Bilateral TKR Second Year Progress

I think feeling a wobble that others can't see is pretty normal. You are not alone in that for sure. I had only one knee done and at 13 months I still feel a wobble (which seems different than the weakness I had from my thyroid problems). I fell three times over the first 10 months, partly from doing things I maybe shouldn't have been doing (walking on ice and snow on a hike 6 months out, climbing over a baby gate at 8 months and shuffling around in the garage in too big slippers while carrying boxes of Christmas decorations into the house at ten months). My knee still feels pretty weird - unstable at times, still very clicky and sore and my gait feels odd to me. That said, from about one month out, everyone told me how great I was walking - "You're really getting around good! Do you need that cane?" they would say. It got to the point where it kind of offended me - didn't they know I was hurting and felt like my knee was at the wrong angle? :heehee: Sometimes I would explain, "UMMM, not so much! It hurts and when I'm tired it really hurts and it feels like it's bending the wrong way." But, in the long run it is just easier to say, "Yeah, not too bad." And, it's starting to become true - Just in the past two weeks I've done more walking and it feels more stable. Yea! You will get there @mlwreader . I think almost all of us do. :friends:
 
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I figure my brain is still "learning" my new knees. Responses to nerve signals might be off now by the minutest of microseconds, but to our refined reflexes and nervous system, that's a discrepancy from the old knees that the brain has to reprogram. I figure this wobble, too, shall pass.

@SusieShoes I did a little experimenting today too. I noticed that my wobble didn't kick in on my walk until about .6 of a mile. And the other thing I noticed was that I tended to wobble if I was encountering another person on the sidewalk coming towards me. And it feels so embarrassing because I seem to think the other person is going to think I am inebriated. But I just smile and say hello and walk on. And I am going to believe that you believe that the wobble shall pass, and eventually I will believe it too - lol. Wobble on. . . . .
 
But, in the long run it is just easier to say, "Yeah, not too bad.

@phrog Boy do I agree with that statement. From the beginning people would say the same to me - especially my neighbors at the senior apartments where I lived prior to moving to Colorado last month. My neighbors all were so encouraging and flattering about how I was able to get around. I just smiled and said yes, isn't it a miracle - or something like that. People who haven't had this surgery just don't get it, and that's fine. Bless them, they don't have to get it.
 
I noticed was that I tended to wobble if I was encountering another person on the sidewalk coming towards me.
For a very long time I was afraid someone would bump into me. If anyone came remotely close in the grocery store I would suddenly stop short. Stopping like that wasn’t good for my knee but I couldn’t help it. It’s better now but I still find I’m unsure if I get to the end if the aisle and someone is right there at the corner. As always, it will settle down in time.
 
For a few months I too would waver in my stride when going around/passing by another person. It's the balance thing and the brain relearning these new knees. For the past couple of months, that no longer happens. I can weave through crowds now without a second thought. :happydance: Give it time, and lots of practice, and all will become natural again. (I'm going to practice looking over my shoulder while walking. It could come in useful one day! Zombies and all that.)
 
@SusieShoes I have this image of random bonesmarties all over the world walking looking over their shoulders. A new version of knee replacement side effects, or the makings of a zombie movie like you said. :rotfl:

As always, it will settle down in time.

@Jockette I agree. Just talking about it though makes it much less anxiety invoking. That's what I so love about this forum. I can speak what is bothering me and no one will shame me for it. What a gift.

It seems a lot of us have this inner feeling of hesitancy and extreme caution around walking and being in crowds - completely normal given what we have been through. Hugs.
 
It seems a lot of us have this inner feeling of hesitancy and extreme caution around walking and being in crowds - completely normal given what we have been through. Hugs.
I even felt like this when I first started driving! I felt like the cars were going to bump into me! My mind was a mess for quite a while. I didn’t drive until about 11 weeks, and that was because I had to. It took me a while to relax while driving.
 
I even felt like this when I first started driving!

Me too @Jockette. I think for me I had been isolated in my apartment for several months leading up to surgery, and then after surgery just with caregivers and occasional visitors, that getting outside and driving was too much sensory input at first. I just couldn't process all of it. And I was afraid I'd do something stupid while driving. So I stayed off the freeway for several weeks and just drove around town, and only during the weekdays. Our beach town would be mobbed on the week-ends and I wasn't up to dealing with that kind of traffic.

