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TKR Time for #2

sistersinhim said:
:console2:This social contact is now your employee, and you are her boss. This is now a business arrangement.
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Very well said, sistersinhim!

@ebungalow Remember, it’s your knee, you decide how you want to rehab. I truly understand how you feel, I would feel awkward about a confrontation, also, but you are the one who will pay the painful price of doing it her way. It isn’t worth it. Even if she was a close friend, it has to be your decision how you recover/rehab.

And yes, those early weeks are painful. Take care of you, defend your knee, and don’t let anyone cause you unnecessary additional pain. :console2:
 
Thanks for the feedback, @sistersinhim and @Jockette!

I had another PT session today and it was much more mellow and I had a firm plan of approach should she try anything aggressive. I really liked this PT for the last knee and was sad about that last experience. Today I had about 91 degrees flex and about 3-4 degrees extension.

I also had a meds change. Went to see the surgeon’s PA yesterday. She participated in all surgeries and is so comforting.

She changed my meds from oxycodone to hydrocodone. The oxy was making me so emotional and I was crying almost constantly on Monday - very disconcerting. I’m a tough teacher for Pete’s sake! Haha I know this is a different experience, not under my control.

The hydrocodone feels much better. It doesn’t kick in as quickly but feels longer-lasting and steadier. In this body at least.

Love that: Defend the knee!

Thanks, Georgia
 
I’m glad things went better, but keep your guard up. Many of us have been suddenly surprised by a therapist we trusted.
 
Hi @ebungalow. Good to hear you know what you want from your pt. I know every knee is different and everyone's experience with pain is different but when I get sore I think of much pain I was in before. Good luck.
 
@Breadman - exactly. The PA and I were talking about that yesterday. She was being very comforting and said “I know it’s hard”

I said yes, and I also feel very lucky to get to have my joints fixed. Feel really lucky with the good first TKR recovery and am knocking on wood for an equally good recovery with this one.

So glad not to have that pre-surgery soreness!

Hope your recovery is coming along well - I’ll look up your recovery thread.

Georgia
 
Hang in there. You've got a brand new baby knee - it will do well with ice and elevation!!!
 
Recovery is going well. I had a brief PT appointment today and measured about 2 extension and 100 flex.

Here’s a kind of funny (haha) experience I’m having with apparently different realities.

As many of us report, I’m not sleeping well and have spent A LOT of time reading threads here on BoneSmart at all hours of the day and night. I also read the hip replacement threads as I had a RTHR about 19 months ago.

So as convinced and immersed as I have been in BoneSmart recovery philosophy for a few years, this constant reading has reinforced that immersion.

To the point where it’s become my reality - my nurse daughter visited right after surgery and then came back for a few days for Christmas . She and some friends have been taking me to therapy and appointments. Friends have come by the house and I went to friends’ house for Christmas dinner. I’m not a hermit by any means.

But reading BoneSmart forums has comprised a relatively large percentage of my outside contact for the past couple of weeks.

Plus I’m still taking hydrocodone at night and am often reading the forums at night, both of which make the information and contact feel even more intimate. It feels good and safe!

Anyway, at PT today the therapist was watching me do heel slides and asked, “what’s going on, why can’t you bend more - where are you feeling that? What is stopping you from bending further?”

And she commented that I heal well, but that it takes me time to get rid of the swelling.

And WHOMP! Had a real sense of being jerked from the warm, comforting, and encouraging BoneSmart cocoon into some insane, hyper-competitive, random, arbitrary alternate reality Hahaha

Mind you this is 16 days out from having bones cut, etc. which may have something to do with the swelling, may be the thing that is stopping the knee from bending more.

I’ve decided to go to PT once a week for now, mainly to satisfy my sweet surgery PA, but am very protective and assertive while there.

So when I made another appt for next week, the therapist tells me to work hard!

I just smiled and said I would and returned to the routine that increased flex by 9 degrees this week: a few very gentle stretches on the stationary bike about 4-5 times a day, walking back and forth in my hallway (it’s short) focusing on lengthening stride, and a few other stretches that feel good.

Lots and lots of elevating and icing for extended periods of time.

I hate heel slides so I stopped doing them.

Back to the much more sweet BoneSmart reality.

Well sheesh. I rarely use one word when five will do, but that’s today’s report.

I’ll see everyone tonight during the sleepless times.

