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TKR Sharon’s second knee recovery!

I may try the tape for sure! The impatient me thinks that 3 months out is NOT early but I know compared to 12 months that it IS early. I don’t feel like I am overdoing the quad strengthening exercises but I guess my knee is telling me otherwise. The quad sets don’t seem to affect my knee that much but the step-ups on the stair does so I will lay off those for a while.
 
Those kind of quad strengthening exercises would have had me crying in agony the next day 3 months into recovery.
 
Sks1997 said:
I know they cut/clip the quad tendon during surgery.
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They haven done this in years, they just move things aside, but it still disrupts the quad tendon.
 
Sks1997 said:
I may try the tape for sure! The impatient me thinks that 3 months out is NOT early but I know compared to 12 months that it IS early. I don’t feel like I am overdoing the quad strengthening exercises but I guess my knee is telling me otherwise. The quad sets don’t seem to affect my knee that much but the step-ups on the stair does so I will lay off those for a while.
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Exactly. It is very easy to exercise your way into a nasty case of tendonitis. With my first knee I listened to my PT against my better judgment and tried strengthening exercises that were too intense too soon and wound up with tendonitis. It can take a long time to get over.
With knee #2 I listened to my own judgment and worked on things gradually, listening to my body. I did quad sets and leg lifts, but no weights and monitored slowly increased my stairs/steps. Zero tendonitis with that knee.
 
I bit the bullet and went for a full body massage today. She went deep in a couple areas and it was painful but she didn’t cause my “new” knee any pain. My hips and low back have been a mess from limping so long and my neck always has too much tension. So she really worked those areas. I used to work with her in Hospice. She gave our patients massages! It was such a neat and needed service. She gave me some good tips on sleep position which will help with my hip/back pain. Of course the best thing to help is walking without a limp. I am doing better and better with that. I will most likely be sore tomorrow! I am going to go every couple weeks for a while! Another helpful thing is that she said my legs appear to be same length. I think they were unequal after I had the PKR in 2016. I guess that would make sense!
This week has flown by! Happy healing to everyone!
 
Hey Jockette or another admin can you please change the date of my Left PKR to Feb 22, 2016 In my signature. Thanks much!
 
Sks1997 I really understand your frustration with still having the knee pain that you do as I am in the same boat. I haven’t posted much of late, but do read the posts. I am 14 weeks yesterday, similar to yourself, & struggle with nerve pain down the outside of the calf & knee pain any time day or night, regardless of whether I have done any activity or not. Although I can straighten my leg my bend is still limited to around 100/105 & excruciatingly painful to try to bend any further. Yes it is better than weeks 1-6, but it is far worse than the pre surgery pain I was having, so I too currently regret having the surgery. I am booked for a second opinion next Tuesday & although I truely hope there is nothing wrong & it is all just part of the journey, a part of me almost wants something to be wrong so it can be fixed & the pain reduced. I have had blood tests & cleared of infection, but according to my GP the X-rays he ordered show significant arthritis on the back of the patellar, if so I’m not sure why this was not addressed during the initial TKR surgery. I am trying to remain positive & not compare myself to others, but it certainly is disheartening when you hear people success stories, & you see the distance between you and them grow, you start to really feel left behind. I truely hope you continue to improve & your pain lessens as the days, weeks & months pass, & you too become one of those success stories.
 
I’m glad you enjoyed your massage! It took me more than 2 years to get one after my surgery because I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone touching my operated leg. And I’m very sensitive, I’ve had those heavy duty massages, twice, way before surgery, and they took days for me to recover. Now I ask for the very lightest touch! I haven’t been in quite a while, though.
 
