TKR VW's new joint venture

[Celle]

I see that a few posts back these things were worrying you:

What I noticed last night and this morning is a weird clunky sound/feeling as I stood up from bed. Quite disturbing and has me worried again.

This is normal. Lots of us notice it from time to time.
It happens because you now have hard metal and plastic surfaces moving over each other, instead of the relatively softer bone and cartilage. Some people find that the noises decrease as their muscle tone improves again.
My five-year-old TKR still makes noises occasionally, while my two-year-old knee does not. As lonmg as it doesn't hurt once you're healed, ther eis no need to worry.
This article explains:
Clicking/clunking knee joint after surgery

Last night on city news there was a report of a new ceramic implant that has certain advantages over metal ones. 33 people thus far have them.
Why did my OS not tell me? ! Supposedly lighter in weight too. Things like this circle in my head and don't let me settle.

It's pointless looking for the "newest and best " implant because, in spite of the advertising hype, there is really very little difference between the types of knee replacement hardware.
A metal and plastic knee replacement can last at least 30 years nowadays - they are very durable. They don't weigh very much anyway - not as much as you'd think.

Your surgeon will have used an implant that he is familiar with, that he trusts, that he has used on his patients who have recovered well, and in whose insertion he has been trained. It doesn't really matter what sort that is, because the most important factor for success in knee replacements is the skill of your surgeon. It is far more important to choose a good surgeon than to choose a particular type of replacement.

Since this ceramic knee replacement is new (you say only 33 people have it so far), it is not widely in use yet and has not stood the test of time. In addition, your surgeon has not been trained in its use. It does take time for a surgeon to get used to the minor adjustments in technique required by different prostheses.
You are far better off with an excellent surgeon using a tried and tested prosthesis, with which he has had success.

 

[VW54]

Thank you Celle.
Though I knew all this mentally, emotionally it raised doubts to the surface. I suppose I am reacting more emotionally insecure than my normal -as friends describe me- "logical sensible" self.

 

[Celle]

Having a knee replacement plays havoc with your emotions, too. It's normal for your emotions to feel fragile for quite a while. Just hang in there and know that it will all be all right in the end. You have a good surgeon. Trust that he has done a good job.

 

[VW54]

Today a few good things to report:
getting in and out of tub/shower was easier because I can lift my op leg from the hip to raise it over the edge. Before I needed a leg sling.
Of course I had DH standing by at all times.

DH met a physiotherapist he knows from the parish and he spoke to her today and ....she'll be coming to the apartment for a first assessment. She told him she didn't believe in trying any exercises before the stitches are out. she told him: "it takes time to heal, after all two sets of bones were "broken" so imagine the pain."
That's a good sign, eh?
Our apartment complex has a community garden and so I dared the 15 steps and went for a short walk with DH . (crutches.) Was good to be outdoors again, even if only 30 minutes.
Am back on my sofa w ice on my thigh because I seriously think I strained or pulled something a few days ago. It's been giving me grief on top of the whopping zingers.
A cleaning lady we know is coming over to help us out (for 3 hours)tomorrow.

The pain in the middle of the night is still very bad. When does that end....

 

[Pheebs52]

I think (hope) your middle of the night pain will lessen some during the next couple of days.....mine did, and now I can lie on my side for a few hours and generally sleep about 5 hours that way. It's not pain-free, but there was abig improvement at the beginning of the third week.

It's great to get outdoors, even for a short stroll, eh?

Sounds like the physiotherapist has her head on straight; always a plus!

 

[keefsmom]

Sounds like you are lining up some needed help. My cleaners come tomorrow and though I am no neat freak the idea of having a clean house buoys my spirits immensely!
i have not been awakened by pain for the last several nights (post op day 19 today) and it has made such a difference in my ability to stay positive and generally feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. when I was waking up at 2 or 3 every night I grabbed the kindle and started reading, which usually tired me out after an hour or so. Just finishing up book three of Elena Ferrantes' Neopolitan novels (there are four)! amazon is making serious $ off of me these days!
We are all thinking of you and sending our best wishes!

