TKR Vickie's Knee Recovery

[Poof]

I go M-W-F and it lasts 1.5-2 hours. My knee feels pretty good today so I'm thinking that PT will be ok. I'm also going to drive myself today for the first time. It will be good to have that independence back again! Hope you are feeling well also. Vickie

 

[Poof]

5 week recovery update: I just got back from a 2 hour PT session. It was a little disappointing for me today. Last week my bend was 85 degrees on Monday, 95 on Wednesday and 103.5 on Friday. Today, I was unable to bend at more than 100 degrees. I'm trying not to be so anxious about it, but I was hoping for improvement each time I went. I did well on the stationary bike and was able to make about 25% more rotations than on Friday. They also added a new "squat" exercise that is done on a machine. She told me to expect to be sore from it. It felt ok doing the exercises.....Last night was the best sleep I've had so far. I woke up at midnight and 4 a.m. and had to take pain meds, but was able to go back to sleep.....I am a little worried about the 100 degrees ROM. Does anyone know if that is bad or good at 5 weeks?

 

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Vickie, Vickie, Vickie, give your poor knee a chance. You are ONLY 5 weeks post op. If it got to 103.5 one day, it will eventually get back to that some other day. And sometime down the road will get even better.

You need to focus more on reducing swelling and keeping the knee mobile with walking and easy exercises. Once additional healing has taken place and swelling is way, way down, you will get more bend. Focusing on the numbers this early out is going to cause you a lot of unnecessary frustration.

Not to worry, sweetie, 100 degrees flexion is excellent for 5 weeks. So, smile, smile, smile!

Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[Poof]

Judy, Thank you for the reassurance! I had to have a MUA twice on a frozen shoulder and I know that thought must be lurking in my brain and shows up every time that I get a little scared. Thank you so much for being there when we need you! I appreciate the time and concern that you put into this site every single day. I'm sending you a great big hug! Vickie

 

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[SissyG]

Good Morning..Did you enjoy driving yourself to PT yesterday? Hope PT went well, you don't have pain and you had a good night. I am off today to have a mani-pedi and out to lunch with at stop at the grocery store on my way back home. That will be about all my knee will handle at this point. But I am really looking forward to having shiny new purple toenails! I hope they don't make me remove it before surgery...think I will ask that when I go for my pre-op visit on Thursday...if so maybe I can just remove the polish form my big toe....My sleep patterns seem to be getting worse...hard to go to sleep and hard to stay asleep for very long at a time. My knee begins to hurt when I leave it in one position too long and it wakes me up. I know I will have much worse sleep problems at first after surgery though.

 

[Sasysusie]

Vickie, very nice doesnt it feel so good to drive!! How did it go, im sure you loved having some independence back. Another milestone. I traveled yesterday flying to my mom and dads in northern california, the trip went well but lots and lots of walking in the airports, i was good and sore last night. Today they are dragging me to the casino, we see how this goes. Hope you slept well last night Vickie and not in too much pain.
Have a good day
hugs susie

 

[Sasysusie]

Cathy, your way tooo quiet, let us know how your doing... hope your good.
hugs
susie

 

[Poof]

Hi Sissy, It was amazing to be able drive again! I felt so independent. Today I went and got my hair cut, eyebrows done, had lunch with my husband and ran another errand. My knee felt stiff and sore from doing all of that, but walking was not a problem at all. When I was getting my eyebrows done, they got a chair so that I could elevate it. That was so kind and appreciated....Sorry that you are having problems with sleep. At about week 4, I started sleeping a little better. I would wake up when the pain killer wore off, I would take my meds and go back to sleep. It will be nice when I have uninterrupted sleep, but this will be just fine for now! It's so much better than the 2-3 hours that I was averaging after the surgery.....I'm heating my knee up right now and starting my daily exercises. Wish me luck! Vickie

 

[Poof]

Hi Susie, Did your knee swell from the flight and walking in the airports? I hope that you have a great time tonight at the casino. Maybe you could elevate it in a chair next to you? I will be so glad when I am able to travel again. My husband can hardly wait to go to Las Vegas. He mentioned that at lunch today. I just don't think that I'm ready for that. I don't want to go and then just whine and complain because my knee is stiff and sore. Maybe in a couple of weeks, I will be ready to think about a trip....Well, I can't out it off any longer. It's time to exercise! Vickie

