TKR Three years post TKR

[Jockette]

Also, keep in mind this recovery takes an average of a year. That’s 52 weeks. You are 5 weeks into that 52.

It is also not a linear progression, where every day gets better. We call this recovery a rollercoaster, it has ups and downs with some side twists thrown in, just because it can. It’s extremely frustrating at times. You can feel better one day, and worse the next.

Depression is also part of this recovery, I think we have all experienced it:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/post-op-blues-is-a-reality-be-prepared-for-it.7591/
This article was in the group that @sistersinhim gave you. It is often helpful to reread those as we go along. Sometimes something will jump out at different times, depending on how we feel at the moment.

I am going to tag @Josephine
our forum administrator and nurse director to address your concerns.

 

[Josephine]

@MtnSearcher I've reread your thread and actually cannot find particular concerns.
Can you tell me what I can help with?

 

[NavyGunns]

@MtnSearcher, I understand that depression can be a tough situation to deal with and even worse when added to all we experience during our recovery. I’m the type of person who almost always tends to look at the positive side of things, so the closest I came to depression during my recovery was frustration with my inability to sleep the entire night for weeks and weeks. This forum really helped me get through that period, as well as my wife who didn’t get too irritated with my odd sleeping arrangements (as long as they didn’t bother her!).

I can’t recall if I said this to you, but if you’ve read many of my posts to others, I’m sure you’ve seen my thoughts regarding the impact a persons outlook has on their recovery. My personal experience from a life-threatening health scare convinced me that maintaining as positive an outlook as possible dramatically improves your body’s ability to focus on healing. The key, I found, was not to focus on the setbacks, but to celebrate and rejoice in the achievements, no matter how small. Having faith that I will get well and be able to do the things I desired again is what kept me moving past the little bumps.

 

[MtnSearcher]

Jockette, Josephine and NavyGunns, thank you for your concern.

I guess there is no particular concern, it's just the general feeling of frustration at not being able to do things I'm used to doing and being disabled when I have always been very active. This is my third major surgery since 15. The first was abdominal surgery, and I was back to work in three months, lifting and running as usual. During recovery from my right knee injury, I always thought I would be back to 100 percent until the last few months when my OS told me he would not recommend me returning to the job.

This recovery is even more of a roller coaster than the quad repair. I just have to focus on the successes. Trying hard to get back to driving, so I will at least feel somewhat independent. The doctor hasn't released me to drive yet because of the pain meds.

 

[Jacimarble]

The thing I've found is while there are no big leaps in recovery, (no Yippee I can walk), every couple of days you realise something is a little easier to do. Today for me it is sitting on a "normal" chair with my leg down ie at about 90 degrees! The hardest thing is not expecting to be able to do things (on a timeline!), but enjoying them when they do happen.
I haven't been released to drive yet either!! Hopefully when I see the OS next week. That will make a big difference!

 

[MtnSearcher]

I finally found some pain relief. I needed an ice pack while we were gone to shop, and the store didn't have any. My wife bought a menthol patch, and desperate for relief I plastered it on my leg, making sure to keep it off the scar. It was incredible! Best pain relief I've had since surgery.

 

[sistersinhim]

Wow! I've not heard of that. I am going to tag @Josephine our forum director and nurse to get her take on that patch.

 

[Josephine]

Yes, Menthol can have a cooling effect on the skin. As also can products like Biofreeze.

 

[sistersinhim]

I have used Biofreeze for years. I even have their patches. I never tried it for after surgery pain. I learn something new every day!

 

[MtnSearcher]

I have used Biofreeze Perform roll-on for some time, but I didn't think about for this until after I used the IcyHot patch my wife bought for me and read the ingredients. The difference is the percentage of menthol. Perform is 3.5 percent and the patch, I think, was 5 percent. I was afraid to put it directly on the scar because of skin irritation, so I used on the lateral side of my knee. They're big patches, so it reached from my lower thigh to the top of my calf.

