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Shelly's Recovery

I was scared to death to go to my 1st PT on Friday but it was not bad. She never pushed me and we finished with 10 mins of ice & e-stim that felt great. Good luck tomorrow!
 
Miralax worked for me, so give it a try. Sleeping a lot is good. Your body is trying to heal from the trauma of surgery, then add pain meds is a recipe for tons of napping. I was never a napper and enjoyed that bit of recovery. I really haven't napped since my TKR. :nah:
 
Remember to never let PT hurt you or force you to hurt yourself. Be sure to stay in total control of your knee and not to let anyone touch you. Very, very gentle movements only!
 
Good luck with the Miralax, it made me pretty bubbly.
Drink lots and lots of water. Add fruits and veggies, too.


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Not a good morning. Not a good pt session. The therapist was very nice but as we've heard many times before wanted me to push thru the pain. He said my ROM was terrible and we would focus on getting that better. It measured only 40. When I was in hospital it was 90 (but block was still in place then)The guy beside me this morning had surgery two days before me and he was at 90. One of the exercises really hurt my knee cap so I quit doing it. I still feel nauseous and after therapy it hurts just to move my walker. Completely frustrated. I have pt scheduled wed and friday morning this week.


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So frustrating. We read all the reasonable stuff here at BS and then have to deal with number crunchers in our therapy. I'd stick to 1-2x/week for now, not 3. And reiterate that you will work to "discomfort but not pain" as I read here once. I hope tomorrow and I'm sure my ROM will have gone backwards. But I'm doing all the resting, icing I can do. Can't make the swelling go down any faster.
 
Do NOT push through the pain. You are setting yourselves for more swelling and pain. Look at what this therapy did to you this morning. It is your knee, not pts. You are paying them and you are the boss. What you say goes. Not what pt says. There is no reason at all for you to even take pt this early, and certainly not 3 times a week. Your poor knee will never heal if it doesn't get the time to heal. Please don't go anymore this week. Get plenty of rest. Ice and elevate every time you sit down. Take a look at what was done inside of your knee from this article in the library: https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/closing-surgical-wounds-how-is-it-done.4286/#post-90691
 
This article has some pictures of what was done to your knee: TKR surgery - WARNING: real life photos

As sistersinhim said, you are in charge when it comes to PT. It is your knee and it is absolutely your right to set the rules.
Saying no to therapy - am I allowed to?

PT should never hurt and it is harmful to "push past the pain."
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Any PT that hurts is bad PT and no PT at all is better than bad PT.

If you go back to that PT place, tell them you will not do, or allow them to do anything that hurts you, at the time or later. If they won't comply with your wishes, leave. Find another clinic, or do your therapy yourself.
Do read these articles, too:
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy
TKR: work “smarter” and not “harder”

It's very early in your recovery and your knee really doesn't need to do any formal exercises at this stage. All it needs is lots of rest, ice, elevation and regular pain medication, combined with just a little walking around the house. Walking is the best exercise of all for your knee.

Later, if you decide to do your own PT, these exercises will be all you need:
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Extension: how to estimate it and ways to improve it
 
Shelly, I started PT today 3 weeks after surgery and so glad I waited. I only did what they recommend on this forum and nothing else for the past 3 weeks. This is my 2nd TKR so I have more trust that all will be well with patience and rest, that's all your knee needs now. Don't compare your knee to others, some folks have good ROM early but most do not. My last knee didn't have 90 ROM until 3-5 months post op. Hang in there and give yourself permission to rest.
Take care Marc
 
I seriously appreciate all the advice I am receiving back. I have read this forum for awhile now and I know the way I am feeling and the pt experience I had wasn't so different from many others on this site but it sure felt nice to hear back after what I went through today. I cancelled my next two appointments this week and I'm going to ice and Elevate and rest and walk this week. I am fifty and have always been very flexible but obviously that had no effect on my poor early rom numbers. I am trying to get over my self pity party tonight and just keep a positive attitude, read the advice on this site and move forward. Thank you all again and thank you creators of this site!
 
You have made the right decision to do what is best for you and your knee. After a few more days of rest, ice, and elevation you will be in a better position to decided what you are able to do. As the others have said, you are in charge at PT. I know that sometimes it is hard to advocate for yourself (it was for me because I have a nasty tendency to want to make others happy) but you need to do this for yourself and that baby knee.
 
Really all you need the first month is easy stretches, a few heel slides and some walking around the house. Just for a reminder take a look at the activity progression chart to see what you should be doing.

Activity progression for TKRs
 
Woohoo! One bottle of magnesium citrate equals success! Amazing the things I am celebrating these days!


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I just found recovery thread and caught up on your progress. We seem to be in the same place right now. My mind is finally coming back to me. I've got my mag citrate standing by should it be needed. Don't let PT hurt you at all and never let them make you feel like you are behind. No one's knees can be compared. The fact that your knee was bending well for you right after surgery is showing you what your knee is capable of and more. Once you came home you are probably walking around more and increased pain will increase your swelling thus giving you a smaller range of motion. Right now the best thing for both of us to do is to ice, elevate, medicate and zone out watching netflix. I'm glad you cancelled your PT visits for the rest of the week.

Whenever you feel sleepy go ahead and sleep. Our jobs right now is to take care of ourselves so that we can get back to all the other activities we can resume with our nice shiny knees.
 
I love that things are moving for you! Sure makes you feel a lot better!
 
Good luck!


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8 days after surgery and I'm doing okay. Biggest problem is my swelling and my silly obsession with my ROM. I made the mistake of reading too much about ROM on internet last night and got myself all worried, then overdid and caused swelling which then of course affects the ROM.

Sleeping in my own bed is nice. Not nauseous anymore thank goodness. Taking hydrocodone once ever six hours and then three hours in I'm taking a tramadol once every six hours and pain seems manageable. I'm anxious for my post op appointment tomorrow.

I keep finding over and over that my attitude in the morning affects the outcome of my whole day. I just need to stay positive and remember to be patient and this will all come. Have a great day all!


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I'm glad nausea is no longer a problem and you're sleeping in your bed. At 8 days post op all you need to worry about is keeping the pain at bay and getting the swelling down. ROM will come. :yes:
 
Don't worry about your ROM. It's far to early in your recovery. Sounds like you have your pain under control. I'm sure your post op visit will go well tomorrow.
 
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