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TKR TKR:Dancing with Myself

kneeidea63 said:
Thank you. I think I'm getting the message that I need to take things more slowly.
What a lovely pair of cats! I didn't mention earlier that as well as caring for my partner I am the bodyslave to a beautiful Burmese.
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Yes. Slow and steady wins this race! And the race is more of a marathon than a sprint.

My cats thank you! I'm their slave, of course!
The cream one is a Lilac Burmese, while the grey one had one grandmother who was a Blue Burmese. The rest of her ancestry is pure farm cat! We got them from different homes, but they are only 6 weeks apart in age and they grew up together.
 
kneeidea63 said:
new knee working as it was at 90 degrees when I left the hospital after 4 days, and 110 three weeks later when I was discharged from physio. 6 weeks later and I was walking 1- 1.5 miles a day, exercise bike for 20 minutes
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kneeidea63 said:
However, it's now 9 weeks post-op and my knee is still swollen and I don't seem to be getting any further in my ROM
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Hi, welcome to BoneSmart.

I see you are getting the message, so just to emphasise; the exercises you're doing are training, not recovery, and IMO are causing the swelling. And with swelling, increased ROM is impossible.

For instance, to gain ROM you can use the bike.

1. Set the saddle low enough that a single rotation is a challenge; difficult but not painful.
2. Set the bike to zero resistance
3. Gently turn the pedals
4. Continue until the knee is 'warmed up' and the rotation is now easy, or for 2 minutes, whichever is the shorter time
5. Repeat several/many times a day

Riding the bike for 20 minutes will very possibly cause irritation and swelling -- the exact opposite of what you want.
 
Good morning @kneeidea63 - hope you are doing OK today.

Funny you should mention splitting your time between 2 houses. We do exactly the same thing, house here and one on the coast. Only difference being the one on the coast is over 4 floors ............... now you can see where I got all my stair climbing practice!

XX
 
Re the very old and their tkrs. One of my PTs says he likes nothing better than working with 90year olds. He said they heal slowly and this seems to contribute to excellent range of motion. So emulate an oldie!

My first partial knee was last November and while I could kneel, sorta, after a few months it just felt wrong, so I seldom bother to try to kneel in church, and don't often find myself on all fours at home. When I do get down on the floor I have to do the yoga pose Downward Dog to get up. it'll be a couple more months before I sort out how to do this with 2 replaced knees. Hang in there, and do take the time to ice and elevate. First knee I didn't stop until probably February, and I had an exceptionally rapid recovery. I literally spent whole days and weeks where I was icing more hours of the day than not.
 
@Celle our little treasure is a lilac point too! She's 14 and starting to show signs of maturity, but still romps around like a kitten - then tends her sore leg. I need to copy her resting pattern.
 
Thanks for the suggestion @Roy Gardiner. The bike was a good measure of increased ROM after I was signed off by the hospital physio and I can see how this will work. I'll give it a go after this afternoon's rest period.
 
Hi @dogwheels last night was spent listening to the radio rather than sleeping. It doesn't happen often and seems to be due to "restless legs" and discomfort rather than pain so I manage it. Consequently this morning I just did a bit of light food shopping. I am writing from a prone position with my legs elevated, after icing when I got home.

I managed to speak to the hospital physio this morning and she suggested I might be plateauing, but she seems very relaxed about it.
 
@dogwheels and @jeano both commented on the recovery of 80 and 90 year olds.

dogwheels said:
I had a bevy of old men and ladies lifting their trouser legs and skirts to show me their scars, demonstrating what they could now do and telling me that I must do my exercises! They put me to shame. I'm convinced that because their pace of life is that much slower, they sit, rest, do as they are told, and they don't feel the need to rush about and get back to normal as quickly as we do.
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The old boy across the road(84) assured me I'd feel no pain, but when we were chatting about exercises at the weekend he admitted that bending his knee might have been a little painful! He has had both knees done and is regularly on his knees removing weeds from his bowling green standard lawn. My other neighbour (RTKR LPKR) told me I would have to "learn to love the pain" - I'm not sure Bonesmarties would agree- and should aim for a ROM of 135. He's in his mid 70s, cycles everywhere and did a full heel to bottom quad stretch to demonstrate his ROM. He can't kneel and chose to give up skiing but is very active.