 

[MtnSearcher]

Five weeks and two days, and I am now down to 800 mg ibuprofin. Swelling is down walking indoors without a cane.

 

[MtnSearcher]

If Steve Austin was the $6,000,000 Man back in the 1970s, adjusted for inflation I must be the $6.50 man. "We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him weaker, slower."
Just kidding. At 5 weeks and four days, I can already tell my knee will be better than before surgery. My "bionic" knee doesn't like rain, but my real one didn't either, so it's no loss.

 

[NavyGunns]

@MtnSearcher, I’m with ya there brother regarding rain, cold, snow, heck any kind of weather change! My old knee was a great weather predictor and my new one may be also. At least so far it is. We’ve got a heavy rain front moving through our area since Friday evening and I’ve been achy since.

 

[VonnieN]

I have not walked in the hills for many years due to the knees being bad. Post operatively I am four months for RTKR and LTKR 3 months and had my first hike and did quite an incline. Came home and iced and pulled up quite well. Waited a few weeks and have done a flat hike this time. Slowly slowly catch the monkey. I am a dancer and would love to get back on the floor. I have done some dancing but know that doing what I did priori can be done just yet. I feel goals and milestones would help to keep things moving in a positive direction.

 

[NavyGunns]

Good job @VonnieN! I did my first hike at roughly 9 weeks, way too soon, but I was on vacation back to my old hometown and everyone was going to the gorge to hike. We made it a little over halfway up before we turned around, but not because I had to. Others in the group didn’t want to go any further. Temps were over 90 that day. Check my thread for pics!

Although it was too soon, my knee held up fine, but the soft tissues made me pay the price the next several days. Worth it though.

It’s always good to occasionally push things a bit, that’s how you know whether you are getting better. Key is to know when to back off.

 

[MtnSearcher]

I'm up at 3 a.m. with an achy knee. Thursday was great, but it's been pretty steadily worse since then. I don't know it's the weather or what. The pain seems to be mostly along my lateral tibia. I haven't done an unusual amount of activity, or inactivity, except the rain has kept me from having my daily walks. I still haven't been sedentary, just no outdoor walks. I see my OS on Wednesday for my 6-week visit, so maybe he can shed some light on it.

 

[SusieShoes]

Your OS can maybe give you a more specific idea of what's going on in your knee. Recovery comes with all kinds of who-knows-what-it-is pains and aches. The knee is quite a complex joint, so there are a lot of moving parts that have to learn to play well again with each other as the swelling goes down. Some parts continue to swell and be bothersome for longer than others.

I finally got rid of the last of my left knee's annoying, lingering pain at the nine month mark. I had a great recovery -- walking for long distances, doing stairs, swimming and biking -- but that one pain hung on for quite a while. It didn't stop me from doing anything, though heavy exercise made it worse. It was just there. My OS said not to worry about it, that it would eventually go away. He was right.

 

[NavyGunns]

@MtnSearcher, I’ll bet it’s the weather adding to the achiness, but, even at your point of 5+ weeks, achiness is your constant companion. Like @SusieShoes said, it will hand around quite a while. I was woken up last night around midnight because of it and I’m 5 months post-op.

 

[sistersinhim]

Oh yes, you'll have a weather knee for quite a while yet. Now, at over 2 years, I don't. You'll get there, too!

 

[MtnSearcher]

I had my 6-week visit to my OS today, and he says the knee is looking great. He said the one severe pain I still have when I try to lift or make a kicking motion is most likely from scar tissue and swelling, and reminded me that 6 weeks is still very early. he said the fact I'm taking only 800 mg Motrin 2x a day is great, and that my gait is good. Another four weeks of PT to help strengthen it because of the earlier injury to my other knee and then back to see him two weeks after that. All in all, pretty encouraging. And I'm down 8 pounds since surgery. Fifteen more, and I'll be at my pre-injury weight.