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TKR Turtle still hoping to cross the finish line

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Sound good, Mary. Keep us posted into the new year.

[Bonesmart.org] Turtle still hoping to cross the finish line
[Bonesmart.org] Turtle still hoping to cross the finish line
 
Hi Mary!
I had taken a little time out from the forum and just now caught up with your convoluted road to recovery.
Please accept my sympathies on the loss of your mother. Mine died when I was 20 and it still hurts on Mothers Day, my birthday, and her birthday. But, life must move forward and I hope that you are energized by beautiful memories of her.
I'm so glad you are moving forward. We are like recovery buddies, slow and not always steady! But we will prevail! Happy holidays and keep up the good fight!
Sandy
 
Happy New Year all! Well I'm almost two months past my two year anniversary and really feeling as if my knee is a real working knee. Since my 11/08 arthroscopy the swelling has subsided and I am progressing with the straight leg lifts prescribed by my physiatrist. I have been snowshoeing this week and managed to break trail not only in deep snow but hurdling blow downs with snowshoes on. So I guess my quad is coming out of its "coma."

I am not on this forum much these days but still feel a strong kinship to other knee folks. A friend just had her 13 year old TKR revised; the tibial component had come loose and she was in danger of breaking bone. So she grabbed an opening in the surgery schedule of a doctor at Massachusetts General she saw, the same guy I saw for a 2nd opinion. I saw her yesterday and her progress is more like 8 weeks than 3 weeks!! Hardly any swelling, no more need for pain meds. ROM pretty slow coming but I conveyed the "slower = faster" philosophy and she's gained from 63 degrees to 79 in 2 weeks. She said everything about this surgery was better than the first and very glad she went to a top doctor in the field.
 
[Bonesmart.org] Turtle still hoping to cross the finish line
So happy that your knee is finally close to what you were hoping for in the beginning. Snowshoeing is not something I know any thing at all about---but I'm sure you have to have a working knee for that.

Don't be a stranger, Mary. Drop in from time to time and let us know how you are and how things are going for you. You've had a long, long hard journey, but you never gave up and it has paid off for you. You're an inspiration to me and I'm sure others here on the forum. Perseverance does pay off. Take care of yourself. We care. [Bonesmart.org] Turtle still hoping to cross the finish line
 
:friends: Hi Mary, and Happy New Year to you! It's great to hear all is well with you and you're having fun in the snow again! I'm also glad that your friend is also doing well! It's good to know that there was someone that she could see and get the revision done to help her! We all face that avenue, so hopefully we all fair as well!

Stay well and keep reporting back, because we all need to here about the progress from those who have been there before us! :friends:
 
maryo52 said:
Well I'm almost two months past my two year anniversary and really feeling as if my knee is a real working knee..... I have been snowshoeing this week and managed to break trail not only in deep snow but hurdling blow downs with snowshoes on.
Click to expand...

Good to hear from you! Breaking trail in snowshoes, wow! That is quite impressive!!

And here I am taking baby steps to do trail hiking late spring. Snowshoeing takes that to a whole new level.

Very happy for you maryo!
 
Thank you Maryo - I know you are enjoying your real working knees and I've just "met" you here, but you cannot imagine what hope your message brings to a newbie like myself. I am delighted for your progress and overcoming the challenges you have had along the way. Thank you for sharing! :flwrysmile:
 
I was wondering how you were doing, the holiday can be ruff with a loss of a Mother. You are in my Prays. Take care Tashia
 
Hi all . . . Just popping in to say that life goes on whether you have great results or so-so-results. I'm in the so-so category but manage to feel victorious with the aid of a knee brace and acceptance that my TKR effusion is probably permanent. Not the end of the world. I used to have gorgeous long legs and, well, time and arthritis and surgery has transformed what was a pretty knee into possibly one of the ugliest! The other one still looks good, though. At least I don't have pain, I have good bend and extension, and "knee" is not a word I use constantly as I did for many years.
 
Mary, you have such a positive attitude!! (((HUGS))) to you because I know all you've been through to get to this point. You're right that life still has a ton of wonderful things to enjoy even if things didn't go completely as planned. I admire your ability to focus on the positives...and there always ARE positives....in any situation.

