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TKR Three years post TKR

I'm at 7 weeks tomorrow. No cane for 4 days, only two prescription ibuprofin a day and ice machine 2-3 times a day. I'm taking a three-day trip this weekend that will involve some walking, and probably stairs. Hopefully everything will go well.
 
@MtnSearcher, just remember to pace yourself and be prepared if you do join the ODIC (Over Did It Club). You’ll know it because your knee will be more stiff and swollen than usual and may take a few days to recover. I know as I’ve been there a number of times and am a standing (sometimes sitting) member! :heehee:
 
We're all crossing our fingers you have a great time and your knees hold up like troopers. If they don't and you find yourself with swollen unhappy knees, you know what to do. You might consider bringing a Knee Aid Pack with essentials in your car trunk: gel packs (if place has a freezer) or ziplock bags (to fill with ice in a pinch), something to put between the ice and your skin, something you can use to elevate your legs (inflatable ottoman? big cooler with pillow on top? stack of pillows?), pain meds just in case, and your trusty cane. If you never need any of it, great! :thumb: But if you do... you're good!
 
@NavyGunns I already joined that club this weekend. I took my daily walk and decided it would be a good thing to take the grabber, nitrile gloves and garbage bags and pick up litter along the way. Even with the grabber, it was too much bending. I have menthol patches on it now, and getting ready to ice it.

@SusieShoes That's a great list to have. I was planning to take my ice machine, pain meds and my cane, but I hadn't thought of the rest. We're going to a festival as guests, so there will be an inn nearby where I can rest and ice my knee as needed. If need be, the organizers say I can drive from my lodgings to the festival area. Before my surgery, I got a handicapped parking permit, so I should be OK.
 
@MtnSearcher, welcome to the club! LOL. Not necessarily one you want to join but one that just about everyone joins at some point. Question is, how long you stay (moving in or just visiting?). @SusieShoes has a great list and the preparations you’ve made should take good care of you!

Focus on enjoying yourself but do keep an ear on what your knee is saying. You are bound to hear “I’m doing fine, this is fun!”, then “I’m doing okay, better than I thought”, then “just a little while longer, I’ll be ”, finally “What were you thinking? I’ve had enough!” Don’t get to the last point!

@Jacimarble has a great add though, BEER! Cure all for almost everything, except for when you are on pain meds! Then it’s a no-no!
 
I survived the weekend, but was so sore I couldn't move Monday. The festival was in a park, so I reverted to my cane on the grass and steps. I am 8 weeks post surgery as of yesterday, and I'm still improving, just not has fast as I would like. I plan on some light hiking, maybe, this weekend.
 
Today was incredible. My knee has felt the best it has felt since surgery. I'm teaching a class to some back country enthusiasts on Saturday, and I might even take a hike while I'm at the state park, if the rain lets up. Even the dampness hasn't caused my knee any problems today.
 
I managed a short (about a half-mile) hike today over hilly terrain and didn't have any problem. I stopped when I got to a steeper hill and turned around, but it was uneven ground, and I had my large, eager dog on a leash. I feel pretty good about it.
 
Onward and upward MTNSearcher! My longest walk @ 8 weeks was 3 miles dead flat road.

My improvement curve steepened quite a bit directly thereafter. On Friday, @ 11-1/2 weeks post-TKR, I hiked 7 trail miles with two long-time mountain travel buds. Other than a 1/2 mile of talus (which I negotiated with great care) it was easy high desert trail with a few <15% hills, around 450' total verts.
 
@MtnSearcher and @DIYSteve, both of you sound like you are doing great! Keep up the good work and continue to stay positive about your progress.
 
@DIYSteve That's great. I hope I can get some longer hikes before long. I bought a set of trekking poles, and I'm going to go for a walk in a few minutes. Everything here is hills. By spring, I want to go back to the waterfall in my profile picture. It's a two-mile hike round-trip, but there's 600 feet of elevation change from the trailhead to the falls. By summer I want to hike to the top of the mountain, which is a 6-mile round trip and an 1,100-foot elevation change from trailhead to the summit.
 
Nine weeks today. I had a great few days, with a couple pain-free. I have stopped taking ibuprofen and icing my knee regularly. Hiked a half mile each Saturday and Sunday, and sort of had shinsplints yesterday and today. I mowed a small part of the yard with a push mower today to work the soreness out. PT tomorrow a.m..
 
Well, I'm in the overdoneit club for sure. Shin splints are miserable, and my knee is swollen, painful and stiff. Looks like it's back to ibuprofen, rest and ice.
 
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Shin splints are bad, I had them years ago on vacation to Niagara Falls, we spent one of the days on the Canadian side and we went back and forth to places several times, up and down the hilly street.

Mowing the yard definitely put you over the edge!

My husband wouldn’t even let me vacuum let alone mow at 9 weeks.
 
I should have known better. I haven't walked up any steep hills since before my surgery, and I haven't used the push mower since my right knee injury in May of 16! I plan on resting today, but I have PT tomorrow. No more PT until next Wednesday, so that should give me plenty of time to recover.
 
If you’re not up to PT tomorrow, don’t go. You’ve had enough exercise/movement for your knee in the last couple of days, it will probably be better to skip it. It’s not like you’re laying around doing nothing!

I was discharged from PT a few days before I was 8 weeks post op. You’ve probably had enough PT at this point anyway. You’re moving around well and getting back to what you like to do. That’s all you need at this point. (just pace yourself a bit better :heehee: )
 
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@MtnSearcher, I have to echo @Jockette! Don’t go to PT. Unless PT tomorrow will focus on helping to reduce swelling (for example massage, TENS, etc.) I would not go myself. Spend these days recuperating from your visit to the ODIC.
 
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