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Bilateral TKR SusieShoes' New Knees

So glad your nursed Mr. Shoes to health in time for your trip. Looking forward to hearing about your travels and time with family and how your knees hold up. Safe and happy travels!
 
With Mr. Shoes dad in the memory care facility, both of you will be able to relax and enjoy your visit more. I say that from personal experience.
 
Six Months: Airports and Long Days

I'll be hit and run, sometimes literally, while visiting family in Wisconsin.

Yesterday I tested out the new knees at airports for the first time. Yay for new adventures!

I'm already a pre-approved traveler (all those flying miles means they know me well) and so did not have to take off my shoes. I told the nice TSA person I had knee replacements and breezed through the imaging machine. They would not give me a copy of my image. I asked.

Naturally after passing through security we walked all the way to gate 33. That's right, farthest gate. Last year, this walk was misery. This year, a joy. Easy. No complaint at all from the knees. Bags on wheels, so that helped.

Regional jet is tight for space, but again no problem. Flight took hour and a half. Then another long walk (also farthest gate) at the Milwaukee end. And a LONG wait, standing in line for forty minutes, to get a rental car. I didn't reserve one because I forgot there was a Packers game that day! Packers fans are nuts. They fly in from all over the country. And rent cars.

Upshot: After all that walking and standing and sitting and watching the Packers game on TV with legs down... the knees did finally, in the middle of the night, get stiff. :gaah:

Righty felt pain under the incision, that burn hasn't been there in three months. Mild, but there. Lefty was fine.

I fumbled around, made a makeshift wedge of sofa seat cushions and way too soft hotel pillows, and elevated while sleeping the rest of the night. Knees feel fine this morning. No stiffness at all. We're off to walk around a nice mall next to this hotel for a bit.

I'll make a point of elevating more during the day from now on. :thumb:

Tomorrow... drive to Wausau for grandkids! :happydance:
 
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Sounds like the knees are holding up like champs - I expect the long standing for the rental car contributed to the stiffness. Standing in one place for any length of time is about the only thing that still bothers my knee noticeably at 6 mos. Enjoy the grands and the rest of your vacay!
 
Those new knees are troopers and so are you!! You survived a lot of walking, cramped spaces and football watching. You're a smart cookie to have used the cushions from the sofa to elevate in the middle of the night. Good to know about the TSA experience. A friend told me a year or so ago that when he told the agent at the pre-check line about his knee replacement, he was sent to the other line. Your experience gives me hope that I will be able to use my pre-check status when I get brave enough to tackle the SFO to JFK route I take to see my daughter's family in NY. Can't wait to hear about your visit with the grandkids. Given your success so fa, it sounds like they may have trouble keeping up with their grandma!:spin::dancy:
 
I still use my pre-check status @phrog so that I don't have to do the shoes, etc. and when I get to the screening place I tell the person and they send me to the imaging machine - and then I usually get a pat-down after I go through (sounds like Susie didn't get the pat down). I have done three round trip flights since my surgery.
 
@kmak81230 - thanks - one more bit hope that things will get back to normal soon. I love pre-check: shorter lines, shoes on, fewer things to put on the belt. A pat down is not a biggie for me - it seems I always have a wrinkled sock or something that needs investigation anyway. I'm trying to talk my husband into making it to NY for our grandson's 3rd birthday in February, but he thinks since we will see him here in California for Christmas we should wait until spring and maybe some warmer weather. :snow dig: You and @SusieShoes make this whole airplane thing sound like a good idea again!
 
My short flight certainly wasn't a problem, and neither were the airports. That was a pleasant surprise! I really did feel like I was back in my pre-arthritis knees and day's when I could walk through an airport in five minutes flat. :yes!:

I did get a pat-down, but it was more of a wave-the-hands kind of thing. I don't think she actually touched me. :chinstroke:
 
Six Months: Snow

Well, it snowed last night up here in Wausau. I officially have snow knees! Also known as grippy boots.

Slippery, as snow tends to be, but the knees feel natural, so... I'm a Wisconsin girl and have the snow-walking thing down.

More grandkids today and back to Milwaukee, then return to Philadelphia tomorrow. Time sure does fly!
 
Six Months: Recovering from the Trip

Wouldn’t you know it? I come back from a successful whirlwind trip to Wisconsin, and... I have a nasty virus. Probably the common cold, and probably given to me by the grandkids or their parents (though it could have been anyone I met, really). Sniffles... check. Scratchy throat... check. Ragged cough... check. Laryngitis... you get the drift. I am at the moment quite miserable, wrapped in a blanket and sipping hot tea instead of taking a nice long walk, as my knees would prefer.

Knee Report: I wasn’t really worried about my knees because they’ve been walking long distances for weeks now without complaint. They handled both airports with ease (I measured steps, and it was three-quarters of a mile for Philadelphia airport, to which we got a ride, and a mile and a quarter for Milwaukee’s which involved a rental car and walking in from the parking garage). Sitting for an hour and a half to two hours on the plane also proved to be no problem at all. I got up without stiffness and deplaned easily. For the entire trip, except for some minor swelling and pain the first night, the knees were champs. :happydance:

I squatted to play with the little ones, chased them around the house a bit (kind of a jog, or a very fast walk), and did lots of walking up and down stairs at Mom’s house. All good. Pictures of grandkids and snow below!
I’d feared walking on snow and ice. :snow dig: Before surgery, my arthritic knees were quite bad at it, because of the lurch. I no longer have a lurch. After a few tentative steps on snow, I tread quite confidently. Hypervigilantly, perhaps, by I didn’t feel like I was going to slip. And if I did, Mr. Shoes was there in firm possession of my elbow. As he told my son, “I don’t want to have to get her through another recovery! Once was enough!”

Hmmm... maybe I have been more trouble in recovery than I realized. :bored:

Oh well, more recovery on the way. Cough medicine and lots of hot beverages until I get my voice back.
 

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Great photos Susie! Hope you are feeling better soon. I also caught a nasty cold after my trip to Arkansas two weeks ago - still have the lingering cough but feeling much better. At least I can be sure I didn't catch it from or give it to any of my smartie friends. Well done on the snow. I am feeling a bit of trepidation about the impending winter, but have super duper shoe and boot grippers that I will put into service. Your grands are precious - I'm so glad you had that pain-free time with them.
 
The one picture looks like grandmother helps to make a mess and then hops a plane back to Philly. :heehee:
 
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