TKR Susie-Q's 2nd TKR Recovery Thread

[sistersinhim]

Has anyone had a weird, almost rug-burn sensation in their knee while wearing jeans?

Oh yes. It was probably 9 months before I could wear jeans comfortably. The knees after this surgery are super sensitive and can take a while to settle down.

 

[Catalien45]

The jeans incident was interesting. I had a similar experience recently with a knee support. I’d had a little “ sack” of fluid that had formed on my TKR knee. My PT was concerned, & as I had an appointment with my surgeon a few days later, I made sure to ask him about it. He assured me that it was not anything to worry about, & said, “it will go away on its own over time, but we can help you with that.... simply wear an ace bandage, or a simple support ( no hole, or it will just pooch through). It’s not uncommon, especially after that cleanout surgery.”. So, I dug out the black fabric support brace I’d worn pre-surgery. It is somewhat textured, & the first night after I’d worn it, my knee was Super sensitive, even to my very soft blanket. But, that sensation has subsided, and I wear the brace regularly now, especially when we walk. I feel much more secure, should I have a fall. And, the little fluid sac is down, a lot. I generally only wear jeans when I garden, & they are always loose & baggy. It will be interesting to see when gardening season is here. We’re getting more snow for a few days, so gardening season is still a ways off...( sigh).
Btw, @SusieQ, your posts are regularly very encouraging to me, I’m about 2 months behind you with my original TKR, so your experiences remind me that this is not a fast experience. You still amaze me with what all you do!

 

[Susie-Q]

The weird rug-burn sensation isn't all the time, just at certain times when I sit down and the denim is tight on the left knee. It isn't really super painful, just weird.

I should report on how my first full shift back to work went last week. The knee did great but my back!!! By hour 3 it was really hurting. We work at counter-height tables and being tall, I still have to lean over a bit for close-work. Then washing brushes in the back at the utility sink, more leaning and reaching over to set the wet brushes in holders to dry. My back was seizing by the end of the night and I was worried I'd be in pain for days. I came home and took 3 Ibuprofen and went to bed. Next morning, I was pretty much back to normal, just a little pain. I chalk it up to not being used to working and the more I get used to it, the better things will be. Of course, no shifts for awhile now as my boss is out of town until later this week.

Aw, thanks @Catalien45 ...... You are a hero for having gone through a TKR plus an infection and additional clean out procedure! Yes, looking forward to getting back in the garden. Spring is on hold here for the moment as lows this week will be in the 20s, but it will be sunny!!!

 

[Susie-Q]

Those of us who are dealing with the mental habit of going down stairs one leg at a time..... I am watching my sister's cats while she's out of town and haven't done so since last Aug, when my knee was really bad. Today when coming down her stairs (she has their litter boxes upstairs) I literally started out the usual old way, coming down one leg at a time. After about 4-5 steps I had to ask myself, "what are you doing?" and resumed going down with each leg. It really is a habit that has to be overcome. When I'm at home I'm doing stairs like a grown up but still had that habit at her place to do it the way I used to.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

It really is a habit that has to be overcome.

Sometimes it has to do with a replaced knee that's swollen, etc. In my case, it is 100% due to the amount of swelling in my knee, which gives me low flexion, thus I can't bend my knee enough to go down stairs foot over foot. As for ascending, in my case that has to do with weak muscles from not being able to be as active for a very long time. I think that over time, as my muscles get stronger I might be able to go up properly, but going down may never be accomplished as my swelling has persisted for so many years that it's unlikely to ever dissipate. We need enough flex in our knees to do some things, such as ride a bike, descend stairs, etc, so I have some limitations. If it were just a matter of breaking a habit, I'd have already accomplished that one.

 

[Scaredycat10]

You have my sympathies, lovetocook. I can climb up the stairs 'properly' and even managed it with out using both bannisters to haul myself up yesterday so the quads are improving but I too continue with the one step descent stair method. I've been doing it for years and it's no problem to continue if my behind knee pain doesn't allow me any other. My goal however is to get in the car with no need to push the seat back, so onward and downward! Hopefully.

 

[Catalien45]

@Susie-Q , I read your post with interest.... I find, that when I overdo, my Back is mostly affected! Yes, the fatigue is there, but, my back I what hurts & lets me now I’ve been doing too much!

