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TKR Shane’s Crazy Unbelievable Recovery Thread

Sounds like you’re having a sane and sensible recovery. :) Glad you can ease back into your job. That really will make a difference.
 
Shanej said:
Ok everyone. Here is an update on my pain level. I drove my self to the Dr today and by the time I got home it was probably a 3 hour trip. I did the same thing Monday and Tuesday for different appointments not directly related to my knee. Right now my leg hurts pretty bad. It is a little deep in my knee but allot of it is on my shin bone. Like I got kicked in the shin and am feeling the pain of a bruise or something. Luckily I have no more appointments until next Wednesday. I guess this is my body telling me 3 hours is too long to go without elevation. Makes me think my return to work might not be as soon as I had hoped.
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No wonder you're hurting!

That was far too much activity for this early in your recovery, and your knee told you so.

Check again with this article, to see what your activity level should be:
Activity progression for TKRs.
 
Lack of sleep is probably the hardest thing to deal with in this recovery - but a close second would be the up and down daily changes. One day won't be so good and then the next day is so you think you've turned a corner and things are looking great. Then....wham. You do too much or move the wrong way and your knee reminds you who is in charge. It makes it difficult to plan anything more than 30 minutes in advance. It must be really tough trying to plan a return to work.
 
I want to go to the grocery store. The store is about a mile from my house, and they have these electric carts for handicapped or injured people I could use. I do all of the cooking and grocery shopping in my family and it is about that time. I stocked up before my surgery but we are running low. My wife works full time and has been managing our 8 year old solo since my surgery. If I could grab some groceries it would be a big help. If I utilize the electric cart it shouldn’t be too bad. I think I am going to go for it. Wish me luck
 
Good luck! I was kind of "stuck" with the grocery shopping as well right after my surgery. My hubby is a realtor, so this is his busy time of year. I did online grocery shopping the first month, until my daughter came home from college. It was heavenly lol I never imagined doing that before because the store is so close to our home. I was a little worried it would cost a lot more with the delivery, etc. But, I found that it was not because I only got what was on my list rather than wondering around and buying everything that looks good :snork:
 
So Shane, how did it go? I would get so exasperated with the electric cart that I'd just try to use the regular cart.
 
Shane: I had groceries delivered. Costs a bit more with the delivery charge, but the coupons and club membership is all part of the deal.There are so many delivery services out there now, and some of the stores allow you to order and curb side pick up instead of having deliveries.
 
So, My first trip to the grocery store a couple days ago went well. I did use the little electric cart. I did not know I could get a handicapped deal for my truck so I just walked. Forward to today, I went to the store again and just walked with a regular cart. Not a full trip mind you, just a few things I had to get , but it went well. I am actually to the point now where I walk better than I have in forever. I just have to ice and elevate about every 4 hours and I am just fine. If I go more time than that the surgery pain ticks up. I see my surgeon at the 3 week point on Thursday. I plan to go back to work next Monday. I will probably do 4 to 6 hour shifts for a few weeks. Ice and elevate before I leave for work, Ice and elevate after being at work a few hours, and maybe for 30 minutes before I drive home just to play it safe. I just can't believe how well I am doing. I actually took my bandage off a few days ago and my incision was completely healed. I went to planet fitness today on the way to the store and did a couple different exercise bikes for 5 minutes each and did about 2 minutes very slow on a step machine and all went well.
This really does seem miraculous ! My new scar even looks better than the old scar I had from my reconstruction 18 years ago. I think he must have cut the old scar off or something. And my surgeon used glue, so no staples to deal with. I could not be more encouraged. I can't wait to get back to work. I am going to use the fact that I need to ice and elevate for an hour every morning before I drive to work as an excuse to sleep in a bit and go to work a couple hours late every morning for as long as I can :)
 
@Shanej you ARE doing great! Your recovery so far sounds very similar to my own experience. Tip regarding icing at work: if you can, take a gel pack to keep in your break room freezer. I was lucky cause our floor area cafe is right next to my office. I would just grab the gel pack, bend it around my knee and prop my foot / leg up on my desk and continue to work. I have a wireless keyboard which would just set on my lap and a headset for my phone if I had calls so never had to get up while icing.

Another suggestion: if your employer will do so, check into getting a sit / stand desk (Varidesk is one brand, several others out there also). I find it great to be able to work standing or sitting depending on how my knee feels and my mood.

Keep up the great recovery. Be careful not to spend too much time visiting the ODIC (over did it club)!:heehee:
 
Thanks for the tips ! I see my surgeon today and am hoping to get released to return to work. I wish I had the luxury of being able to stay home for 3 months or more to take my time with recovery but I just don’t. If my knee wasn’t healing so quickly I wouldn’t have a choice so I feel very fortunate indeed.My mortgage won’t pay itself,and 70% of my income comes from commissions so even taking vacation and sick time only gives me a fraction of my normal income. I actually should have done this about 5 years ago but fear of a long recovery and financial ruin kept me from it. Living with such intense knee pain for so long is probably partially responsible for my quick recovery along with having a great surgeon and a good bit of luck. I was able to quit taking the heavy pain killers in less than a week because the pain was less than what I was living with before the surgery. Getting that **** out of my system helped everything else along I am sure.
 
