TKR Snoots recovery thread<

[FCBayern]

@snoots Like Lyndylee I'm a few weeks ahead of you. It shouldn't be to much further into your recovery when you decide you made the right choice. I'm down to just a couple of doses of Tylenol when I feel a little achy but that pain is nothing like what I had before my TKR.

@Bionic I picked up a floor peddler as well, it works pretty well to get my knee warmed up. I try to use it for 5 minutes before I walk and it lets me walk more flexion so I can walk more normally.

 

[Celle]

My physical therapist prepared a report for the OS and asked me a lot of questions, such as how long (distance or time) can you tolerate walking. I honestly had no idea how to answer that and I realized that maybe I should be pushing myself to do more activity. Maybe? All of my walking has been around the house. I just want to take it slow so I don't overdo things with the knee because the soft tissues definitely need to settle down still.

No, don't push yourself to do more walking.
Take your recovery at a pace that feels right for you and your knee.
You have the right idea.

 

[catkin69]

@snoots I understand the ‘why did I do this’ I have felt like this frequently! Yesterday I drove myself to physio. It’s a half hour drive and I only went behind the wheel for the first time on Saturday. I realised when I go there I had no pain. Driving before the op was awful for me. Every movement accelerator to brake was painful. That has gone so I am starting to appreciate this new knee finally!! I hope you begin to see the positive soon xx

 

[snoots]

Hello All. Been a bit quiet on the site but excited to say that tonight saw my knee take its first flight. I’ve come home to see my parents in Scotland tonight. Did smile as my leg set off the scanner at security! Was then patted down, swabbed and body scanned! Thought I may have to whip out my scar but thankfully no white hairy knees were required!
Going to see my friend in Glasgow tomorrow for a sports massage. Can’t wait!!
Must say I was thankful the plane was relatively quiet as I was able to shift to an empty row and stretch my leg out. I am finding pain is dramatically less now but cramp and twitchy muscle tension are my new foes.
Night night from Bonnie Scotland!

 

[catkin69]

Hi @snoots
How lovely to have flown home.
I hope you have a great time with family.
How did the massage go?
I’m still pottering along. Frustrated by my perceived lack of progress.
Take care up ‘North’

 

[Bionic]

@snoots
I think it's great that you got to Scotland. I am sure it will make you feel more 'normal' again.
I too have the twitchy knee. It often doesn't like me sitting watching TV in the evening. The knee feels like it wants to do something more active so I often walk around the room.
I hope you enjoyed your sports massage. My physio has been massaging the knee and I am sure it helps.

 

[snoots]

@catkin69 @Bionic the massage was simply amazing. My clever friend is an ex Royal Ballet School Principal and knows the body inside out. I felt like I was walking on air when I came out. Mind u, this morning I felt like I’d been hit by a train!! Tonight I’ve noticed an improvement in the lumpiness around my scar and the knee feels better.
I am still struggling to get used to the mechanics of my new knee. I am very wary of turning around and tend to tip toe around when I turn. It feels very mechanical and alien.

 

[Jockette]

I still have to be really careful when I am turning, my knee doesn’t like it. My knee feels the worst when I’m in the kitchen, as I’m constantly moving around, leaning/reaching sideways and turning around to the other counter.

 

[snoots]

Hello all. I’m still here - just!
The knee healing has def plateaued. I went to physio last week for a massage but it was a new guy and he was a bit over zealous. The following day I was in real pain and I couldn’t put weight through my leg. Not great.
I am too scared to go back but feel like I should be doing something to push the healing on. My quad feels very weak still and I have real trouble going down stairs.
Any exercise advice would be gratefully received.

 

[Jockette]

I’m so sorry that “therapist” caused you a set back.

You cannot push your healing. This is a slow recovery, that’s just the way it is.

Your quad is weak because it was asaulted during the surgery and is still recovering.

It can take months before we can go downstairs comfortably.

The best thing you can do is be very patient and stay away from over zealous therapists.

 

[snoots]

I think my impatience comes from people asking me why I’m not back at work and I feel guilty!

 

[Jockette]

It’s so hard not to feel guilty, or be upset by comments of others rating our recovery. I felt like most people deemed me a failure because it took me so long to regain the ability to do things.

Everybody knows somebody who...(fill in the blank.)

You are giving your knee the best circumstance in which to heal, by not going back to work yet. Be proud of that.

 

[Bionic]

@snoots
I can't go downstairs yet. In fact only go up stairs properly some if the time. Physio told me that going downstairs is usually the last thing people do in recovery.
My quad is very weak too. The last few days I have been trying leg raises with a light weight on the ankle. Actually the weight is one of those microwave heating pads that has corn or something similar inside. It drapes easily across the ankle and weighs less than a kilo. I only do a few at a time. I would rather err on the side of caution than set myself back.

 

[catkin69]

@snoots If it’s any consolation I am not back at work either. My quad is still weak too and causes my leg to give way when it’s tired. I can’t face a long shift with that happening! It’s hard not to compare and I think because I am relatively young it would be a breeze. It’s not!! Work have referred me to occupational health, Will see what they have to say!

 

[Lindylee]

I'm at 4 months today. Going downstairs was the last thing I could do, can't remember exactly when without going through my posts but maybe 6 weeks ago? Even now it's not always pain free doing it, especially if there are a lot of steps, and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it without anything to hold on to.
I know we don't have to do the leg lifts and static quad tightening exercises once we can lift our leg, but I felt my quads needed them. They didn't hurt or affect the knee afterwards, apart from some minimal swelling that I get doing ADL's anyway, so I did them every day, gradually increasing the time I held the leg up and increasing repititions and still do them on days I don't do any other exercise. I would only do as many as I could without overworking the knee and stopped if it started to hurt.
You will get there, there's still plenty of time for you to strengthen those muscles once your knee is ready for it.

 

[snoots]

Thank you all. I don’t know what I would do without the support of this forum. It’s these positive comments that stop me beating myself up for perceived slow progress. I think I just hoped that I would have passed the point of pain when I wake and when I walk by now. I haven’t. I have pain in the mornings and walking is more of a waddle than a stride!

 

[Jockette]

Recently I compared this recovery to baking cookies. My chocolate chip cookies take 12 minutes to completely bake. If I take them out earlier, at 2 minutes, 4, 8 or whatever, they will only be partially baked, and not all that tasty, because they’re not done yet.

The same is true of our knee at 2 months, or 3 months, etc. It needs time to finish healing.

 

[snoots]

I love this analogy. I think part of the problem is that it’s almost an invisible injury. Once the crutches have gone, you look like normal. I sometimes take my crutches out because I know I will need the psychological (as well as physiological) support!!

 

[jboles]

@snoots I know what you mean when you say you waddle instead of stride. I have the waddle too! It’s so hard not to compare when everyone around us is always comparing us to someone with a fantastic recovery.

 

[winemama]

I concentrate so hard when I’m walking to do the heel toe, so I don’t do The waddle I walked like that for so many years until I had both my knees done it’s a hard habit to break but I’ll get there I feel like everything I’ve gone through I should be able to glid like ginger Rogers