Become an Insider

TKR The adventure begins

I like my chiropractor and also agree they are not all the same with their techniques.

If you go that route I suggest you ask for a free consultation to speak with one before you make an appointment. First appointments with some can be very expensive because they usually will spend a lot more time with you than the adjustment appointments.

I had to try several before I found the right one for me. She was perfect, then I moved out of state and had start over. It took 3 in my new location before I found the best one for me.

My current one calls me her "less is more girl" as my body is very sensitive to the more aggressive ones I had before her. Sounds like PT, doesn't it! Must be why I didn't do well with PT after PKR.
 
@Jajakio, I've just caught up on your thread and I'm amazed at how well your knee recovery is progressing! What a fabulous report, and yes, it seems as though you do have your life back; huzzah!:yes!:

Sorry to hear about that back though; ugh! I could just copy and paste everything @Polkadot stated; hah! There's just a few other things I'll mention that will help you through the ouchy phase. Don't put your purse in the back seat of the car! So many of us do this and we twist our entire torso to retrieve it. Twisting and heavy lifting are definitely the culprits to beware of, now and in the future. Proper form with lifting is extremely important; can't be stressed enough. There are many good tutorials on YouTube that show proper form. Polkadot mentioned heels and flip-flops, and I'll just say if I wear the wrong shoe for walking, my back will definitely let me know later. I'm retired and don't have to *dress* for work, so I can always wear something sensible. I don't necessarily want to, but it makes a huge difference.

My back was wrecked in my mid 20's, so I've seen Chiros, Massage Therapists, PT's and had many series of epidural spinal injections over the years. Everyone is different, but for me, a good PT, one who does *Hands on Manual Therapy* (similar to a chiropractor but more gentle, also incorporating massage) and back/core strengthening exercises seem to help the most. Sometimes, if things are really bad, I'll need muscle relaxers. When my back is tight (often) I use heat, then massage with a hand-held strong, electric massager, then a bit of stretching, (YouTube has some good ones) followed by ice. If it's super painful, I go for the ice immediately.

I wonder if your back is just distressed from having a new gait to cope with? Could be...mine certainly was, but PT has helped a lot. Hope yours resolves quickly!
 
@Pheebs52 , I am very pro PT and I do have some visits left for the year, so that is an excellent idea. I've met my insurance out of pocket for the year so essentially free. I'll do some research and see what's available locally then call the OS and see if he'll prescribe it for me. I could also look into electric massagers. I've never used one. Is there a brand you'd recommend? I use my hot tub and like the jets on my back so I'd probably like it.

I expect it is something to do with either new gait or being more active and hopefully it will adjust and eventually resolve. Ive spent years making my back cover for my bad knee (bending over instead of squatting, etc) and I guess now I've got to learn to do the opposite.
 
@Jajakio, my hand held massager was purchased many years ago at Brookstone, designed by Brookstone Labs and it's called "Max." It has two rotating heads (important) and it's a bit heavy, but it's lasted for 20 years with heavy use. It's a plug-in with a long cord, so no recharging required or batteries to change. They probably no longer carry it, but I'll bet they still make some good ones. If not, I think I've seen some heavy-duty types at Bed, Bath and Beyond by Hometics. You want one that has multiple settings for speed and for the type of massage. I can choose from 3 different types of massage and 5 different speeds.

I'm sure you would benefit from some PT and if you have insurance to cover it, why not give it a whirl. I would. As I said, it's helped me quite a bit and I was in a lot of pain the first 6 weeks post-tkr. Chiropractors are expensive and often not covered under insurance, and ditto for massage therapists, unless you have an unusual insurance. For me, back injections were only a short term fix, so I prefer to avoid that route and have avoided it for about 3 years.

For now, a good soak in the hot tub, followed by some massage and then just a few stretches, finished with ice should help quite a bit. If you can't find a massager to your liking right away, another tool is a red, rubber Kong ball from a pet store! It's cheap, portable and you just place it against your back while standing up against a wall. Roll it around until you find the painful spots, and then rock it back and forth until you feel knots release. It works like a charm. If you are agile enough to get down on the floor with it, even better! Best of luck!

And yes, we do have to change our old, evil habits from pre-tkr; egads! We've all done so many weird things to compensate for those formerly dicey knees, eh?
 
If you get a massager, I suggest you start using it 'gently' and take a measure after each use of how it makes you feel. Up the settings carefully. I tried out my brother's massage chair on too robust a setting, and while it felt divine during the session, I paid for it later. My back went into spasms, which necessitated taking muscle relaxers, lying on the floor, and lots of ice/heat.
 
A good step forward in the midst of all my back issues. If you have been following my exploits, you know I'm the president of the slow sleepers club. Some people evidently can sleep on their sides after a month. Or even sooner. Not me. At 11 weeks, I roll to my side , thrash around a while and if I'm really lucky , doze off for a few minutes that way, then have to roll onto to my back to really sleep for a few hours. Of course I'd rather sleep on my side but it hasn't been comfortable enough to do so for long yet. I've tried operated leg up, operated leg down, no pillow, various pillows between the legs. I roll, I scoot legs back and forth, over and under each other trying to get comfortable enough to get 20 minutes sleep on my side.

I have about outgrown daytime naps but today I needed one. About 3 pm I crawled in bed and just rolled onto my side automatically and didn't even think about it until I was half asleep. I slept two hours comfortably on my side. That was a first for me!
 
