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TKR The Knees and Me - staged

@sistersinhim, I'll be careful. If I can do all that a year from now , I'll be glad. Right now , I'll do what I can and no more
 
Good luck at your PT tomorrow! Many of us find that the massage and (gentle) manipulation feels great and is helpful in gaining movement. Best thing I did was to tell PT before we began that I wanted her promise that if I told her to stop something because it was causing me pain or discomfort that she would stop. She was rather put off at first, but now we've got a pretty good thing going!
 
Hi Rubyyarn! It sounds as though you are off to a very good start with your new knee! Post often and keep us updated on your progress. I'll be interested to see how your first PT visit goes. The trick is to find one who respects your rules and limits. If it hurts, stop.....no pain allowed! Gentle stretches only combined with massage works very well. Best of luck!
 
I'll keep all of this in mind . My leg hurts so much this morning that yanking and pulling are not an option . Come ooon Percocet!
 
Rubyyarn, mornings are typically dreadful, so you are not alone. Walk around a bit until the Perc kicks in and then throw some ice on it.


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It's good to know about Mornings. Since they come right after Nights, it's not surprising . Right now I'm doped up, iced up , and ready to go :yes:
 
@rubyyarn, some mornings will be worse than others! Today I can barely walk, pain and stiffness. Thankfully not every morning is like this! Today I am taking it a few minutes at a time. We have to remind ourselves that every day is a new day! This group can be your lifeline


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Just got back from PT. I let the therapist know I was never an exercise monster, nor did I expect to compete in the Olympics by the end of therapy. She seemed OK with that. She did some pushing and pulling on the 'good' leg to see what my baseline was. It was 0-107 degrees. The new knee was 0-95 degrees. She had me do an exercise where I pulled my foot back under a chair as far as possible, then push it with the other foot. Don't know about that one. It didn't exactly hurt, but it was a bit uncomfortable. Her goal is for me to do everyday activities and not worry a whole lot about numbers.

I have a stiff hip flexor from doing heel slides in the recliner. Apparently I need to lie down with the leg straight so all that will loosen up. My gait is good, both with and without the walker. She suggested that I might want to use at least a cane when leaving the house. I was going to use my mother-in-law's cane, but I think it is too long for me. They can be cut down, I know, but I really don't want to mess up a family heirloom (!) I told my husband he might want to keep the cane intact in case he ever needed it.

I was told I might be sore, so use ice for 10 minutes at a time several times a day. I just nodded and looked wise. No need to mention that I tend to ice 24/7 most of the time :snork:

I'm supposed to go 3x per week, so I'll be going back tomorrow and the next day. Then we will see what next week brings. So far, so good. I feel pretty good in spite of it all. Maybe lack of activity has been contributing to the pain/blah feeling. Anyway, the day is much improved.
 
rubyyarn said:
My gait is good, both with and without the walker. She suggested that I might want to use at least a cane when leaving the house. I was going to use my mother-in-law's cane, but I think it is too long for me. They can be cut down, I know, but I really don't want to mess up a family heirloom (!) I told my husband he might want to keep the cane intact in case he ever needed it.
Click to expand...
I used a cane whose length was adjustable. I agree - don't go cutting up a perfectly good cane.
Canes: make sure your cane/walking stick is the correct height

Even though I didn't really need it, I continued to use a cane outside, especially in crowds, or if it was going to be wet or slippery underfoot. Canes are useful for warding off rushing people and dogs :dogwalk: :doggie: and it's better to use one than to risk a fall. I still have my folding cane in my car.
 
Slept fairly well last night. There might be something to that 174 hz music after all. At least, I felt like I slept some. My husband said I thrashed around a lot. I know I spend a lot of time moving pillows and adjusting the ice bag.

More PT today, and again tomorrow. I may have to insist on a free day between sessions. After yesterday the 'good' leg ached almost as much as the surgery leg.
 
You definitely need at least a day between PT visits or....you'll pay; ugh! Despite being told your gait is good (and that's great!) use your cane outdoors. The outdoors are bumpy, lumpy, uneven, and just altogether a different ballgame than traipsing around the house. Also, the leg can become very suddenly tired and turn into limp spaghetti when out and about. When that happens, you'll be glad you have it.

Just buy an adjustable cane at CVS or Walgreens, no need to cut an heirloom.
 
Hiya, Pheebs!

I plan to have a cane or something close at hand for quite a while . We live in the woods and the ground is rather uneven . PT should be interesting today :bolt: I'll try to reschedule tomorrow's session and certainly get a better schedule for next week .
 
PT twice a week is really as much as you need.
It's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself.
 
PT must be agreeing with me. Today the therapist manipulated the hip flexor (the IT band?) so that I could lay my leg flat on the bench. Yesterday the hip flexor hurt so much I could only do about 5 heel slides while flat on my back. Today I was able to do 10.

And...wonder of wonders...the pain I've had at the right side of my knee is now mostly gone! Hopefully that continues. I guess the arthritis slowed me down bit by bit until I was almost not moving. Now I have hope that I will be able to move again without pain someday! I walked all over the house, doing this and that. The knee is still stiff, but I know what to do about that and that the stiffness will go away in time.

Don't know what tomorrow will bring, but this day and this moment is just fine!

:loveshwr:
 
Today I hurt. Walking is pretty easy now, but that deep down bone pain just won't give it up! Had some breakthrough pain last night and fed it a Tylenol, which helped me go back to sleep. Today I decided to alternate Percocet with Tylenol to see if I could take less Percocet. No dice. In spite of a decent nap, the pain was there when I woke up so I fed it a Percocet. In all it has been a Grumpy Cat kind of a morning with no progress on the drug front.

:gaah:
 
Sometimes, especially early on, your knee will just be cranky, and painful for no apparent reason. Of course we look for reasons, and maybe we can suss it out, but often we can't. It just happens. Ice, elevate, medicate, and be patient. It may be frustrating, but chances are it isn't permanent! :smile2:
 
Thank you, Susie! I need to remember that and keep remembering. This will heal in its own time no matter how much I stomp my feet...
 
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