TKR Sharing my experience . . . so far

[GimpyGal]

Yes, @Josephine it is making sense. The knee just feels different, and in a good way. I've put PT sessions at the hospital on hold and have just been doing it on my own. I'm allowed just 8 more sessions before my new year starts on April 1st - what if I need them for something else?

We went to our vacation home with no stairs last week. I don't know if the break from living in a multi-level home was good for me or if just one more week of recovery was, but when we got home I just sailed up the full flight of stairs like they had never been an issue.

And here I am, four days later, and I caught myself doing the 'four stairs down' flight with only the tiniest bit of pain. I have to remind myself, now, not to overdo that on the longer set of stairs. Not ready for that yet, but to have to REMIND myself to hold back is wonderful!

I wanted to post this victory for others who think the day will never come when they can do steps again 'like a big girl or boy!' It will actually sneak up on you when you least expect it!

Tomorrow I see my OS. I'm excited to show him my progress!

 

[kneeper]

very exciting!

 

[NetballKnees]

That is fantastic GG. Great to hear. I hope your OS was as excited as you are.

Take Care ... Ellen

 

[GimpyGal]

11 week update with OS. He's very pleased with my progress. Told me to 'fire' my PT - that it was time to get on with life. He told me to try any and all activities except for running and let pain be my guide. His only caution was to try to avoid slipping and falling - on ice, wet grass, golf course sand traps, etc.

He wants to see me back in . . . 20 years!

I wonder about that since some people have recurring check ups years out, but he said I would be the first to know something wasn't right. That makes sense to me but what do you all think about that?

I asked him the best way to get some more mileage out of my unoperated knee. There's no stop to the arthritis, of course, but he said to remain active and "stay" at a healthy weight (I've 50 lbs to lose, so that was worded nicely) so that's my game plan.

Today I'm riding my bike and walking my dog . . . because I CAN! I've still recovery ahead, but there IS a light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[kneeper]

Yay!
Maybe the check ups are more for reassurance for the patient? I had a one year check. It must vary by doctor.
I bet you'll be able to lose a few of those pounds now that you can be more active.

 

[Josephine]

I don't know if the break from living in a multi-level home was good for me or if just one more week of recovery was, but when we got home I just sailed up the full flight of stairs like they had never been an issue.

It was both! A week's rest can work wonders as can another week of healing. Well done you! as for your surgeon - he just rocks!

 

[NetballKnees]

Hi GG ... just came to visit you at your place. Hope everything is going well for you and your recovery is still going well. Thanks for visiting my thread and giving your support and encouragement. I appreciate it very much. I hope the bike riding and dog walking is going well. It must feel so good to be able to do those things.

Sending hugs to you for continued improvement in your recovery. Take Care ... Ellen

 

[GimpyGal]

Hi, Ellen. Thanks for dropping in. I'm doing okay. I'm pretty much back to a normal routine, not thinking of elevating and icing all the time, not having to plan down time. And then regretting that I'm not icing and elevating enough and planning the down time I still need at times.

I worked up to an hour on the bike before realizing that was too much, so I took a few days off and went back to 30 minutes. Sometimes it doesn't feel like too much but at the end of the day it really is.

I still have a bit of sciatica which bothers me more than the knee and still wakes me at night. I am really looking forward to the day when I sleep all the way through the night again! But I'm beginning to think that's the last piece of the puzzle.

Can do stairs now, up and down except first thing in the morning before I'm warmed up and last thing at night if I've overdone it.

I'm even *gasp* going to take my golf clubs to our vacation home next week! Mostly I'll be riding in the cart and hopping out to chip and putt, but that still involves some walking so I have to see how I handle it a little at a time.

But, I am getting my life back. Sometimes I forget to come and post the good stuff!

 

[NetballKnees]

What a fantastic post GG. It has made me very happy for you indeed. What fun you will have with your golf clubs and doing a bit of chipping and putting in amongst the driving the buggy and walking.

You are eleven days behind me, so I am a bit slow to catch up, but I will get there and although I don't play golf, once I can take the dogs for a decent walk, that will be the signal that my life is starting to resume a normal rhythm.

I am glad the rhythm of life (hmmm - good title for a song I think) for you is coming back. I am happy for you.

Take Care ... have a great week ahead and here's a snippet of that song for you ...

And The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat,
Puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet,
Rhythm in your bedroom,
Rhythm in the street,
Yes, The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat,

 

[GimpyGal]

Ellen, you really have a way of celebrating the victories of others! Of yourself, too, but we all know we are most impatient with ourselves. I don't know the song you quoted, but my own invented tune of it has been in my head for days. 'The rhythm of life,' indeed!

