TKR Sharing my experience . . . so far

[Jozilla]

Hi GG - I hope you feel a little better after reading your thread. It is wonderful to get such support as we do in this forum. Hope you are feeling better!

 

[GimpyGal]

@Jozilla, @kneesrus and @Josephine aka Mother Hen. Thank you all for being there (here) for me. I do feel better, Jozilla, from reading the responses. I couldn't get the 'worst case scenario' out of my head and you've at least pushed it to the back reaches.

I will still get that x-ray for peace of mind and will let you know if your 'Sight Unseen, Over the Internet, Stab in the Dark Diagnosis' is spot on. Meanwhile, I'll try to scale back my activities, pack lighter boxes, leave the furniture where it is, ice, elevate and have some 'wine' as opposed to 'whining.'

 

[GimpyGal]

Well, I promised I'd get back to you helpful people, after my x-ray. I'm still in pain, still icing, still elevating, but . . . the x-ray showed all is well with the implant. The diagnosis I got was simply 'overuse' - apparently, even 10 months out, it was too soon to be carrying heavy boxes up and down three flights of stairs and being on my feet up to 18 hours every day.

"Overuse' is all I got out of him, but it was music to my ears. He knows with the move, that telling me to get off my feet cannot be honored, but I've promised to slow down a bit and give myself a chance to recover. Tylenol and icing have been advised and he gave me a Rx for Tramadol for the times when I just have to push on.

Thank you again for creating this message board, for the wise medical guesses (can't call it advice, right?) the excellent moderation, and the hand holding that takes place here every day. This place should be required reading for every TKR patient.

 

[Jozilla]

So glad to here all is well! Hope the move goes well. Try not to overdo too much!

 

[kneesrus]

Even though you are a very active person, which is great, when you do a completely different activity you can get an over use syndrome. It is like moving into spring activities verses winter activities.
No worries,
David

 

[GimpyGal]

Thanks, @kneesrus and @Jozilla I AM active, but I think I suffer from that because I'm not in shape - I need to gain strength and lose weight, but it gets easier every day.

Everyone was right. I just asked too much of this knee, hauling heavy boxes up and down the stairs for nearly a month. We went to our vacation home last week where there are no stairs and there was no packing to do, and every day the knee felt better. After a week I was back to golfing and walking the pup.

Now, we're back home and already the stairs are making my knee unhappy. There's the proof I need to leave this house behind. Hopefully, I can pace myself with the rest of the move. We don't have a buyer yet, but when we do and the serious packing takes place, I plan to pack the boxes and leave them where they are for the big, strong, movers. The earlier packing was to get the house 'show ready' so the boxes had to be hauled to the garage.

Everything in moderation, right?

BTW, my surgeon thought our planned move to a one level home was a good one. I told him I thought living in a multi-level home would keep me in shape and active. He had a great response for that - he said 'architecture is a lousy exercise program!' It's better to live on one level and do other things to stay in shape.

 

[Pumpkin]

What a great statement from your OS. Glad you are feeling better. Hope your home sells ASAP. A little statue of St Joseph buried in the yard can help sell a house. Google it for details.


Sent from my iPod touch using BoneSmart®

 

[NetballKnees]

Hi Lovely GG ... popping into your thread. You have been giving that knee a workout, haven't you? I know what it's like when you are getting ready to present a house for selling. It is such a busy time. My knees were grimacing at reading of all your up and down stairs activity. I don't have stairs at home. I'm sorry you have had to suffer additional pain though. I hope you remember that when the time to move does come, that you DO just leave boxes where you have filled them for others to move. Same thing when the time comes to move the boxes into your new home - just stand and point where they are to go, then pace yourself with unpacking. I wish for a quick sale for you because it is a darn to have to make sure a house is "pristine" all the time for inspections and such.

Thank you for visiting my thread. Take care and make sure you do pace yourself with the rest of packing and unpacking.

Love and Hugs ... Ellen