I'm sorry you have to go back to work so soon, but certainly understand it. When you do go back, that should be all the exercise you do for that day. Ice and elevate every opportunity you get. That will help your knee. You will probably be exhausted, too, after just a few hours. This is normal. Your body is concentrating most of its energy healing that knee!
 
First day back to work yesterday and it was great. I was as close to pain free as I have ever been , walking better than I have ever walked,and going up and down steps easier than I ever have. It was a slow day so I didn’t do much. I was able to ice a couple times but couldn’t really find a way to elevate other than putting my foot on my desk which was too high. I am in sales and on a busy day I can get 3 to 5 customers. Yesterday I had zero so I was able to really take it easy. I am just going to work 6 hour shifts for the next 3 or 4 weeks and have a free pass to leave anytime I need to. I sell manufactured homes and if I don’t sell I don’t get paid so I feel very fortunate to be able to return to work at this point.
 
So far, so good. It’s good you can control your hours to some extent; anything you can do to keep your knee rested and happy will pay dividends.

You didn’t say how your knee handled the day back to work. Did it act up much? It really comes down to that.

Completely agree about the thrill of being “pain-free” for the first time in forever! Even if not exactly completely pain-free, this being still early in recovery, it feels pain-free. It’s so marvelously LESS pain that it’s a wonder. Enjoy!
 
@Shanej great news on your first day! Just remember they all won’t be that good. You are bound to have some very difficult ones, but they get fewer and farther between. Pacing yourself is key to successfully managing the first week or two back! Keep us up to date on how things are going. When you have issues or questions, we are just a quick click or two away!
 
So here I am, 6 weeks in. I am back to working full time. Going to the gym. Doing everything I used to do but better and with less pain. No real need even for ice, elevation, or medication anymore except for maybe after riding an excercise bike. Pain ranges from zero to one 95% of the time. 3 weeks ago I went to out patient PT and on my 3rd visit the DR had them put a heating pad on my knee and hold it flexed for 15 minutes, after which he forced my knee cap around and did some forced flex and extension stuff. It was all very painful. I complained and he insisted on about 10 minutes of this torture. It set me back a week, but saved me a ton of money because I never went back. I am so glad I was able to recover so quickly and get back to work after a few weeks. Otherwise I could have lost my home, car, etc. No short or long term dissability coverage for me. All of the worrying I did about having a long hard recovery was for nothing, thank God ! A co-workers husband had a TKR last year and he took 6 months off work to recover before he went back . That just wasn't an option for me. I know I still have allot of healing to do so I am not doing anything other than normal life stuff for the next 6 months or so to give it time, but I definately see a long nature hike with my wife and daughter in the near future. Luckily we are entering our slow season at my Job so I am not doing nearly as much walking as I will be after the first of the year. Now I am focussing on loosing some of the excess weight I have been putting on over the years as my knee was getting worse and worse and my activity level was getting lower and lower. I have lost 13 pounds since my surgery and need drop about 40 more. I know dropping the weight is also going to take some pressure off my knee, so I am pretty motivated. I am glad this site was here for me when I found it. It helped me to say no to painful PT. I feel bad that so many people have such a hard time recovering from TKR and reading horror stories online for years kept me from having this surgery for a long time when I really needed it. Maybe it is that people having a hard time tend to post more than people who things went well for ? I don't know, but all I can say is that for me, after getting through the first rough 10 to 14 days, this surgery has been the best thing I have ever done for myself and I only wish I had done it sooner. I am a new man.
Best of luck to all.
 
@Shanej, glad to hear all is going well! I agree, it’s amazing the difference once you get past the rough spots!

When you said the having pt push on your knee saved you a bunch of money because you didn’t go back, I’m assuming it’s because you took control and said “no more”. I could understand using heat to loosen the muscles and ligaments and then applying gentle but steady pressure, but not to the point of severe pain. Discomfort yes, pain no.

Keep in mind your knee is still very new, lots of healing left to complete, so certain activities are bound to cause flare-ups, just be prepared.

Keep us posted on how things are going, both successes as well as difficulties. We love celebrating achievements!
 
Shanej said:
3 weeks ago I went to out patient PT and on my 3rd visit the DR had them put a heating pad on my knee and hold it flexed for 15 minutes, after which he forced my knee cap around and did some forced flex and extension stuff. It was all very painful. I complained and he insisted on about 10 minutes of this torture. It set me back a week, but saved me a ton of money because I never went back.
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What a horror story! Good for you quitting PT. You have found out that you don't need it, just like many others! You are having a remarkable recovery. Don't set yourself back but doing too much too soon!
 
As far as the PT DR, he said if he didnt force my knee I would not get any more extention or flex. Well, 115 and zero is better than I have had in 10 years so if he felt like causing me to be in pain for a week was worth getting any extra 5% before my "window" closed, the I had to strongly dissagree by firing him and not returning. The fact that that decision saved me 225 dollars a week was just a bonus !

So,
I just had two back to back customers at work within about an hour period. After going up and down my tenth set of steps about 5 high, I did start to get sore so I got a co-worker to relieve me. so I could come in and take a break and bust out the ice pack for the first time this week. I am definately not Super Man and have a long ways to go. Just sooo much better than I was before the surgery in most respects. I am just low in the endurance department.
 
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