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TKR So much harder than I expected

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@MidwestTKR ....such a moving story, thank you for sharing. Recently, today in fact, I had to postpone my knee surgery because I need a cardiac stress test....and all of a sudden my knees do not hurt so much LOL

Really though....I come from a nursing background as well (PsychiatricTechnician) and it was actually the new twelve hour shifts that we started that blew out my knees. I would worry not about what your peers may be thinking or saying because if they were in your shoes they would be trying to find a way to be off as much as they could. LOL We all know that unfortunately, they will talk about it all no matter what you do, and if you come back too early and are in pain, then someone will criticize you for doing that! And yes, it is hurtful as easily anyone can see what a sweet caring person you are. I can tell you for sure that returning too early (no matter what you hospital staffing shortages are) will only be counterproductive. Stay out just as long as you can and then some. The suggestions above were wonderful and given with great insight that I do not have. You are a wonderful nurse and yes, it is now, your turn to nurse yourself.
 
@jbrooklyn , I just saw your last comment. I had somehow missed it. Please don't worry that you thought I was a new poster and just had surgery. It's easy to make that mistake when there are so many pages on threads to read! Others have done that too. I appreciate every single response I've gotten and the caring that is shown on the board.
 
@Stefny, Hi! I am going to check out your thread to see how you are doing! I returned to work 2 weeks ago, when I was 12 weeks post-op.
 
@MidwestTKR LOL Oh so sorry.....Actually, I have not been on this site that long and I pretty much do not know what I am doing. I have been searching for some posts that reflect the aftermath of the surgery to follow up and see how they feel. I have seen so many posts that reflect a lot of pain and concerns about where they are in their recovery. Honestly, I really sensed that a lot of folks wished that had not done it, and some certainly questioned their decision. That left me very conflicted as to whether or not I wanted to go forward. Although I know when folks are in pain, of course, their perspective will be different. Then I had this problem with my EKG and needed to have a cardiac stress test and it was all happening to close to my surgery....which was supposed to be on Tuesday. So, I postponed for now, to make sure my heart is ok and to rethink my decision. That is my story. LOL But, more importantly, how are you now and how are you doing? Are you able to tolerate those nursing shifts without pain? I would really like to hear from you and you new knee. :) :) :)
 
@Stefny

Hi again and I am so sorry you have to deal with worries about your EKG and postponing your surgery. I am sure everything will be Ok, but please update us when you know.

I am much better than I was as I am sure you have come to find out, this is a major surgery and takes time to recover from. When they told me full recovery takes a year, I don't know why I was expecting to feel better than I did each step of the way. Each week, I feel a tinge better, except this week when I wasn't icing and elevating like I should have when I returned to work 2 weeks ago. I was 12 weeks post-op when I went back. The OS had restricted me to desk duties until Sept. There is no way that I could be on my feet for 9 hours and drive an hour to and from work. I am still doubting that I will be ready to be on my feet for a whole day by then. If I am not, I am speaking up at my job and requesting to do a half a day only otherwise I will be miserable.

Although I am not quite at the point I am glad I had this done, I know it's coming!!!! I do feel so much better than I did initially. I think it might even be a good idea for me to read over my own thread and see how far I've come!!! :)
 
@MidwestTKR Hi there! Thank you for getting back with me and sharing your recovery process. I am so happy for you that your doctor prescribed lighter duty for you. I know only too well how hard is to work those long nursing hours with knees that hurt. It sounds like your recovery is pretty similar to most. Because I have worked in hospital settings all of my life and I am now retired, I am wondering if you have ever considered asking for some sort of sit down job at whatever facility you work at. I know that this is not what most people would want but I see you are still fairly young and most likely have at least ten working years a head of you. Depending on where you work, there can be many other options for nurses. Of course, these things seem somehow reserved for the most well liked staff or those who have worked very hard in their careers. I see from your very kind demeanor that you most likely fall in this category. You may want to keep your hears and eyes open for a position that may suit your overall. What I mean by this is a position that would in fact protect your knees from further stress or injury. I am somewhat of an old timer and I have seen and experienced all kinds of occupational hazards and solutions. :):):)
 
@Stefny , Thank you and I completely agree with you and had already considered that in the last year. Actually the position I hold at my hospital is at a level higher than a staff nurse. I coordinate a program and the position entails both desk work and working in an ambulatory care setting with patients. It's about 50%desk work/50% on my feet. I would love to just do desk work at this point in my life, but my position would not allow that. I have considered looking elsewhere for employment, but that is more difficult to find as well once we enter our 50's. I have been keeping my eyes open though!
 
@MidwestTKR.....Good for you! thinking outside of the box! Nurses really do have so much more flexibility these days. You could even be a home care nurse which would mean you would not have to be on your feet all day. And there are others options for sure. Sometimes if you have to sacrifice a little financially, and maybe you would not even have to do that, it may be worth it in the long run to save your knees and or additional surgeries. That is great that your current position only requires you to be on your feet 50% of the time....if you are able to do that with no problem then you are all set!! :) :) :)
 
@Stefny, I was a visiting nurse for 7 years after working inpatient and then a manager of a Program in home care before moving to the Midwest and working in the ambulatory care setting. :) I've worked in many different arenas of health care. I guess that comes with my old age! lol
 
@MidwestTKR Well clearly, you have had a lot of experience and are fully aware of your options. :) This is a very good thing. I hope we can keep in touch so you can update me about how you feel about your knee. I notice that you had a meniscus repair in 2000, how did that go? I think my lateral meniscus may of tore the other day in my left knee!! LOL OH NO!!! It feels kind of grissly over there and I woke of with a terrible muscle cramp in that leg, not to mention pain up and down the sciatic nerve area. The muscle, sciatic pain has left but I can feel a liitle movement or lumpiness when I bend my knee a certain way. LOL I am a mess!! Really enjoy sharing with you, let's continue to do that OK? Have a great rest of the weekend!! :):):)
 
@Stefny ,

Oh my, you need to see the OS about your meniscus repair. The surgery was much easier obviously than a TKR, but it took me some time to feel better afterwards. I felt more tired than usual and I remember it taking some time to build my stamina back up. But, if it's torn, you need to have it repaired or it will continue to catch. I'm sorry you have something else to worry about. My nursing experience is all in Pediatrics and Maternal Child Health.
 