This morning I got chatting to another customer in a gallery and she told me she went on safari before her first year was up. She admitted that she "forgot" about the new knee in agreeing to go.everything was OK as the tour guides found a box to help her in and out of the truck.

Perhaps we should all recover like an 80 year old.
 
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jeano said:
Re the very old and their tkrs. One of my PTs says he likes nothing better than working with 90year olds. He said they heal slowly and this seems to contribute to excellent range of motion. So emulate an oldie!
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kneeidea63 said:
The old boy across the road(84) assured me I'd feel no pain, but when we were chatting about exercises at the weekend he admitted that bending his knee might have been a little painful! He has had both knees done and is regularly on his knees removing weeds from his bowling green standard lawn.
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My mother had one knee replaced in her late 70s and the other one done when she was 85.
She stayed with us each time afterwards.

She never complained of any pain and I only saw her take some Padadol (Tylenol) a couple of times. Within a couple of weeks, she was walking around the house without any aids, apart from holding onto the furniture now and then. She did use a stick to go outside, but only for about a month.

She always did sit around a lot, and always had a rest in the afternoon. None of her habits changed after the TKRs. I guess she was just used to resting a lot.

I admit that she inspired me. I would tell myself "If Mum could do this, I can do it." (Unfortunately, she had passed on before I had my knee replacements.)

It does seem to be true that a lot of old people don't experience as much pain as younger people who have replacements.
 
Celle said:
It does seem to be true that a lot of old people don't experience as much pain as younger people who have replacements.
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Good for your Mum!
A friend who did some work on an orthopaedic ward told me that the younger you are the more pain you experience from broken bones. The same must apply to having bits sawn off!
 
I've cut back on the "training" regime and opted for a rest over the last three days.
Today's positives:
I seem to be able to go upstairs more comfortably and can manage more steps in cadence coming down,
My knee doesn't feel as swollen and I can heel slide further - back to where I was earlier in recovery

There is one negative:
I've a lot of pain in the ligaments around my left ankle, so that's getting some ice and elevation too. This is undoubtedly due to adjusting my driving seat to be more comfortable for the right knee and straining at the clutch pedal. At least I know how to fix it!
 
[Bonesmart.org] TKR:Dancing with Myself
Hi @kneeidea63
Hang in there! We have another thong in common--my DH and I are catslaves to two Burmese-- 9 month old female chocolates- the one on the right is quite the little firecracker; her sister on the left is more laid back. This is their "stop annoying us with the camera" look. My friend, with her +20 year old lady tortiseshell inspired me to get the little beasties when our previous cat went to her great reward!
 
@kneeidea63
I'm glad to hear that cutting back on the "training" has had some positive results. Time, patience and gentle exercise are your best friends - as well as rest, ice and elevation.

Lovely cat photos, all - but let's not allow these critters to take over the thread. OK?
 
@kneeidea63 We have one kitty that thinks it is her job to protect hubby. Glad yours is taking care of you! From what I can see she is a pretty girl.
 
Ive been opioid-free for 3 days and it feels like the night-time withdrawal is over. Over the counter meds seem to be working fine to manage the pain I have. I think I've been quite fortunate in that area when I read others experiences here.
I have a low pain threshold so I was very worried about how I would cope post-op., but the hospital kept me pain-free and sent me home comfortable. I had a duty GP who wouldn't give me a repeat of oral morphine in case I became addicted - thank you Bonesmart for showing what a load of rubbish that was. Instead she supplied Tramadol- an opioid which has just gone on the UK controlled drug list. We laughed, but I'll be steering clear of her in the future.
The Tramadol was fine, no nasty side-effects, and I've gradually reduced the dose myself. My last prescription was for slow-release, which I wish I'd had all along. I have some in reserve should I need them (fingers crossed I never do).
As for that low pain threshold - I had osteo-arthritis in both knees for 14 years and took ibuprofen infrequently to manage the pain; nothing from the GP as she put it down to "wear and tear" and getting older and thought I should accept it. I think my pain threshold isn't too bad.
 
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