@Jajakio I can really identify with your sleep problems. I slept well while on the oxy. But sleep is hard to find now. I have managed to be able to sleep on my operated side for a short while, but not my good side. I have tried every position and every pillow.
And I love your thread name. This is indeed an adventure, but one I hope I never have to take again. But when I finish, I will know I am strong, persistant, and capable.
 
That's interesting @OJ2, I sleep best on my operated side too. I would have assumed the other way around, but it doesn't work that way. Not sure why but there it is. I do think this has been an interesting adventure. I've learned things about myself.

I love that I'm reconnecting with the person I used to be. I've always been a bit hyper. I'm too old to have been diagnosed ADHD in school but I was taped to the chair in first grade to make me sit still. My whole childhood was like that, but for the most part I enjoyed it. I was least 40 before I felt was going the same speed as other people, at least sometimes. I am an older mom, my last son was born a couple of weeks before my 42nd birthday. I never minded that and never had trouble keeping up with the school moms half my age. As I feel better and become more active, I'm becoming something of my old hyper self. Its not a bad thing. Problems happened slowly so I don't think I realized how much the years of knee pain had slowed me down physically and mentally. Onward and Upward!
 
I also sleep better on my operated-on side. I didn't realize that there's a Slow Sleepers Club--may I join? I'm at 4+ months, and have JUST had three nights in a row where I woke up only a couple of times--and was able to go back to sleep fairly soon afterward.

I'm an older mom, too, and never had an issue with energy. It's great that yours coming back.
 
Yay! You're sleeping on your side again. It may still take a little while to where you can sleep all night that way, but you'll get there. I had two operated knees and both of them refused to cooperate for getting sleep on my side. The first time it worked was exactly what happened to you: just rolled over for a nap.

I started pushing for the side sleeping at 3 months by starting every night on my side. If I got an hour, I was lucky. The knees would ache, and be restless, and be thoroughly unhappy. So I'd pull up the Lounge Doctor and sleep the rest of the night on my back. Gradually, though, I started to sleep a little longer on my side. And now at almost 5 months, I sleep on my side through the night.

I thought it would never happen.
 
Of course you may join the Slow Sleepers Club, @Polkadot . I missed out on the Slow Benders Club, so I had to have something to be bossy about. I think if you are over 2 months and still can't sleep on your side you can join. But I'm the president. At least until I can sleep on my side all night and then it can be someone else's turn.
 
Oh oh. What does that make me if I belong to both the Slow Benders and Slow Sleepers clubs? Although I can now go to sleep on my side, I rarely get a full night of sleep period. My routine is to get into bed around 10 or 10:30 and watch tv for an hour or so. I have no trouble getting to sleep but I wake up around 1:30 or 2 and am awake until somewhere around 4:30 or 5 when I go back to sleep until 7 or 7:30. I get frustrated and get up and go downstairs to the family room after a while of ceiling staring. I watch tv or play games on my iPad until I can finally drift off again. Makes for a lot of butt dragging the next day! I was hoping by this stage ( 4+ months)
I could sleep through the night. Here's hoping it happens for you and for me!
 
@Canada35, I think it makes you very special, but, of course, it may not exactly feel that way! Just curious if you were a poor sleeper prior to TKR? I wonder if that makes a difference?
 
We will make you an honorary member, @Canada35 and include all others who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in seeKing a good night's sleep even though their surgery twins are sleeping again.
 
This sleeping through the night really is an elusive thing. If I can sleep on my side, it's with the operated side down. But I've always been a stomach sleeper. I just got brave enough to try it a couple weeks ago, and I can usually fall asleep on my stomach. I usually wake up after 2 or 3 hours, but it's wonderful while it lasts.
 
Isn't that funny, that's 3 of us who sleep with the operated knee down. I would have expected the opposite. I wonder what the norm is? Did most of you first sleep operated knee up or down as you began to sleep on your side again?
 
@Jajakio, I am perfectly happy to let you be boss!
RE sleeping with operated-on side down: I never had much pain on the outside of the knee, which would rest on the bed in this scenario. The inside has been much more problematic with pain, especially that nervy sunburned pain. Lying with that side against the unoperated kneebone hasn't been as comfortable. Perhaps because it's not as soft?

@Canada35, I'm getting so used to the "butt-dragging" that it seems almost normal.
 
11 and a half weeks

I've been riding my recumbent bike about 10 minutes a day, knowing I need to start upping my time but always thinking I'm too busy. I got the bike about 4 or 5 weeks out and have been able to pedal since they put me on a bike in PT in the second week post surgery. I checked the amount of revolutions I could make in 10 minutes as soon as i got the bike because I had been doing bicycles in my hot tub presurgery and just counting instead of timing and wondered how that compared. In the beginning I found 400 revolutions added up to 10 minutes. I checked it again this morning and am happy to report Im pedaling almost exactly twice as I was when I go the bike. I have noticed that everywhere lately. My natural walking gait is faster and I can nearly keep up with my husband when we walk, not lagging behind like I was a few weeks ago. No limp, no cane, no pain. It feels good.

Having mastered the ordinary day, I'm aiming for the extraordinary. Second week in October is fall break for local schools and I want a short trip with some hiking and waterfall trails to see how well I can do. That's just past the three month mark for me. I'm also contemplating the local bike trails through the woods. Not sure yet. I'm pretty sure I can pedal but I'm a little paranoid about falling. I don't feel unstable. I think maybe I'm just overthinking it. Training Wheels? I dont think im ready to deal with an old lady tricycle yet. At some point I've got to quit worrying and take the leap.
 
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