@Susie2023 I am a case in point. My surgeon wisely wrote a few exercises to do, the same as BoneSmart recommends. He said that the first two weeks were strictly for rest and healing. Just imagine if you crushed your leg in an accident. Would PT be trying to force that leg to do things? No. The leg has to heal before it can do much of anything.
My home PT kept trying to add more exercises and I took out my surgeon's instructions. NO other exercises. My surgeon had me at 0 extension on the or table and with my leg held straight in the hospital he said I did not have to put a towel under my ankles or work on extension. I told the home PT who came to evaluate and set up and he said, "Well, you may have been at 0 in the hospital, but I am sure that it is not now." He picked my leg up and bent it backwards and it HURT. I told him and the female PT he sent to never touch me again They fought the whole time to add exercises. I didn't let them.
It turned out unfortunately, that my incision got infected and bending would make it bleed, so I rested. For some reason, outpatient PT never called and I stayed home and took my antibiotics for three weeks. The infection went away and I did not need to go into the hospital for an IV drip.
When I went to my surgeon at three weeks, my bend was 90 degrees. At 7 weeks, it was 114 degrees. I barely did the exercises prescribed, just walked and did my daily life activities. I did not go to outpatient PT. Like BoneSmart says, your ROM is just there waiting for you. It does not need to be worked at, fought for. Those things make the injured leg more injured, and less likely to bend or stretch. Pushing yourself is counterproductive.
I have another complication, an inflammed bursa (bursitis) because I was so knock kneed and so much work needed to be done to straighten my leg that the muscles are different and irritating the bursa sack where three tendons join. I can't have a cortisone injection yet, but I am to rest it. I'm using a walker again to relieve weight. I'm not worried about losing my ROM. I am going to go to PT just to see about some exercises to help the muscles that are tight stretch a bit. If they hurt me, I am out of there. My surgeon and even the PT that I saw to set up the exercises for my muscles to help the bursa were amazed. No PT and you're at 114 and 0. As far as my doctor was concerned, I don't need PT for my replacement.
So, relax a little. Let your knee heal. Your bones were sawed, and a metal thing was hammered into your tibia bone. Plus everything was moved, cut and pushed around. How can it bend when so much trauma has happened. Forcing it with PT will slow your recovery. I see it every time. I had to wait three years for my TKR due to Covid and other family situations. The people hurting the most and with the worst bends are those that beat themselves up over the need to push themselves more. Let your husband know that the more you push, the longer it will take to get there. You will get there, but it will take more time, and more pain. And when you get there, PT will say it was all the hard work. You would get there anyway with less trouble.
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