PKR Taking it steady

[Carol Anna]

Saw my vicar yesterday and had a little chat. He said "my uncle had this op and " I cut him off and said if you are going to say he was running round after 6 weeks I am going to punch you! Not very christian I know but we laughed as he said "I'll not say anything then, but he did do all his excercises" Well good for him - I am going to continue babying my knee. Feeling good this morning and very positive but still in bed and have only got up to go to bathroom a few times. Oh well time to get up and face whatever the day might bring. Hope all you PKR's and TKR's are having a good weekend

 

[Jaycey]

I am going to continue babying my knee

Good for you! The approach to recovery is different for literally every TKR. For some, exercise works. For others the slow and steady approach brings great success.

Hope you have a lovely, lazy Sunday!

 

[patriciad]

Glad you put the Vicar in his place! Have a lazy day and enjoy every healing moment!

 

[benne68]

He said "my uncle had this op and " I cut him off and said if you are going to say he was running round after 6 weeks I am going to punch you!

Love this! Good for you. Gonna try that line the next time my brother tells me about his friend who walked the entire golf course at 10 weeks.

 

[Carol Anna]

love this site and feel you have my back xxx

 

[Jaycey]

There is always someone who has a brother, uncle, sister, friend who has had whatever replacement you have had and that makes them an expert. They never see the real "healing" - just the heroics.

 

[Carol Anna]

Went for a 30 journey by car - passenger not driving - to visit my boss who I havn't seen for almost 2 years due to being off work with illness not related to knee. It was a lovely visit and cheered me up no end. Was very tired when we got back home but rested and elevated knee. The visit did involve sitting for lunch and a little walking (only a few yards) and my knee is feeling it today but will rest and just do a couple of excercises as I feel I need to move my knee. I have just turned down a 3 day visit from a friend in December as I am not sure if I could cope with 3 days of entertaining, even if I could rest I do find engaging with someone for long periods of time exhausting and planning meals etc would just be too much. I feel guilty as hubby and I would love to see our best friend but I have had to put my own health first. I might kick myself in 3 weeks when I could be much better but I am trying to seriously taking the advice of this site and take things much more slowly than is my nature. I just need my bonesmart friends to tell me I am doing the right thing I am still struggling with the concept that I am not able to run around at the beginning of week 5 but need to keep reminding myself that I need to be a tortoise not a hare.

 

[Jaycey]

I just need my bonesmart friends to tell me I am doing the right thing

You are doing the right thing. Think of this recovery as a one year project. Things will improve and you will gain strength. But it is very early days and you are doing what is best for that baby knee.

 

[hawk2go]

hubby and I would love to see our best friend

How good a friend? I visited my friend for a week after her major surgery (not TKR) to care for her - cook, clean and lift her spirits. I'm not single so had to arrange things at home but it remains one of my best gifts to my dear friend. We made lots of memories and laughed a ton (she holding onto her cough pillow). Will your friend do the caring so that you do not feel the need?

 

[Carol Anna]

My friend lives a good 2 hours drive away and whilst he would do anything for me I don't need him to take care of me as I have a wonderful husband who is doing everything that I need. I want to see my friend when I can sit for longer periods of time without prolonged company exhausting me and I want to cook and drink and laugh the night away or at least the day and the evening but I can wait till I am much better. I know if he visited me just now I would rise above the pain and the exhaustion and just make myself worse. When we originally talked about a visit I was fool hardy enough to believe the surgeon and others who had experienced a miracle recovery or knew someone who did and thought I would be almost back to normal in 6 weeks!!!!

 

[patriciad]

You are doing what’s best for you and it would be an awful lot to cope with so soon after surgery. This way you can look forward to the visit when you are recovered more and can really enjoy it. Good for you having the patience to take it easy.

 

[kate97497]

@Carol Anna I had a couple of friends come over Saturday night with dinner and wine. We had a great visit but after 2 hours I could barely keep my eyes open. If they hadn't packed up and left at that time, I would have had to ask them to leave.

