help each other out that way. I hope the tiredness starts to ease sometime soon for you, although going to bed early really sounds appealing after today.

JoAnne - it does help to move around a bit and if you are the office manager I guess you do that, or are you sitting down most of the day working on processes etc.? I will keep you updated on how things are going. It might help a bit when you go back. Oh, and I am back full-time - so it's an 8.00-5.00 day. We do have a 9-day fortnight and my rostered RDO is actually on Friday, so a 4-day week first time back will be good.

Jean - what position/career do you have? I notice you said a "shift", so are you a nurse or similar?

Anyway, thanks ladies for your support and encouragement. I appreciate it heaps.

Hugs and love to you all ...
Ellen

 

[Jozilla]

Happy happy birthday! What a nice welcome back for you. I do spend 80 percent of my time sitting so I am interested in how you handle that. My hours are the same as yours so I am either going to start on a shortened work week or shortened hours. I just do not know which would be better. Keep us updated - it is very helpful!

 

[claire61]

Happy belated birthday! I am glad to hear you are back at work. It will be good to be around supportive people and will help take your mind off your discomfort. Don't you wonder if we will ever get comfortable again? Things are fine here in Toronto but like you, I am hovering around 75 degrees. I finally started weight bearing but not off crutches yet. Getting out more to sons hockey games and movies with friend which is good for spirits!

 

[jeano]

Yes, Ellen, but a psych nurse in a tiny crisis unit where I dont do anything resembling bedside nursing, lifting, bending or stooping like "real" nurses do. And, thank GOD, my facility does not do 12 hour shifts. As a matter of fact they called this morning to see if I could work this evening and I said yes... might well have to go in tomorrow as well and if I do I will be "done and dusted" as far as work goes for this week--3 shifts in a week is my absolute limit and I wont go over two for a while until this knee is really recovered. Today might be an acid test, as Mondays are usually very busy and I've already spent the whole morning toting frozen foods from freezer to cooler to other freezer as we just bought a new freezer and the old one needed defrosted anyway--the former "old" freezer died--we cant seem to manage without two for our own produce, chickens, bread and grains and such. A great convenience when the grocery store is a half hour drive away.

 

[leejaa]

Congratulations on your first day back and a belated happy birthday . The tiredness will get better, mine has except for all the extra stuff going on at work and here we are in middle of winter and I am a natural hibernator when it is dark and right now it is dark in AM and in evening at home.

It sounds like you work with a great group of people and that is a true blessing. Keep us posted.

I am going to rejoin weight watchers and see how it goes. It will be weight watchers at work so I do not have to do additional traveling but it does not start till Feb 5. I have started modifying my eating habits and now have to find the oomph to get on my bike more than once a week.

 

[kneeper]

Well you got to see how much they need you, anyway. Yes, elevating at work is tough. Good luck with gerry-rigging something.

 

[GimpyGal]

Ellen, I haven't been on here much lately. How timely that I get on today and it was your first day back to work! And Happy Belated Birthday! I think the different environment will be good for your soul, but will also take a toll on your energy. Hopefully, they will let you be smart about easing back into things.

I'm grateful to be retired and not have work looming, but at the same time could use some variety in my life right now! I guess we can't have it both ways.

I hope the week won't feel too long and you can keep up with things. It sounds as if you were missed!

 

[NetballKnees]

Well, second day back today. Bit teary this afternoon. It is very draining and the surgical knee hurts more than it has in the whole last 3 months. When I got out of bed this morning I could barely drag my feet off the floor to walk properly. I have been elevating a bit more today and have also had a couple of icing episodes. One thing to bear in mind @Jozilla is that by the afternoon, I find it more difficult to get out of the office chair. This may not affect you, but certainly something to keep in mind. I have nearly fallen a couple of times struggling out of the chair. Oh, and JoAnne ... I also find that I am retaining more fluid during the day with the leg down more with the inevitable result that my night was even more disturbed last night by trips to the ladies to get rid of the fluid.

for visiting JoAnne, Lee, kneeper, Jean and Claire. I am actually starting to wonder just how much more of my life this knee is going to consume. Of course there are heaps of people here at work who have someone in their family, or a close friend, who has had a TKR and who is walking, riding bikes and going about their normal life after only a few weeks or couple of months. They look at me as if I am deliberately prolonging things or not telling the truth about how incapacitated I still am.