 

[flyaway79]

My middle of the night pain has gotten better then worse then better now worse again. It's all different kinds of pain. Now, I am sleeping for much longer periods of time and my leg and knee are in one position, usually on my side slightly bent up. When I wake up it is sooo stiff and and sore trying to straighten it out. I think it's because I am doing a lot more during the day so my thigh and leg muscles are working a lot harder. Another good sign I guess. I find Tylenol helps a lot with this pain and I still take it regularly throughout the day.

 

[Lilli215]

@VW54 it may not feel like it but you're making great progress, at your stage there is no way I could have got in and out a tub even with two folks aid!! I struggled to use a walk in shower and a shower stool for first three weeks or so. I also didn't go outdoors for three weeks until I got say so from physio, mind it was the dead of winter so I wasn't that bothered! Unfortunately the aches and pains at night may well go on for another few weeks but they will diminish in pain over those weeks. Even now some nights my knee is uncomfortable- usually coz I've done too much during the day!! Hang on in there, everything you're experiencing at the moment is completely normal

 

[VW54]

Thanks my dears.
I think that on top of the physical pain I have some serious emotional pain, namely having had to give up a part of my body (even if it was diseased and causing pain and preventing me from doing things and so on and so forth).
I'm having a hard time accepting the decision emotionally. Until I do, I fear healing might be slowed down. I need to accept the prosthesis as a part of me inasmuch that I can accept a crown on my molar as a part of me.
I have to somehow envision the many layers surrounding my new knee and cushioning it, supporting it, helping it work together with all the ligaments that were mangled. I need to envision my leg "coming together again."
It's hard to do this at the moment.
Please, those of you who healed well, how did you do this?

 

[KarriB]

It was hard to give up on my knee, but the pain was so overwhelming there was little else I could do. I just thought of all things I would be able to do again after recovery. I was very emotional due to the added complication of an infection, so I was desperate to be well and get on with my life anyway possible.

 

[liam2015]

i think this is one of the things that only time will heal. you are so early in your recovery and still feeling pain and vulnerable, needing to ask for and receive help with everyday skills. it is very humbling. i have felt like that also, wondering when my range of motion would improve and i'm still wondering when the swelling is going to subside so that i can have more natural, and not manipulated, range of motion. honour every small success you have, ie. showering by yourself, cleaning up kitchen, preparing a meal, getting your own ice packs, even getting in and out of bed yourself. the first week or more, my hubby had to help lift my leg into bed and even cover me up. 7 weeks out and i'm very functional, although my range of motion is not where the surgeon wants it to be. you will get there ~ be kind to yourself and accept help and ask for it if you need it. you will pay it forward someday.

 

[Celle]

I can understand that there is a grieving process for the loss of the natural knees. As your wound heals and the new knees start to function well, I think you will gradually come to accept them as the improvement that they are.

I was so sick of my old, arthritic knees and so glad to get rid of them, that I didn't have any trouble accepting the implants. While I knew that they were not a true part of my body, I was relieved to have them.
Nowadays, my new knees function so well that I often forget they are artificial. I get quite a shock when I see those big metal parts on my X_Rays.
My life is no longer ruled by my knees.

 

[sistersinhim]

For about a week I mourned my original knee. But, I also hated it, if that makes sense. It has caused me 6 surgeries and held me back from so many things I wanted to do. Now, I love my implant. It IS MY knee! It has improved my life so much and is nice and strong. My muscles aren't that strong still but my knee is stable and painfree, for the most part!

 

[Pheebs52]

Right now, early in recovery, it seems to me we all (self-included) hyper-focus on every sensation and worry too much about every little clunk, ping or zing. The knee rules for now, and that's just not a natural state, but it is normal for us at this point in time.