 

[BarabooProud]

My friend lives a good 2 hours drive away and whilst he would do anything for me I don't need him to take care of me as I have a wonderful husband who is doing everything that I need. I want to see my friend when I can sit for longer periods of time without prolonged company exhausting me and I want to cook and drink and laugh the night away or at least the day and the evening but I can wait till I am much better. I know if he visited me just now I would rise above the pain and the exhaustion and just make myself worse. When we originally talked about a visit I was fool hardy enough to believe the surgeon and others who had experienced a miracle recovery or knew someone who did and thought I would be almost back to normal in 6 weeks!!!!

This is my problem, too! I had no idea recovery takes this long! I had thought I'd go back to work and be pretty much normal in six weeks. Boy, did I get a wake up call!

 

[Carol Anna]

You are doing what’s best for you and it would be an awful lot to cope with so soon after surgery. This way you can look forward to the visit when you are recovered more and can really enjoy it. Good for you having the patience to take it easy.

Aahh but I would not have had the common sense to do this if it had not been for your posts - thank you for your encouragement and advice.

 

[Jockette]

I had overnight company at about 3 months. It was 2 nights. We didn’t go anywhere and I bought a family size frozen skillet meal for one dinner, and a frozen pizza for the second meal. We probably also had a simple salad. Nobody complained and we had a great visit and I didn‘t overdo. (There were just 4 of us)

 

[Sks1997]

This reminds me when I was still working full time when I had my PKR in 2016. My employer started calling me at about 6 wks wanting to know when I was going to return. I had ignorantly assumed that I would be back to my job (in which lots of walking was involved) by 6-8 wks. They called me about every week and required me to get a Dr note after I wasn’t ready at 8 wks. I ended up going back at 10 wks post op and I wasn’t ready. I had to use a cane to go into the nursing homes and was still having significant pain with walking. I continued to work and it was at 8-9 months before I would say that I was glad I had the PKR.
I think you made a good decision Carol Anna!

 

[Carol Anna]

Start week 6 post op tomorrow. I am in more pain than I was before but hoping that it is just a normal part of recovery. Still have some sharp pain on inside of knee but this is not as bad as before - new bad ache in bone on outside of knee made sleeping difficult last night but still got about 5 - 6 hours sleep. I am seeing Physion on Friday. Last appointment at 2 weeks my ROM was 120 and a flat extension and I could walk without an aid. ROM this morning maybe 95 ish, extension still flat and I can still walk if necessary without aids but use crutches to keep me straight a level. I am doing some excercises but not if they hurt and I am walking round using the crutches in the house every hour or so. I don't know what the PT will say about my lack of progress but I will go in saying - 'we have had a set back and need to discuss what the problem is and only do the excercises that I can do without pain' Well thats my plan lets see if I can stick to it!

 

[Jockette]

You have a lower ROM number because you have more swelling. You may have been more active than you realize, for your particular knee at this point. Don’t worry, this is par for the course and as you heal, this will happen less often. Don’t let the PT bother you, you're doing fine.

I had a major set back at 4 months, well past where I thought set backs could happen. My ROM was probably back to 95-ish because of the set back, which was overdoing my activity for a weekend out of town trying to keep up with everyone else and trying to look like I was fine. Big mistake on my part!

Anyway, my ROM recovered (after a month,) and even in my second, and third year post op, I saw improvement in ROM.

Relax, you’re doing fine, you got this!

 

[patriciad]

@Jockette has said it all so I won’t repeat. So proud of you for anticipating PT reaction and being prepared to advocate for yourself. You are doing great!

 

[MARYCOOL]

I, too, had a setback with my last knee, caused by an overzealous PT assistant. I went from walking with a good gait, to walking with a limp.
This time around, I started PT later, am not as aggressive with at home exercises, and just giving my knee time to heal. ROM will come later. I am also speaking up at PT this time.