 

[hawk2go]

Those of us who are dealing with the mental habit of going down stairs one leg at a time.....

I think I have broken the spell of the single landing stair climbing. I've been doing stairs like an adult as long as the knee is not swollen. The swelling is now far rarer and I've been taking those stairs, up and down, with my hands full often.

 

[Susie-Q]

We need enough flex in our knees to do some things, such as ride a bike, descend stairs, etc, so I have some limitations. If it were just a matter of breaking a habit, I'd have already accomplished that one.

I agree with this 100%. I would not be able to do this if I didn't have the flexion and or if I were still swollen or in pain. I guess I meant that for me, after I was sufficiently healed, I really had to overcome that mental habit of going down stairs one at a time. It was going well beyond the point of needing to and I was doing it just because of habit. It's been a slow process and it's getting better and better each day. Today at my sister's, I remembered at the top of the stairs to go down with each leg and I was able to do so with no problems. (I did hold on to the railing)

 

[glidefloss]

Hi @Susie-Q, @lovetocookandsew , I too find myself one stepping it down the stairs ... usually early in the morning or when faced with an unfamiliar set of stairs (e.g., when travelling - train station, airport, etc) ... and then try to revert to "normal" stepping down by grabbing on to a railing (railings in heavily trafficked sites are unfortunately typically pretty grimy.) Habit/muscle memory is a hard thing to break! At the gym I regularly do 10 reps of up-down laps of 30 stairs (first to second floor) with 20lbs dumbbells in each hand (no holding on to railing) without issue ... so going down without any weights should be a given but it's not.

In my case, I'm afraid that if I break that habit in the next month or so, I'll be back to one stepping down in mid-April after I get my LTKR!

Best of luck on your continued recoveries!!

 

[hawk2go]

At the gym I regularly do 10 reps of up-down laps of 30 stairs (first to second floor) with 20lbs dumbbells in each hand (no holding on to railing) without issue ...

Whoa! That's both awesome and scary. You really are a unicorn @glidefloss! I haven't met any TKR patients who can do that many reps of stairs all at once at 2 months post-op. Actually, I only know a few non-TKRs who can do that.

 

[glidefloss]

At the gym I regularly do 10 reps of up-down laps of 30 stairs (first to second floor) with 20lbs dumbbells in each hand (no holding on to railing) without issue ...

Whoa! That's both awesome and scary. You really are a unicorn @glidefloss! I haven't met any TKR patients who can do that many reps of stairs all at once at 2 months post-op. Actually, I only know a few non-TKRs who can do that.

Hi @hawk2go , thanks I have to give the Mrs a sideways complement and say that she motivated me to "master" the stairs. She planned a trip to Portugal to visit friends who retired there (we just got back from the trip this past Sunday) ... and I knew full well that her hand carry luggage would be too heavy for her to lug down plane stairs to the tarmac ... so I had to somehow be able to lug my (much lighter) hand carry and hers down the stairs. Luckily our flights were all "gated" and I was spared a potential tumble!

 

[Susie-Q]

Well I just realized I passed my 6 month post-op milestone (if Feb had 30 days).

Not a lot to report except that I really don't think about my knee much these days. I'm back at work (very part-time) and my back is getting used to it so it's not hurting as much. I'm not really doing my bike as much as I should. I'm still walking the dog almost every day, sometimes two walks a day. Stairs are easier and easier. I'm just not thinking about it and I'm going up and down normally. The other day I went to the dentist and it's upstairs on the second floor, just down the hall from where I was going to PT. As I ascended and descended the stairs like a normal person at a fairly quick clip, I thought how proud my therapist would be if she could see me. (ha!)

I am having some neck and shoulder pain. My shoulders have been hurting a bit, probably arthritis, for the past year or so. I can hear a popping in the right shoulder when I reach up to comb my hair. I can't really throw a ball anymore overhand so I end up doing it side arm or under arm (for the dog). (I also have a Chuck-It thrower so that makes ball throwing easy) I had an injury to my neck/shoulder a couple of years ago and got a prescription from my dr for therapeutic massage with a PT but then Covid hit and everything closed so I never went. It eventually faded away and stopped bothering me. Well, now it's back. I'm not sure if all of this is related, does the neck effect the shoulders? Today I noticed it was painful changing my pillowcases, that pulling apart of the arms with tension. I have one of those neck wraps you can microwave to warm up and that feels nice but it really doesn't fix anything. Has my body decided since it can't attack my knees anymore it's going to go to my other joints? My left hip sometimes makes a popping sensation when I sit on the toilet. I can't be falling apart yet! I'm only 54!!!