One other thing that I'd like to note is how much of a help you are to your fellow BoneSmarties. No matter what, you have always been there for your forum family.

Just remember that no one can predict the future and things can always improve. Keep the faith and greet each day with your usual smile and positive attitude and....who knows???!!!
 
Mary your post came through as an email and that was a great thing to read this am, while I am aching and feeling somewhat defeated! So thanks great post!!!!
 
I'm not quite 2.5 years out from TKR and suffer chronic, and I suspect, permanent synovitis. As a result my knee always has an effusion, the synovium is thickened, and my knee feels very tight and constricted. It apparently is linked to my post-TKR arthrofibrosis (internal scar formation). The down shot is that my quad has "arthrogenic muscle inhibition," which can happen when the body senses trouble in the knee; it inhibits the quad by scaling down the nerve messages to the quad.

I'm working with a "physiatrist" (physical rehab doctor) to get the quad going but have found even minor efforts stir up my synovitis. Sometimes it's hard to know which direction to go. If I rehab my quad my knee feels even more constricted and snotty, or I can continue life with a lazy quad and have a knee that is happier.

Oh well. Life goes on.
 
Mary, I admire your practical approach to the situation you find yourself in. As you know, life sometimes throws us curves that are neither expected or appreciated and our challenge is to find a balance in our lives. You consistently do that and at the same time, you never give up on yourself. I send you the warmest of (((HUGS)))) for your honesty and strength. You are an amazing lady, my friend!!!
 
Mary, I used e stim---electrical stimulation to fire up my quad to get it working--does your doc use it, recommend it? I got an use at home unit for about $50 and that did help my quad wake up after the last surgery.

I met with my pt today and the reason that my IT band is so tight is that my quad is still weaker than the other side. There have been so many surgeries on this left leg. My pt told me that I am demanding more muscles from my quad that it has to give. He recommended that 1. I try to build up that muscle or 2. that I scale back my activities. So, of course, I am trying to build the quad. The question is whether I can still build muscles at my age.

So, I am doing spin classes three days per week and am riding my own bike at least 30 minutes per day and I am doing weight truing three days per week. I have to say that I am SICK to death of the gym and working to rebuild muscles. I am so tired of it all, but I am not ready to give up, so I am back on the gym path again!! It is so much work!!
 
Wow Skigirl. You duh woman! I don't have that kind of motivation. I own a dog partly because I feel I owe the dog a good walk everyday, so I at least do that. I kayak. I bike and snorkel or whatever when I can. I guess my activities center around the enjoyment of nature.

Thanks for your high compliments, Jamie. You know I wear a brace. It's a great brace. My TKR is a little lax and the brace gives me stability and protects my ligaments. But it's use has turned out to be mostly sensory. Although it's a very comfortable brace, it distracts my knee from noticing the tightness. When I don't wear the brace, which is only before dressing in the a.m. or after getting ready for bed, I take the stairs one step at a time, that's how constricted my knee feels. The $379 for the brace makes my experience manageable.
 
Ditto what Jamie said! You are so practical and seem to look for the best in a bad situation. I do hope you find the balance needed to live your life in the way you want!

With all good wishes,

Dawn
 
My little bit of news is that I have been working (although not too hard) on my quad which has "arthrogenic muscle inhibition." It's another one of those conditions that is poorly understood. The physiatrist (physical rehab doc) measured my two quads and my left is 40.5 cm (measured 10 cm above top of patella) and the TKR leg was 39.5. He said 2 cm difference is significant and mine being only 1 cm made me come home feeling victorious.

My TKR knee is bulbous and fibrotic (and effused) which causes my whole thigh to look different than my left. My left thigh tapers to my knee, which is my one body part I consider "beautiful." My right thigh looks thinner and rather than tapering to my knee, widens toward that bulbous knee. The physiatrist said the quad will shape itself differently on that side because of the large knee. This might seem petty and boring but, darn it, I think these "little" things mean a lot to us.

My other topic knee-wise is I'm putting together a Bonesmart article on arthrofibrosis, which is almost finished.
 
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