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TKR Susie-Q's 2nd TKR Recovery Thread

No, not a master chef at all!! Just recipes I've picked up over the years. I haven't made the sweet potato one in awhile and the family likes it.

@Reader525 I have not heard of losing your taste or having things taste funny after having surgery. I did lose my sense of taste way back when I was first married when I had a nasty sinus infection. Everything tasted like burned cardboard! The only things that tasted ok were canned spaghetti-Os and salad. I thought maybe I was allergic to the antibiotic they gave me (amoxicillin) but I think it was the sinus infection affecting my smell and taste. It eventually went away. I know people now are losing their sense of taste and smell from having Covid. I can't think of any other reason but I'm also not a doctor. :chinstroke:

The nightly cage match continues.... I did feel more comfortable using my long body pillow when lying on my right side. That way The Knee could be on top and fully supported down to my ankle and foot. thanks for that idea @hawk2go . It didn't work the same when lying on my left side. The Knee and now The Leg did not like being buried under that body pillow so I used my small contour pillow when on that side. With all those pillows and the hubby, the bed is getting very crowded! We have a CA King but it almost felt like there were 3 people in there last night. Ah, the things we do to keep The Knee happy....... I did sleep well and had some vivid dreams come morning.
 
Well now The Knee has taken a back seat to The Hip. Both yesterday and today my left hip has been very sore and hurts with every step. My PT had me doing a bunch of steps up and down, leading with the left leg and I think I overworked my hip flexor. All was fine on Friday and Saturday but then two days later on Sunday the soreness hit. I'm still walking the dog and doing the bike every day. Knee seems to be bending better. It's easier for me to bend to get my leg out of the car when I can't open my driver door all the way (like in the garage). Taking some Advil to help and today it's a bit better.
 
I’m sorry it seems you have overdone it at PT. :console2:
 
Minestrone is almost done. Just need to add the cannellini beans, chicken, spinach, white wine and pesto. (I add cooked chicken instead of noodles to lower the carbs) Everything else is simmering.

The Hip still hurts, this is day 3. I have PT tomorrow so she will hear from me. It's better than it was Sunday but still a bit sore. Not sure why PT did a number on my hip but it just must have been too many stepping exercises. I can't explain why my hip would be hurting as I didn't do anything heroic or crazy after PT and before Sunday when it really started hurting. I'm sure those of you who have to navigate stairs every day would not be bothered with this, you are used to it. I only have to ascend the stairs once a day to go to the bonus room and do the bike. I did go up the stairs on Friday to go to PT and didn't use the elevator, maybe this was just too much? Ah well, this too shall pass. Did I sit on my butt like a couch potato? Of course not! I've done my dog walk each day plus 10 minutes on the bike (hip doesn't hurt on the bike at all). Spent some time getting the soup on today but nothing crazy. Resting/icing now while it simmers.

I'd like to report that the cage/wrestling match that goes on each night with my knee pillow isn't as annoyingly painful as it always is but I can't. Same story there, stiff in the morning until I walk things off. I know it's part of the plan and will probably go on for awhile yet.

I had a discussion with my sister and I am NOT hosting Thanksgiving this year even though I'd like to since we would have to kennel our dog at home when we go over to her house. Doing all of that prep and dinner would be way too much even for just the 4 of us plus her and her husband. So we will go to her house and I will bring party potatoes, green bean casserole and a small appetizer.

Thinking in my head about when it would be good for me to let my boss know I could come back to work but not sure yet. Definitely not until Dec and only small groups at first so I can get some time perching on a stool during my 4 hour shift. Ah well, cross that bridge when I come to it. There's no hurry.....
 
Susie-Q said:
I had a discussion with my sister and I am NOT hosting Thanksgiving this year
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Funny, I had the same conversation with MY sister today. But she doesn't want to host either so we decided that we're all going out to eat this year!
 
My sister is happy to host and she's a good cook (we had a great teacher, our mom). Prior to the pandemic I hosted the past 2-3 Thanskgivings so it's her turn. She has two cats and so we can't bring our young lab over to her house and we'll have to kennel her while we are gone. It's ok, it bothers me much more than it bothers the dog!
 
Sorry about the hip, I hope PT figures it out for you.

No big Thanksgiving plans this year. I'm not traveling or hosting so we'll do a small(ish) meal here with all of our favorites. Planning pork tenderloin instead of turkey.
Susie-Q said:
I'd like to report that the cage/wrestling match that goes on each night with my knee pillow isn't as annoyingly painful as it always is but I can't.
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I had a bad night last night, lots of that new sharp joint pain and could not get comfy. I took some tylenol, still under the daily lint, and rubbed a bit of transdermal pain lotion that helped.
 
Sorry you had a bad night, @hawk2go ..... :friends:

Every night seems like it's on repeat for me: go to bed, comfy and sleeping fine but with every turn and adjustment the hip/lower back pain escalates and by morning I'm sore, stiff and worn out. This too shall pass.......