Anyway, the knee's great, the rest of me? Eh.......

 

[Catalien45]

Hi SusieQ... doing a little catchup, & seeing your post about your neck & shoulders. I’m noticing some of that also. The neck problem has come & gone over the years... I had extensive PT some years back, there was some pretty bad osteoarthritis pain due to degenerative discs. But the shoulder pain is new. I’m wondering if maybe that could be related to using my cane? I’m trying Not using it, even grocery shopping, hoping that might help, as I do notice that using it definitely puts pressure on my left shoulder ( the painful one). Our bodies sure have a way of letting us know they aren’t happy with us, don’t they?
I plan to rest some the next few days. The kids head back to Germany later today. They have been wonderful about doing most of the cooking while they were here . But some late nights & lots more activity than we’re used to, so my body probably needs some extra rest. Hopefully this shoulder thing will respond nicely to that. I’m hoping yours is getting better, maybe some TLC, & a little extra rest will help. ( warmer weather would be nice, too, but, still a ways off, we’re getting more snow & COLD weather coming up. But April now less than one month away..!). Take care, keep us posted on your neck/shoulder situation ...& stay warm!

 

[Susie-Q]

I was wondering that too. Maybe my whole body is a little out of whack as The Knee is still healing..... By the time I was done making dinner and got it in the oven (a casserole) my shoulders and back were aching and I was glad to sit down. It seems to be in the T zone, coming from the neck and spreading across the shoulders.

Last weekend we spent some time in the yard cutting back some plants away from our east fence. It was being replaced and they just finished yesterday. Hubby did most of the heavy work and it was my job to cut up the branches. We have some medium sized loping shears that have a rather sticky hinge so there was a lot of movement by both arms opening and closing those shears while cutting thick branches. I finally had to stop and leave the rest as our yard waste bin got full. Maybe something got out of whack in my back from doing that.....

Thanks for your kind words, @Catalien45 Glad you got some good time with your family.

 

[Sara61]

@Susie-Q You'll probably find that a few of our muscles are reawakening after the recoveries from our knees, I've noticed that since I've been mainly resting for the last couple of months, any exertion on my part, something tends to ache.
Try placing a heating pad on your back whilst sitting, this should help and if you are able a long hot bath works wonders (sadly I cannot get out of a bath without assistance & I certainly don't want to injure my hubby by asking him to heal me out )
Sending healing hugs Hope it feels better soon x

 

[Susie-Q]

(sadly I cannot get out of a bath without assistance & I certainly don't want to injure my hubby by asking him to heal me out )

I'm apprehensive to take a bath again because of what happened to me the last time!!

I do have one of those microwaveable wraps with lavender and beads in it that covers the back of the neck and shoulders. I need to use it more.

 

[hawk2go]

@Susie-Q - that's a really great 6 month report on the knee recovery.

As to the rest of the body, who knows? I went to my chiropractor last week after my almost fall and he worked on my leg, back, neck and shoulders. He said all were very tight/tense and the hips were rotated, then he did acupressure, used the spine adjustment machine and finished with hip alignment. Since that session, the injury effects have been fading. He has magic in his hands (and equipment).

 

[Susie-Q]

I'm at my bi-annual scrapbooking girls retreat again, 4 months after the one last year. Boy, what a difference! Last time I was two months (barely) post-op and had my son come and help me unload my stuff. This time was more like a normal year, I had help loading my car but unloaded myself when I got here (I was the first one here). No pain in the knee, even though I had a lot of time "on my feet" getting ready, preparing food, packing supplies and stuff. I brought a couple of ice packs but haven't used one yet. I brought my camp stool and pillow but have barely used it. We will be here Thurs - Sun. Sleeping will be easier too, I left my body pillow at home this time, haven't used it for months. I am hardly thinking about my knee these days, I found my feet and back hurt more getting ready for this weekend than the knee. So far, so good!

 

[lovetocookandsew]