How lovely it must be to have your own produce Jean. At least you always know how it was grown/raised etc.

Good luck with the eating modification and increased exercise plans Lee. I need to do something too, but cannot walk for long yet and riding a bike is still a long way off.

I find I have been managing the tight sensation quite well with a compression bandage just under the knee, but every time I take it off, it's as if my knee goes "POOF" (or whatever sound a knee suddenly expanding would make and becomes immediately almost unbearably tight and hard to manoeuvre. Even my ankles and feet are quite swollen today.

Getting out to watch your son's hockey games must feel so good Claire. I went to the movies on the weekend too and saw The Book Thief. Very, very good. I was pleased that I could keep my knee down for over 2 hours, but the long day at work seems to have it beaten at the moment.

One good thing is that I am surrounded by caring people. Someone gets my lunch for me, others are constantly asking if I need my water bottle filled or a cup of tea and are always running ahead to open doors if they see me moving away from my desk. (these are different to the ones who know someone who is trekking across the South Pole 4 days after a TKR) (Okay, I exaggerated).

Hope everyone is going well today and not too affected by weather or pain.

Take Care All ...
Hugs ... Ellen

 

[NetballKnees]

Thanks for your visit too GG. Yes I was missed and am really taxing my brain trying to work out all the little messes they have gotten themselves into. I have mentioned above how difficult it is being for my knee(s), but the variation in having to think and do different things apart from deciding whether to watch a movie or another re-run of Criminal Minds, is quite beneficial.

 

[NetballKnees]

Another update ... I am falling apart - physically. Before the op I was troubled by pain in the right Achilles area. Doctor diagnosed Achilles tendonitis or tendonopathy or something and I was going to physio for the Achilles in a bid to strengthen without causing a rupture. Since the op it has been getting steadily worse, but I have been ignoring it and concentrating on surgical knee and the MCL damage to the non-surgical knee. I have finally had an ultrasound on the right Achilles - apparently I have 3 small tears there. Fortunately the tears are vertical, rather than horizontal, so the threat of a complete rupture may not be as acute. So, a left knee that won't bend and is swollen and tight, a right knee with MCL damage (thought to be a tear) and 3 small tears in the right Achilles. With respect to all the horse lovers on the forum, if I was a horse, they would shoot me. Apparently one of the tears is 17mm, one is 11mm and one is 4mm. I am now even more anxious to get the elusive 90degree bend so that I can ride a bike and exercise without weight bearing on my legs.

@Jozilla ... you had mentioned that you were unsure whether to do reduced hours or reduced days. Having done 2 days back, I think for the first week or two, if I had a choice, I would elect to do reduced hours. That way, as the knee became more uncomfortable as the day went on, I would be able to go home and ice and elevate properly. I don't have this choice, but it may help you make the decision.

So, I have just eaten a chocolate bar. It won't help the knee/s and Achilles, but it surely couldn't hurt. Right??????

@jeano how did your day at work go?

Take Care All ...

 

[chestnc]

Hi @jeano and @ Jozilla, I also am one who went back to work yesterday after 12 weeks. I did wll. Nearing the last hour and and half my knee started becoming sore. I found too I blanked out on remembering where to go in the computer for certain areas that I use. I took some Tylenol at work also to help with the headache and I was icing all day on and off. Jeano it sounds like you needed that chocolate bar. Help yourselfAlso I am up this early because I am in nagging pain from RA. Last night as well because of the impending rain coming today. And the headache is back. Just took something and maybe will get another hour shut eye before getting up to go to go to work. So sorry about your Achilles area ...Ouch that must really hurt. I hope you get the feel better soon.