You are not 'catching up' to anyone, remember. You are doing what your 'knee in charge' allows. I'm by no means at the end of my recovery. If I focus on the negatives I'm still struggling with - going down stairs is not pain free, if I'm on my feet too much I still pay for it, I've some sciatica, I'm not ready to resume my beloved hiking yet, sleep is still elusive - a person not going through this recovery would think the surgery was a failure because I'm taking forever to heal. I'm bolding that because one too many friends have uttered those words in sympathy.

Here at BoneSmart we know differently. I'm getting 'the rhythm of life' back!

And in that spirit, celebrating the progress, not what's still 'wrong,' I'm now three months post op. Yesterday, I drove 300 miles, elevated and iced, unloaded the car, elevated and iced, went to the driving range/chipping green/putting green, and came home and elevated and iced. Cooked dinner, walked the dog (yes!!! I get to walk my puppy now!), elevated and iced and went to bed. I decided not to push my luck since night can be rough, so took a Tramadol for insurance and I very nearly slept through the night!

I'm no worse the wear today. Trying to be smart, I'm taking it easy today and trying to golf the course tomorrow. With a cart, and maybe not the entire nine holes, but just getting out there, enjoying friends and the feel of the sun on my face, and swinging the club with no expectations.

I know we are all different, and heal at our own pace, and many are still struggling at three months out. My three months felt like an eternity. But, I'm beginning to see there really is an end to our pain and suffering at whatever time our knee allows. I still need a lot more time before I'm not focused on this knee all the time, but that day WILL com!

 

[NetballKnees]

Hi GG - what great things you have achieved in the past week. And to be none the worse for it the next day is fantastic. (happy head spinning for you)

I haven't tried to walk the dogs yet. They pull a bit at the start of a walk in their enthusiasm, so that has me a bit concerned. I think I will wait until I have a brace for the non-surgical knee first because although the TKR gets swollen and stiff the longer I am on it, the right knee is the one that hurts the most.

How lovely that description of being out with the sun on your face and just chipping and putting and swinging was. I need to be out in the sun more. If I'm not careful I will be getting a Vitamin D deficiency.

Take Care GG and have a great time walking your puppy and swinging your clubs.

Love and Hugs ... Ellen

 

[GimpyGal]

Another update. I golfed nine holes! With a cart, not walking, but I did it! I wasn't much worse the wear so the next day DH and I went out with another couple. I planned to golf nine and just ride nine, but I ended up playing 18. I did get a handicapped flag the second day so I could drive right up to my ball each time, but still, progress!

And two days in a row was a little too much. Well, maybe a lot too much considering I had to drive 300 miles the next day, too. But, the deal is I'm sore all over from the activity I'm not used to. It's not JUST the knee that's giving me grief.

@NetballKnees, I decided if YOU could go to the gym to work out, I can too. I actually entered the gym at the clubhouse where our vacation home is and used the recumbent bike for 15 minutes. (I'm so sorry you can't achieve a full rotation yet - I'm sure hoping that's in your future.) Then I got on the elliptical and lasted all of 5 minutes and even managed to cramp up a muscle in my butt for a couple of days with just that. But, it's a start.

I intended to swim, but the pool area was deserted (no life guard, no one else, either) and the idea of an overweight, out of shape, senior swimming all alone seemed unwise. And, you had me wondering if I could get out without help, too! (What we learn from each other, right?)

Now we're back where it's cold and snowy and counting the days until we head back where it's warm. I needed to check on my elderly parents and we need to finish up a session of puppy classes. The instructor is encouraging me to challenge my difficult pup with agility classes. Wonder how my knee(s) would handle that?

 

[NetballKnees]

Hi GG ... well done on your golfing days. It is so hard to pull back when you find you can do something isn't it? And then driving all that way. If I drove that far, I would probably fall flat on my face when I got out of the car because everything would be so stiff. Now there's an image . And well done you for going into the gym. I am so jealous that you rode the bike. I think I would give my eye teeth to be able to ride the bikes. But you have to work with what you've got. Fancy spraining a muscle in your butt. I guess after a TKR we sit on them a lot, so all that activity at least would have woken it up again. Great rhythm of life you have going there.

Not speaking as an expert, but I think with agility classes the handler runs beside the course with the dog. Maybe something like flyball might suit better at first where the dog does all the running. If the dog is an active one, it is certainly something they love.

