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TKR Vickie's Knee Recovery

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Your knee looks fabulous! Mine isn't that good, but I'm hoping I will get there. I tried attaching a pic but it said the file was too large. Ill get my husband to help me when he gets home tonight. What time is your PT? We are on central time here. Are you 2 hours earlier than us?
 
I had that problem with the pic I took with my iPad so I took it with my iPhone and it worked! My PT is at3 and I think we are 2 hours behind you.. It is 11 am here...
Cathy
 
3 weeks out: I made it thru PT. He had me do exercises today that were brand new to me. I walked up and down my steep staircase. Not the normal way, but one step at a time. It felt great to know that I can actually go up the stairs. My son probably isn't thrilled because now I can see how dirty his room is! I also got on the recumbent bike. That made me cry out of frustration because I can't even push it a full rotation. I can only rock it back and forth. I also laid on my stomach on the bed with a pad holding my knee from direct contact and did full leg lifts and then knee bends. All of those were the extra exercises. We also still did the regular ones too. I was hard at it for an hour. He said that I can do everything really well except for my bend. He said it is only 95 degrees. (More tears). Ive never had a problem with my knee being almost straight, so thats a plus. He also told me that I have a very low pain tolerance. How does he know how I experience pain? So...it was a good experience and a frustrating one.
 
Hi Vickie,
Gee how does he know what you're pain level is? There are things that make me cry in the middle of the night I am in tears because my knee is hurting laying there. I haven't had a straight knee in over 20 years so that is something I am working on as long as the bend. And if your knee is getting infection it is probably swelling more.. I wish I had a recumbent bike at home sigh.... Ice ice ice
 
Hi Vickie! I found your thread, and thank you for the link! I just got caught up on your recovery. Wow, your in-home PT was AGGRESSIVE! You know what I've found, is that it's really hard to judge what is good for one person vs. another. We are all different healers and have our own schedules I think, but I do think that most of us have that inner voice that we sometimes ignore because there is someone "official" who "knows more" in our house telling us what to do. My in-home therapy was very, very mild compared to yours. I'm glad you are feeling better though. I was very concerned about your temperature and those stabbing pains. This is not for the faint of heart, but you will get through it! The one thing I always focus on is that I KNOW I had to do this. I had no choice. So it's just about one hour at a time. Huggs!!!
 
Cathy, How did your PT go? Are you feeling any better this evening? My therapist suggested that I would probably want to go thru the exercises again this evening. I'm saying that there is no way that's going to happen again today. I'm going to bed to watch mindless tv and elevate and ice my knee. I'm going to take a little mental health vacation and do NOTHING! Vickie :sleep:
 
[Bonesmart.org] Vickie's Knee Recovery
Vicki
 
Hi Vickie,
A mental health vacation sounds womdful. I am not doings mine again either PT was good but painful. He got it to 108 degree bend and it was straight now he has been telling me it is straight and I can tell it is straight by the lack of space between my leg and table. But I turned over on the table and OMG my leg was flat on the table. They didn't have to put towel under the bottom of my leg for it to rest on. I was so excited!!! It made up for the pain. Lol what are you watching on TV? We might watch Chicago fire we have one more episode to watch to catch up.. He had me do leg raises.on tummy, side,back, dangle my leg on side of table., heel slides. Hopefully,next time bike!
Cathy
 
We started watching a new series that started last night called "Vikings" or something similar. It is a little brutal, but we really enjoy the series that are based on factual events. We also watched a couple more hours of something else, but I have no idea what. I had gotten a headache during PT and wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the tv while I was lying there. Due to the aggressive PT session, I only slept 3 hours before my knee woke me up. It just feels yucky to be sleep deprived. It changes my entire outlook on the day. I've already called the therapist and told him that there would be no crazy work-out today and he has agreed to stretching exercises only.....Started taking the antibiotic lat night. I'm hoping it will kick in and take care of any infection in my knee if there really is one. I drew a line around the red area yesterday and it still looks the same, so I'm glad that it hasn't gotten worse....today is the 3 week anniversary of the surgery. It sure is good to have those days behind me. Please forgive me for the general down feeling of this post. I know it will get better later. P.S. I'm still waiting to hear a funny knee replacement joke. Surely one of you funny people have got one? I need to laugh! :rotfl:
 
Aww Vickie...sorry you didn't sleep. Neither did I! Grrr. And I have PT today too in 3 hours. This seems to be the way with us TRKs...lack of sleep! I wish I knew a knee replacement joke and am kind of surprised I don't know any! I love jokes! I'm glad you are just doing stretching today. Sometimes we know when we need to take it a bit easier. I'm that way too today.
 
Hi Vickie,
I had my RTKR surgery the day before you. I wish I had known about Bonesmart before that. (I just discovered it about a week ago; post surgery) I am reading your day 8 progress right now but wanted to let you know that I appreciate your "journal". I have been jotting little notes to myself as I go but I don't have the details that you do. It is really helping me.

My recovery seems like it is been horrible - slow and frustrating!! I realize in reading that we are all going through similar things.

