TKR Turning a Corner Towards Recovery

[referee54]

Patience, Grasshopper, Patience.

That stamina and muscle-readiness will come back---and what you are doing now shows it! It takes longer than we would like it too, but patience is a tough but an important aspect of recovery. Those pain-free exercises are a great sign!

 

[juniper]

Thanks, Tim. Love the image and the quote. Yes, patience is the lesson I am learning, the habit I am practicing. Does it make sense to you that I still need to ice and elevate regularly (three times a day) at nearly six months? Do you think it is because I returned to work so soon (5 wks post op) and am making up for lost time? That's what I tell myself. And since it helps me be patient, I guess it's a good thing.

 

[referee54]

I returned to work at eight weeks to the classroom---and I thought it was my magicial date---boy, was I wrong! I was stiff and sore ffor quite some time and I iced /elevated/rested, too. I have no doubt that my early return to teaching slowed down my recovery quite a bit.

 

[juniper]

Okay, Tim, I am going to hold onto that. I will be just as well as you are some day soon. It's good to know. Now it's time to get up and move.

 

[speccybecky]

I wonder if there is any study on recovery time and return to work time.
I admire both of you getting back to work so soon, maybe I was just lazy!
On the other hand I really appreciate that I could have 26 weeks off on full pay, not much I can thank my employer for!

 

[juniper]

No, Nancy, you were blessed, and smart to take the opportunity.

 

[cajunmehow]

I too am a high school teacher (Math). I had my surgery during spring break and took off the last 7 weeks of the school year, thinking that I wouldn't ruin my summer and that it would give me plenty of time to heal before school started again in the fall. Now, with less than a month left, I am seriously considering taking off the fall semester. I still need a cane and I can't get around at the level I feel I need to in order to "handle" 30 teenagers. The more rest one is able to take, not to mention limiting the stress one has to deal with, has to help in recovery!

 

[juniper]

cajunmehow, If you can get the time off, I think it's a smart thing to do. I worried about taking too much time. I missed the kids, and I wanted to protect my job, but I think I made a mistake going back as soon as I did. Are you icing, elevating (for and hour several times a day) and still taking meds? I've been advised here to do that, and I think it is very slowly making a difference. Good luck with healing.

 

[cajunmehow]

Hey Juniper,
By meds, I'm assuming you're talking about Aleve or something over the counter? My doc wanted me totally off the prescription pain meds by 6 weeks post op. And that really hasn't been a problem. As for the icing, I wasn't allowed to do that at all until the incision totally healed. Had something to do with the doc using the same cut that was used on the previous 2 ACL Reconstructions I had and skin dying or something like that. Now I ice after I do PT, which is usually 2 or 3 times per day for about 20 minutes at a time. Do you ice more than that? My swelling has gone down tremendously. Do you wear a compression bandage during the day?

 

[speccybecky]

I only wore TEDS for first six weeks and that was for clots, I think. I iced whenever I was sitting down with legs up! ...any excuse! Not sure about ice and 'dying skin', I was given ice while in hospital.
I think you're doing very well to be off the meds at 6 weeks, I still needed tramadol at that point.
If you can take time off safely then I'd do it.

 

[cajunmehow]

Speccybecky,
I'm not talking about the compression stockings that everyone has to wear post op to prevent clotting, I'm talking about just a compression bandage over the knee. Sort of like a sleeve.

 

[referee54]

I had my BTKR on November 8th of 2007; I went back to school after the winter break ---I believe it was January 3rd of 2008-- a shade under eight weeks. I managed OK, but, looking back, two-three more weeks of rest and recovery would have made a big difference.

 

[cajunmehow]

Tim,
I've been teaching 32 years without any breaks or sabbaticals, but the thought of going back into the classroom next month scares me to death! I'm at 13 weeks post op today, it'll be 17 weeks post op when the kids start back this fall, and unless my rehab starts to improve by leaps and bounds, I just don't see how I'll be able to function at a level I'll need to.

 

[speccybecky]

Speccybecky,
I'm not talking about the compression stockings that everyone has to wear post op to prevent clotting, I'm talking about just a compression bandage over the knee. Sort of like a sleeve.

In that case no, I didn't ever wear any sort of compression

 

[skigirl]

Juniper---this is a repeat of a post I just made to you, but I wanted to read all of your posts first. What does your doc say about your knee? Have you checked in with him/her? I still think you should get a second opinion too.

I know that it is possible that you have adhesions---and actually, you might be able to get good advice from a lymphatic massage person. I know that MaryO had arthroscopic surgery to remove scar tissue and she is very happy. Her rom went from90 to 120. I will tag her to your thread, maybe she would be a good person for you to speak to. Kelly maryo52;

 

[juniper]

My doc is pretty unavailable. I went into New Jersey to have my surgery and it's an hour plus drive. The last time I saw him, he thought I was doing fine. I did find two massage therapists who do lymphatic massage very close to my town. It might make sense for me to try. Of course, I could visit the OS, but I already know that he isn't impressed with the idea of massage after knee replacement. I showed him something I had read and he poo pooed it. Thank you for getting back to me several times. I will check in with Mary. Interestingly, my best friend, who's been in Europe, thought I was walking much better than the last time she saw me. Go figure. Maybe the improvement is so incremental that I don't really notice it.

 

[skigirl]

I would also think that the lymphatic therapists will be able to tell you, as they did me, if you have scar tissue, adhesions or fibrotic tissue. I simply cannot believe the difference, I am a fan. Kelly

 

[lionsm13]

These TKR's just take a long time to heal, and I am truly sincere about this.
I'm right @ 27 months and probably about as good as my TKR is going to get.
I think that I'm starting to get used to it. lolol.

Does it still swell, yes sometimes.
Does is still hurt, yes sometimes.
My doubts about it are not quite as bad as they have been, you know, all those do I have infection, wrong spacer, loose TKR, scar tissue thoughts that do not do any of us any good at all.

The worrying about drove me over the edge, literally.
It is very hard on our spouses too...and sometimes your relationship as you cannot do everything you used to do, as it takes a while to get back to where you were.

Your employer will only coddle you so much, and your co-workers too as you are going through your secret agony and worry.
Then you get tired of talking about "Your Knee."
Trust me, been there done that!!
Just takes a long time.

Now though, I am seriously contemplating going through all this misery again(I REALLY DON"T WANT TO EITHER) with my other not so good regular knee now, as it is starting to act up and I have had one cortizone shot in it and one round of 3 euflexxa injections.
So I guess that it is getting to that point again,
and I really can not believe that I will even consider letting myself go thorugh this again!!!
It is Very Hard just no other words for it.

 

[referee54]

I am sorry to say that there is no magic day when we wake up and feel the "WOW!" feeling. I went through PT from before Christmas to the very first week of April. When I look back at my frustrations and my thought processes, I think about how many times that I though to myself, "When will this ever end?" My knees---primarily my right one---was stiff for going on four---to almost five months!!! It wasn't until the middle of the summer---lt us say June or the beginning of July---that I felt pretty much together.

 

[juniper]

...and unfortunately, Tim, I was using your progress as my barometer. It's not. It's just going to take me longer. I am going to try the massage and check in with my doc (first with his PT) and I've gotten an appt for more PT. So I am doing exactly what I think I should be doing. I kept thinking "At five months I'll stop limping just like Tim did," but my road is my road and some of the trip is actually pretty wonderful. I say to myself now, "Patience, grasshopper."