TKR Sharon’s second knee recovery!

[hawk2go]

My hips and back remain hurting and I know it’s my gait because I still have a slight limp.

I found that I needed new sneakers. I had foot and back pain after my walk one day and realized it may be my shoes forcing the old gait based on wear patterns. The new shoes feel good, plus what a treat to myself for going through the work of welcoming a new knee.

 

[Sks1997]

I have learned so much from reading so many of your posts! I found that I am not icing my knee nearly enough and not long enough. I am 11 wks out today! Reassured me to know that many of you have “zingers”. I didn’t remember having those with my first surgery or maybe I’ve just forgotten. Glad that I don’t have them often. It has also helped me to know many of you have the stiffness for months (not that I want you to have it, LOL). That is probably my worst complaint is the stiffness. I was able to get to 118 flexion even with the stiffness so I avoided any danger of a MUA.
So happy to have this forum as so many people have no clue about recovery from knee replacement. They all seem to think something is terribly wrong if you aren’t 100% at 2-3 months. I do think the Ortho docs need to improve education on the full recovery and not make people think this is a 6-8 week recovery.
Could someone add me to the August knee recovery group! Thanks so much!

 

[Jockette]

You are coming along well!

Could someone add me to the August knee recovery group! Thanks so much!

You have been added to the August group, post #36

Welcome to the August Hotshots' 2021 Knee Recovery Club

@Mary14 , you are now an As such, you have earned the honor of being a August Hot Shot and full-fledged member of the August Hot Shot Knee Recovery Club. Your membership allows you and encourages you to share your recovery journey with your fellow club members as well as all other members...

bonesmart.org

 

[sistersinhim]

We deal with so much more than just the knee pain!

You are so right! It affects us from our feet to our minds!

 

[Sks1997]

@sistersinhim You are so right! I have been borderline depressed the past few weeks! I am working hard to NOT have to take anti-depressants. I’ve taken them in the past and I don’t like the side effects.

 

[Sks1997]

Jockette, do I start a new thread for myself within the Aug group?

 

[Jockette]

No, the August group thread is just so you can see who else had surgery the same month as you.

Please continue to post your updates and questions right here in this, your Recovery Thread.

 

[Sks1997]

Thanks for the explanation!

 

[Susie-Q]

I'm a week behind you. My original surgery date was Aug 23rd but because I was on vacation in Montana and had limited cell service, I wasn't able to confirm the date with my OS so it got moved out a week. I'm sorry you are still having pain but many people still do at this stage. I'm thinking of @Reader525 and @Gingerbread who had challenges at around this time, especially with pain when walking. I'm still icing a lot, whenever I'm sitting on the couch, which is often. Pain has faded quite a bit but my ROM is a bit behind yours, at 109-110. I still have a lot of stiffness every morning and moving around during sleep is sometimes painful. Everyone is different so try not to compare yourself to others too much. Sometimes all it takes is just more time...... this is a year long recovery. One of the articles about healing on here mentions that it takes 12 weeks for bone to heal. You are still within that window. Welcome and hugs!

 

[Booger]

I do think the Ortho docs need to improve education on the full recovery and not make people think this is a 6-8 week recovery

You are soooooo right with this!!!
But Ithink if I would of been told 7weeks of hell I probably wouldn't have gotten it.
And some people it just doesnt bother them much. I talked to this guy at pt and he said he had 4 bad days then nothing but rainbows and unicorns.

 

[Sks1997]

@Booger yes, I agree. If they told the truth that many people don’t recover for a year(or more) lots wouldn’t have it. I personally was so debilitated that my quality of life was affected and I was almost needing a wheelchair. I was lucky that the steroid injections lasted almost 2 yrs for me.
I love when people say they never took pain med after day 3 or 4 and back to work in 3-4 wks. Lol!

 

[Jockette]

and back to work in 3-4 wks. Lol!

When we hear this, we often picture the person totally healed.

I was a bowler at the time of my surgery, and I went back to bowling at 12 weeks. But:

I could get my shoes on but couldn't reach them to tie them, my husband tied them for me.
I couldn’t handle my rolling tote yet, so we put my bowling ball in my husband‘s tote with his.
I definitely couldn’t approach the throw line the way I did before surgery.
It took a month more before I could bowl all 3 games.

One of our retired staff members posted about a friend of hers who went back to work at 2 weeks. Long story short, he was so miserable there that his coworkers wished he had stayed home, and when he was not at work, he was in bed.

The moral of these stories is, just because people say they did (fill in the blank) at an extremely early date, doesn’t mean they were perfectly back to normal. And they don’t tell us about the setback that happened because they rushed their recovery.

 

[Sks1997]

I totally agree. I’ve had therapists tell me that people just forget about the early weeks and like you pointed out they don’t tell the full story!
After my first PKR , my husband had a bad accident and I was forced to go back to my job at 10 wks. It was very difficult as I walked a lot in my job and I was still using the cane. But we do what we have to do!

 

[kate97497]

@Booger yes, I agree. If they told the truth that many people don’t recover for a year(or more) lots wouldn’t have it. I personally was so debilitated that my quality of life was affected and I was almost needing a wheelchair. I was lucky that the steroid injections lasted almost 2 yrs for me.
I love when people say they never took pain med after day 3 or 4 and back to work in 3-4 wks. Lol!

I guess I am one of those people but there are a lot of caveats. Stopped pain meds other than OTC on day 3 because they made me so sick. Honestly I was not in tremendous pain. And I went back to work after 2 weeks. But I work from home with laptop on my recliner or bed. Daily living is a chore but doable. Super stiff especially in the morning. I have a terrible time getting up from the sofa so I stick to chairs. I can do the stairs, shower, dress etc but it is all a very slow process. I’m a long ways from healed but pleasantly surprised by progress made so far. I hope it continues, I would not want to do this again.

 

[Sks1997]

@kate97497 Be blessed that you didn’t have horrific pain and that you could go back to work at 2 wks. It really is interesting how different people recover! glad to have this forum to read all the different recoveries!

 

[Booger]

I was telling my buddy that went back after 12wks that I'm nowhere near the man he is we just laughed. He said he ran controls for 2mths and just piddled around some. Workin his strength back up. We will see.

Booger

 

[Booger]

Op.
Just relax and try to take the good and thrive for it. And the bad well we all know that So forget about that your doin good.

Booger

 

[Sks1997]

I was 11 weeks on Monday. I am not sure exactly why but my quad muscle is screaming out this evening. I did venture out today for a big grocery shopping trip and we had rain off and on all day. I do feel a difference in pain when it rains. I iced my knee when I got home from grocery. I am now using heating pad on my quad muscle hoping that helps.
Since I have cut down on pain med, my appetite has been crazy. I had lost 11 lb since surgery and if I keep it up, I will gain it back.
Hope you all can sleep well and have a pain free or minimal pain night.

 

[Jockette]

Those quad muscles can be very dramatic when they’re not happy! I hope the heating pad helps and that you sleep well tonight.

Bad weather really affected my knee, also.

 

[Sks1997]

This morning when I got up, I was surprised that my knee wasn’t in pain when I walked. It was still very stiff but not painful. It didn’t last long but it sure felt nice for a short time. I see little glimmers of hope! Will be 12 wks out tomorrow.
Got our first nasty snow here in Indiana this morning and this afternoon is blustery and sleeting. I am not a fan of Indiana winters but after we got our grandchildren, we had to change our plans of retiring where it is warm!
We are babysitting our younger grandkids right now. 3 yrs old and 7 months! They give me a real challenge and I will have a rest day tomorrow!
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!