 

[Beachmomdk]

Hope everyone is having a good day today!
Cathy

 

[SissyG]

Vickie, you sound so upbeat...getting out and driving and having a feeling of independence must be good medicine for you. If you are like I am I get tired of being handled or waited on very quickly and during my last recovery I even got a little resentful and crabby because I couldn't do things for myself....I am working on improving that this time, I know Robert is only trying to help me. Today I had a mani pedi and now I have wild purple piggies, went out for Mexican food and picked up my new shower bench and a few groceries before my knee said that was enough for today.....Will try to do a little shopping while I am in Tulsa on Thursday.
Sissy

 

[Sasysusie]

Vickie, the plane trip was a quick one so I did fine on the flight, but yes lots of swelling like you said with all the walking... ugh. But I iced and it was better. Its great to be here with my folks, it was worth it. Sounds like you will be flying of somewhere fun here soon too! I just need make sure i get all my exercises in everyday while im here! They are sooo important! Sounds like you had a great outing Vickie good for you, its nice to do some of our normal activities again. I do still feel the knee is the boss of me... but im trying to listen to it!
have a good night
hugs
Susie

 

[Beachmomdk]

Hi,
For some reason I didn't get all the post from Monday. My appt went well yesterday and the doctor realizes I needed more pain meds. He is so nice! So got more and felt much better last night! Susie you are brave flying so soon but hope you have fun!
Sissy
I got my toes done before my,surgery and they didnt make me take it off. In fact I got more compliments on them. They were blue with a flower!
Vickie since you drove your self to PT you probably didn't take any pain pills? That could be why your ROM wasn't as good. I don't think I can do,PT without pain meds right now.
Cathy

 

[Lauramacky]

OMG..I am so bad. I haven't checked here in a bit. I wanted to say hello Vickie and am glad to see you're still chugging along!

 

[Poof]

Laura, Are you "bad" because you haven't checked in or feeling bad? I'm hoping that you have been so busy living a pain free life, that you just forgot about us for a couple of days! Vickie

 

[Poof]

Update: ROM was 105 today. They also added 2 more exercises to my therapy plan. My knee was so sore and stiff today when I went that I'm surprised that it bent that far. My best was on last Friday at 103.5, so it's some improvement and I'm very happy to have it. Now I have to really concentrate on bending my leg when I walk. I tend to revert to a peg leg. She told me that I will just have to retrain my brain to walk correctly.....Last night was a tough one for sleeping. I'm going to try and take a nice long, warm bath before bed and see if that helps relax my knee..... We are getting another cold front coming thru here this week and it feels like my knee already has picked up on that....I hope everyone is doing well. Vickie

 

[Lauramacky]

Hi Vickie! It's my birthday today, so hubby has been keeping me busy today! We went to my favorite Greek restaurant (I'm half Greek) and then we went to this humongous mall. Let me tell you, when I saw that mall I wondered if I would be able to walk it. But I did it!! My knee doesn't feel totally "normal" but it's well enough that I can do things like this now. My other knee, though, was starting to bug me, lol. Hubby got me a beautiful Prada purse so it was worth all that walking! As for you retraining yourself to walk...I had to do the same thing and I'm still going through that process. It's hard when we've been compensating for years and years. It takes time. Lessee....you are one month and one week out? You're doing very well with your ROM it seems! I didn't have such great ROM like you have back then. Keep doing what you're doing and you will get there! Let us know how that warm bath feels ok? Hmmm...that sounds good to me now too!

 

[Poof]

Hi Laura,
It actually sounded so good when I typed it earlier, that I decided to just go ahead and get into that wonderful, warm bubble bath! Now, I will be forced (LOL) to do it again before bedtime to relax my knee again. You can never take enough baths as far as I'm concerned!

It sounds like you have had a wonderful birthday! How nice to get to spend the day with your husband and treated to such a great birthday gift. I think that you are a very lucky girl. I hope the rest of the day is just as amazing. You deserve it!

I'm sending you a Happy Birthday Bouquet!

Vickie

 

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Laura.