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TKR VW's new joint venture

Wow that's a lot to do, no wonder you fell asleep! I did the same after PT yesterday. Once I got in the door I ate a quick bite of lunch, iced and sometime during that I fell asleep and thankfully my husband grabbed the slightlynthawed peas off while I slept :heehee:
 
Peace be to peas! @dvannie . Well I just did what you did (almost) today.
But to recap...and at the same time an apology because post may be long and because I am not participating in all of your threads lately.

So...after the bad schedule that was given to me for my first day whereby I was given merely 10 minutes after water therapy to shower and change to street clothes and attend relaxation techniques class ( I hurried but was 15 min late) I looked carefully at the following schedules and noticed that I would be having the same problem today and on 4 other dates. Namely only 10 minutes after pool and next activity.
Pool is on 3rd floor, lockers on 2nd but on the other end of building. Just taking lift +walking to lockers takes me 4 minutes, more when wet and slippery floors.
I marked those days on the plan, showed the staff.
Physiotherapist knew about this, said I wasn't the only one with the same problem, said it was poor planning but probably because it is vacation time.
( There's a pattern here...remember how it was while I was at the clinic on a long holiday weekend?)
So nutty director (ND from now on) said: "Ok we'll just cancel the water therapy on those conflict days."
Nooooo!
I said "THE reason OS and I chose outpatient at this location was due to extensive water therapy offered here as opposed to other rehab places."
I said "I can do stregthening exercises at home but cannot do water therapy at home."
She argued floor exercises will be better for me.
I said "sure, I agree." (To get on her butter side.) but I repeated, "I can do that at home..."
ND looked at secretary and finally said: "Ok cancel physiotherapist that follows immediately after water. Print out another plan."
Uff. THEN she turned to me and said: That's not the best for you"
I asked:" does my OS have to call you and convince you?" She said: "NO. I know what's best."

Caramba!

Since I arrived late to physiotherapist half hour, she only massaged knee scar for 10 minutes.
Then it was 1 hour "floor exercises" and leg press and bike...which was extended to 1 and a half due to above argument at the ND office.

After a very nice lunch w DH, we went to buy me new shorts. It was 700 m to and from parking spot to shop. So I also got "walking" in today.
Inspired by nensi, I will try driving this Sunday.
Tomorrow is catch up w ADLs, as our place is quite messy now. Saturday I have things to prepare for DDs wedding in 3 weeks'time. Right now just icing till it's time to make dinner.

Today the clonking was bad using the air stepper.
I didn't do much of those. Ugh. Only ten reps instead of 'suggested' 30.( So I lied. I said I did it all, but I don't think those young people in the room cared)
I'm tired. Knee is achy, but more behind the knee than at the side like before.
 
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Honestly, @VW54 , it doesn't sound to me as if some of the stuff you're expected to do is beneficial at all for your poor knee. All those floor exercises and strengthening! - and we advise not to start strengthening until 3-4 months post-op at the earliest.

Doing so much is a fast way to inflame your poor knee and retard its progress. You don't need knee boot camp, which is what it sounds like.
I wonder how many knee replacements this ND has had? She's a control freak.

Keep listening to your knee and only do what feels right for it.
Remember, if it hurts at the time, or later, don't do it.
 
You are less than 2 months out and shouldn't be doing any leg presses until at least 4 months out. Your PT sounds like torture chambers!
 
Your knee needs more time to heal before you start all those ambitious strengthening exercises.
 
@VW54, you've had two horrendous days in a row at this so-called *spa.* You really don't want another one, do you? I can't believe they had you on a Leg Press machine; aaccck! If your OS recommended water therapy, why can't you just join a local pool at a gym? Obviously, I don't know about Austria, but here, many gyms with pools offer aquatics classes and many also have pool rehab staff. Even if that weren't the case where you are, you could just go and practice water-walking and look up some knee rehab water exercises on YouTube; there are many. I hope you have a pain-free evening with a decent night's sleep after all this nonsense.
 
What a nightmare - from ND to leg press to running from place to place. Perhaps you could accidentally* get lost after the water therapy or accidentally* fall asleep in the locker room after water therapy, :martini:or have your DH call you home for an emergency* after water therapy so you can skip some of those exercise session. Good job fibbing on the stepper reps! :idea:
 
@kmak81230, LOL! I am reminded of the song "Hotel California," where you can check-out but you can never leave; yikes! It all sounds like the spa from hell to me!:groan:
 
Oh, and VW54, I honestly don't think I could possibly dry off, change and get to a different floor in just 10 minutes; egads! It makes me wonder if they've ever even worked with TKR's before. Let's face it, we are all S-L-O-W for many weeks! Did I mention I don't think this is a good place for you? No? I don't; pffft!
 
No kidding - let's not have our 2nd knee done in Austria - ok Pheebs? Just kidding VW - I've been to Austria and it's beautiful.
 
That spa place just sounds too regimented to me. I think I'd be pulling out of it.
Anyway, it's not exercising that gets you your ROM and rehabs your knee - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself, and your muscles will strengthen again as you increase your normal activity.

I agree that you can probably find a pool somewhere and do your water exercise there.
 