It is so good you can get to your holiday home in the cold weather and get a bit warmer.

Take Care GG ... hope you can stay warm.

Hugs ... Ellen

 

[NetballKnees]

Hi GG ... just dropping in to see how you are. Hope everything is going well for you and you are still enjoying the rhythm of life.

Hugs ... Ellen

 

[GimpyGal]

@NetballKnees , Each day is just a little bit better. Your own thread has spurred me on to take better charge of increasing my activity. It's no longer optional. I need to be more active now that I can be more active, both for my physical health (weight management and delaying surgery on my other knee) and my mental health - dealing with the inevitable stresses going on.

See? We learn from each other.

I've begun swimming 3 days a week, and am working on my balance, which seems to be woeful since surgery. I'm walking my Gus and literally chasing him around the yard - 'Keep away!' is the best game ever to a pup!

I still can easily send the knees (the new one and the other one) to their 'unhappy place' though, if I do too much. I can usually rebound pretty quickly, either overnight or sometimes just that good ol' ice and elevation for an hour or so. I think I'll be icing the rest of my life.

So - almost 4 months out. Not all better, but improving.

 

[NetballKnees]

Fantastic GG. It's great that you are picking up your activity level. I bet Gus is enjoying the activity as well. Balance ... hmmm ... I am hoping that being back at the gym will help me there. I am so glad that you are improving. You sound like you are in a good place at the moment. I had a day trying to practise my new second important mantra ... acceptance, so there were no crutches hurled to the ground today.

Keep up the great work GG and my wish for you is for that improvement to continue, bit by bit, until the knee is no longer foremost on your mind.

Take Care ... Hugs .. Ellen

 

[GimpyGal]

Well, here I am needing help and reassurance. I'm tagging @Josephine right off the bat. :(

I've been doing really, really well. Walking Gus up to three miles a day, golfing 18 holes several times a week. Not needing any pain meds.

But, now we are in the process of moving. I've been on my feet all day, every day, whipping the neglected house into shape, scooting (not lifting) furniture around, packing boxes, and hauling them up and down the stairs in our multi-level home. And, my knee is not happy.

I've spent the last week scaling down my activities, icing, elevating and medicating. I called my OS today and have an appointment for an x-ray a week from now.

But, in the meantime, I'm pretty worried. Could I have done something to my implant 9 months out? Yes, I've been scooting heavy furniture around but I've no recollection of any event when I hurt myself. Is it possible I'm just stressing out the muscles/ligaments/tendons around the implant? Could it be failing all of a sudden and this soon, after everything being just fine until last week?

My symptoms are stiffness mostly, a little clicking but that may have been present before, and some pain, maybe at a level 2 or 3. ROM hasn't changed. It doesn't look different as far as being out of place. I'm not good at judging whether or not it is swollen, but I'm assuming it is just because of the stiffness. Pain is in entire general area of the knee - I can't point to one place.

As you can imagine, I'm pretty upset thinking I've pushed myself too hard. But, I'm 9 months out and was doing fine! The timing could hardly be worse - our home goes on the market next week and we will likely be having to relocate to our vacation home in a rural location for the next 8 months while we build. We won't have a place to stay anywhere near my surgeon.

Am I over-reacting? Have any of you hurt your knee this far out from surgery and had it be minor?

 

[Jozilla]

Hi GG - you have been quite busy! I am no expert but would think its tendons/ligaments. Otherwise I think you would be in excruciating pain. It will be interesting to hear what Josephine advises. In the meantime I think you need to rest, ice and elevate and see how it feels. It can't be easy with moving but I think you just overdid it. Netballknees is having her second tkr done today. I know you both supported each other a lot. Take care!

 

[kneesrus]

I believe there is nothing structurally wrong with your knee. Even though you have been very active before taking on this moving chore, you are using your knee and leg in a different matter. You very well could have an over use syndrome and the whole area is inflamed. Not examining you, I first would suspect patella tendonitis. There are many muscle tendons on the inside, outside, front and back of the knee joint. They just maybe a little angered.
If it was something dealing with the implant, the pain would be very severe and 24/7. You would have lost of motion, strength and not able to go up or down stairs.
I have had similar issues when I have been picking things off the floor numerous times. But, it is always wise to get it checked out by your OS. You are doing the right thing.
Best of luck,
David

 

[Josephine]

My symptoms are stiffness mostly, a little clicking but that may have been present before, and some pain, maybe at a level 2 or 3.

Not examining you, I first would suspect patella tendonitis

I totally agree with David.