@VW54, is this by any chance your first surgery? If so, it is certainly a major one and that alone can be traumatic. Over the years, I've had to toss many *optional* body parts, from appendix to corneas and several others as well. I am now left with just the *basics*. My first foray into the Bionic world was with a hip 5 years ago. Frankly, I was stunned when I was told I needed a hip replacement and it did take awhile for me to accept the need for a major surgical procedure that somehow fell under the *elective* heading. None of my other surgeries were elective, so this was new ground! During the lengthy recovery process, I had many days of wishing I had my old hip back, but that was because I didn't really believe I'd ever feel *normal* again. Thankfully, I was wrong. :smile2: It took a full year before I stopped thinking about the fact I was now "bionic." At about 18 months post-op, I stopped thinking about it entirely because by then, I was living my life without all that pain and doing all the things I'd wished I could do during recovery. These days, I never think about it at all, and you will reach that point as well. Hard to believe, I know, but it will happen. Perhaps you said it best when you compared it to having a crowned tooth. I doubt you spend any time focusing on those, right? Your new knee is now very much a part of you, but right now, it's just causing misery, so it's all to easy to go down the dark rabbit hole of thought. Resist! This stage will pass, I promise!

 

[Lilli215]

@VW54 I think we've all been through the wringer as far as emotions go after the surgery. I blamed myself for my arthritis- maybe if I wasn't overweight this wouldn't have happened blah blah- totally ignoring the fact that genetics play a big part. It scared me at first knowing that I have this big lump of metal for a knee but then I got to thinking about all our forebearers who were crippled with arthritis or other causes and nothing could be done for them and thought how lucky I am that in my life such surgery is available. At this stage in your recovery you have a lot of time on your hands to think- and sometimes that isn't such a good thing. As you recover and become more physically active you wont have as much time for thinking plus by then I'm sure you'll be in love with your knee.

 

[VW54]

Thank you kindly for the reassuring words. Am going to refer back to them and to other successful TKR stories to keep my spirits up.

After consulting the webz and a phone call with physiotherapist it does seem that I have strained or worse pulled the front thigh muscle of the operated knee leg. Sitting down and getting up is ever so painful! It wasn't this way in hospital nor on the first 2 days home.
Thinking just how this will set me back! (insert curses in 3 languages)
Only positive thing here is physio gal is due here in 2 days. Let's see what she says.
So now am icing thigh aswell.
And as if that's not enough: our fridge is probably kaputt. Freezer works but ice keeps forming in fridge part and it won't cool food too well.
Oy vey!
All on a very warm day.

 

[VW54]

As I wrote on a different thread, yesterday afternoon and evening I had a new sensation and am wondering if anyone else has had this, if it's something to be concerned about:
It felt as if I had some rock on my knee boring in to me. It came after I tried some extension exercises: pressing the back of the knee towatds the mattress. It lasted all night. I imagine it's the patella. Maybe it moved? If so, is that bad?
(I see OS tomorrow cause he's asked me to come in a day early to get the stitches out.
I could ask him). And yet, has anyone else had that too?
I still can't do slides lying down: only get to 50; hurts too much...but I get 80 when sitting.

I'm still icing thigh. See post above. Hrmmph.

 

[Pheebs52]

@VW54, I often have a weird patella area pain after doing that particular exercise. Not sure if it's due to pushing it too hard....could be. Also not sure which I dread more, that, or the heel slides; aaarrggh!

Basically, I have given up on trying to do the heel slides in bed for just the reason you cited. For whatever reason, it's much easier (I use that term loosely) to do them from a seated position. I do still stretch it by dangling over the edge of the bed and find that helpful, but trying to get that slide while prone is futile for me.

Today, I will be going to PT so we'll see if he feels my slide has improved. Not sure if he will measure ROM today or not, but probably will. If so, I feel as though it has improved a bit; we shall see.

Just took the ice off my thigh after an hour!

 

[Lilli215]

@VW54 i did all my slides sitting on a chair and got 120 rom no bother so don't panic about trying to do them lying down

 

[KarriB]

As long as you do them the same way when measuring you're fine. I found doing heel slides while laying down odd and difficult. Seated in a chair is fine.