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TKR Still pain at 10 weeks po

Thanks you so much. It is such a hard and long recovery. Thanks so much for all the advice and encouragement. You can get so frustrated when you hear that an 80 year old had no more pain at three weeks. I mean I’m happy for him but can’t help but feel like a failure. Everyone is different snd every situation is different. I’ll keep my chin up and keep plugging but don’t be surprised if I come back whining again! lol
 
Very few, if any, people are pain free at 3 weeks, at any age.

Dont wait until you are upset and frustrated to come back here. Stick around, read other recovery threads, and you will find many are just like you. You are having a recovery well within the norm.
 
Anniefannie said:
You can get so frustrated when you hear that an 80 year old had no more pain at three weeks. I mean I’m happy for him but can’t help but feel like a failure.
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Hi @Anniefannie. I know what you mean. I was plagued by friends telling stories of people who played 18 holes of golf or hiked up a mountain -- or whatever else -- at 4 or 5 weeks out when I was still struggling.

I finally stopped comparing myself to anyone -- except to myself BEFORE surgery when I couldn't walk to the mailbox with a cane. Now 20 weeks post op, I'm feeling very positive about my recovery but still have days when I need to take something for pain.

I've found this community is a great help and support -- and am continually reminded that we all heal in our own time!
 
@Anniefannie Sounds like both of us are pretty much in the same boat, I'm on my 2nd replacement, the beginning like you was smooth and I achieved a good ROM straight away, at 5 weeks post surgery I tripped over my crutch, I didn't fall, but must have upset something, I immediately rested for about a week, saw a bit of improvement but had continuous pain & stiffness, last Friday during the night something shifted and now I can barely walk, sitting is almost impossible and pain off the charts I am now 2 months post surgery and feel like week 1, I totally get why you are feeling low, we really depend on our legs for independence and being stuck is just horrible.
So sending you Mega healing vibes, we can both beat this even if it takes longer than everyone else xx
 
@Anniefannie

I am at 8 weeks and experienced the same kind of setbacks. Today I do gentle stretching at home and won’t be returning to physio. Yesterday I had one of those conversations with a man my age who had his tkr two weeks before me, took no opiates and is now back playing golf. It feels awful, especially when you are an active person, not used to being cared for by spouses etc. Let’s understand that we are normal, that we all progress differently and that like it or not, recovery is long and slow for most tkr patients. And let’s take strength from each other.
 
Another setback! Last week saw my OS and he told me to do the stretching exercise on a chair three times a day fir seven min each and when he demonstrated it using me in the office the pain was bad as he pulled my hips forward on the chair and held it as i was saying OWW. Then he wants to see me in a month. My ROm was 95 at three months post tkr. Well i went home and did what he said and for three days i actually felt improvement in my bend but the next day i must have pushed too hard because that’s what he showed me. The next morning i could hardly walk from the pain. i called the office and the pA told me to stop and try again around Saturday and then every other day and reassess.I am beyond frustrated. What do you think about this?
 
I think your knee is telling you that it does not like all this forcing. There is no need for this approach. Gentle stretches will work. There is no time line for gaining ROM.
 
Yes I tend to agree with you. He doesn’t want to send me fir outside therapy though. In the meantime a physical therapist who I called weeks ago because i thought i wanted outside PT called me and was thoroughly shocked that my surgeon didn’t want me to go for outside therapy. She really laced it into me that she couldn’t believe he wouldn’t recommend it. Now i’m so confused
 
Anniefannie said:
PT called me and was thoroughly shocked that my surgeon didn’t want me to go for outside therapy.
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Time to listen to your knee. Be guided by it!

I would focus on icing and elevation for now. Get all that internal swelling controlled and your ROM will increase on its own.
 
Ok I will. Thanks so much. What an ordeal this has been. Last year I had two surgeries on my neck inside of six weeks then radiation 30 treatments. I think That was easier than this!
 
@Anniefannie, it sounds as though you've been through quite a lot over the past year and I'm sorry to hear you are struggling.

I think many of us suffer setbacks after trying to push through pain -- our knees becomes swollen, our ROM goes down and we get depressed. (Been there, done that! I'm about two months ahead of you and still have ups and downs.)

Listen to your body -- it knows best. And remember that you are only a few months into a year-long recovery.
 
@Anniefannie My surgeon's office doesn't prescribe physical therapy unless they feel you aren't progressing the way they think you should (or, I'm sure if you requested it). They do give you a booklet and a handout with descriptions of exercises to do. Pretty much all of the exercises are same as or variations on ones described on this forum.
 
@Anniefannie Sorry to hear you are having a rough time. I am almost 6 mon out from R TKA and really thought that I would be further along in recovery by now. We are heading to FL Friday and I really had hoped for long walks on the beach. My friend that we are staying with in FL has had two replacements and she is very understanding. there WILL be walks on the beach, just not long ones. My most irritating problem is the popping/moving feeling in my knee with almost every step and it makes walking very uncomfortable. More so as the day wears on. But I can tell that I still have some swelling and I feel like this problem will eventually resolve. The popping is common In recovery. I don’t think it started with me until maybe month 4.
If I have too much activity my knee let’s me know with pain and muscle spasms. I don’t take pain meds (over the counter) much now, maybe 2 days a week.

So just know that everything you are going through sounds pretty normal in this long and challenging recovery. I am so very glad that I am retired and didn’t have the pressure of going back to a job.

Happy healing and we ARE your people!
 
Thanks so much for responding. My progress was great at six weeks then I twisted my knee and went backwards with my progress. I still can’t do stairs the right way. I still do one at a time. I can’t walk very long. Then i hear of other people who are walking and doing this and that at the same stage as me and I am nowhere near that level.
 
Try not to get discouraged. We all had different knees going into surgery and we all heal at different rates after surgery. You don’t need outside PT to achieve full ROM you just need time to heal especially now you have had a setback. It’s happened to many of us - myself included, but resting, icing, elevating and maintaining gentle exercises and stretches gets you back on track. You can’t bend swollen and pushing only gets you pain. Hope you see improvements very soon.
 
@Anniefannie Just thinking of you, as we have had similar set backs, it's so hard seeing and reading of others sailing through this recovery, all it does is makes us feel like we are failing, however it's not a competition, our knees just need a bit more attention, they want tlc for as long as possible and I'm certain eventually we will be OK in the end, we just need a whole bunch of patience and a good supply of movies along the way xxx
 
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