Giving Tuesday

TKR Susie-Q's 2nd TKR Recovery Thread

Hope you’re having a lot of fun on your weekend, I remember when you went last year..... that seems so long ago! I couldn’t imagine such activity at the time! I seem to remember that you were still in a fair amount of pain....and here you are, your knee almost an afterthought! Congratulations, and enjoy your weekend!
 
Things are going great! Not even thinking about my knee. Haven't used my foot stool at all and I'm using my pillow for my BUTT. Haven't used the ice packs at all. No stiffness sitting for a long time (of course I'm getting up and down a lot). The Knee really is an afterthought this trip. :egypdance: Lots of laughter and getting lots of pages done.
 
I thought I would give a post-retreat report. I had to load my car on Sunday and had help unloading when I got home but still had to put everything away; clothes, toiletries, computer and cords, food, scrapbook supplies back in the closet, etc. I was very tired afterwards and actually took a nap for about an hour on the couch Sunday afternoon. I think it was the time change as well as the indulgences (food and drink) and the exertion of loading and unloading. My knees were pretty sore the next day. Not the joints but the muscles immediately above the joint. My back was pretty sore too from sitting for 3 days and working. I ended up using my pillow to sit on and never used it for my knee except for sleeping. My first knee used to ache a lot when sitting in a chair for long periods and this second knee just doesn't do that. I can sit for a long period, doing puzzles at the dining room table, I sat with it bent all last weekend. It really goes to show how different each knee recovery is, even on the same person!
 
Funny how things are still settling down 6+ months post-op. I set up my comfy patio chairs and cushions yesterday so I could sit out on the patio and enjoy the sunny weather (it was 75 degrees under the cover!!). I had to clean the frames of the chairs as they were covered with pollen and then haul the cushions from the garage to the backyard. Then I sat for several hours, with my feet propped up on one chair. (this was not all in one big session but lots of mini-sessions as I got up to do things here and there, get lunch, go to the bathroom) I was getting a lot more extension than I usually get inside on the couch and could feel the stretch in the back of my knee. I also bent my knees with my feet on the opposite chair to try and get more flexion. Boy was I stiff whenever I got up! I'm still a little stiff today. I think it was good for my knee to get a little different positioning than usual but as always, there's a small price to pay as things stretch and work themselves out.

No worries, I'm not really in any pain, just a little stiffer than usual. All part of the healing process! Come on summer!! :froggies:
 
@Shortstuff26 You should be able to see Susie’s surgery date in the signature right below her posts. If you are on a phone, you may have to rotate it to see it, I have to do that when I’m on my phone.
 
Little things at 7+ months:

Standing out talking with the neighbor without having to shift weight away from the left side to the right.
Standing on both feet equally with no pain.
Walking the dog is not a painful chore anymore but a chance to get some good exercise.
Getting an alert on my Apple Watch that I walked 86.2 miles in the month of March
Helping hubby clean out the garage and go to the dump without pain
Pulling the patio stuff out and bringing it to the back without pain
Bending my knee enough to use my emergency brake again (remember, I have longer legs than most so I have to bend it further.)
Sleeping without pain in my knee no matter what position its in (it WILL happen, people!!!) I still use my knee pillow but it's more of a security blanket these days.....
Working full 4 hour shifts at work on my feet with no knee pain. My back will occasionally tell me it's had enough but never the knee.

Granted, I am not Super Woman...I still get twinges here and there. Sometimes my walks start out with the tendons at back of my left knee whining a little bit, only to feel better after a block or two. I'm a little sore from the garage clean-out but it's actually my right knee that feels it, not the left. My left knee still cannot bend as far as the right but they are close. I've been lifting my left leg up while lying on my back in bed and letting it bend and using gravity to gently stretch the knee a bit each morning. Other than that, walking and ADLS are my therapy. I've stretched my walks a bit more, going at least a mile, sometimes more and often twice a day. I know things are still healing even this far out. I will get the occasional twinge or tender spot here and there but I know it's just because things are still healing.... I rarely ice anymore, only if it's feeling particularly sore and it hasn't for a few weeks now.

Happy Spring! :flwrysmile:
 
Great report, @Susie-Q ! Your "can do" list will help folks still in the early stages of recovery see that there really is light at the end of the tunnel!
 
wow! As so often all through this journey, you are once again, a real source of inspiration, @Susie-Q . Thanks for this wonderful update. My 6 month “anniversary” is tomorrow... I’ll be posting a status on my thread in next day or so. And yes! Let’s hear it for Spring!!
 
It never fails but just as soon as I type all that wonderful stuff, reality comes back to bite me, or in this case, pinch me a little bit. My left knee is a little bit sore today. I still did my walk and it's not hindering me any but I'm not 100% pain free. I will ice it later when I have time. Helping hubby get the snow tires off his car. We're going to lunch while we wait....

Yesterday it was 74 out! :flabber: Today we're back to the 50s. Baby steps!
 