PT seemed puzzled by my hip and she did a little massage in the area but it didn't seem to do much. We determined it hurts when I step and put weight on the left side, not when I'm lifting my leg when walking. She didn't have me do any stepping exercises today but I did a bunch of other stuff that my body is complaining about, mildly.... She said to take smaller steps when walking to not stress out the hip muscle. She wants me to continue to come in twice a week up until my insurance "re-evaluate" date of Dec13. Basically 3 months from when I started on Sept 13th. Any more and insurance will need a valid reason to continue. She wants to make sure I get beyond 110 "before it's too late". I'm only scheduled through this week so I need to call and make more appointments. If I promised to do lots of stretching at home she might let me come in once a week. (good grief). I haven't decided what to do yet. I'm at 0 extension and between 108-110 flexion. I will call and see what the availability is. They seem to have a ton of knee patients right now, everyone has been getting knee replacements lately. It might be that I'm only able to get appointments once a week, oh darn...... After all, I'm the one who is in charge of this, right?
 
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I still haven't called PT to schedule more appointments. (shame on me) Also, shame on me for being an idiot and going shopping today at some stores in downtown Snohomish. I'm so close to being done with Christmas shopping (did a lot of online ordering last month) that I thought I'd go to a few stores and just get the last bits for my friend gifts. I had to park a couple of blocks down and I walked probably a block and a half and went into half a dozen stores. It was pouring rain (had my umbrella). Not sure why shopping would hurt worse than a 3/4 mile dog walk? Maybe it's the stopping, shuffling around, pivoting in the narrow aisles, standing.....one store had a whole downstairs section so dummy me went down there and found a few things. My hip was feeling better this morning and now it's not as I've aggravated it. :no-fin: I was smart and I picked up dinner so no cooking for me tonight. My knee isn't the thing that hurts, it's mostly my lower back and hip.

So let me be an example of what NOT to do. Resting and icing both the knee and the hip right now.
 
Yes, I did! :loll: At least for my friends. I still have a couple of family gifts but I'm probably 90% done.

Feeling better after icing/elevating. It's amazing how recuperative that can be!
 
I have had low back and hip pain this whole recovery and I assume it is because I still have a slight limp. Just throws your gait off!
Have you ever noticed increased pain with the rain? That could have contributed to your pain today!
I am impressed with your shopping! I can hardly manage a grocery store trip. I am doing a little more around my home but do it in spurts as I get into so much pain when I am on my feet for longer than 10-15 min.
I also enjoy hearing about your meals! I have started loving to cook again since I retired a little over a year ago. I had retired from a very stressful job working many hrs in hospice and was always so mentally and physically drained that I didn’t enjoy cooking much. I am getting ready to make a Hummingbird cake for Thanksgiving. Never made one before!
Well I better get my pillows in place and hope for a good nights sleep with this Peg leg!
 
Hi @Sks1997 :wave: Good luck with your Hummingbird cake!

I don't think I have a limp but something is throwing off my lower back and hips, especially when moving around while sleeping. I need to work on my bridges more (lying on back, bend knees and feet on the floor and then raise your butt off the ground, squeeze and hold it for a few seconds, then lower). My PT says it will help with maneuvering around in bed. I've been neglecting doing it, partly because my bed is so squishy I can't even lift my big butt off the mattress and my socks slip on the bedspread. I tried it with non-skid socks but it was still hard. I learned how to safely get up and down off the floor at PT the other day so tonight I got on the floor and did my bridges after doing the bike. I'm hoping it will help!!

Edited to add: I'm barely taking any pain relievers right now, I'm kind of on an as-needed basis. Not on purpose, I just forget to take them, which probably means I don't need them. I did take 3 Advil last night because my lower back pain was so bad about an hour after going to bed. I might take 2 Advil Dual Action once in the morning with my breakfast.
 
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Susie-Q said:
I'm barely taking any pain relievers right now, I'm kind of on an as-needed basis.
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That's great news @Susie-Q! I woke up this morning thinking this pain is crazy. I ate some yogurt and took some tylenol and 1/2 hour later the pain eased. It made me realize that I'm not sufficiently covering my pain. I need to go back on my 3x/day tylenol because the breakthrough pain at night is just not fun. So back to every 8 hours (with an alarm) for me, at least for a few days. Onward!
 
This just reminds me again how different we all are in our experiences. Similar, but different. Some have fantastic ROM quickly and others take longer. Some are off pain meds faster than others. 95% of us will all arrive at the same destination just at different times.

One thing I'm reminded of with my back pain is that my core and stomach muscles are as weak as kittens. I think that's why my back hurts so much at night, I'm not using my core. I've really got to concentrate on activating those muscles again. When I did while shifting in the night, my back hurt a little less. I've got PT in an hour. I guess I'll reschedule those appointments while I'm there. Today is definitely going to be a take it easy day. My daughter took the dog to work so I won't have that task to worry about. I might be going with hubby after he's done with work to look at a new car. More on that later......
 
Reached 111 in RoM today at PT. Tiny increments! My extension is 0. I tried to make new appointments but the next available is Dec1st. I've got two that week and two the next and then my insurance runs out. I'm on a wait list in between now and then. I'm not worried if I don't get in. I've got plenty of things to do at home and if I'm going to increase my ROM then it will happen whether I go to PT or not!
 
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