Ah well... I can all too well understand your kind concerns...and perhaps I made it sound more regimented than it really feels. Aside from ND, all the people I've met have been kind and concerned that I do not do anything that hurts or feels like too much. The "floor exercises" are OK for me. I do fewer( ha!) and slowly and only to the point of discomfort, they are almost exactly what the visiting physiotherapist showed me, which I did on my bed. Leg presses don't seem to hurt. Again it is set quite low. The hardest of all is getting down on the floor matt and up again. Really tough at this point. Because I said I wanted to manage steps better the physiotherapist there told me to do the air stepper reps. So my own fault.
I promise you fellow bone smarties I won't go beyond discomfort.:ok:
With the new plan of activities there's no rush anymore after water therapy. Instead they cut back single sessions w physiotherapist and added a few back exercises (to help my shoulders and neck) on average it's 2 and a half hours per day plus half between activities 4 x week. Manageable for me.:yes:
Alas the health system here expects one to go to some kind of rehab after such an operation. It's not required but should I have problems down the line w my knee the first question would be:did I go to rehab.:sigh: And then I'd have a hard time getting any help of that sort again for future conditions.
It's like dentists who see a set of bad teeth and then ask: did you floss every day?
(That too is now controversial BTW):whistle:
Sure, I could have postponed this by a month, perhaps two. But due to other factors in our lives, this was the best time.
To repeat: I don’t feel like it's "knee camp"
Yet. :snork:
I'm married to an Austrian man (and family with many doctors:chinstroke:) who would not accept me refusing going to *any* rehab. :unsure: Me opting for this new outpatient form was already questioned:
"would I be doing enough?etc.etc." When I told them it was 6 weeks long as opposed to 3 of inpatient intensive, all quieted down.
I had suggested just going to a pool but that was nixed right away...not in summer anyway. :skep:
My knee was achy last night when I tried to turn around in bed. But is ok this morning. Today is just ADL.< plenty to do exercise-wise there but thankfully not involving getting on or off the floor. Or at least not planned.:giggle:
 
Well, I'm glad to hear your schedule has been modified, and if you are happy with it and not suffering and nasty blowback, that's all that matters. Based on today's post, I'd say the only part that seems really objectionable is 2.5 hours of exercise! For me, that would be a LOT and I would definitely hurt afterwards. However, we are all different and seem to have different capabilities throughout recovery, so I'll just wish you the best and hope this works for you.

But...but, but ...it STILL seems like a LOT! I know you're in a different country with different protocols, so we can't really compare, however, as an example, I offer the following: I go to PT 2x a week for an hour. Roughly 30 minutes of the time is spent on massage and 30 minutes on stretching, quad sets and heel slides. I am not engaged in any strength building activities yet. They don't want to see TKR's more than 2x a week because they don't want to cause any increase in inflammation. It's also why they are gentle.

At home, I only do one set of heels slides and quad stuff. The rest is just performing ADL's and taking a walk somewhere, usually for 30-45 minutes. Some days, I just do ADL's, guilt-free.

Now, I'm not holding myself up as a model for recovery, far from it, but....I am having a pretty much pain-free recovery; I like that.:wink: I may be slow at performing certain activities that others have already mastered, but...I don't hurt. :SUNsmile: At worst, If I overdo something, I'll just be a bit achy or stiff and that is quickly resolved with rest, ice, and elevation.

So, if I had to go there 4x a week for 2.5 hours each time, I'd be a *hurting unit.* I definitely wouldn't be a happy camper. I think my knee would swell up like a balloon and probably the rest of my leg as well. I doubt I'd even be able to perform normal ADL's at home on the rest of the days.

Bottom line: As your Smartie friends, we don't want you to incur unnecessary pain. We all just want you to have the best possible recovery. :friends:
 
Glad to hear you are doing well and that the rehab will work out for you. I'm also relieved that you are able to go at your own pace with the exercises. Try to avoid ND - she sounds like a real piece of work. And have a great weekend!
 
Glad it's not quite the boot camp it sounded like @VW54

Good for you for listening to the knee and doing fewer repetitions of the exercises than they ask you to. I found PT time to go quickly, so I hope when you're describing multiple hours that includes some lag time.

Steps will come gradually. I would do some step work at PT--they had a mini-stairs with about 4 steps and railings on both sides. PT would have me go up and down about 3-5 times and she'd watch so that I was using correct form. That was 2x per week. Then at home I would just do a few steps each day.
 
Hi all! Today I did next to nothing except ADL and now while resting my knee, watching news, it decided to spasm something awful. Not swollen but am icing it anyway to alleviate pain. Or should I try warmth now?
I keep hoping that tight clamp feeling will dissipate already. :bored:
 
I see no reason the not try heat. If it swells, then stop it. No harm done, and it just might help!
 
I heat my quads and hamstrings while I ice my knee; works well for spasms!
 
You have been busy at the spa. I am glad you are listening to your knee and making the necessary modifications.
 
Good news and not so good news!
First the good:
I can drive! It's not quite comfortable, but doable.
Pressing on the clutch is ok. Lifting leg off the clutch is soso.
Bad news:
Upon returning home, went to lock car (because our electronic has not worked for last 6 years) and suddenly could not take key out of the lock. DH thought I was joking. He finally got it out, but now we can't open the car at all.! We tried both our keys, it just turns around. So he called the service and now they have to schlep it to a garage and change the entire lock. My trekking sticks and my lightweight stool is inside. That's not so bad, as I have my crutches still at home. But if they can't repair it today and we don't get a replacement car, I will have to take public transport to rehab 1 hour and a quarter to and same going back, lugging my swim things etcetc. and that on a day they predict 35°C. (95 F) If so, I'll leave early while it's still cool.
It's a 16 year old car and we wanted to sell it next year. But one can't sell a car one cannot open or lock. And the repair will probably cost more than the car is worth! Sheesh. My DH is distraught: Buy a new car so suddenly? He wanted to wait til we returned from our 5 week tour in South America in December.
Will let you all know...and so, to be continued...
 
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