TKR Walking Post Op

[SusieShoes]

It will get better, though you may find you must remind yourself daily. This recovery takes so long it can feel like an unending grind. Remember how kids can be on car trips? "Are we there yet?" No, we're not there yet, we have to tell our impatient brains (which really want to be there already and not, you know, months from now). We really will get there, you will tell yourself (hoping you're right), but we have to wait.

I had a good recovery -- and still it took several months until I could say I had no pain at all, no stiffness, no annoying little reminders that my knees were still on the mend. Oh I was able to do so much more than before surgery that I was actually quite thrilled... but my knees were not 100% healed and sometimes I wondered when that would happen.

It happened. And it will happen for you.

Patience for the win!

 

[Pamjam68]

@SusieShoes i think I was not in line when patience was handed out (lol). I am ten weeks post op and I am still taking Tylenol each day to get through. I long for the day I wake up and the new knee doesn’t hurt. I do see improvements each week but pain and stiffness still a daily grind. Sleeping now which has helped tremendously. I am taking prolific notes so I can look back a year from now to remind myself of how it was. I have to get other knee done too but not ready to commit until I feel I have the right one sorted. I am in total awe of you having had a bilateral. I can not imagine how you do that.

 

[SusieShoes]

I am in total awe of you having had a bilateral. I can not imagine how you do that.

It was easy. My knees were killing me. Having them replaced sounded a lot better than being one of the living dead. I told my surgeon to make it happen and he did the rest. Fait accompli. I woke up in the recovery room with two new knees and no choice but to go through a recovery.

A bilateral TKR is really two TKRs going on at the same time. It's not really that much harder, just a lot going on. Kind of like having twins. Once you have the twins you just kind of cope!

I will put in a plug for researching this whole recovery situation in advance. I think it was to my benefit that I started out knowing what to expect and had some strategies in place. Less stress. Not knowing what's happening is lots worse than knowing! There were many times along the road where I could say "All right. I recognize this part. I read about it." It makes a difference.

 

[Pamjam68]

@SusieShoes you May have the key there. I feel I dropped the ball in researching thus procedure. I did talk to lots of folks who had TKRs and none of them mentioned the slow recovery. Just the pay off. I wish I had found Bonesmart before surgery. I erroneously thought two months after surgery I would be done and dusted. My surgeon suggested a couple of months max. Think he was overly optimistic or could it be all his other patients did better than me. He has suggested that I left it way too long to get this knee replaced but elderly parents and a sick husband meant a good time to do it was hard to find. I know it will be all good eventually and will try to accept my knee is in charge and not me.

 

[Jockette]

I did talk to lots of folks who had TKRs and none of them mentioned the slow recovery. Just the pay off

Same here! This recovery was a shock for me. When I googled partials I read glowing reports of recoveries that were quicker and easier than totals. I also thought I’d be recovered after 2-3 months from my partial. 16 months for me and I’m not there yet.

 

[kneeper]

Taking Tylenol at 10+ weeks would not be unusual. It is a long haul, but it does seem for most people that once you make it through the first 3 months you're really on your way.

 

[Pamjam68]

@kneeper thank you for your encouraging words. Today I am so happy as it is the first day since surgery on May 8th that I have not needed to take any meds. So excited.

 

[sistersinhim]

No meds...yay! You're definitely on the mend!

 

[Pamjam68]

Well closing in on 13 weeks and feel like I am going backwards. Managing to get just two miles a day in which is much less than I was doing before surgery. However, both legs are so darn stiff throughout the day walking is tough - not just when I get out of bed. Feel like I have just run a marathon with no training. This is new and I am not sure why. Anybody else experienced this stiffness in both legs during recovery?

 

[sistersinhim]

Yes, I don't think it's that unusual. After a tkr, the opposite knee has to take on all the work. Many times it fusses about that extra work. Mine sure did. As my new knee improved, my old knee's pain and stiffness eased up some. There's no reason why you can't ice and elevate both knees. I did.

 

[Pamjam68]

@sistersinhim thank you I am grateful for your input. I seem to resolve one issue and gain another. I know from reading so many different experiences on here there is no such thing as normal. I guess it is inevitable that we all try to see where we fit in on that elusive recovery scale. I will take your advice

 

[Jockette]

Managing to get just two miles a day in which is much less than I was doing before surgery.

2 miles a day doing what? Walking? If so, your knees are telling you that’s too much right now. You are only 1/4 the way healed.

 

[Pamjam68]

@Jockette just walking the neighborhood. I was thinking that was not a lot as it seems some on Bonesmart are walking significantly more than me, I was feeling like a wimp. I am going to take a few days off and see if that helps. If so will cut out the walking for a while. I don’t do PT any more so trying to comply with my OS’s direction to keep moving. It would be great to have a set in stone checklist as it would take all the mystery out of individual recovery wouldn’t it. But as we know everybody is different I am just trying to figure out how “different”I am

 

[SusieShoes]

Walking the neighborhood was (and still is) my main exercise in recovery. I was further along in recovery (three to four months) than you before I could walk two miles in one trip. You’re doing really well and probably only need to cut back a little. Do you vary your distances? One mile for a day or two, then two miles, then back to a shorter distance? That could be a good interim strategy until your knees are more agreeable about the longer walks every day.

 

[Jockette]

I am going to take a few days off and see if that helps.

This is a good idea. Then start slow again and see how it goes. Walking is very good for your knee, just not 2 miles at this point.

 

[Pamjam68]

@Jockette thanks again. I like your idea of longer distance followed by shorter one next day. Sadly I thought I was closer to being ready to get back to normal than I am

 

[Jockette]

The longer and then shorter distance was Susie’s idea, and its a good one. Just don’t do so much that you hurt a lot later. That’s counterproductive.

And we all usually think we should be further along than we are. But we will be! In time.

 

[Pamjam68]

So today I am 14 weeks post op and getting around fine walking ok only short distances (2 miles) but I did 4 miles yesterday and today so stiff a dcsore I can barely move. My TKR knee is still painful on the medial side. I was hoping to be closer to pain free by 14 weeks. The PA suggested I may never be totally pain free. That was disappointing to me because isn’t that why we go through this.

 

[chicklet]

Don’t let what that pessimistic old PA said take root in your mind. Keep thinking positive thoughts!

Four miles was a LOT - especially since you jumped from your usual 2 to 4. But you already know that, or at least your body does because you’re stiff and sore.

I’m so in awe of you that you can walk long distances like that. You’re only a week ahead of me but there’s no way I could walk a mile right now.

You’re doing great!!

 

[Pamjam68]

@chicklet thanks for the encouraging words. I was flawed when she said that because nothing like that was said before surgery. My OR said post op, given time, I would feel good as new. I don’t know what I was thinking but I thought six weeks post op and I would be up and running. I wish I had found Bonesmart before have then my expectations may have been more realistic. Good luck in your recovery, as our more experienced friends on here tell us slow and steady is the way to go. Trust me I am taking that advice to heart henceforth