On another matter, I had a new patient visit with a doctor in my new town today, and she will be my primary care doctor. I was measured, and I haven't gained as much in height as I thought - just about 1/4 of an inch. In earlier posts I was claiming an increase in height of 1", as that is what the skilled nursing place told me. Not that it really matters, just wanted to clear the record.
 
Maybe you also felt a whole inch taller.

I was really surprised that I felt the way I did driving. And up until I had to drive that day I was still uncomfortable in the car and I couldn’t imagine being able to concentrate on the road.

This surgery totally knocked my socks off in so many surprising ways! :yikes:
 
I had a new patient visit with a doctor in my new town today, and she will be my primary care doctor.
Trying to find a new doctor is always stressful. It sounds like you have crossed that hurdle! Another thing to scratch off of your list!
 
This surgery totally knocked my socks off in so many surprising ways!

@Jockette: I totally agree, witness my journal entry of last year which blithely stated that my recovery from the surgery would take 8 weeks. So naive.

I really liked this new doctor I met yesterday, and I think its going to be a good relationship. She told me that the altitude adjustment plus the surgery is related to why I feel tired so much. And I am going to back off worrying about that I can only walk a mile, because that is a ridiculous worry in light of all that I can do now and how much recovery is under my belt. I confess that the worry has come up because I am comparing myself to so other posters who report walking many more miles. It is so hard not to compare recoveries, don't you agree?
 
Trying to find a new doctor is always stressful. It sounds like you have crossed that hurdle! Another thing to scratch off of your list!

You know it @sistersinhim - I have a hidden asset here in my new town and she is my counterpart in crime - haha - my daughter in law's mom. This lady has been so great and such a good pal. And she's lived here for the past 40 years and knows the best everything. She's already referred me to my dermatologist and now this wonderful internist I met yesterday. Plus she is just so warm and welcoming and just plain fun. No wonder I love my daughter in law so much - look how great her mom is!
 
How wonderful that you had a wonderful person like that to welcome you to your new home town. It's so nice when someone, whose opinion that you trust, recommends health professionals. Sounds like you are really settling into your new home, and your new knees too!
 
How blessed you are to have such a wonderful friend and extended family member! That has to have made your move so much easier!
 
I feel the same way about my son in law’s mom.

Oh, that’s right, since December I have 2 sons in law. Actually I clicked with the new one’s mom just like the one I’ve known for 13 years now.
 
It sounds like you are really starting to feel at home. That is so wonderful. You've really got your stuff together.
If I'm going to wobble like a zombie, I'm going to be one like in the George Romero movies. They moved fast!
 
How lucky you are to have a built-in friend and such a wonderful relationship with your daughter's mother-in-law. I've always felt that way about my sister-in-law (but we no longer live in the same town. :sad:). Your friendship with her will likely get you out and about and using your new knees in fun activities which will in turn make them stronger. Hooray!
 
I wasn't able to log onto the website last Saturday - for some reason I kept getting error messages - so I gave up. Now I am excited to go to the website and view the videos.
Sorry you had problems on JRAD day, but now you can watch it all at your own pace. Maybe it's not "live," but almost as good! It was definitely a fun day for me. I learned a lot about being on the front side of a television camera (in my previous career there was a time I was behind the camera for video production work).

I get the sense that once the muscles on the sides (outside and medial) of the knees get stronger, that my control when I'm walking will feel more natural. Does that sound right?
This is absolutely right! It can take quite a while for that muscle tone to return. It depends on a host of things so there is no way to predict how long it will take. You're doing the right thing by going slow and doing regular, consistent exercise (walking). If you could do some pool walking, that also would help you.

I still have aches in the knees when making certain movements. And stiffness after sitting for a while, although I don't seem to swell up after sitting - like after tutoring for an hour, for example. I am stiff in the morning upon getting out of bed too.
This is all perfectly normal, so try not to worry about it. This kind of thing can take a year or more to resolve itself. But it will.

All in all, I think you're doing just GREAT!!! We're not kidding when we say this is really major surgery. It is and for most folks it can really knock you back for a while. And you had both knees done, which doubles the whammy your body goes through. So, hang in there.....enjoy the coming spring and just keep doing what you're doing. You'll be surprised one of these days when you don't think about your knees when you get up in the morning!
 

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