Georgia
 
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ebungalow said:
Anyway, at PT today the therapist was watching me do heel slides and asked, “what’s going on, why can’t you bend more - where are you feeling that? What is stopping you from bending further?
And she commented that I heal well, but that it takes me time to get rid of the swelling. ”
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She can't work out that it's the swelling that is stopping your knee from bending further?
Not logical, Mr Spock! :heehee:
 
Right?

She knows it’s swollen. Haha I think she was REALLY asking me why I was unable/unwilling to push through the pain (she’d given me a strap to pull the leg back - I didn’t use it) but, since we’d had words at our last session, she didn’t want to come straight at me again.

Not gonna do it. But we did other work that felt good and helpful.
 
Glad you are knowledgeable enough to take such good care of your new knee - 100 just over two weeks from surgery is terrific! I'd be envious (with my 6 weeks at 95) but I also have more knowledge now from BS the second time around and am mostly unconcerned about my ROM as I know it will come. Like you I am only walking and stretching on the stationary bike. My PT is not pushy at all and I am glad of that. My surgeon on the other hand . . . but I have another 7 weeks before I have to see him again. I'm taking the scenic route through recovery and it's not so bad. Cheers to continued good recovery :cheers:
 
My first TKR experience gave me the confidence to be extremely frank with the PT. I outright refused to co operate at all with the youngster who came first and tried to jolly me along in a very bossy way. Next time he brought his boss who was much more experienced and better at 'reading' his client. I explained that I was not willing to be manipulated or to force my knee AT ALL. He accepted this, gave me some practical tips and we parted on good terms. I insisted on only seeing him after that. I saw him twice more at 3 weeks then 6 weeks. He was happy that I had, as he put it, taken control of my own rehab. I'd told him that I rested, iced elevated and kept moving at least hourly and increased from walking around the flat to walking in our grounds and introducing stairs. It worked very well. The OS agreed with me re PT but did say,'Thank God your knee replacement went so well otherwise you could have been a nightmare to cope with!'
Be a nightmare! It worked for me.
 
@kmak81230 “I'm taking the scenic route through recovery and it's not so bad” Another club to join ! I like it!
It’s a long and winding road though....
 
@kmak81230 @Spex10 - great points about advocating for one’s self and refusing to do harmful PT exercises.

Love the “scenic route” idea and laughed at the idea of being “a nightmare to deal with.”

Every once in a while I think about the folks who might be unable to be their own advocates for whatever reason (lack of knowledge, other illness, etc) and it makes me very grateful for the ability to be ornery.

My PT told me a story about another woman who was prescribed an additional 4 weeks of PT because the woman was being non compliant - PT gave me meaningful looks while telling this story.

She described the obviously optional (in real terms), additional 4-week prescription with the solemnity and vague threat of a judge offering the choice between parole and an extended prison sentence.

I exaggerate, but here’s to non compliant patients!

p.s. some good things DO happen at PT. I learn or am reminded of different exercises, exercises and stretches that feel good and that fit BoneSmart philosophy. So, for now, I’m willing to go once a week.
 
I broke the 'social contract' discussed above. I did my homework first though. I wasn't just awkward. I quoted the NICE guidance on knee replacement and the Cochrane database on evidence based practice. The evidence for aggressive PT after TKR just ain't there!! Be tough people. Channel your inner Spex10!!
 
Spex10 said:
Be a nightmare! It worked for me.
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I love this!

I did what I was told the first time around, because I didn’t know any better and suffered for it. Not next time. IF there’s a next time.
 
@ebungalow just reading about your PT is making me angry. I just hit 11 weeks with Righty yesterday the last ROM measurement I got was 110 flexion and -3 extension. Not great on the PT meter but just fine for me. With Lefty who is 10.5 months old my flex leaving PT was 108/-4 but is now 120/0. Moral of the story it all comes back just fine over time. My PT this time is fresh from school and has a gentle encouraging way about him. Today I heard my PT from last time say “you will get more aggressive over time” to him. I said please don’t your way works just fine. Hold the line with your PT your knee will be grateful.
 
@Larryhg3 @Jockette @Spex10 Thanks for all of the reinforcement about standing up to PT!

Now that I’m off the tears-inducing oxy and am more back to myself emotionally, my feelings are no longer getting hurt as easily.

And it’s a little bit fun (maybe more than a little bit) to go to PT and resist - as long as I keep getting some benefit from the other stretches and such. Is it wrong to get pleasure from messing with PT? haha

Hope everyone has a peaceful and healing day :)

Georgia
 
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