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Revision TKR Third times the charm- hopefully

My pain med dose before bed was the last to go for me. How did your appointment go?
 
@kneeper my appointment went well. My OS just eyeballed my knee, was pleased with ROM. Said X-ray looked good. Said continue what I was doing and he would see me in 6 months. He is sending me to a company that specializes in prosthetics and orthotics to see if they can make an orthotic for my foot, so that I wouldn’t need a brace. He said they would do a gait analysis.
 
I hope the new orthotics work. The old ones would definitely have been wrong for your new gait.
I can't see any reason why you would need a brace.
 
Those are my thoughts too. I’ll be glad to get another opinion from someone other than my current podiatrist.
 
Wow, six months! You must be doing well with your recovery. Best of luck with the orthotics appt. I hope you get good results.


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Thanks @AThom10731 I guess I’m doing well, it’s hard to see the improvements yourself. Others comment about how well I’m doing. I thank them, all the while I’m thinking to myself you should be in my shoes and feel what I feel. :swoon: My poor DH is really the only person who sees the true me. He needs a medal. :loll:
 
My 7 week knee anniversary isn’t going so well. My knee is okay, but I’ve done something to my back on the opposite side. My hip abductor muscles are weak anyway, I guess carrying in groceries yesterday was more than I should have been doing, I feel like such a whimp :swoon: So I’m flat on my back today, hopefully it will pass quickly.
 
:console2: I have back issues, too.
 
This pulled muscle in my back has set me back this week. I had to cancel PT appointments and wasn’t able to go to office since Tuesday. I’m taking muscle relaxers in between pain medicine. Wednesday I wasn’t able to lift my left foot to go up steps, I was practically dragging it, had to have DH bring my walker back in. It’s slowly getting better, not well yet, but better than Tuesday night and Wednesday. I’m supposed to go for my gait analysis next Wednesday, hopefully I’ll be able to walk without my walker by then. Taken out by a Walmart grocery order, I’m weak :bawl:
 
Jan, you are definitely not weak! I am so sorry about your back. It is so easy to lift things wrong or try to carry too much at once and then have terrible back pain. I'm afraid I've done it too. Hopefully the muscle relaxers are helping some but thank goodness your walker was close at hand. Last week when I saw the dr., I mentioned my pulled hamstring and unfortunately asked him how long it would take to heal. He told me it could take 6-8 weeks for the pain to be gone, maybe longer. Damn! So we survive knee replacements only to be laid low by other mishaps! Probably if we weren't recovering from TKRs, we'd just be mad at ourselves. I guess at least these pains give us something to think about other than our knees. I hope you are able to have your gait analysis Wednesday but if not, you can always reschedule. Would a heating pad help at all?
 
@MSgirl sorry to hear about your hamstring problem. 6 weeks!!! In the grand scheme of things, I guess these are just bumps in the road. Yeah, I can reschedule my appointment if need be, hopefully I won’t have to. I keep telling myself that in a few months these aches and pains will just be memories. You’re right, if we weren’t already dealing with TKR, a pulled muscle probably wouldn’t be a big deal. One thing this has shown me is that my gait is so much better with my walker than with my cane.
 
Walkers and canes are wonderfully useful. Though the goal is to rid ourselves of need of them, they’re great to have on hand while we work at getting there!
 
Walking with my cane I have what I call a “weeble wobble “ gait. My upper body moves side to side a little bit. I don’t have that with the walker. Should I be using my walker more?
 
My home PT was the one who noticed that I was toeing in with my left foot. He told me to keep using my walker and try to be conscious of where I put my foot. I liked my walker a lot better than my cane and felt so much more stable. By the time I graduated from my walker, I really didn't need my cane a lot longer. I still think the genius who invented walkers must have a special place in Heaven.
 
BTW, my pulled hamstring has nothing to do with my knee except that the tendons are probably a little tight. I did something really stupid and caused it!
 
jboles said:
This pulled muscle in my back has set me back this week. I had to cancel PT appointments and wasn’t able to go to office since Tuesday. I’m taking muscle relaxers in between pain medicine. Wednesday I wasn’t able to lift my left foot to go up steps, I was practically dragging it, had to have DH bring my walker back in. It’s slowly getting better, not well yet, but better than Tuesday night and Wednesday. I’m supposed to go for my gait analysis next Wednesday, hopefully I’ll be able to walk without my walker by then. Taken out by a Walmart grocery order, I’m weak
Click to expand...
I'm sorry about your back.
Jan, you're not weak. I think you're just asking too much of your body, too soon.
It sounds as if you're pretty much back to all normal activities and you really shouldn't be just yet.

Back at work? Doing the grocery shopping? It's a bit early for those. Do read this article again:
Activity progression for TKRs

jboles said:
Walking with my cane I have what I call a “weeble wobble “ gait. My upper body moves side to side a little bit. I don’t have that with the walker. Should I be using my walker more?
Click to expand...
Yes, keep using the walker until the correct gait becomes a habit.
 
@Celle I reread the progression chart, and if I follow the chart, I’m definitely doing too much. I don’t have much pain or stiffness in my knee, or at least I don’t think so, my back has been hurting way more than my knee. Hopefully though, it will be short lived. I know that carrying in groceries was too much, it was one of those things that wasn’t planned, but at the time I didn’t have a choice.

I really hate using a walker or a cane. I know I need to use the walker more though. I have no balance issues when I’m using it, and I still have considerable balance issues using my cane.
 
jboles said:
I really hate using a walker or a cane.
Click to expand...
Iknow how you feel.
My mother, aged 87 at the time, refused to use a cane after her TKR, saying "Those are for old people".
She really did need to use it, though.

Can you look on the walker and the cane as just tools that you will only need for a short time, but that will help you to achieve your goals?
 
I know just how your mother felt :bored: those are for old people. :heehee: If this weather will ever break, I’m going to start walking outside and using my walker.
 
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