Bilateral TKR SusieShoes' New Knees

[Pheebs52]

@SusieShoes, thanks for the clarification on Lefty's pre-surgical condition. Now, I can relax when I think about your journey instead of wondering why Lefty is so obstinate, lol!

 

[mechellec]

I really enjoyed your post. You are an inspiration and you are healing like a champion!


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[KarriB]

Great up date, Susie!

 

[IowaNana]

What a great update! I love that you forgot to go down the stairs one at a time! That's progress! That's so exciting!


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[knit2tog]

I also try to look for the positives in any situation. Keeping positive inspires me to continue moving forward. I enjoy reading about your progress.

 

[sistersinhim]

Be extra kind to your sweet Lefty. It's been through a lot!

 

[TMWDeM]

. I'm starting to do things automatically as if these knees are the original ones. Like yesterday when I was going down the stairs, and I just went foot over foot down a step. I froze. I was out of sequence! What should I do with my cane? It was a minor lapse, and I laughed at myself, and then I went foot over foot down the next step too, because that was the bottom. But it's like, "Well, I can do that!" And Lefty didn't complain at all. Lefty was like, "I got this!

Oh SusieShoes! If I could, I would jump out of my recliner and do a ridiculous impression of a teenage Cheerleader -Pom Poms and all just for you! Your description actually made me feel the indecision you felt at that moment! And then the bravery to continue foot over foot! I wonder if this is what a toddler feels like when they first step away from the sofa and cross that ocean of floor?

Many of us who have had "Senior Knees" since we were way too junior only know what we cannot do, have not been able to do for years or decades. To see these options come back on the radar screen is such a hopeful thing, but not a small bit daunting. You, my dear, are dauntless in all circumstances it seems! You are the lady that I would have wanted on my wagon train in 1845 to head to Oregon. (Ever see the film "Westward the Women?)
Or on ship to cross to America. How do find this so natural and easy, these unknowns?

At any rate, kudos again and again and again!

 

[SusieShoes]

@TMWDeM, you made me smile, then laugh. I happen to have pioneer women ancestors. One of my great-great-great... grandmothers wrote a diary about her journey down the Ohio river on a flatboat to settle what was then the great wilderness west of the Appalachians. It was a pretty engrossing story, with boats breaking up in the rapids and attacks by the understandably unhappy natives. She was quite plucky.

I think you're onto something about how this journey in some ways resembles that of a toddler discovering what their body can do, and learning how to control that body. It's so easy at first not to trust our new knees. For one thing, from our first introduction to them, they HURT. That's unfortunate, because it teaches us to be wary of them, every though in the beginning it's best to treat them and our healing tissues carefully. As we go along, though, we must learn to trust these knees. Trust them to lift us, hold us, carry us. I think the part of our brain that simply controls movement might learn to trust them sooner than the emotional part of our brain, which is more easily worried and fretful. And impatient. I know I get impatient more and more these days.

 

[Pheebs52]

Let's see now....what's next? You just made my morning, again!

 

[SusieShoes]

@Pheebs52, because yesterday was PT and I want to go to dinner this evening with Mr. Shoes and some in-laws, I am just chilling today. Giving the knees a well-deserved rest. Just ADLs and the gentlest of stretches to loosen and make their little selves happy.

 

[Pheebs52]

@SusieShoes, phew, no trampoline then!

 

[Arttie]

@SusieShoes, phew, no trampoline then!

I guess this is out also

 

[SusieShoes]

You guys are killing me! No... and no. I am the laziest soul on the planet and those both require way too much planning and work. I walk. I swim. That's it. That I am attending PT is a minor miracle.

For what it's worth, avoid the trampoline. Seriously. Last week my PT had me stand on a foam pad and do single leg stands. OUCH. The wobbliness was too much. It was two days before I could walk again without major stiffness. I'm sure a trampoline would kill them for a month.

 

[Pheebs52]

@Arttie, !!!

Note to self: Avoid foamy single leg stands! Or any single leg stands!

 

[liam2015]

what you posted about your great great great grandma writing the account of her pioneer journey reminds me of the canadian pioneers Susanna Moody and Catherine Parr Traill as written in the book by Charlotte Gray, called "Sisters in the Wilderness". they both wrote accounts of their experiences to ease their loneliness and isolation.

i'm a little wobbly standing on my new knee itself, but that's just on a solid floor. hubby does that single leg stand on the foam pad ~ not for me. enjoy your dinner date tonight.

 

[Lilli215]

Know exactly the feeling you had when you went foot over foot without realising it, I was exactly the same and actually stood and looked around me going- what just happened!!! My mum gave me a great bit of advice, she said when you start to forget to use your cane etc that's your body telling you you don't need it anymore and it's true

 

[sistersinhim]

Susie, I know where your talent for writing comes from! Your 3-great grandmama had it and passed it on to you. I bet her writings are amazing!

 

[IowaNana]

Last week my PT had me stand on a foam pad and do single leg stands. OUCH. The wobbliness was too much.

OUCH! OUCH! That requires a double ouch! I have leg lifts that I was given, but I do them on a SOLID floor. Wow... I can't imagine doing them on a foam pad. OUCH! (OK... that needed one more ouch!)

 

[Celle]

I agree with the others. That foam pad exercise sounds like a recipe for disaster. Don't do it. Instead, you can practice standing on one leg while holding on to the sink, for safety. Gradually decrease your reliance on holding the sink, until you can stand on one leg unsupported. No need to rush, It could take weeks, or even months.

 

[SusieShoes]

Oh, I put the brakes on the foam pad. It's on the No Way, No How List along with ankle weights and leg presses. Thing is, I can stand on one leg just fine--on a flat, solid, floor. PT wanted to take it to the next level. I didn't even finish the foam pad reps. I stopped and said, "Not doing any more of these." The three or four I did do were enough!

I think one problem I am running into with PT is that I am doing TOO WELL for my stage of recovery. I have always had a very strong body, especially my legs (a lifetime of being very physical and swimming three to four times a week). I continued walking even on my horrible arthritic knees for quite a while. So if my pain is low and my knees are able, my muscles are up to things like standing on one leg, or going up and down higher steps. Whether or not I should be doing these things at this stage of recovery is quite another question.

I look forward to the LAST of my PT appointments, at which point I intend to blow them off completely. I will pay for PT if I think it is helping me. I'm not feeling that with my knees. I shall invest in a nice stationary bike.