I am just finally venturing out to stores, etc without the use of my cane in the last week. I do however, have to walk slowly and would not feel comfortable in a crowded place where I could get accidently pushed and lose my balance. I also, can't walk for a prolonged period of time yet and using a shopping cart does help me walk better since I can slightly lean on it to use for support. But I am encouraged to see I can walk a little better outside my house! I'm slowly getting there!!! :) I will be 14 weeks post-op tomorrow and was wondering how others at about the same amount of time post-op- @PolarBear60 and @sabbath, @Josephine and all others, please chime in. How long does it typically take to feel like you can walk normally and have normal endurance when out and about. Is that going to be 6 months-a year?
 
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@MidwestTKR LOL I know....I am going to do that!! I have dealt with these bad knees of mine for about four and 1/2 years now. I keep blaming it on the 12 hours shifts, and that is in fact when I started having problems but I am overweight as well, as well as hypothyroid, which altogether makes things even more difficult. Thankfully, I am at least retired and worked long enough to get a pension and health insurance. This allows me to be a little picky about my choices, so I check and then double check things when I make decisions. I know they have had some success with the stem cell treatment with knees except that will most likely not be covered by insurance for about another 7 years. I do not know why, because it would most certainly be more economical for insurance companies as opposed to TKR. It is amazing some of the things they can do in medicine now, just imagine 50 to 100 years from now!!!! :) :)
 
MidwestTKR said:
How long does it typically take to feel like you can walk normally and have normal endurance when out and about. Is that going to be 6 months-a year?
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It will be very soon now. You're 13 weeks now so every day, assuming you don't go mad and overdo it!, you should start noticing advances in your abilities. It might help in the crowds if you did have your cane - people might be more considerate and it will give you confidence as well. Don't ditch the cane until you feel confident!
 
I wonder the same @MidwestTKR especially with respect to work. How long will it be until I'm not stiff and achy at the end of the work day, having just gone back to work. I know hubby is wondering these things, if we go here is it ok if we also go there?

If I'm caught in a rain shower, I'm resigned to the fact I'll get wet. I only move at one speed! LOL!

sent from my Galaxy 4
 
@MidwestTKR , I can walk a good mile or so without any problem -- maybe a bit further but I just haven't pushed it yet. Stores bother me more with the starting and stopping and eventually, the tight band feeling does me in and it starts to hurt. But I do feel steady and don't need to use a cane.

I would agree that you will be improving soon too. I find that it's so hard to know when/how hard to push. Too much makes it swell. Too little makes it get stiff. One of these days, I imagine, we'll figure it out!

Roxie
 
Hi @tigz,

You are only 1 week behind me in your recovery and I'd love to hear more about ho w you are feeling. Do you need to walk relatively slowly if you are not using a cane? Do you still have that tight band feeling? Are you icing every day? I am trying to not use the cane most of the time now, but I am by no means ready for a normal fast gait. I can walk a lot faster with the use of a cane. Maybe I'm a little slower than the usual recovery?

@Kansas Teacher, I am just so amazed you can walk a mile and you are about 1 1/2 weeks behind me. Did you have a bad valgus when you had your knee replacement? Sometimes I wonder if correcting that, has to do with my recovery. Everything is trying to get used to being straight for the first time in about 8 years and I'm sure trying to get used to walking with a normal gait.

I do notice a very slight improvement every week, but of course it's not as fast as I would like! I've started to relax about the recovery though and try to remember that my OS said it will take a full year most likely to feel like a normal person again.
 
I really don't think using a cane has me walking any faster than I am without it. I am just pain old slow!

My swelling and stiffness seemed a little less today than last week and the PT agreed with me. She says I really should try to do more stretching in the course of the work day, even if it's just a few minutes. She thinks that might help. I can't elevate but I ice on break and at lunch, hoping there's a free chair to rest my leg on so at least it's not in a dependant position. I've been icing / elevating when I get home.

I still have a general tightness in my knee. My natural bend isn't a much as what I can push it to while seated in a chair and I push it back under me. I figure I still have soft tissue that's still recuperating from the MUA (it'll be a month Wednesday).

Quite the challenging recovery, isn't it?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
@MidwestTKR , I do still have some of that tight band feeling. It loosens up and doesn't bother me when I walk or bike but then once I sit down or try standing still for a bit, it comes right back. The massage therapist today used some kinisio tape on it and I do think it's helping some. We'll see in a couple days. I did not have a bad valgus like you did so I'll bet that is some of it. I'm still struggling to get stamina back though.

Roxie
 
@MidwestTKR, I had my RTKR just about a week before you. I too had very bad valgus, my leg looked deformed from the back, but it did not hurt as bad as the left one. My OS said if we didn't do that one first it would be very hard to straighten if I waited much longer. I believe that is the reason our recovery is so slow, think of all the changes to our tendons, ligaments, muscles and even the bones to make it straight. The only thing my OS says is that some knees take awhile to heal:shrug:

Recovery is just slow, no way around it, you just don't wake up in the morning thinking, Oh, I'm better. You just notice little things like 2 weeks ago I could only do 1 errand a day, now I can do two. Patience, patience, patience.
But it's so hard. You are doing well, keep it up and stay positive:flwrysmile:
Sharon
 
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