@Scanne I will sure be praying that your problem is just part of this recovery! Although I have pain with walking and it is worse at end of day, the pain IS lower than it was a month ago And I am thankful for that! I always pray every night that I will wake up and not have the clicking/popping which just makes walking uncomfortable and painful. At least it isn’t clicking on every single step now. We have to grab on to the small things in this slow recovery.
I totally understand the feeling when you hear about someone whose recovery is SO much quicker and less painful than your own. I always feel a little ashamed of myself for feeling that way but as hard as we try, it is hard NOT to compare ourselves and then we wonder what in the world is wrong with us. I actually had several co-workers at my old workplace on my first PKR that just couldn’t comprehend that I couldn’t go back to my job in 6-8 wks. I didn’t go back until 10 wks and I really wasn’t even ready to go back. They put so much pressure on me which made my recovery even harder.
I don’t really regret the surgery, I am just not at the point of saying it was worth having. I HAD to have the surgery as I was so debilitated and almost ready for a wheelchair. I had 4 different problems in my knee. I just need to be more patient. I just feel like 3-4 months is ENOUGH, LOL! I know if I didn’t have you all on here that I would be on anti-depressants because I was headed there in the first couple months.
I am off for a long icing session! Thank you for the kind words and I know that we will have success stories in the near future!
 
@Jockette i hadn’t had a massage in probably about 3 yrs. I was pretty nervous to go today and hoping I don’t have regrets tomorrow or the next few days. She went deeper than I really wanted but my muscles are in a mess. I was very scared of her causing more pain to my knee and I pointed out the area that I didn’t really want her to touch. I did a good amount of moaning during this massage. I would prefer to have the lighter touch massage but I think in order to really help my muscles she needed to go deep on some areas. I will keep you posted if this really helps me. I am supposed to go back in 2 wks.
 
Shame on those co-workers for putting that much pressure on you, maybe one day they will be in your position & then reflect back in shame. I have a very physical job & one I cannot return to until I am considered fit enough. Although my bosses & work colleagues are very understanding I feel like I am letting them down, but I also know it would put more pressure on them if I was there and unable to fulfil my role. Thank you for your prayers.
 
Sks, I am delighted to have found your thread! My Right TKR was shortly after yours (September 8, 2021) and I was beginning to believe that I was the world’s slowest healer (or biggest complainer). However, after reading your posts, I feel that I may be totally normal! My recovery mirrors your in so many ways (including the noisy clicking/popping you described) that I could have written much of it. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

CapnRic, I am a huge fan of kinesiotape. I had subluxation in both my knees and it really limited much of what I could comfortably do. While in PT for an IT band issue, my therapist showed me how to tape my knees to stabilize my patella and it was life-changing!
 
You are most welcome camgram! I am so glad that we have this forum to come to with all our concerns, questions and just venting
At times and also hearing what others are going through. YOU ARE INDEED NORMAL!

I have wonderful friends but I don’t feel comfortable talking about everything to them because let’s face it, it isn’t happening to them and they really don’t want to hear very much about it! And most people still falsely believe that we should be ready to roll in 6-8 wks and when we don’t meet that, they either think we have something wrong or we haven’t done all the things we were supposed to do in therapy and at home to heal. I am at a place that I don’t even go into many details and just say that I am “coming along and that I am early in recovery”.
 
Sks, I know exactly what you mean. My husband and I took a 5 day trip when I was 10 weeks post-surgery. We drove over 4 hours each way and attended 2 basketball games and a football game in addition to hosting a dinner for a group of friends. Everyone seemed to feel I should be able to keep up with them … after all, it had been 10 weeks since my surgery! After a couple days of trying to match their pace, I took a day off and spent it walking in the pool, soaking in the hot tub and icing back in my room (yes, I took my Polar Cube with me and it was a godsend!). That helped a lot but I was still exhausted when we returned home.
 
Last weekend, I refused to go to back to back ballgames and there was going to be about 2.5 hrs of driving too. My husband mistakenly thinks that I should be able to tolerate that. I knew with my leg down at 90 degrees for almost 5 hrs that I would pay a big price later.
We have a 2 wk trip to Florida in Feb that I am a little concerned about but we will be with friends so not a lot of walking. More concerned with the driving but on way down we stop for a couple days at some relatives and it’s only about 6 hrs to their house. Praying for more healing by then!
 
When I read what some of you are up to I wonder if I am doing enough. I am nearly 7 weeks out and I thought that a 5 minute drive to sea front and a walk that probably totally about 200 yards and sitting for 20 minutes to have a coffee was more than enough for my knee. Should I be pushing more? I know you are going to say that everyone is different but I could have pushed more but was concerned that I might push too far and suffer the consequences. Today I could go with hubby to supermarket but I want to go to a carol singing round the tree outside our church this evening and I am saving myself for that - or should I push and do both??? Oh so many dielmmas in this knee recovery :heehee:
 
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