I am off to PT in a bit, but I look forward to reading the rest of your thread up to now. :)

Thank you for sharing.
~Kel
 
Vickie ,
We must be on the same path hehe. My knee was awful at 130am and I was soaked. i think the pain pills give me hot flashes and sweating which I hate. i use to havem30 hot flashes a day where I was soaked each time! took two pain pills at 130 and 2 more at 7 they are only 5 mg each the pharmacist said that wasn't very strong. My therapist yesterday kept stressing you had a total knee replacemnt it is a huge surgery you need to have patience lol I want to get up and go NOW! We did take my bike in to have a tune up and put new tires on it and a new chain I wore them all out so I am excited about that. I will have to look at the weather map but is the winter storm near you at all? I don't think it dipped that low. My sister is getting it the kids are happy SNOW DAY!
Cathy
 
Hi Kel,Being on this site has helped me so much. It is so reassuring to find others that are going thru the same thing that we are. On bad days, I have been offered sympathy and on good days everyone is so happy for you. I thought that I had read everything possible to prepare myself for this, but it didn't work out that way. I didn't realize that my knee was going to recover at its own rate....Do you mind if I ask what led up to your knee replacement? Good luck on your PT today! Vickie
 
Hi Kelsie Lou nice to hear from you it is always nice to hear how,other people are recovering... This has been a long journey and much harder than I thought. I had 5 knee surgery's on this knee and inflammation twice from the synvisc shots so I though I had an idea of what it would be like. NOT! But we will get through it. I am so much better now than two weeks ago so that is a plus!!

Hi Laura, is it raining there yet we are suppose to get rain this evening down in So Ca. My husbands family lives up in the Bay Area so pretty!
Cathy
 
Hi Cathy, I have those hot flashes too! It must be the Percoset. Mine are 10-325 and I can take 1 or 2 every 4-6 hours. It's awful to wake up drenched in sweat. It doesn't seem like I do it in the daytime though. Wonder if I just don't notice it as much or it's because we are covered up at night and it magnifies the problem?......It is cold and windy here today, but no snow. We have a 70% chance of rain on Sunday and we really need it. We are part of the region that is having the drought....I got back on the bike this morning and did the rocking back and forth movement for 5 minutes. It was awful yesterday when I got on there and realized that I couldn't even make my knee go around one time! I rode that recumbent bicycle every day for 2 months before the surgery and really thought that it was the one thing that I would be able to do without a problem.....That was a blow to my emotional ego!...I like your therapist already. I hope the new one that I get on Monday is encouraging but not crazed with making me do the exercises to an extreme. Vickie
 
Hi Vickie,
My friend who is a home PT told me that most people find they can go backwards on the bike first before they go forward so maybe you can try that. I never even thought that I wouldn't be able to make the petals go around UGH! In the beginning I noticed the hot flashes more,in the day now not so much maybe our bodies are getting used to the med. but last night I was soaked and this morning too when I woke up. I forgot to put a change of shirts by my bed...
Cathy
 
Hi Vickie
How did your PT go? I did my exercises today so far only once but tried bending knee on and off all day. How is your evening?...we are going to watch a movie I forgot name but I will look. Just gave my Brother in law an earful about his life hehe gotta love those pain pills.
Cathy
 
The PT is insisting that I need to do my exercises 3 times a day now. I'm not sure if that is correct or not. I've got a call in to my OS' nurse about med refills and I'm going to talk with her about it. It really doesn't feel like my body is ready for that. He measured my bend @ 92 yesterday and it would go to 95, if I hooked my other foot over the top of it and pressed. He didn't measure how straight it is. (I don't know what they call that). He said I didn't have any problems with that. He said there was no reason why I shouldn't be able to bend more than that other than my "low thresh hold for pain". Then he said the only other reason would be if I had an infection. I asked him if he thought that I have an infection. He said no. I asked him why he brought it up all the time and suggested that we concentrate on the positives of therapy and not to continue bringing up what could go wrong. He agreed, but I know he will do it again today. At least it's our last in-home visit......Cathy, I had to laugh when I read your post about your brother-in-law!
 
I talked with my doctor's office. She said that the doctor is only concerned with how straight I am able to get my knee. He believes that the other will come when the knee swelling goes down and it has some more time to heal. I will continue to do my stretching exercises and stop listening to all of the nutty things the PT shouts at me during therapy. (Yes, shouts over and over and over.) Thank goodness, it's his last day here. I think that it's going to be a short session....
 
Wow he shouts at you! I would file a complaint with the home health agency. When my mom was ill and I had a care agency and when I didn't like one of the care givers they sent over I called and said dont send them back. One was stealing my moms Ativan and the other didnt feed her Bc she didn't ask for food. Well she couldn't talk very well and I asked her how she got her pain med and she laid into me about how' I was torn her into a drug addict. My Mom had ALS was in terrible pain in her knee because the Ativan care giver dropped her and she was dying. Needless to say they never came back. Your PT works for you, you pay him and he shouldn't treat you like that. My PT is always saying he is sorry when he hurts me and NEVER yells..
Yea my sister works at a grocery store till midnight she is 48 has 4 kids and her husband is a CPA. He is totally lazy took over his dads business bought it from him and it was a losing deal to start. They moved from here so she could stay home take care of the kids fast forward 16 years she works full time, carries the benefits and makes more than him. Her body is falling apart she never sleeps more than 3 hours a night and is cranky and exhausted all the time. Anyway he called me and ask. Lol

Well good news is I slept all night but the bad news is I slept all night and didnt take any pain pills. So when I woke up I couldn't move and was in tears. Now after a pain pill I am better! I have PT at 130 today..
Hope you are having a good day.
Cathy
 
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