Your update is so good to read for those of us with a slower recovery, like you said, each recovery is different even on the same person, if I compare my two recoveries, I just get disheartened, so now I've stopped, this new knee is taking far longer to get back to normal, I'm hopeful that with time & patience it will get there in the end.
Wishing you continued success x
 
A new milestone for me.... Today I took my road bike out for the first time in I can't remember how long. I had to pump up the tires as they were flat. I'm guessing it's been almost a year since I've ridden. I'm probably going to pay for it later with sore quads but I biked a little over 4 miles (2 there and 2 back) to a new shopping area that's going up not far from our house. (mostly flat terrain) My daughter walked and took the dog and I took my bike. It was a good stretch for my new knee, I could tell as I bent my knee working the pedals that there was a little stiffness/tightness when it bent to its maximum. I will do it some more as my left knee still can't bend as far as the right. More pedaling like this will help, I can't get the same stretch on my recumbent bike without my knees hitting the handlebars (and I can't move them out of the way).
 
Susie-Q said:
A new milestone for me.... Today I took my road bike out for the first time in I can't remember how long.
Click to expand...
That's excellent, @Susie-Q ! It must have felt great being on the bike. Hopefully your quads aren't complaining too much. Hopefully you'll have tons of beautiful spring days to bike around in!

All the best!!
 
Susie-Q said:
A new milestone for me.... Today I took my road bike out for the first time in I can't remember how long.
Click to expand...
I'm a bicycle rider, too, and before my TKR, I had to quit because it hurt too much. The first time back on it I rode only about 1/2 mile but was thrilled! After a couple of days, I tried a little longer and was fine. Slowly working my distance back up felt SO good! What a joy and blessing to return to something we love to do!
 
I hope that 4 miles wasn’t too much for your first time out! :bicycle1:
 
So far, so good. It hurt getting up from a chair yesterday (my quads) but today seems better. I wondered if 3-4 miles would be too much and hadn't planned on doing that much for my first ride but my daughter wanted to walk to that new area. I kick myself that we didn't go into the new Amazon Go store that is open now. It's the only one in the country so far and it's only a couple of miles from my house! Ah well, there will be plenty of time to go another day. The next business to open is The Rustic Cork, a wine bar. I'm sure that place will be packed once they open. :wink:

I'm glad we did get out as today is raining again.
 
Wow! 4 miles.... I’m impressed! We try to get in a daily walk that is about 1.5 Miles... much more, & we both are very tired & fight back pain. But, we do get in a lot of exercise daily , just in general... and, have been working outside, my husband re-building one of our raised gardens, and, putting in a 3rd one. I helped him shovel the dirt back in, and shove the timbers into place. And I scrubbed out my pots for the patio plants. Kinda cold & drizzly today, but, we need the moisture. I’m looking forward to the sun & warmth again, for sure.
Was that your lab that your daughter walked? She must be growing, I believe she still young when I first found this forum last October. We had a lab/ Irish setter years ago. She had that sweet, loveable lab disposition, with a bit of a stubborn streak. She was a wonderful dog. How are your kitties? We’ve been told by the Vet on Miss Felicity’s recent checkup that she is “ overweight “, so are working on getting her more active. But she, too, will enjoy the warmer weather... she loves to come out back with us , explore the backyard & watch the birds & squirrels, they are so funny!
Hoping you have a good day, & good luck with those quads.... that is still my biggest challenge...that, and my balance. Quite the adventure!
 
Hi @Catalien45 ! My daily walks are not as long as 4 miles, usually only around a mile. 4 miles on a bike on level ground was fairly easy. I wish I could do more as it really gave my knee a good stretch but it's been raining so much lately that biking is out for now.

My lab, Daisy, turned 2 in late Feb, so she's full grown but still has that puppy energy. I've been told they don't settle down until they are at least 3 and some even later! She gets 1-2 walks a day or the equivalent (playing fetch at the park or visiting her half-sister) so most of the day she's passed out asleep.

Our kitties are doing well. My daughter's younger cat, Olive, is also a bit overweight at around 16 lbs so we're trying to keep her food intake limited. Our older cat, Maggie, who is almost 17, we are trying to keep the weight on her, she's barely 10 lbs and has kitty dementia. She takes a few bites of food and then walks away from her dish, leaving it open to Olive, who will inhale it all if given the chance. Maggie then decides an hour later that she's hungry again and follows me around like a shadow. She's so old that she doesn't groom herself anymore so sometimes my daughter and I have to have forced brushing sessions with her, which she hates. She's quite raggedy but still hanging in there!

Another thing I've been trying to do each day is when I wake up I lift my left leg up (lying on my back) and let the knee bend, letting gravity pull it down for a good stretch. I'm not forcing it or anything, just trying to get a little more stretch each day. I can put both of my feet on the bottom rung of a bar stool now, as long as the rung isn't too high up on the chair. As someone with long legs, I have to bend them more than the average person to do that. Baby steps!
 
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